I recently bought an E6D-tc off of reverb that was advertised as mint: https://reverb.com/item/63120018-eastman...ini-pickup

It arrived Wednesday with a badly cracked bridge (see pics below--it goes all the way through from the top of the bridge to the soundboard).  After referencing the seller's reverb pics, it can be verified that the crack was there prior to shipping, and the seller agreed.  However, the seller is being defensive and refusing to take responsibility because he says the damage happened before he bought it and resold it to me.  Yes you read that correctly.  

I bent over backwards trying to be kind to the guy (even just preemptively chalking it up to an accidental overlook), but he's not reciprocating, and after refusing to pay for the repair or offer a partial refund, he's just being snarky and unhelpful.  It's such a disappointing situation.  I can't believe he's taking the attitude of "it's not my fault it's badly damaged, it was like that when i bought it from The Fret Shop" with regard to a guitar that he then advertised and resold as "mint."  When mistakes happen, you're supposed to own up to them and take responsibility; if you don't, it makes me wonder whether it was ever just an 'accidental mistake' in the first place.

So now I'm trying to do a return for a full refund.  I've already requested it, and the seller has already agreed to it, but my problem is this: where do I find the shipping label that the SELLER should be paying for?  All I see is an option for me to purchase a return shipping label through reverb.  But it's entirely the fault of the seller, so why would I purchase the shipping label?  Shouldn't he provide it?  And if so, where do I find it?  I had presumed one would be emailed to me or would be downloadable through my account.

If I'm the one being forced to pay for the return shipping label upfront, how will I be reimbursed?  I can't get that answer from reverb, because they don't have phone support and their chat support is an AI that doesn't understand what I'm asking.

Can someone here please help me out and educate me on this?

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Anyone know the the thickness at first fret on Eastman slope shoulder guitars? I have E1ssltd and no calipers. Just curious. thanks

Today I changed strings on my new to me E1SS. I changed out the old PB to some Martin Monel light (12-54), which happen to be the same as what is on my J-45.

After changing the strings I had a thought, "these two guitars would make a great comparison!" I also figured the EGF community might find my thoughts interesting.

But before we get to the actual comparison I need to lay out a few key specs.

SPECS:

My Gibson J45 is a standard from 2009 with a Sitka spruce top and mahogany b/s. It has literally thousands of hours of play time in it and is very broken in. Out of all the J45s I have played in shops this one seems to have it all. I frequently get compliments on how good it sounds.

The E1SS is an Adi top/sapele back and sides slope shoulder dread from 2019. The E1SS looks like it was barely played.

NECKS/PLAYABILITY:

Both guitars are set up with the same strings and low action. The Gibson has a 1.72in neck at the nut. The Eastman is 1.7 at the nut. The Gibson feels a little wider but a little thinner neck profile. The Eastman is slightly thinner at the nut but it has a little beefier neck profile. Both guitars are very easy to play and I like the feel of both necks.

TONE COMPARISON:

Again, since I had both guitars in front of me with the same strings I figured this would be a good opportunity to do a rect tone comparison.

After several minutes of strumming and picking I can confirm that both guitars sound very good. What surprised me was that their tones were closer than what I initially thought they might be. overall, the Gibson has a bit more clarity in the individual strings, but much to my surprise I prefer the sound of the E1SS a little better.

Here is why....

The Eastman has much more bass than the Gibson, and this J45 is exceptionally bassy. The E1SS is actually very bass heavy. When I plugged it in I had to EQ a lot of the bass out to get a balanced sound. I think the Adi top is what is adding all the bass. I am sure the open pore finish is helping all that time come through. Both guitars sound warm and dry, giving that thuddy classic gibson slope shoulder goodness to the tone.

CONCLUSION:

I am actually surprised at how much I like the tone of the Eastman in comparison to the Gibson. The Gibson is always in contention as being my favorite acoustic sound out of my whole collection, but now I might have a new winner.

I can't wait to hear how the Eastman sounds when it breaks in a few years down the road. Both are great but I am convinced that you don't need to buy a J45 to get that good slope shoulder Gibson tone.

To my ear the E1SS sounds more like my J45 than my E10D-TC sounds like my D18 standard.

The tones are not exactly the same, but they probably the closest I have seen between Eastman and the brand it was emulating. Both are great. Eastman is a better value. Pick one up if you get a chance.

Today my Eastman E1SS-CLA arrived via UPS. Right away I noticed that the cardboard box it was shipped took a little bit of damage. Also, the Reverb Seller basically just put the guitar in the gig bag and then in a cardboard box. There was essentially no packaging or padding around the guitar, which gave me lots of anxiety as I unzipped the gigbag and went in for the initial inspection.

As you guys probably already know, but if you are going to ship a guitar without a hard case, please make sure you spend extra time packing it well. I feel fortunate that the guitar arrived the way it did.

INSPECTION:

Upon inspection I didn't see any damage from shipping. I breathed a sigh of relief.

Upon more inspection I noticed a few small fit and finish issues where it looks like Eastman really rushed this model. My guitar had old strings, buzzing at the low E, and a lot of relief in the neck.

It looks like this guitar sat in a closet mostly unplayed for a few years. The guitar is in almost new condition with no fret or play wear.

SETUP:

Within about 20 minutes I had tightened the truss rod, put on new Martin 80-20 bronze lifespan 2.0 (12-54) and tuned her up. I put a small shim in the nut slot and got the buzz out of the low E.

I can't really fault Eastman for the setup since this is a used guitar. I think the only fault in it may be that the the first fret seems a bit high and the nut slot a little low. I can get these fixes worked out pretty easily though.

AESTHETICS:

The older I get the more I am enamored with the understated beautify of a sunburst. Something about the lines on a slope shoulder dread with a 30's fire stripe pickguard really speaks to me. I think my particular model sports a particularly beautiful burst.

Normally I would prefer a plain or sunburst top, but of the CLA that I have seen this one looks exceptionally good.

I'll let you be the judge. What do you think?


TONE:

My Initial impression of the tone is that it has a lot of strong fundamentals. The highs are bright and present, like a good Eastman should be. The mids are strong and snappy. The low mids seem a bit scooped, but the bass is very very strong and has the thuddy Gibson roundness.

The tone doesn't sound tight or muted. The guitar has an immediate attack and beautiful warmness. Overall it sounds like an enhanced J45 with more brightness and presence.

I am looking forward to hearing the guitar as the strings break in. I am also interested in trying some phosphor bronze and Martin Monel strings. I will give an update on those.

Oh, and this guitar is LOUD! The open pore and Adi top are a beautiful combination. It is louder and snapper than my J45, but the guitar still sounds pretty new.

Overall, the guitar still sounds a bit brighter, louder, and more present than my 13 year old J45. I think with time the E1SS may mellow out a bit.

NECK:

I was initially skeptical of the 1 1/16 neck because I almost always prefer 1 3/4in at the nut. However, I was surprised to find that the neck is very comfortable. Eastman uses a fairly round and deep D neck carve on these guitars. The neck feels almost identical to my J45 which is 1.72.

The neck measures 1.7 inches at the nut. This is probably why it feels a bit wider than some of my guitars with 1 11/16. Overall I am very happy with the neck shape and feel. It fits my hands well, and my hands don't cramp like they do on some 1 11/16 necks.

FIT and FINISH:

The overall fit and finish of the guitar is good, but not great. There is no glue around the joints or seams. Frets are polished and very smooth. The sunburst finish is very nice. My only complaint is there is some red wood dye/finish around the soundboard and rosette.

**Look at photo 1 to see the inconsistencies around the rosette. I have never seen this in an Eastman before. It looks like the red finish dye bled over the rosette lines.

My example kinda looks like it was finished in a hurry, but for an $800 guitar I can't really complain. All the major components are there.

HARDWARE and ELECTRONICS

Tuners are in good working order and they hold tune very well. They feel much better quality than my 2020 E2OM.

The Fishman electronics and battery add a bit of weight to the guitar. The undersaddle pickup doesn't sound great on its own, but given that I am running it through the LR Baggs Voiceprint DI (IR) technology, I am able to get a good sound through a large PA system. The LR Baggs VP DI blends a recording of your guitar with the sound of the pickup. This really eliminates the quacky piezo tone. I 100% recommend the LR Baggs Voiceprint DI. It's worth the investment.

I will most likely eventually take out the Fishman and upgrade it to an K&K Pure Mini. This will lighten up the guitar and improve the plugged in tone.

OVERALL:

Overall this guitar feels a lot like my E2OM Cedar, but with a lot more volume and clarity.

After my setup the guitar now plays well with low action. The saddle still has plenty of height so it can be lowered if need be in the future. The tone is bright, snappy, and clearly of the slope shoulder DNA. The guitar has plenty of volume, bass, clarity. Fit and Finish could be a tad better, but for a guitar that will get a lot of gig time, I could care less. The hardware works great and the pickup is useable.

The real value here is the build quality and tonewoods. This easily sounds like a $1500+ guitar, but I got this one for $600. The DNA is is basically an E10SS at half the price.

This was another home run for Eastman, and a guitar I think will get a lot play time by me.

If you can find one used and you like that Eastman slope shoulder tone then I would say go for it.

I give the guitar a score of 94 out of 100. For the price I don't think it can be beaten.

Just have to say this: my E10-SS is every bit as good as a custom shop Martin (with adi top & hog back & sides) I played. The quality is superb, the sound is rich and resonant. 

Regardless of price, the Eastman is top-of-the-line in quality, sound, and workmanship. 

Beautiful instrument!

Of course it cost WAY less than the $4K Martin, but that's just icing on the cake. Besides, I never could have afforded the Martin, but the Eastman was doable.

Hey all, I have an AC720, I bought about 10 years ago, love it but over the years I been scratchin away enough that I'm thinkin about a pickguard now. Questions, where to go and what size should I look for. Thanks for any help.

I have two Eastman flattops with rosewood back and sides and both are delightfully figured.

A thread about rosewood on the AGF made me think about what rosewood is used by Eastman. their website just say "rosewood" ...bit vague n'est ce pas?

Can anybody advise?

Hello friends, I have been off the forum for awhile but I am happy to announce that yesterday was a NGD for me.

While browsing Reveb last night I saw a mint Eastman E1SS limited CLA for sale for $700. Given the sky rocket prices these days I thought this would be a decent deal for a mint slope shoulder Adi topped dread.

So I decided to make an offer of $600 to the seller and just see what they said. To my surprise they accepted the offer and I am now the owner of the beautiful guitar.

I've gotten to play this model one time in a local shop and I wish I would have bought that one. It's thick warm tone has haunted me since then. But this week I will finally get the guitar I have wanted for several years.

I am currently waiting shipping. I will post about the guitar when it arrives.

Exc condition version of this model, a few light pickguard scratches. I’ve also swapped the original knobs with rosewood knobs (and still have originals). Comes with HSC.

• 16” bout
  
• Laminated body
  
• Rosewood fingerbaord
  
• 24.75” scale
  
• Kent Armstrong floating pickup
  

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My new Eastman E10ss. Added bone bridge pins and Gotoh SE700 tuners. Don’t know how Eastman does it with their mahogany, but it looks and sounds superb.

Don