Bad news on the Newport. I finally got some time to restring it and give it a set up only to find that the truss rod is maxed out. I’m going to contact Sweetwater about an exchange. Hopefully the next one will be issue free.
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They look a little...exact, as they say around here: there should be metal sitting on the fretboard edge of the nut slot. However, they should stretch (up to a quarter inch) in the next days, so they'll get there.
I was kindly informed that the truss rod on the Newport is double action and my ignorance of this lead me to believe it was maxed out. With this newly acquired knowledge I was able to get the action dialed in where I want it, but I still have some fret buzz I can’t see to get rid of.
I’m toying with the idea of taking it to my tech to have a mudbucker installed and the frets leveled.
I’m toying with the idea of taking it to my tech to have a mudbucker installed and the frets leveled.
RIGHT! I would say medium scale might be a better option than the short scale...however, they have stretched into place, STILL I think I will try a set of medium scale. It did really light up with good strings on it...the factory strings are barely passable noodles. It is insanely comfortable!
By the by, do the pickups in your new Newp sound like they may be wired out of phase to each other, like Lobster's and blacktocomm's? Is it noticeably quieter and less bassy when the blend is in mid position?
In the centered position the output in definitely less. The end result is pretty cool though, slightly into the humbucker side it's nice and thick, a minimal twist to the Thunderbird Pro side and there's a glistening high-end that's harmonically rich and magically, centered feels like it'd sit real good in the mix. So...in effect, it's like having a boost for solo sections right at your fingertips! I've owned lots of basses with subtly different sounds and this bass can do that too, but it has three distinctly different tones that are ALL usable and ALL complimentary...crazy. I can't wait to put it through the paces with the band, I get the feeling it is going to be like every other element of this little jewel...a GAS!!!
Well, there you go. As I said above in post #7897, my tentative hypothesis - until I bump into someone reporting their Newport is definitely not wired out-of phase - is that they did it on purpose, in order to get a better pickup mix and a third, distinct colour to the palette. Of course I may be stone wrong.
IDK 'bout the Newp, but on my "short scale" Ibanez AGB200(which has the same claw and bridge setup), I have to use medium scale strings. It turns out that's a really significant thing to know.
@Pyrat , would be grateful if you'd find time to take measurements from your Newport.
Newport measure for Pyrat's Newport...30.5 nut to bridge/32.5 nut to ball-end
How long, E-string tuning post to ball-end? Just so we know the stickler-upper limit (longest one can fit without having the untapered part on the post), as well.
If it helps at all, I just put a set of short scale EB Slinkys on my Newport. Fit like a glove.
34.5 for E and G strings, 37 for A and D strings...ball-end to center of tuner peg!
Perfect, thank you. That means some short scale sets fit, and most medium-scale ones do too (GHS, Rotosound mediums and Thomastik-Infeld "short"ies - 35.5" ball to taper - will have about an inch of full diameter on the post).
I’ve been enjoying my SG so much, I had to get it a friend…
