Side Bending Adventures

We've been working on the first few Porter prototype acoustics and preparation for #0005, which will be our first acoustic model. We've got a fair amount of the needed tools and have been working on bending the sides with our side bender. We've had a few issues with the first couple sides, but are close to figuring out everything. The most recent side bent fine, and we have a small amount of adjustments to make it just right. We'll have a blog on the next acoustic update soon.

Busy Month, and some cool announcements

Be sure to sign up for the newsletter on The Porter Guitars Website. We have some cool announcements that will come first in the newsletter. We've been working on some things I think you will really like, but newsletter subscribers hear about them first, so sign up! We'll also have discounts on all Porter Pickups as part of the official release of the single coils.

We're also planning things like the release of Porterpickups.com as it's own site as well as the release of the pictures from the first photo shoot of #0001. There's a lot for us to get done this month and a lot of new and exciting things for you.

The neck for #0002 is in the spray booth right now, and we're starting the lacquer process for it. We're shooting for a mid august completion of #0002, so stay tuned!

#0001 Getting Closer

I spent this last few days buffing the neck and working on the fretting for #0001. It's getting closer, and we hope to have some completed pics up soon. We're exited to get the first Porter Guitar out the door and continue the growth of the business.

We'll have a full blog about #0001 once it's done. Keep checking back for more information.

Single Coil Video Shoot Update

Last night's single coil video shoot went well. We'll be editing the video and uploading it on youtube within a few weeks. You'll be able to see the killer tone of the Porter Single Coils, and their versatility with different styles of music. We've got a great player laying down some sweet licks that we think you will like and also give you an idea of what to expect from these pickups.

Look for the big launch of the single coils sometime in mid august. We'll have the new video out, the new Porterpickups.com website and some killer deals on the single coils, as well as a deal on our humbuckers.

Stay tuned!

Single Coil Video Shoot

Just a quick heads up, we are going to shoot a single coil video tonight to demo the new Porter Single Coils. We hope to have it up on youtube within a few weeks. The single coil release date is going to be within the next month or so, and probably timed with the release of the video. We'll also offer a discount for the first month on individual and set purchases through our website.

Make sure you sign up up for the email list for the specific announcement of the single coil release date. Sign up here

Hear Porter Pickups in Action

A Memphis Guitar Player just got a custom amp made for him, and it demoing it with a Porter Classic Humbucker in his Gibson Sg. Check it out!

Single Coil Pickup Development

I thought i'd give an update on the single coil development. Things are moving along pretty well at this point. I made the first prototype this week, and had a tone conscious friend put the single coil in his strat and play it. It sounded great! He loved it, and I got to hear it played with some different styles and nice distortion and clean. I spent some time jamming with it and it's been great so far.

The plan is to wind a few more demo sets and send them to some players to make sure we're good to go. I'm hoping to offer the single coils for sale on the website as things progress a little further. We're also planing a video shoot for youtube to feature the Porter Single coil in action. Look for that sometime late this month or a few weeks into august. I think you'll like what you hear.

In addition to that, we have to get the model names and the plan is to release one or two models initially. Early price estimates are around $55 per single coil. We'll send out an announcement about the release on our nestletter. Don't forget to sign up for it at The Website

Side Bender is Here

I've slowly been collecting the jigs and tools needed to get the acoustics started. I just got the side bender in last week, and hope to start bending some wood in the next week or so. I'll probably put up a blog on the bending process as well.

This side bender is a great way to bend the sides of an acoustic guitar. Traditionally, it was by a heated pipe. I've tried this method a few times, and had ok results, but decided this method would be the best. The side bender is a jig that clamps the wood down to a form that is half the shape of your guitar. It has a waist clamp, and other clamps held by springs to help the bending. The heat for the bend is provided by a very thin silicone blanket which heats the sides, while two metal slats are surrounding the blanket and the sides to hold in the heat. Once we get the sides ready, i'll have a blog about bending the wood.

Thoughts on Rosewood

Many Builders use indian rosewood for retboards and sometimes necks on guitars. All of the Porter Guitars have an option of an Indian Rosewood fretboard on any of our models. There are several types of Rosewoods out there with the most popular being Brazilian and Indian. Brazilian Rosewood is getting incresingly hard to get due to bans on tree harvests in Brazil. Many Brazilian rosewood acoustic sets are going for $1,000+ and are cut from stumps of old trees. Trees can only be harvested is the "Fall Down" as a result of weather. Who knows how many weather actually takes down. Brazilian is known as the "Holy Grail" of tonewoods.

Another type of rosewood is Bolivian Rosewood. It's also known as Pao Ferro. It's been used quite a bit on guitars for both fretboards and the back and sides of acoustics. Tonally it's said to be somewhere in between Indian Rosewood and Maple, and it's actually heavier than Indian Rosewood.

Here's a shot of the color comparisons between Bolivian Rosewood and Indian Rosewood. Bolivian Rosewood is on the Left.

New Porter Pickups Logo

Not much change from the old one, just a bit better resolution and the website added. We'll have a few other alternate logos as well, that we'll put up soon.

Newest Porter Pickup Reviews

We've had quite a few Porter Pickup reviews come in over the last few weeks. We're excited to hear the feedback from our hand wound pickups, and people have been very happy with our custom windings. Here's a few of the latest reviews along with the model name. More reviews can be read Here

Nickname: CC (Millington, TN)

Pickup Model: Porter Classic Humbucker

Position: Neck

Comments: "I installed the pickup in a customized Telecaster matched with a Seymour Duncan Little '59 and WHOO... The tone was AMAZING! It cuts through the mix perfectly and with the simple turn of the Tone knob you can get any sound you want out of it. I love my new Porter Pickup and can't wait to get another! If you don't have one i recommend getting one!"

Nickname: ACI (Memphis, TN)

Pickup Model: Porter Classic Humbucker

Position: Neck

Comments: Just installed this pickup and have fallen in love! This pickup has managed as to catch the warm vintage but with add modern accents. I can't wait to get a second pickup for the bridge! I put it in my Gibson SG running through a Fender Bassman blackface. GREAT TONE!!!