Hi EGF members:  it is hard to believe it's been 3.5 years since the start of Eastman Guitar Fans.  It's been a fun experience and when I started the site initially as a side hobby I really had no idea if it was going to take off or not.  I'm thrilled that we have a great friendly community and has proven to be a resource for like minded Eastman fans.

In continuing EGF now and into the future, I've been considering options to support the forum.  Since launching in September 2017 I've been self funding webserver hosting and related expenses.  My aim is to make the forum future self sustaining and hope to offset expenses through a small ad, likely on the footer of the page.  I considered other options (tip jar, etc.) but think this is the easiest option and will ensure the ad isn't obtrusive to the experience.  I wanted to explain the rationale to the forum - thank you all for being part of the experience and making this a great acoustic guitar forum.

Tim

I'm happy to say I joined the Eastman family today.  Bought a beautiful E20P today, I think Lucky might be a good name for it.

I have been interested in procuring a smaller E20 series guitar for some time now.  I have a very minor part time job that I do to earn money for the purchase of guitars.  I had saved enough to buy an E20 the tail end of 2020, that was the easy part.  The hard part was finding an instrument to purchase.  I did a few quick online searches and couldn't find any available stock, so I contacted Eastman in December 2020 as to when the expected to have product available.  All they said is - sometime later 2021, contact a dealer and get on their waiting list.

So I started contacting dealers, probably 12 -15 from sea to shining sea.  Pretty much got the same response - we don't expect any product until June or July.  So I decided I will have to wait.  I did start to listen to alot of videos and decided that when the time comes, I was going to purchase an E20P (up until them I was also considering an E20OO).

I was up early this past Saturday and decided to take a look at Reverb to see if there might be any used instruments for sale.  What I did see was a new E20P, oddly enough it was at a dealer that was actually semi-local to me.  I got busy during the day, when I checked back on Reverb that evening, the posting had been pulled.  I checked the dealer's website Saturday evening, and they showed a total of 3 Eastman guitars in stock, one of them being the E20P.  They were already closed for the day, and closed on Sunday.  So I called them as soon as they opened today (Monday), and sure enough, they confirmed they had an E20P.

Told them I would be right over, and headed out.  When I got there they showed me the instrument, and it was love at first sight.  Everything I had hoped for - beautiful woods, played great, sounded even better.  So as I was reaching for my wallet, I thought to ask - Can you do any better on the price?
The extremely helpful salesperson says - I can do that.   

I got a much better price than I had ever expected seeing how scarce the supply is.  The CoA date was 3/11/21 so they only had it in the shop for a few days. 

My first Eastman, needless to say I am one happy camper.

I have been looking for a parlour for awhile now but could not find any I liked the sound of, they sounded thin and to bright.
I kept hearing great things about Eastman. This past Aug I was able to find a E10 OM Ltd. which I loved the sound of and have been enjoying.
Last week I found a E10 Parlour and I was able to rent it for a month. I am very surprised at now loud, deep and how it resonates.
I like the sound of Mahogany B/S.
So now I have to decide which to keep! I play only fingerstyle.
So what would you do?
Enjoying playing both for now.

Has anyone with a T184/5/6 replaced their stock bridge with something other than a Gotoh or TonePros model?

I tried to replace the stock bridge on my T185, because there wasn't enough travel to intonate the E and A, and the Gotohs make it nearly impossible to reverse saddles. The replacement I bought matches the supposed specs (74mm post spacing) of the original, but it wouldn't seat at the necessary height, because the posts were catching on the inside of the holes.

It turns out that the studs are drilled about 2° outwards from parallel, and the Gotoh bridge was fitting either because of how loose the machining tolerance was, or because the holes in the bridge had a slight conical bore.

Anyone know if they’re planning  on a making a 12 fret slotted headstock  dread in the future? TIA.

Hi - has anyone used the Martin Retro monel strings on an Eastman acoustic? I am soon to be getting an Eastman OM and wondered about trying these strings on it? Your thoughts all welcome!

Some, if not most, of you probably have seen this guitar on Reverb:

https://reverb.com/item/38464802-eastman-ac420-bearclaw

I passed on it a few times and finally weakened and pulled the trigger. It's quite beautiful and in excellent condition. Since these are no longer made and with the heavy bearclaw top, I'm sure there's no other guitar exactly like this one. The AC420 (Sitka top) is the guitar that became the E8D. There was also the AC420B (B stands for Bluegrass) with an Adirondack top that became the E20D. There is one for sale on Reverb:

https://reverb.com/item/37649608-eastman-ac420b

I added the Gold Grover Rotomatic tuners, a nicer pick guard, new strings (Martin Lifespan), and lowered the action. It looks great, plays great, and sounds great. The bearclaw is difficult to photograph and yes, I am aware of the finish cracks radiating from the bass side of the sound hole. Here is an interesting review of the AC420 from an old bluegrass devotee:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=av44S89bp6Q

I hope you like the photos and enjoy the review!
Clint

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... I just found this place and was wondering if you could help me.
I purchased my Eastman T386 last year in august (and I am still falling in love with her every morning again). I`m still learning to play but somehow I believe that finding a guitar which is perfect for me helped me a lot on the way 
Now I come to the point that I have to change the strings, but I don`t have a clue which strings the guitar came with. I`ve got a tag in the case which says that she came with D´addario strings, but I still don`t know wich exactly. I really like the strings I`m playing right now, they are not as hard as the strings I`ve played before and I would really love to keep that feeling while playing ...

Have a nice evening everyone
(and sorry for my english, it`s not my native language and I believe I forgot a lot of it since leaving shool and not speaking it everday)

I contacted Bourgeois with a question about their planned specs for OMs on the upcoming Bourgeois/Eastman line. Got an answer today:
"Thank you for your email and for your interest in Bourgeois Guitars.
The upcoming collaboration guitars with Eastman will feature 25.5" scale length and 1 23/32" nut widths."

The longer scale is a definite step in the right direction (IMO). A lot will depend on the neck carve, but 1 23/32" - eh, I wish it was 1 24/32".

Jonesing for an OM lately and instead of rushing into something, maybe I'll hold out for one of these.

Unfortunately I didn't ask when the first ones will become available...

Edit: "We anticipate late quarter 2, early quarter 3 of this year."

Hey!

Still waiting to pull the trigger on an Eastman GA. Browsing for compatitors somehow i've discovered a Korean vendor named Cort. These cmpany seems to produce cheaper instruments. But they have a very interesting line-up of all-solid-wood guitars for the money.

You could get a GA solid body guitar with torrefied sitka top for about 900eur  (compared to AC322C for 1000-1100eur).
Went for some deeper research and found what looks to be a gem among the Cort's finest - Gold Edge LE - its very much looks like a competitor to AC522CE  in my eyes, but is cheaper (1400eur for the Cort VC 1700 for AC522CE and Cort has a torrefied top). Back and sides look beautyfull on this also.

They also produce similar model with laminate back and sides (Cort GA-MY BV) for 3x cheaper money. This is also very tempting, since the very-very low price.

Please share your oppinions on this. What do you think about the Gold Edge LE? 
Anyone had any experience with Cort Gold series?

P.S prices are for Europe.