Nice overview video posted today from Peach Guitars with Pepijn from Eastman, demoing the:
- SB57 Black
- T59V Antique Amber
- T58V Antique Amber
- T184MX Goldburst (sweet!)
- E10-OOSS/V
- DT30-OM

Enjoy!
https://youtu.be/zvDrNYJPWSQ

I have never owned a guitar with locking tuners fitted. Any views on whether this is a path worth going down?

Ever since D'Addario stopped offering blowout pricing on their EJ10 multi-packs (Black Friday), I began playing more with GHS strings.  For simplicity, I've mostly used their standard PB lights ($29.99 for 6-pk via Sweetwater), but they offer some other variations, which is good for matching up to different guitars.

Americana:  GHS says these are cryogenically frozen, so they are a little brighter.  I agree, which makes them just a little less warm.  They're too bright for my E10D, but I think they might work on my E20OM-SB, which can still get a little dull and dark, when strings get old.  They sound fine on my E40OM and E10SS/v, but honestly, those guitars sound great with almost any strings I've tried (except Martin strings).

Vintage Bronze:  these strings sound amazing on my 2016 E40D, which has some really strong overtones and high end sparkle.  I've been playing this guitar all week, and if the longevity holds up, this might be my new go-to for this guitar.  I placed a set onto my E20D, but eager to try them out on the E10D, since the Americana were too bright.  Once I've tried them on the big dreads, I may give them a shot on the E40OM, which is voiced similarly to the E40D (lush, high end sparkle).

PB Lights:  this is my baseline.  They have a warm tone and great volume.  They sound good on both Rosewood and Mahogany guitars, and I've used them in place of DR Rare for my Mahogany body guitars.  If you like D'Add EJ16, then you'll like these just fine.  I always keep a 6-pk in the house and ready to go.

Others:  GHS makes some other acoustic strings.

Bright Bronze are 80/20 style strings, and they say are perfect to brighten a dull sounding guitar.  I don't see them as a good fit for any Eastman guitar, even my E20OM-SB before it opened up, and their longevity isn't very good.  They also make a Contact Core Bright Bronze, which is their brightest string (def not for me).

Infinity Bronze:  these are coated strings, so I haven't tried them.

White Bronze, Silk & Bronze, and Silk & Steel:  haven't tried these.

Here's their full lineup with a handy chart at the top:
https://www.ghsstrings.com/products?categories=acoustic

Hi gang,

I decided to remove the "Eastman Other Fretted" subforum, as there was very little activity in that particular forum over the last 18 months or so.  I moved the six topics that had been posted to the General Chatter section, in case you were wondering.  Hope everyone is having a great Saturday and thanks for being part of our EGF community.

Tim

I was in Nashville last week visiting my son who works for a band and I attended the huge Amigo Guitar Show on Sunday. I played all those old classic expensive Martins and Gibsons and walked away again amazed with Eastman's products. Corner Music Nashville had 2 E10SS/Vs, very nice. Both had fairly new strings and they sounded pretty much identical. In a blindfolded test, I would have bet $12 both were rosewood guitars...mellow, warm IMO, smooth overtones vs an E10D. The E10D, which I've always said is a great guitar, sounds like a hog with clearer note separation, and bold and loud.

My question is why these E10SS/Vs would have such very different tonal characteristics vs Eastman's E10D. The same woods, I just wouldn't guess that scale length, sloped body and thin varnish finish could make so much difference. (???)

Regardless, the E10SS/V is a really great guitar, I loved the warm, smooth, woodsy, old sounding voice.

Never one to leave well enough alone, I’m planning on replacing the standard open back Ping tuning machines on my Eastman E10 OO SS with Gotoh SX510V tuning machines in nickel with oval ivoroid buttons. As well as anticipated smoother tuning the buttons will be a better match for the ivoroid binding of the guitar. I’ve ordered from japarts.ca who appear to be the only exporter of Gotoh tuning machines who deal in English. The tuning machines are apparently manufactured to order and will ship direct from Japan to me here in the UK. How geeky is it to be excited about new tuning machines. Of course pictures will follow once the tuning machines arrive.

For those who have played both SB59v models with the Seymour Duncan Antiquities and the Lollar Imperials, what are your thoughts? I've been trying to find a good way to play both and compare them, but my local shop only has the Antiquities version in there store right now. I really liked them, but I have a feeling Eastman switched to the custom spec Imperials for a reason.

When i received my new E10 00 in mid March it came with the Exp16 light strings which sounded great when i first plucked it's first notes, but not even a month in the strings seem to have lost their warmth and tone rather quickly. My question is since this is my first experience with D'addario strings, what is their usual life span? The main reason i ask this question is that the replacement cost of this strings is close to the price of SCGC parabolic strings which i know what the tone and life is of those strings is. Any info will be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

I’ve owned a few Chinese guitars before and they have been ok, nothing spectacular. That all changed a few hours ago.

This guitar easily rivals my Gretsch Pro Line for fit and finish and completely blows my old Gibson 335 completely out of the water.

I was after a warm blues tone in a 335 thin line style guitar and I found great tone in the Gibson and horrible build quality and a neck I did not like. I found stunning build quality and a great neck in my Gretsch thin line but not the warm tone I wanted.

A quick run through with the Eastman with my Fender Princeton Reverb 65 gave a fantastic tone, just what I was after.

This particular guitar was set up and displayed the 2019 NAMM and the attention to detail in the set up is stunning.

Besides the tone I had one other concern, the 1 3/4” neck, wider than my other guitars. Within a few minutes the buttery smooth neck with Ebony fingerboard made me forget all about the wider neck...not a problem.

I’m very pleased.

Pictures to follow later tonight

Hey everyone,

Anybody know much about this model of RK?  It has a torrefied Red Spruce top.

Thanks