First thank you Dave at Woodstock school of music.
Now my wife surprised me with a new guitar , not the 484 a Gibson sg . I told her I just bought another eastman , she's very understanding and said you're a lucky guy . The bad news is the Gibson has a problem that's not easily fixed . Will post in other guitar brands ...
The good news is the eastman is perfect and I mean perfect . I stalled 11's and dropped the action a little . Setup so easy and didn't need any adjustment to the neck . Frets are perfect and the great news is it sounds well great lol.

Greetings EGF,

I just purchased a new E10OOSS/v, my first Eastman, from the fine folks at SoundPure. It's a very good guitar in pretty much every respect. If you own one, or another smaller bodied hog, I'd be interested to know what type of strings you prefer. I put on a set of D'Addario Nickel Bronze lights and while those seem quite responsive and balanced, I'd like to check out one or two alternatives.

FYI, I like nickel and I don't care much for coated strings, but I'm open to anything you think works well.

Thanks... Joe

I wonder if you guys can help me identify this guitar that I acquired recently. The previous owner claims this is an E20D but it has some specs of the AC420 as well. It looks like a E20D but:
1. It has a neck bound in white. (like some AC models)
2. It has the truss rod adjustment at the headstock. (again like some AC models)
3. It has the Eastman logo inlaid into the headstock in maple.
4. It has a plain white back strap (like an AC) and a plain rosette (like the E20).
5. It is missing the label in the soundhole.
6. It has no COA.
7. The previous owner said the Serial number is 120119508 but there's no proof of that.
8. It doesn't have the herringbone trim on the top.
9. It has a square headstock and a volute at the top of the neck.
Strange, to be sure. The workmanship is excellent, the set up is perfect, and the sound is very rich and beautiful. 
I would appreciate any help here as I have never seen this before. My guess is that it might be a prototype made when Eastman was switching focus to the classic series.
Thanks for any help or information/history,
campacj
Seattle, WA.

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An interesting video by an English store owner comparing a Taylor 314CE V class vs. three Eastmans from cheapest to just a few hundred pounds cheaper than the Taylor (which he tells us runs £1900) -- and to my ear, anyway, every one of the Eastmans sounded richer than the Taylor (not that I'm biased or anything...)

But be forewarned, this guy goes on forever before making his point, he's not much of a guitarist, and I wish he'd shut up and just play. And he should tune the Taylor before he plays it... It's eight minutes in before he actually starts comparing guitars, so you might want to forward to there if you're not interested in all his blathering.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ep1AloImC3g

10/21/2019 Edit: updated with my full review.  Original comments remain below.  

This is a brand new Eastman AC630-BD.  It's a Jumbo (BD is for Blonde) with a beautiful, straight grain Engelmann Spruce top and an absolutely stunning flame Maple body.  I've never seen a guitar that's so 3-D (the photos below can't capture it), and the "depth" of the ridges change with the angle and lighting --- it's almost like looking at a hologram.

The guitar is appointed with hand-set, color matched abalone on the headstock, fret markers, and rosette, and the Ebony board is set with Ivoroid binding.  The neck is super comfortable with the center strip added for additional stability.  The Gotoh tuners are smooth and precise, and the fit, finish, and setup are perfect out of the box (even the pickguard is good quality and beveled).  Eastman makes these with their same master luthiers that produce their top of the line E40D/E40OM guitars -- individually voiced tops and handcrafted end-to-end.

This is my first Jumbo guitar, and I'm pleased to say that it sounds as good as it looks.  Engelmann and Maple combo are a really nice combo for this body size.  It has incredible clarity and great volume (no Sleeping Giant here!).  It's voiced beautifully for light playing, but completely responds when I drop it into overdrive.  It's remarkable how the Maple Jumbo provides both a bright sharpness and depth at the same time, and it has a really fast attack, so it makes me re-think my playing approach on this guitar vs. a Rosewood/Adi dread.  I replaced the stock D'Add EXP with GHS PB lights, and it brought out this guitar's beautiful voice.

I ordered this guitar in July, and Eastman produces so few of these that they're basically MTO, so it took three months from order placement to arrival.  It was definitely worth the wait, as Eastman knocked this one out of the park (and it arrived in time for my b-day, which is later this week).

Eastman guitars continue to excel, and this AC630-BD is the best looking and **one of the best sounding guitars I've ever owned.  I purchased this through LA Guitar Sales, who are always a pleasure to work with.  We kept in touch on the timing, and everything was delivered perfectly, as usual.  I highly recommend Ted and Helene for Eastman or any other guitar purchases.

** this guitar is so new, and guitars take time to find their voice.  But this one is already singing beautifully.  Can't wait to hear it a year from now!

____


After nearly three months on order, my blonde bombshell will arrive tomorrow.  I'll update this original post with a proper NGD review and my own photos.

But in the meantime, I "borrowed" some photos from LA Guitar Sales.  In our email exchange, Ted said:  "the back is so three dimensional it looks like it's alive."  Also, he says it sounds even better than it looks, and if that's true, I will be an extremely happy human.  

Looking forward to tomorrow!

Greetings everyone!
Thank you for the community and the conversation. Reading through some of the threads there is a great source of knowledge and experience here. I appreciate each one of you and over time we'll get to know one another a bit.
Some days I prefer to listen (I learn more that way).

I tried singing in public one day. An audience member asked if I had been to prison, I said no
I had not. Why? She said, I sounded like a prison singer. I asked how's that? She replied,
you're behind three bars lookin' for the right key!
That's my story and I'm sticking to it.
Scott/Fretwire

$20 shipped continental US.

Brand new, unused RIGHT HANDED self-adhesive pickguard from Luthiers Mercantile International. I emphasize right handed because the link is to a lefty, which is all they seem to have in stock now. No scratches, just dust and reflections.

https://www.lmii.com/pickguards-pre-shap...anded.html

Eastman E10OM-TC 

• torrefied red spruce top 
  
• mahogany back and sides
  
• ebony peghead, fretboard, and bridge
  
• 25" scale
  
• 1 3/4" bone nut
  
• bone saddle
  
• ebony pins
  
• Tor-tis pickguard
  
• original hardshell case
  

So I have been kind of looking to add a 00 size slope shoulder. I had an E10 00ss/v but the nut and neck were a little too narrow and thin respectively. It is my understanding that prior to 2014 Eastman E10 00 SS had a 1.75" nut with a short 24.75" scale, rosewood bridge and fingerboard. I thought I had found one in MN, but it had a significant split on the top that the seller had not disclosed in the pics or the description. If anyone has one that they are willing to move along or sees one in the wild, please let me know. Thanks in advance.
TomC
PS - I might be wrong about the spec change but the new ones are 1 11/16", 24.75" scale and ebony board and bridge and I think it was 2014 that they made the change. 
PSS - I understand that Ted has the E15SS that looks very intriguing. It's just a little above my budget.

Brand new Eastman AC330E-12 12 string with pickup. These are one of the best kept secrets out there wonderful guitar





$850 shipped in the US

BODY STYLE Jumbo 12-string
Lower bout: 17"
Depth: 5"
TOP WOOD Solid Spruce
BRACING Hand Carved, Scalloped X
ROSETTE three ring
BACK/SIDES WOOD Mahogany
BODY BINDING Ivoroid
HEADSTOCK VENEER Ebony
NECK WOODS Mahogany
CONSTRUCTIOn Dovetail Neckjoint
SCALE LENGTH 25 1/2"
NUT WIDTH 1 7/8"
FINGERBOARD Ebony
FRETS 20 Nickel - Silver
PICKGUARD Tortois
INLAYS MOP Micro dots
CONTROLS 1 Volume, 1 Tone
OUTPUT JACK Endpin
BRIDGES/SADDLE Ebony bridge with nominal bone saddle
TUNERS Chrome
ELECTRONICS Fishman Sonotone
STRINGS D'Addario EJ16
CASE Hardshell

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