- Feb 16, 2008
- 21,240
- 23,636
- Disclosures
- John K Custom Basses
i always loved the Epiphone Newport basses but being that they were pretty rare, and playing long scale basses 90% of the time in the past (i started playing bass in 1967), i never actually bought one. fast forward to about a year ago, i started playing my short scale basses, almost exclusively, 99% of the time. i just like how easy they are to get around on and like their more fundamental, and punchy tone. I currently own 34 basses, 20 of which are long scale (34"), 1 meduim scale (32") and 13 short scales (30").
So, when i saw that Eastwood made a Newport and found one at a really good price, i bought it. I loved the look of it, but already new that the single mudbucker probably wouldn't give me the versatility of tones that i was looking for. When it arrived i was pleased that it was pretty light at 7 lbs 9 oz and the neck was perfectly straight. The mudbucker is of the later 1.2K DC resistance variety which has better top end than the early 29.7K originals from the the 64-72 year variety. It sounded pretty close to a modern Gibson SG bass using only the neck pickup but with a little less output. it wasn't all that muddy but was kinda scooped sounding and lacked midrange punch, so that gave me the idea to mod the bass.
i removed the mudbucker and installed two T-Bird pickups with Hofner cavern type spacing (since i rarely use the bridge pickup tone) and wanted more of a P bass tone available out of it. i located the middle pickup where there were no harmonics so that the harmonics played at the 4th, 5th and 7th frets could be heard clearly. i also installed two 500K audio CTS pots (volume and tone), a 3 way rotary pickup selector switch (since i prefer a master volume), an NOS Cornell Dublier .047 cap, and a switchcraft output jack. I also made a new parchment pickguard that was shaped more true to an original newport bass, & finally adding three USA Gibson knobs. when i plugged it in with the new arrangement at home for testing, i noticed a huge improvement in it's tone so i installed a set of Daddario chomes on it to finish the transition. it actually lost 2 oz so it weighs 7lbs 7 oz now and will weigh a bit less (about 2-3 oz) when the hipshot mini clover leaf heads that i purchased arrive.
anyway, i used it on it's maiden gig last night and immediately fell in love with it, so it's now going to be the bass that i take to every gig for the forseeable future.
now for the pics:
original:
after the mod:
So, when i saw that Eastwood made a Newport and found one at a really good price, i bought it. I loved the look of it, but already new that the single mudbucker probably wouldn't give me the versatility of tones that i was looking for. When it arrived i was pleased that it was pretty light at 7 lbs 9 oz and the neck was perfectly straight. The mudbucker is of the later 1.2K DC resistance variety which has better top end than the early 29.7K originals from the the 64-72 year variety. It sounded pretty close to a modern Gibson SG bass using only the neck pickup but with a little less output. it wasn't all that muddy but was kinda scooped sounding and lacked midrange punch, so that gave me the idea to mod the bass.
i removed the mudbucker and installed two T-Bird pickups with Hofner cavern type spacing (since i rarely use the bridge pickup tone) and wanted more of a P bass tone available out of it. i located the middle pickup where there were no harmonics so that the harmonics played at the 4th, 5th and 7th frets could be heard clearly. i also installed two 500K audio CTS pots (volume and tone), a 3 way rotary pickup selector switch (since i prefer a master volume), an NOS Cornell Dublier .047 cap, and a switchcraft output jack. I also made a new parchment pickguard that was shaped more true to an original newport bass, & finally adding three USA Gibson knobs. when i plugged it in with the new arrangement at home for testing, i noticed a huge improvement in it's tone so i installed a set of Daddario chomes on it to finish the transition. it actually lost 2 oz so it weighs 7lbs 7 oz now and will weigh a bit less (about 2-3 oz) when the hipshot mini clover leaf heads that i purchased arrive.
anyway, i used it on it's maiden gig last night and immediately fell in love with it, so it's now going to be the bass that i take to every gig for the forseeable future.
now for the pics:
original:
after the mod:
actually always thought the classic batwing headstock was a little too slim like a Gotham City Telecaster or something. But different strokes for different folks!
