Fender Newporter Special - Matte Black Review

Great sounding Newport Special 6 string

This is my first Guitar, it's been fifty years since I picked one up Since I retired I decided to learn how to play. I did a lot of research with friends and family and decided on the Newport, medium sized fits great. Everyone at Sweetwater has been great. Sincerely, Jim

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Nice guitar

Decided to get back into guitar playing. This model caught my eye so I decided to grab it. I've had it for a week now and it's been a blast to play. Came tuned and ready to play right out of the box. My finger tips are killing me right now....lol Can't put it down. I bought the junior 100 watt acoustic amp to go along with it and that is working out great. Great mid / entry… read more level guitar that sounds and looks incredible. My rep Austin Zachrich is a great guy to deal with!

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Hits a sweet spot

I have high end Taylors and Martins. Plus a couple other in this price range (GS Mini, Ibanez solid mahogany parlor). I love every one. This one fits very well along with those and I love it, too. I played a Newporter Player, and liked it a lot, but I'm a solid wood snob, so I ordered this one without playing one. I was very impressed with the sound quality once I got it. I am… read more very happy with it. It came perfectly set up with a very familiar Fender electric neck. I often have to get the nut files and sandpaper out, but not with this one. The build and paint job seemed to be perfect. Compared to my other acoustics, this one has a very smooth sound. You might call it midrangy or compressed. Exact opposite of jangly. Very clean sound. Smooth, pure notes, no matter where you hit the string. More like a solid mahogany acoustic. I like the sound a lot. Nothing like the Taylors or Martins. I think it"s exactly what Fender went for. The YouTube videos show this pretty well. Volume string to string is even. Acoustically, it's clean, smooth, well behaved, comfortable, and sounds great. Amplified it sounds terrific. I think amplified, it may have an advantage over my other acoustics. The sound is cleaner. It also takes punch. Nothing bad happens when you hit the strings hard. You just get those pure notes. I really like this guitar a lot. It"s like nothing else I have. Very versatile, looks like the whole thing will be pretty rugged. Part of why I bought it is the whole marketing hype ( Calif surf dude guitar), part of it is Dick Dale plays one (or maybe the Classic version), part of it is it"s Newport, as in Newport Beach, not the Malibu or Redondo models, which I didn"t like. I live near Newport Beach and am a old surf dude. Plus, the neck is very familiar ( I also have Strats and Teles). One thing I would improve on, which is the only reason I gave it a 4: the edges of the frets. I prefer the angle of the cut to be more straight up, not as sloped. And I prefer frets to go right to the edge of the fretboard. Warmoth is the gold standard on this. The fret ends on this guitar are on the other end of that spectrum. After I saw Taylor put string spacings of a 1 3/4" neck on a 1 11/16" neck (my T5), I've emulated that on a bunch of my guitars. On this one, the sloped shoulders on the fret ends won't allow that. But no issue if you don't plan to monkey with the nut.

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Amazing Acoustic Guitar

As an electric guitar player, I learned to be comfortable with a the slimmer profile necks. I have tried acoustic guitars over the years, but could never get comfortable with the wider profile necks. I"ve tried a Fender Stratacoustic Deluxe & wasn"t impressed. Still, I wanted an electric/acoustic sound after seeing utube video demos of Fender"s crew California Series Newporter Guitar.… read more I"ve purchased 7+ items (guitars, amplifiers, effects processors) now from Sweetwater, & I knew my sales rep, Derek Senestraro would be able to help me make an informed choice. As always in the past, he was able to help me with comparisons of similar items as he already knew my preferences. I settled on the Newporter Special model which is in between the Standard & the Classic. I asked that they change out the nut & set it up for 10 gauge strings (comes with 12"s). I received my shipment the very next day & couldn"t be more pleased. The setup is perfect & this instrument is very well made & comfortable to play. I get a very rich acoustic sound plus any effects my processor can produce. Buying anything off the internet can be iffy especially since an item like a Guitar is very personal. Sweetheart technical & customer support staff are always knowledgeable & professional & I can count on them to help me make the best choice for my playing style. They make certain I"m satisfied with follow up, & if I"m not, they take it back!

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