Epiphone Newport Formerly Owned By Steely Dan's Walter Becker Model Electric Bass Guitar (1966), made in Kalamazoo, Michigan, serial # 570914, orange re- finish, mahogany body and neck, rosewood fingerboard, black tolex hard shell case.
This is a pretty eccentric example of one of Gibson's more obscure bass instruments from the 1960's, the Epiphone Newport. It belonged to Steely Dan's Walter Becker and was sold at the auction of his estate in 2019. Prior to Walter owning it this bass was non-professionally refinished in an approximation of one of the rarest 1960's Epiphone custom Colors: California Coral. We don't know if that's what attracted Walter to the bass, but it certainly has a flashier look than the standard cherry.
The Newport was the Epiphone-branded equivalent to the Gibson EB-0 with a short-scale mahogany neck and body and single "Mudbucker" humbucking pickup. This is a very different looking instrument from the SG-bodied EB's as by 1964 the Epiphone solid-body line had mutated into a more Fender-like asymmetrical double cutaway body with a single-sided headstock. By 1966 these were fitted with Japanese-made tuners, either due to a Kluson shortage or Gibson just economizing!
Epiphone basses were not considered a major part of the line and were made in much smaller quantities than their Gibson counterparts. This 1966 Newport is a fairly rare instrument compared to its Gibson EB-0 cousins, and for better or worse in this particular color this one is practically unique!
We don't know if Walter ever used this bass for much of anything, but he appeared to have had it for some time. Although he was primarily heard as a guitarist in later years he served as Steely Dan's bassist originally; perhaps he felt the yen for that essential Gibson thump now and then!
Since Walter's passing some years back we miss his visits to the shop, which usually lasted well into the evening. It was always fascinating to observe the care he took in selecting pieces, often spending hours experimenting to see how many different sounds he could draw from an instrument. The humble Newport is not really versatile at all but still must have appealed to him at some point! Otherwise the model has not seen a lot of celebrity users over the years; Marshall Grant played an unusual dark-finished example with Johnny Cash for much of the later 1960's and more recently Maya Ford of the Donnas used a 1960's Newport extensively. This is a very light, easy to handle, and powerful sounding bass with a unique look for sure.
Overall length is 44 1/2 in. (113 cm.), 13 in. (33 cm.) wide at lower bout, and 1 3/8 in. (3.5 cm.) deep. Scale length is 30 1/2 in. (775 mm.).
As noted this bass was refinished long ago; the faux "California Coral" livery looks good from a few paces away but up close is obviously not a professional job. It is quite thin anyway and evenly sprayed. The "Epiphone" headstock logo was masked off and sprayed around so remains original and the serial number is well preserved and clearly visible. There has not been a lot of wear since this was done anyway.
There is also evidence of an older heel repair under this finish, solidly done with a few pins or very thin dowels through the back into the neck tenon and sealed cracks to the body on either side of it. All is solid and the neck angle is actually pretty good for one of these. The hardware remains original, complete except the mute assembly and chrome handrest are missing. The pickguard has a couple of extra mounting screw holes drilled around the edges and some residue suggesting it was painted over at some point. The original frets show only light wear, the bridge is leaning forward on the posts as most of these do but the bass plays fine.
Pieces from Walter Becker's estate were floating around on the secondary market in the couple of years after the auction but are pretty thin on the ground now, this one just came back to us. The Steely Dan Studio storage markings are still on the layer aftermarket Japanese case, and the auction card and tags are included in the pocket. This is an oddball for sure, not exactly a Steely Dan classic but our old friend must have loved it at one time! Overall Very Good Condition.
