Epiphone Newport shortscale

[Bikeguy57]

Some people like to tinker, including me.

I agree. I like working on/building basses as much as playing them. I just think a 400 dollar Epiphone should be playable as purchased. I would expect this type of poor workmanship on one of those $75 Chinese copies, but apparently, they are pretty decent.

 

[covermego]

Yeah, I'm big into tinkering, too....... and I'm trying anything I can, right now, to get it to where it's relatively acceptable, without altering it. I'm just at the point where, if I take a fret rocker to it or a leveling beam and dress the frets then it's obviously the final answer and no option of returning it. I want soooo much to love this bass, but, as others have said, $400 is a fair amount of cash to shell out for a project. I'm kind of swaying towards returning it and waiting a while to see if a new, improved Newport comes out. I'm gut-wrenched.

 

[Old Blastard]

The Embassy was problematic in their first run. Better in those that followed. Maybe the Newport will
Follow suit

 

[covermego]

I certainly hope others are having good result with their Newport Basses, whether properly set- from the factory ( @johnk_10 @Pyrat , etc) or tweaked / altered / to your satisfaction ( @Drucocu @S.F.Sorrow , @LowEndLobster etc), but my SECOND one is NOT structurally sound. I have had to tweak it (truss rod adjust, then bridge height) several times and the string buzz is gone for a bit, then mysteriously returns. If this happens with a slight fluctuation of temperature....right here in my house, then I'm thinking real world exposure will render it useless.
So....my final answer? I sent it back this morning. Again, totally bummed. If only it was stable, structurally. I had a bridge, tuners and an Artec Mudbucker in my "cart" already. Ain't happening now. I'll wait for a while to buy one. Again, I really hope the ones out there are more stable than this one. I also hope someone (or two) will give progress reports after some time owning / playing them.

 

[Cave Puppy]

I certainly hope others are having good result with their Newport Basses, whether properly set- from the factory ( @johnk_10 @Pyrat , etc) or tweaked / altered / to your satisfaction ( @Drucocu @S.F.Sorrow , @LowEndLobster etc), but my SECOND one is NOT structurally sound. I have had to tweak it (truss rod adjust, then bridge height) several times and the string buzz is gone for a bit, then mysteriously returns. If this happens with a slight fluctuation of temperature....right here in my house, then I'm thinking real world exposure will render it useless.
So....my final answer? I sent it back this morning. Again, totally bummed. If only it was stable, structurally. I had a bridge, tuners and an Artec Mudbucker in my "cart" already. Ain't happening now. I'll wait for a while to buy one. Again, I really hope the ones out there are more stable than this one. I also hope someone (or two) will give progress reports after some time owning / playing them.

Shows how Epiphone is in it for the $ and doesn’t give a rip about customer satisfaction. The wood on those basses is probably young, still moist, and green on the inside. “Let’s see how many of these dogs we can sell to jump on the modern vintage short scale market trend.” They probably dialed in a certain amount of returns on their bottom line with this price point and quality. They know what they’re doing.

 

[covermego]

Shows how Epiphone is in it for the $ and doesn’t give a rip about customer satisfaction. The wood on those basses is probably young, still moist, and green on the inside. “Let’s see how many of these dogs we can sell to jump on the modern vintage short scale market trend.” They probably dialed in a certain amount of returns on their bottom line with this price point and quality. They know what they’re doing.

Well, I'm gonna "hide-n-watch" for a while. Hopefully they get their act together, since the bottom line for continued sales is something with decent quality. Yes, it kinda looks like they "jumped on the bandwagon" a bit too early. Time will tell, hopefully.

 

[johnk_10]

i've already gigged (and played it at band practices) with mine and here in southern utah it's very cold at the moment (30-35 degrees F). on the gig it was 70F in the room and mine has zero stability issues after adjusting the neck once to remove the front bow when i initially got it.
i love the bass.
PS: i wouldn't bother replacing the neck pickup-i already tried it with a 30.1K one that i had in my parts stash and it was way too muddy so i put the stock one back in it.

 

[covermego]

i've already gigged (and played it at band practices) with mine and here in southern utah it's very cold at the moment (30-35 degrees F). on the gig it was 70F in the room and mine has zero stability issues after adjusting the neck once to remove the front bow when i initially got it.
i love the bass.
PS: i wouldn't bother replacing the neck pickup-i already tried it with a 30.1K one that i had in my parts stash and it was way too muddy so i put the stock one back in it.

Wow, I'm sure glad it's working out well for you and your new bass! I'll be lurking in the background, hoping for someone to give a progress update, down the road a bit. And thanks for the comment on the pickup, too!

 

[DavidEdenAria]

i got my Newport bass yesterday from Sweetwater. all it really needed was a neck adjustment (it had too big of a front bow for me). i also prefer a wider nut spacing so i made a new one out of bone. i also adjusted the action (lower) and pickups more to my liking and flipped the phase on the treble pickup. it's mudbucker measures 12.1K (the same as my '73 EBO) and i think that it sounds pretty good. to me, it was a real bargain. and i can set the action super low on it. mine didn't have anywhere near the issues that some have mentioned on theirs in this thread. I'm running ernie ball cobalt flats on mine and i dig the way that it sounds with them.

i did notice a few things about it. mainly that the pole spacing on the neck pickup is a bit too narrow and didn't align very well with the strings. i had a mudbucker that measured 30.1K in my parts bin and strangely enough it had a bit wider string spacing that does align with the strings so i installed it in mine. it's quite a bit darker than the stock pickup but it does sound good and i'll probably leave it in it since it sounds better than the stock one when the pickup balance control is set in the center detent setting.

here's a pic of mine (before i swapped the neck pickup):

View attachment 4978004

Nice! Did you install a 60's mudbucker?

 

[John DaBass]

I did the rewire of the TB Pro Pup and the difference was amazing.

Not a great deal of difference when the bridge Pup is soloed but a much warmer fuller sound at the mid setting on the blend control. There was no suck out of volume or Mids.

I also fitted a set of Short Scale D'Addario XL Chromes Flats which only juuuust fitted and need the headend silks trimmed back not to hang over the nut.

I have a Gibson SG bass and I do feel that the V/V/T arrangement on that appears to offer better control than the V/Blend/T of the Newport.

I will probably wait to see & hear how Lowend Lobster's changes work out ( 3-way switch).

I read on here that a Guy there planned to replace the pots with 500K and wire V/V/T, seems a good plan but I will wait awhile until there's some reviews of the upgrades.

 

[YRPALJG]

Update:

It is 100% true that this bass has issues and I bought it with the thought going in that if I had to gut it and replace all electronics and rebuild the pickups, that'd be fine. I do this work professionally and have a fully stocked workshop so it's not at all a big deal and doesn't require a huge amount of time, experimentation, or hassle because of my life experience and acquired skills with this stuff. For the normal person who might expecting some kind of hidden gem on the cheap: this bass is - as many have experienced - a disappointment. For me personally, for $379.00, the build specs of the instrument were worth taking a chance on. Without the skills and knowledge however, absolutely 100% would send it back without hesitation.

I spoke of the bridge pickup pigtail output wire swap that solves the middle position Out Of Phase goof from the factory: exactly the thing to do and makes the bass sound much better in the middle! Solved.

I mentioned "issues" with the neck pickup in my last post and here's the problem: Ceramic 8 magnets, and top-loaded with them. To speak plainly about it, Ceramic 8 holds nearly x2 the magnetic energy as an Alnico 5 magnet and for those that have mentioned that the neck pickup is pulling at the strings causing buzzing and intonation problems; you're 100% correct. It's true and not some imagined mirage effect. With a standard humbucker build, this wouldn't be as much of an issue but since the C8 magnets are top-loaded (South polarity inward to the steel parts assembly, North facing upward and directly under the strings), I swapped the magnets out with a certain manufacturers Alnico 5 and what a huge, huge difference it made for the better. My neck pickup now has a similar output to the bridge pickup and balances nicely with more mids opened up and better treble extension while maintaining good thickness in the lows. All excessive string pull has been eliminated and it's so much more of a usable sound comparatively.

I tested the factory pots: 503k Volume, 496k Tone - both Alpha brand, and are just fine. Please DO feel free to replace the 250k Blend pot with a 500k here: ... Or, do what I did and go with top quality 500k across all three, V/V/T. Either way, it's an upgrade.

Let's talk about strings for a moment and how much the stock factory ones really suck! I replaced with a set of D'Addario Tapewound .105 - .050 Medium scale and they fit like a glove and get the sound I was going after but I'd love a bit more tension. A set of Rotosound 88s incoming.

Hope this is helpful.

 

[covermego]

Update:

It is 100% true that this bass has issues and I bought it with the thought going in that if I had to gut it and replace all electronics and rebuild the pickups, that'd be fine. I do this work professionally and have a fully stocked workshop so it's not at all a big deal and doesn't require a huge amount of time, experimentation, or hassle because of my life experience and acquired skills with this stuff. For the normal person who might expecting some kind of hidden gem on the cheap: this bass is - as many have experienced - a disappointment. For me personally, for $379.00, the build specs of the instrument were worth taking a chance on. Without the skills and knowledge however, absolutely 100% would send it back without hesitation.

I spoke of the bridge pickup pigtail output wire swap that solves the middle position Out Of Phase goof from the factory: exactly the thing to do and makes the bass sound much better in the middle! Solved.

I mentioned "issues" with the neck pickup in my last post and here's the problem: Ceramic 8 magnets, and top-loaded with them. To speak plainly about it, Ceramic 8 holds nearly x2 the magnetic energy as an Alnico 5 magnet and for those that have mentioned that the neck pickup is pulling at the strings causing buzzing and intonation problems; you're 100% correct. It's true and not some imagined mirage effect. With a standard humbucker build, this wouldn't be as much of an issue but since the C8 magnets are top-loaded (South polarity inward to the steel parts assembly, North facing upward and directly under the strings), I swapped the magnets out with a certain manufacturers Alnico 5 and what a huge, huge difference it made for the better. My neck pickup now has a similar output to the bridge pickup and balances nicely with more mids opened up and better treble extension while maintaining good thickness in the lows. All excessive string pull has been eliminated and it's so much more of a usable sound comparatively.

I tested the factory pots: 503k Volume, 496k Tone - both Alpha brand, and are just fine. Please DO feel free to replace the 250k Blend pot with a 500k here: ... Or, do what I did and go with top quality 500k across all three, V/V/T. Either way, it's an upgrade.

Let's talk about strings for a moment and how much the stock factory ones really suck! I replaced with a set of D'Addario Tapewound .105 - .050 Medium scale and they fit like a glove and get the sound I was going after but I'd love a bit more tension. A set of Rotosound 88s incoming.

Hope this is helpful.

Wow! Lotsa info here! Thanks for posting all of this. Well, even though I sent mine back (very unstable - always having to tweak it one way or another), I'm still in the "hide-n-watch" mode. As mentioned before, I absolutely love the feel and basic sound of this instrument. I'd have no problem doing a decent amount of upgrading/altering to get a nice sound. The neck pickup info is great; something to be a bit more compatible with the bridge PU. I am also not too crazy about the actual bridge, but a Hipshot would cure that.
And..... although I'm trying to get out of working on basses, I know I'm fooling myself, lol. Just too much fun.

 

[Cave Puppy]

Wow! Lotsa info here! Thanks for posting all of this. Well, even though I sent mine back (very unstable - always having to tweak it one way or another), I'm still in the "hide-n-watch" mode. As mentioned before, I absolutely love the feel and basic sound of this instrument. I'd have no problem doing a decent amount of upgrading/altering to get a nice sound. The neck pickup info is great; something to be a bit more compatible with the bridge PU. I am also not too crazy about the actual bridge, but a Hipshot would cure that.
And..... although I'm trying to get out of working on basses, I know I'm fooling myself, lol. Just too much fun.

You could get a higher quality kit for less money and do ALL the work on it.

 

[covermego]

You could get a higher quality kit for less money and do ALL the work on it.

I suppose so. Now all I have to do is find a Newport-ish Short Scale kit. Honestly I haven't looked, but I'd be tickled if there was a reasonable facsimile thereof . And now..... off on another rabbit trail I go!! Woot-Woot!!

 

[DavidEdenAria]

I suppose so. Now all I have to do is find a Newport-ish Short Scale kit. Honestly I haven't looked, but I'd be tickled if there was a reasonable facsimile thereof . And now..... off on another rabbit trail I go!! Woot-Woot!!

Odds are these modern Newports will show up used for $200 or less with these issues imo.

 

[covermego]

Odds are these modern Newports will show up used for $200 or less with these issues imo.

True. I'd be more comfortable altering a bass that was half the new cost and I'd not be too worried about screwing something up, lol.

 

[bradd]

I added a 1.5mm spacer between the top of the neck pickup and its cover, and that was enough to eliminate the chorus effect and the buzzing.

 

[John DaBass]

I added a 1.5mm spacer between the top of the neck pickup and its cover, and that was enough to eliminate the chorus effect and the buzzing.

Could you post a photo of the spacer and position under the Pup cover? Was the spacer metal or plastic?

 

[bradd]

It's put together now so no pics, but I used heavy card stock. The easiest way to do it would be to fit the stock to the inside of the cover and then cut holes for the screws. It will compress the foam underneath the pickup enough to stop the extra pull. It worked with mine, however YMMV.

 

[Drucocu]

Worth a try, thank you!

I just had it in rehearsal the first time today, it plays very good, afer playing my Serek for 5 years in a row. Definitely worth putting some time and effort in it.

It's put together now so no pics, but I used heavy card stock. The easiest way to do it would be to fit the stock to the inside of the cover and then cut holes for the screws. It will compress the foam underneath the pickup enough to stop the extra pull. It worked with mine, however YMMV.