Hey Guys - just joined this forum, and I am looking forward to being a part of the discussion.  

A bit about me - as my username suggests, I used to be an avid brass player (tromBONE, EUPHonium, bariTONE) and started playing guitar when my kid was given a classical 1970s era Ibanez stencil.  When we were waiting to get it restrung, we walked through our store's acoustic room that were filled with Gibsons, Martins, and Taylors.  I had never played a steel string before, but I was hooked!  Not wanting to dive in too deep, my first steel string was a Yamaha FG800.  I decided that I did want a USA made guitar, and I gravitated towards Taylor - at the time they had the lowest prices of the big 3 for an all solid wood guitar made in the US, plus I love what they are doing to promote sustainability of the tonewoods we all love.  I soon bought and played a mahogany 324ce for nearly 18 months, and I traded it away for one of Taylor's new slope shouldered dreadnoughts, the 317 grand pacific.  I really love this guitar.  Around the same time, I read more and more about Eastman.  I had heard about Eastman guitars but almost none of my local shops kept them in stock to try.  When I read about the all solid wood E1D and its extraordinary low price point, I took a chance and ordered one sight unseen.  It is fantastic, and is just about the equal to my beloved Taylor 317 (also in sitka/sapele) with a slightly different sound.  Then last weekend I saw another one of my local dealers post an ad on reverb for a PCH1-GACE.  I went to the store last weekend, and traded away my Yamaha FG800 for it.  I'm so impressed with Eastman's craftsman ship and playability, and am proud to be a Taylor/Eastman guitar fan.

Thanks to Zissou Intern's "What Types Of Music" thread, I decided to introduce many of you to the world of Frank Turner.  While I appreciate all sorts of music genres and artists, I've always been a little partial to the more rebellious side of rock n' roll.

Like some of my other faves (Neil Young, Wilco, R.E.M.), Frank's music is divided between acoustic folk and his electric side, which leans towards punk, garage/pub rock.  His lyrics usually include very personal tales or more of a political edge (think Bruce Springsteen, Billy Bragg, or Woody Guthrie).  Throughout it all, Frank has a really keen sense for writing a great musical hook into so many of his songs, so there's a timelessness to his music.

In addition to being a strong songwriter, he's also a tireless live performer.  He's played over 2000 shows with his backing band, the Sleeping Souls, and probably nearly as many solo shows.  He puts everything into his performances, and I'm looking forward to seeing him again in October. 

Here are a couple of my favorites to get things started.

What music are y'all playing and listening to? What are your favorite albums? 

I like old time and folk music and bluegrass, though I don't listen to BG as much as I used to. My favorite artists are: Norman Blake, Doc and Jack, John Reischman, Hot Rize, the McCourys, Jeffrey Foucault, Catlin Canty, Martha Scanlan, Welch and Rawlings, Colin Hay, The Rolling Stones, Santana, Neil Young, Lage and Eldridge, Kate Wolf...

Albums:
Norman Blake's Whiskey Before Breakfast 
Rice and Blake 1 and 2
Bill Monroe and Doc Watson: Live Duets 
Neil Young's Harvest, and Ragged Glory
Uncommon Ritual (Béla Fleck, Edgar Meyer, Mike Marshall) 
Tim O'Brien's Two Journeys
Mac, Doc, and Del
The Essential Doc Watson
The NGDB "Circle" album

This looks amazing!  It's almost like Eastman has been reading the EGF suggestion thread.  I am pumped to see a slotted headstock on a cutaway, and also that this has an Adi top.  List of $999 - so not sure what street price will be... (maybe $699?).  What do y'all think of this one?  Love that finish as well!

https://www.eastmanguitars.com/ac108ce_ltd

Eastman NAMM demo of Romeo:

https://youtu.be/XsFP12BhYTM

Eastman released a new thinline guitar at Summer NAMM, called Romeo.

Here's the link:  https://www.eastmanguitars.com/romeo_new

Solid carved spruce top.
Mahogany laminate back and sides.
Dual Lollar Imperial humbuckers.
Available in GB (Gold Burst).
MSRP: $2199

Their solid body line has been getting a lot of praise.  Glad to see a new thinline getting added to the mix.

Hi all,
This is my first post here. I have a Eastman AR605ce that I bought a few years ago. I never liked the tuners on it, and I grabbed a set of grover, faux-tortoise shell that I thought would look nice on there. I started to put them on last week and the screws lined up perfectly, but because of the headstock shape, they did not have enough distance to edge of the headstock, and a couple of them would not turn properly without hitting the headstock. Does anyone know a good replacement set for this model? Thanks in advance!

Best,
Jay Kustka

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Hi everyone,

Si i have my E10SS for few weeks now and god, i love it so much !
Went to a local music shop to try few premium brands and had heard about Eastman few times but never tried some before... Just felt in love with the brand and got out with this beauty

At first, there were D'addario EXP coated strings factory installed on it (i personally hate coated strings, no offense :p) and when playing it in the shop, i felt that it wanted to give more, lows were a bit muted and something was wrong in the overall tone and projection, but loved it cause i knew it could give more.
As i intended to buy a guitar in the shop, loved fews, i asked the dealer to change strings to standard strings (Ernie Ball Earthwood 12-54 Phosphor Bronze that he had enough in stock).
There guitar came alive, that's when i knew it was the one ! Strong lows, sweet highs, and marvelous projection and volume.

Came back with it and installed my preferred Phosphor Bronze Strings set, the Martin Authentic 12-54. Loved the guitar even more but wanted to give some experimentations.
As last time i tried different strings materials it was on more modern guitars (Taylor), i stood with  the Martis Phosphor-Bronze but as the E10SS is more of vintage type and tone, i gave a try with the Nickel strings.

First i put D'addario Nickel Bronze 12-53, which was a pretty improvement on this guitar (again), love the type of tone but lacking a bit of lows precision/projection.

Then came the Martin Retro Monels 12-54... Jes' what a slap !
I've found the perfect strings for this guitar, love the feel (they feel smoother than any other uncoated strings i've tried), the inner are different gauges than usual 12-54 sets and i don't know if it has major impact on the feel and tone but they feel so good under the fingers (feeling and tension). Tonewise i've never heard something like that, lows growling and precise, amazing projection and note separation, can't explain it but this guitar is absolutely killer and the best sounding i ever had to my ears (also owned Martin, Gibson and Taylor high end acoustics).

Those Martin Retro are a revelation to me and this E10SS ! It's the first time i have this on an acoustic, before there were few improvements in different strings but nothing major, here it's really above everything !

Have you ever had a "revelation" with string brands experiments on your guitars ? 
Are there other people using the Martin Retro on their Eastman ?

Got this baby last week!



Pre-owned, but in near mint condition. Good price. Since my attempt to buy it last year, I decided to give it another try, when I found this one.

Now this is my third Eastman, and this will hopefully be the last one, it's really more than enough and I feel almost embarrassed to have 3 guitars from the same brand (I know some folks have even more). Different character than my other Eastmans (T64/v and AR603ce-15), which is why it's a good addition to my collection, or so I convinced myself. The ES-339 size body fits my frame very well too. The store did a great job with set up and shipping, except that they forgot to restring it with TI flatwound... so I'll need to replace the strings once I receive the new ones which I ordered. Already sounds great with the current Ernie Ball Slinky though (I just can't stand the squeak on roundwound.) And it is one beautiful guitar...

Now it's really time to stop looking at all those guitars and focus more on practicing!

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I have decided on a TC purchase.  I like the neck on my ac422CE and I don't think I would like the fatter ​​​​neck of the new Martin 28-OM Modern Deluxe.

Ted at LA Guitars has been really helpful in figuring this out since I noted that I like the neck on my current Eastmans and my Martin D42.  He thought I would be best served with the Eastman.  I am inclined to agree.

Will use for finger style.  Given the short scale, how does volume and tone compare to the Martin OM?