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Our good friends at The Acoustic Shoppe hosted a live stream online over the weekend, where they had Mark Herring (Eastman's national sales manager) in the house to demo, answer questions, and get Eastman guitars into the hands of those in attendance. Aside from some audio difficulties, the stream was fun to watch and probably even better in person.
Some interesting comments:
1. Antique Varnish: they send their unfinished guitars over to their violin shop, and literally one woman does ALL of the antique varnish finishes by hand. He said that's one reason there are relatively few of them, but when you look at how they've expanded the electric varnish lineup, it's pretty amazing that they're all passing through the same individual. Kinda reminds me of when Eastman told me that one guy did all the top voicing for their "40" guitars.
Also, Mark said something along the lines of "these are only available in Mahogany, right now" (or "at present"), implying that may change or expand in the future. Rosewood in varnish, anyone?
2. TC models: these were hard to come by, but it sounds like they may become more readily available with more inventory landing before the end of the year. The E10D-TC and E10OM-TC are getting formally added to the lineup (up until now, they've been very limited runs). And Mark and John reminded their audience that the full cost for an Eastman TC is similar to what other companies charge for just the Adirondack and TC upgrades.
3. Eastman & Bourgeois: Eastman's acoustic market ranges from $300 to $3000, while Bourgeois ranges from $6000-8500. This alliance will bring new guitars to close the gap in between ($3000-6000). Both companies will continue to make guitars at their independent locations, but Dana will be visiting Eastman in China soon, so they will be able to leverage his knowledge all the way down the Eastman lineup. Don't expect anything new for the next year, as this alliance is in its infancy and will take some time to develop.
4. Eastman's owner prides himself on his wood purchases. The company lands some of the highest quality wood in the guitar world. Some of the best is reserved for the "40" series models. Recently, they landed some incredible flamed maple, which enabled them to really ramp up the AC630-BD (I can personally testify it's incredible!).
5. Eastman has acquired a few companies over recent years. They acquired Wm. S. Haynes who makes high end ($6000) flutes (Eastman's founder is a flautist), S.E. Shires brass instruments. With the exception of piano and drums, only Yamaha and Eastman could fully furnish an orchestra with instruments.
6. Eastman is always looking to land the best talent. Dana Bourgeois is an example via their strategic alliance, but the team that works in Pomona came from PRS, G&L, Taylor, and others. So, those are the people that handle every guitar that passes through their facility in Pomona, CA.
It was a great, informative session. Thanks to Mark and John (chapboogie) for sharing it to the internet world outside of Springfield, MO.
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Which model to chose?