Oft told story: I decided to take the semi-hollow plunge 3 years ago, and took my own advice and drove to my nearest big town (Columbus, OH - 3 hours, one way) and play everything I could find on a single day. $1000 budget. Went to 5 stores and played maybe 15-20 guitars - Epi, Ibanez, Hagstrom, Schecter, and Eastman.
The T386 was one of only 2 out of that bunch that I just couldn't stop playing (the other was a beat, but excellent Epi Sheraton that was on 30 day hold at GC). The necks are different enough to make this a worthy exercise. Nitro finish, bone nut, perfect fretwork, nice hard case, out the door for $750 (+tax) brand new. 3 years later, I'm still in love.
(I did change the pickups while chasing a spiky upper midrange thing that I never heard in the store, which turned out to be the cheap speakers in my no-name 2x12. A WGS Vet 30/Reaper combo fixed that.) I've since had a chance to A/B with our worship leader's recently purchased ES 335 Studio. The Studio sounds great, but I don't care for the neck (too skinny).
I've got a couple Eastman archtops that say they were made in Clarksburg, Maryland. As both have very low serial numbers, I was kinda hoping. Eastwood Guitars is a Canadian company founded by Michael Robinson which primarily manufactures vintage-style electric guitars.It has no connection with Brian Eastwood Guitars, a respected British guitar maker since the 1970s.
He wouldn't want to trade, but neither would I. Anybody got a set of nickel covers that fit Duncans?
Click to expand.Ouch! I get them in the shop all the time. They are consistently well made guitars. They are most definitely NOT an over-priced Epiphone.
The one area that always is a problem with many guitars that try to compete with the big boys is the fretting. It's pretty clear to me that nobody is doing a final fret levelling at the factory. They just assume that when the frets go in on a freshly radiused neck that there will be no problems. It never works out that way, unfortunately. They are in the same price point as a lot of other very well made guitars from Korea and Japan and even the lower end Gibson guitars. It would be hard to find an archtop of the same quality for anywhere near the price of an Eastman though.
Their mandolins are also quite excellent. Again, in general, they are just a thorough setup away from top class. I've owned three Eastmans, and currently have two. I had a T-186 for a long time that I liked quite a bit. Great fit/finish, and sounded great. I always found the neck to be a bit wide/thin for my tastes, but I dealt with it.
Unfortunately, a left wrist injury a couple years back made the guitar really uncomfortable to play, so I sold it. Also, for whatever reason, everytime I looked in that guitar's general direction, I put another ding in the finish. It was super thin. I've had an OM style acoustic of theirs for about 7 years now, also.
It sounds better than it has a right to. Mahogany/spruce, all solid woods. It's really nice, and in the ballpark of much more expensive acoustics I've played. I think I got it for around $500. Lastly, I just took delivery on a used 00 parlor size guitar yesterday.
I had a couple hours to fiddle on it last night, and early results are positive. Same fit/finish that the other Eastmans I've owned had, and it has a sweet, mellow tone that will be great for playing around the house, and on recordings. All of the other guitars I own are much more expensive (Kauer, Grosh, Collings, etc.), but the Eastmans hold their own- I don't feel like I'm taking a step down when I pick up one of my Eastmans. Eastman makes excellent instruments. I have an acoustic archtop and an acoustic/electric archtop, as part of a more extensive and diverse arsenal. I have owned an Eastman mandolin and have played at least a dozen flat top acoustics of various dimensions.
While they do have a look, feel and sound all their own, they are definitely swimming in the same pool as the well established 'usual suspects'. Their higher end acoustic and electric instruments compete very well with all but the highest level Gibson, Martin etc. In fit, finish, playability and tone, imo. They are at least excellent values, for sure. Their mid level instruments are undoubtedly among the best values in guitars and mandolins today. Go play some and decide for yourself. If you're into acoustics, try something like an Eastman OM or D vs.
A similar standard Martin 18 or 28 with a blindfold on, and see which you consider the better guitar. I've done that exact experiment with a few players and the results are pretty interesting. I know of at least one 'high end' acoustic and electric shop that tried carrying Eastmans, sold what they had very quickly, and never re-ordered. I have observed to a few musical friends that if I had started down my road of acquisition when Eastman was around, my collection of headstocks, and my cash flow, would likely be very different indeed.
I've seen a few with issues, one 175 style with a bad neck angle and an HD28 style with a neck hump at the joint (frets had been leveled down pretty low at that spot). Add to that the 335 style just isn't enough of a 335 for me. But, if you pay enough attention you'll see these issues across the board despite what fanboys say for any manufacturer. Those 175 types and the dread type guitars just sound fantastic on top of being built with informed decision making.
The dread I played with the neck hump had projection that was clearly a cut above and the 175 felt more like a 50's gibson than a modern (non reissue) 175. Yeah, they're worth every dollar even though they're not priced like lesser imports. But, if you're really going for the Gibson thing an old burny, other proper lawsuit, or a good edwards might be better. For the Martin thing I have yet to run into a better bang for the buck. Oh, and I wish they'd make a few more inspired models, like an orange hollow with a bigsby/tvjones, burn a horse shoe into the lower bout, for under a grand I'd buy it in a heartbeat, probably outclass terada. Oft told story: I decided to take the semi-hollow plunge 3 years ago, and took my own advice and drove to my nearest big town (Columbus, OH - 3 hours, one way) and play everything I could find on a single day.
$1000 budget. Went to 5 stores and played maybe 15-20 guitars - Epi, Ibanez, Hagstrom, Schecter, and Eastman. The T386 was one of only 2 out of that bunch that I just couldn't stop playing (the other was a beat, but excellent Epi Sheraton that was on 30 day hold at GC). The necks are different enough to make this a worthy exercise. Nitro finish, bone nut, perfect fretwork, nice hard case, out the door for $750 (+tax) brand new. 3 years later, I'm still in love.
(I did change the pickups while chasing a spiky upper midrange thing that I never heard in the store, which turned out to be the cheap speakers in my no-name 2x12. A WGS Vet 30/Reaper combo fixed that.) I've since had a chance to A/B with our worship leader's recently purchased ES 335 Studio. The Studio sounds great, but I don't care for the neck (too skinny). He wouldn't want to trade, but neither would I.
Anybody got a set of nickel covers that fit Duncans? I'm very happy with the two used acoustics I picked up. One is an OM and the other is a AC722CE (think I got that right).I paid $1,000. I met the guy to try the 722 at a GC acoustic room.
It was a factory warranty replacement that the guy had gotten a year before and he basically did not use it so it was like new with year old strings. It comes with the Schertler Lydia Bluestick EQ undersaddle system. New ones go for like $1,400 or more. The guy pulled a comparable Taylor off the wall (same scale length, single cutaway, similar size and woods and on board electronics).
The Taylor was much more ornate and beautiful and it was $3,500. Believe it or not though, the Eastman just blew the Taylor away tone wise when we compared them unplugged. I was shocked, maybe the Taylor had old strings, I don't know. We also pulled a very expensive Gibson acoustic off the wall and it was worse than the Taylor. I had been searching for a new acoustic and each of the Gibsons I tried (granted only a few) at two stores where just not impressive at all.and super expensive.no low cost models. Not a scientific test so FWIW etc etc.
And I am a Gibson fan, I have quite a few of their electrics. So for like $1,700 I wound up with a nice OM (OM 20.Adi Top and RW back and sides) and the 722CE also with an Adi top and RW.
Where are Eastman Mandolins made? February 16, 2017 Eastman Mandolins are made in China.
Beijing, to be more specific. What sets Eastman Mandolins apart from many others is that Eastman handcrafts these mandolins in their own shop and the makers have proven quite skilled. Eastman was founded in 1992 and began as a violin company.
This experience translated directly to the mandolins as much of the hand carving and graduating uses the same techniques. In the USA Eastman has risen to top of the import models and is regularly recommended by experienced players. Most Chinese made mandolins are made at third party factories. While these are not always bad instruments, they simply do not stack up to Eastman Mandolin quality.
Folkmusician is one of the top Eastman Mandolin dealers in the world. We are happy to answer any questions you may have. You can view the line here. Robert Fear March 27, 2018 Keith, Eastman is open to doing limited customization of the mandolin.
If it is an option that is already available on a different model, that should be doable. Keep in mind, that this is not something Eastman is setup for and they are only doing it as a favor. Now for the bad news We have done custom ordered Eastman’s in the past. The average wait time is about 12 months. There would be no updates during that time, so we would have no idea where it stood in the process. For this reason, we typically don’t take custom orders.
Customers tend to get upset when they do not have any for of ETA or update until the mandolin arrives.