Although unavailable for many years, the late Ted Newman’s unique solidbody – originally conceived for Keith Richards back in the ’70s – has made quite a return since the introduction of the 5 String in 2024, the first of an ongoing series of limited-edition models made in the UK under the stewardship of the Cream T Custom Shop.
Along with that guitar, there’s been the single-pickup Honeycomb Junior GT-40, the dual-pickup Honeycomb Senior (both with either Guitar-X swappable or fixed-pickup options), and towards the end of 2025 this Torn and Frayed addition, “a limited edition run of guitars designed to celebrate the history of Newman Guitars and Cream T Pickups”.
It’s offered in artfully and heavily aged nitrocellulose Butterscotch Blonde (as pictured), Black, Cherry Burst and Vintage White.
The Newman design centres around the offset single‑cutaway slab body, which – under the worn paint here – is solid obeche, contributing to its light weight of 2.58kg (5.68lb). With a comfortable asymmetric profile, the bolt-on neck has 24 frets and, with a shorter 629mm (24.75-inch) scale length, is topped off with that distinct and lightly back-angled six-a-side headstock.
There’s no Guitar-X pickup swapping here, though: the Cream T Banger & Mash humbucker mounts on the black scratchplate, the new Mint T single coil in the aged Gotoh T-style bridge plate. The controls obviously follow the Telecaster’s more modern configuration albeit with a pull-switch on the tone control to split the neck humbucker.
Rolling Stones fans will know the origin of the name, and there’s more than a whiff of Keef’s fabled old Telecasters about the style, enhanced by pretty big frets suggesting an earlier refret. But it’s a seriously practical design, not least strapped on, with good access to the upper frets, the comfort helped by the lightly rounded neck heel.
At the bridge the Mint T doesn’t sound over-wound, it’s bright and spanky and seems to suit some crunch where it comes across as raw and cutting, while the Banger & Mash almost sounds like it looks – a big Tele neck voice that has clarity with humbucker width that can be split to clean things up and drop back to a really classic mixed pickup combination. It’s not just the finish that looks old – the guitar sounds it, too.
Just like the song goes, its “coat is torn and frayed, it’s seen much better days. Just as long as the guitar plays, let it steal your heart away”.
- The Newman Torn and Frayed Edition is priced £3,299 (approx $4,495). For more details, see Aurora Guitar Works.
- This article first appeared in Guitarist. Subscribe and save.
