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Hi All,
Relatively new member here who wants to say hi and to thank several of you for posts that really helped me research two purchases.
I had been wanting both a small bodied acoustic and a 000 for a long time and had tried out some things that I quite liked (of which a Martin CEO-7 was probably the most fun in a store). But I REALLY didn’t want to spend that much and nothing I tried QUITE clicked with me.
I don’t remember how I heard of Eastman or found this forum, but I started stalking threads here and learned a lot about the brand, the high regard that you all hold it in, and the build quality that you expect. There are no Eastman dealers close to me, and there’s surprisingly little information elsewhere around the web, so your comments were huge. Thanks partly to the enthusiasm I saw here, I visited a couple of Eastman dealers while traveling in January (and was thoroughly impressed in side-by-side tests with far more expensive guitars).
Long story short, I did plenty more reading on this forum, bought a ‘new b-stock’ E20OOSS online in January, and love it. I don’t know whether the dealer (Blues Angel in Florida) just did a particularly great job of setting this up, but it plays great – easily one of the most comfortable acoustics I’ve ever played. I didn’t love the original strings, but I changed them out and have bonded pretty quickly since. Quite a lot of volume and surprising bass for a small bodied guitar, but it was the sustain, the sweetness of voice, and just how comfortable the neck was that really struck me first. She has a much more delicate voice than I expected from online videos. There’s a sparkle that I never heard in the CEO-7 – I guess that’s the rosewood.
Anyway, fast forward two months and I was so impressed with the OOSS that I decided to go with an Eastman OM too. So I took delivery of an E20OM-TC about three weeks ago. She isn’t as well set up as the OOSS was (action is a bit high, fret ends are sharper, fretboard edges aren’t quite as well ‘rolled’), but I figure that can all be dealt with easily enough (rolling the fretboard edges might be tricky, but I guess not too much). Otherwise, the build and finish quality are superb – pretty much flawless, as far as I can tell. The quality of the woods seems to be excellent, the lacquer and polish are perfect, and even the case was nicer than expected (gold latches and fancy yellow stitching). Far more importantly, she sounds great! She has a richer voice than the OOSS – not completely different, but with much stronger bass, much more complex overtones, a bit more sustain and a lot more volume. More interesting than the volume (to me) is the dynamic range – I’ve never played a guitar that responds so well to both picking of quiet passages and to heavy-handed strumming. That could be due to the torrefied top, but I’m not sure. String separation is excellent too – it’s hard to imagine chords ever feeling muddy or bland. Overall, I’m delighted and am expecting to be even more so after a setup.
Anyway, I just wanted thank you all for reviews and comments on your own guitars (which definitely helped me make some decisions!), to give a few thoughts about my new purchases, and to declare myself another happy Eastman customer!
Thanks for reading this long post!
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