Both sold - Eastman T58/v and Eastman T64/v

Hattigol

DB1 said:

I know, I know. It's such a nice guitar. Purely a financial decision, although I may have to offer my body to strangers instead.

On an unrelated matter, do you know how many 50 pence pieces the banks will accept in one go?

The bank will also give you plenty of 10p and 20p coins so you have the necessary change 

Or are you selling in blocks of five?

DB1

Either that or an hour's worth - whichever's quickest. 

I don't quite know how this went off the rails. Hang on -  it was me.

DB1

A final pre-weekend bump for the T64/v. Surprised that it hasn't gone, although I've had seven trade offers so far. If nobody fancies this, I'll withdraw it from the forum as probably anyone that needs to see it will have done. Plus the fact that I've started playing it again and, well, you know the rest. It's ace.

So - a bit of a tentative listing for the T58/v. It's quite a rare thing to find in the used market. It's a splendid guitar, and obviously Eastmans version of a Gretsch 6120. It's more than that though - the feel and sound of it reminds me of a 40's/50's Gibson archtop, particularly in the neck position. The neck is the closest to my old 1948 ES-300 and you'd swear that it's a vintage Gibson just by holding it and playing it. Of course, it will do the Gretsch thing as well. The craftsmanship is excellent.

The ageing is ace. Well, I think so anyway. It looks like a well-played guitar from the 1960's. I prefer this guitar to almost every Gretsch that I've had, but like Al said in Godfather III, 'just when I thought I was out, they pull me back in' - I fancy another Gretsch sometime. I've also got plenty of things that I can use the cash for at the moment.

Here's what Eastman say: https://www.eastmanguitars.com/t58_v

The neck's maybe a tad chunky for me, but not enough for  it to be unwieldy. If you've got tiny trotters it might not be for you, but if you like the feel of a 59 type neck, well, I think you'll like this one. I've got lots more pics if you're interested. Actually, even if you're not interested, I've still got lots of pics. Price? Well, there was one at Coda for £1599 a few weeks ago which went in a couple of hours, so £1499 to the forum sounds reasonable. Well, at least to me it does. I've spent a goodly amount of money getting a couple of high spots on the frets levelled and had it professionally fret dressed so it's really well set up and easily playable, with the ebony fretboard feeling great in your palm. Missus.

Happy to meet up, deliver, etc - the seedier the better of course, with no reasonable dogging area request or public convenience turned down, naturally. Well, maybe not that natural.

 

AlexO

Love the Eastman T58v. 

Everyone I’ve played has been killer. The wear makes them feel and play like a Gretsch custom shop for me 

DB1

Thanks Alex, that's a really helpful post. It seems a bit 'optimistic', as a seller, to claim that it bears a resemblance to the custom shop Gretsches (so I didn't!), but yes, I can see that, having had just the one Gretsch custom shop offering, to be fair.

It really does feel 'worn in' (as opposed to 'worn out') and the way that Eastman age some of their guitars, including this, is excellent IMO.

My mind goes to the feel of 1940's/1950's Gibson archtops with this one - every time I pick it up, I find myself wondering how they managed to give the neck the feel that they do. 

prudd

That T58 is a lovely thing sir, I also love the telephone in pic 3, took me back to the good old days when you had to be tethered to a BT point for a chat. In the street I grew up in the 60's we were the 1st and only house to have a telephone, needless to say we were very popular with our neighbours

DB1

Thank you @prudd - I'm in Stafford, so that's still the main telephone for the street, although the neighbours seem reluctant to come round. Can't think why.

DB1

T64v withdrawn - made the mistake of playing it for a few hours - T58v still available but I'm off to play that as well. 

dazzajl

Holy smokes Man!! That thing absolutely looks like it could out Gretsch a Gretsch. 

DB1

Thanks @dazzajl - I might as well put some more flesh on the bones, as they say.

First the T64/v - there's always a lot of comments about how good the T64/v's are, and the comments are correct. I have a fair bit of experience with ES-330s and I prefer the T64/v, all in all. Just my preference - and I'm a Gibson fanboy really. I had about eight trade offers on here, but no cash takers, which is fair enough. It's advertised at £250 or so  cheaper than other T64/v's that I can see on Reverb, eBay, Facebook, Gumtree and the like.  If I sold it, I'll probably only end up getting another one and will be paying more than £1050 for it! They really are a bargain, particularly used. I changed strings to my usual 10-46 Ernies last night and it felt and sounded great, so that was that, I decided to take it off the forum. There's a potential Facebook sale at £100 more, but we'll see.

The T58/v - well, I think you can have a Grestch 6120 and a T58/v and still not feel as if you've duplicated.  It's got - as @AlexO said - that custom shop vibe to it, the workmanship is excellent,and it feels genuinely vintage. It doesn't twang quite like a Gretsch (well, not at my 0.25 of a watt) but that may be down to the carved top - I dunno.

It's certainly got the Gretsch feel and sound to it, but it's also reminiscent of a 40's/50's Gibson archtop. It will do blues, it will do jazz, it will do rock and roll of course, but is more versatile than that, and although the nut width appears to be 43mm, it feels more spacious than that - it's got a pretty chunky neck ( a '59 feel) and is great for my hamfisted fingers. The ebony fretboard looks and feels classy and if you want to do the Scotty Moore stuff, well, it's easy. If you want to do big jazz chords, it's easy. If you want to do the cowboy chords, then it's easy - it's not cramped at all. I've just it through a Jr Barnyard pedal and got a very Chuck Berry sound.

So, why do I want to sell it? I don't, although I do fancy another Gretsch and I can't really afford both, as I'm just paying for a website to be developed and I appear to have maybe bought a J-45 accidentally.

It sounded great (absolutely huge!) through that Super Reverb that you bought @dazzajl ;;; and the funds from that and the Epiphone that I sold last week have alleviated the cash thing a fair bit, so if anyone from the forum wants it, that's OK, but I'm also doing a string change and a set up later today, so, you know.....  

Couple of videos - the first one is a 6120 v T58/v comparison and the second is a Guitarist review.

dazzajl

The demos are really useful. Especially to those familiar with the 6120. A lot of common ground but definitely from different backgrounds as you say and the Eastman is much more a Gibson style big bodied jazzer at heart isn’t it. Bloomin glorious sounding thing 

DB1

Yeah, I think if you had a Venn diagram with the circle to the left being a Gretsch 6120 and a circle to the right being a Gibson ES-350, then the Eastman would be sitting in the middle. Or something like that!

dazzajl

Indeed, I quite agree, a most studious observation sir. 

*keeps quiet that I had to look up the 350*

DB1

https://www.thefretboard.co.uk/discussion/230257/sold-1953-gibson-es-350-p90s-original-case-bigsby/p1

DB1

Bump for the T58/v (more pics available if you like) and the T64/v is available again because I've seen something shiny and I'm more weak-willed than a labrador at a Greggs open day.

razorbill

A pair of great guitars. T58/vs pretty much never come up secondhand! Tried a T64/v and it was feather light, a really comfortable guitar to play on the couch etc.

Surprised that these are still here (and seriously tempted!) 

DB1

Thanks! They're a rare beast on the used (and new) market. I thought I'd sold the T64/v three times and have had eight or so trade offers. A couple of trade suggestion on the T58/v but nothing too exciting so far!

I'm either after a straight sale or open to a Gretsch, which is again a bit strange. I like the T58/v more than just about every other Gretsch that I've had (I think due to it's Gibsonesque vintage archop type of vibe), but damn, I fancy another Gretsch. I'm such a clown.

DB1

Well, today is the fourth time that I thought I'd sold the T64/v but haven't. This time a chap that was going to buy it tomorrow has pulled out through health reasons, which is fair enough.

I'm relieved in a way - in case the naked photos that I'd been sending via WhatsApp might have been the cause for the changes of mind.

Bump for the T58/v as well although I'm wavering on this one.

If they're not selling for money, I might entertain trades as long as they're Fendery, Gibsony or Gretschy.

rlw

PM sent

Teyeplayer

Fendery trade offer still stands if it tempts fine sir.