NGD: Eastman archtop

TINMAN82

AR503CE delivered yesterday. Paused for a bit before ordering due to the colour (my original preference sunburst seems difficult to source) but Richards photos won me over! Setup fantastic after a 1/4 turn truss rod tweak. 

Very impressed with build quality. Lovely woods (masking that figure with dark sunburst would seem sacrilegious). Seth Lover pickup, hardcase, nitro...what’s not to like. Sounds great acoustically and plugged in. Suspect this won’t be my last Eastman....

Photos courtesy of Richards Guitars with some of my own at the bottom. Should also point out excellent comms and service from the team.

DB1

Lovely, lovely, lovely. I really like these Eastman archtops.

Cirrus

Beautiful!

Any plan to record clips?

TINMAN82

Cirrus said:

Beautiful!

Any plan to record clips?

Don’t have a recording mic (apart from
my iPhone) but I guess I could do a direct recording from the Amp/ pickup.

merciful-evans

....oooohh my!

dazzajl

Absolutely gorgeous and ordering from Richard can be a whole interesting experience in itself. 

danishbacon

Very cool! Happy new guitar day didn't realise they made solid carved tops at this pricepoint, seems like a lot of guitar for the money

TINMAN82

danishbacon said:

Very cool! Happy new guitar day didn't realise they made solid carved tops at this pricepoint, seems like a lot of guitar for the money

Yes and that’s with regular price rises, I understand it was possible to find this model at £1000 quite recently (pre upgrade to Seth Lover pickup). Don’t think Western relations with China have helped the price. It’s probably better finished than an ES335 figured I owned recently. 

dazzajl said:

Absolutely gorgeous and ordering from Richard can be a whole interesting experience in itself. 

Didn’t deal with him at all, his staff were extremely helpful though. Apparently he still playchecks and packs every guitar himself...find that hard to fathom given how busy he must be. My only comment would be I think the website could be clearer on what’s actually in stock. Great photos though, I was lucky this was available.

Winny_Pooh

Awesome

TINMAN82

Im gonna give another shout out to Eastman here after playing this for several days (and pouring over the build quality in more detail).

Its an incredible guitar. Build quality is faultless. Wood selection (quartersawn solid top with nice figuring, dark ebony) is perfect. Nicely done nitro finish that isn’t sticky and will age with character.

Great acoustic tone, even when mellowed significantly by the D’addario chromes (flat wound) I’ve put on. 

Absolutely love it, worth every penny. Very tempted to look at a t386 now...

duotone

Beautiful guitar, I prefer this to the sunburst finish version tbh. 

Andy79

Stunning. I too love that colour 

Fuengi

Something about Eastman guitars that often just seem 'right', and this looks no exception. 

Looks a be a joy to play! 

TINMAN82

Yeah I’ve signed up to their Facebook page and have to say (although it’s not number 1 priority) I think they are among the most aesthetically pleasing guitars around. There was a stunning gold burst t64/v on tfb classifieds recently, had I not just bought this I would’ve been tempted.

UnclePsychosis

Thats lovely, and that finish is much nicer than stinky old sunburst. 

TINMAN82

UnclePsychosis said:

Thats lovely, and that finish is much nicer than stinky old sunburst. 

Thanks. Yeah it’s grown on me, certainly wouldn’t swap it. 

My strat and Les Paul are both dark sunbursts so this stands out. Think sunburst looks great on Gibson style semi hollow/hollow body guitars and if I get a t386 to compliment this it’d prob be sunburst too. The Gibson preference is likely just conditioning though! Eastman have a vibe of their own.

Jez6345789

Killer

Play Misty for me  

ha ha

Joking aside amazing value for a carved quality arch top

hoops

Beautiful. Love it!!

Jalapeno

Lovely, good swag ! 

joeW

I love the colour - the grain gives you something to stare at during lengthy bass solos ... the lack of inlays looks great too.  

LastMantra

Need a few more nails in that fence post 

Lovely looking guitar though!