I finally added the other guitar I was considering. I received a lot of great suggestions on an E10D, ACs or E10SS but I decided I wanted to add something “tonally” different. The E10 00SS/v is definitely all of that.
I will dispose of the negatives right away as they are not significant but are present
1) The Ping tuners were very tight especially on the G and B strings. If I hadn’t already planned on replacing them with Gotohs with white buttons I may have returned the guitar.
2) There is some definite manufacturing debris on the inside. Mostly just some areas of errant glue. I do not know if this was for affect considering the model and intent or just a little more attention to detail required. My E40OM and E8D are very well finished on the inside. I don’t believe it affects tone and I don’t see it when I play it, so it isn’t that big of an issue.

The positives
1) Finish - I would assume this is a personal deal as some may not like it, but I find it very unique and attractive.
2) Weight - this guitar is surprisingly light. I did not weigh it, but I would estimate it is no more than 2/3 the weight of my E40 and maybe 1/2 of my E8D.
3) Nut/string spacing - I was little concerned with the smaller nut, but the string spacing is identical to my E40OM and my E8D. 1.5” at the nut, 1.83” at the 12th fret and 2.2” at the bridge.
4) Volume - surprisingly loud for such a small guitar. Additionally the notes seem to maintain their individuality even when you drive it hard. I am not sure how best to explain that.
5) Tone - this guitar reminds me of an old guitar. I can’t think of any better way of explaining it. I am working on Sweet Virginia, Hesitation Blues and Nobody Knows You and the guitar seems to be have the perfect tone for these songs.
6) I had the guitar set up by the same tech that did my other guitars. The slots at the nut were very high especially the E & A strings and the intonation of the bridge was a little off. He adjusted both and the action is very low and fast. It fits me.
7) Neck - besides the 1 11/16” nut the neck is very thin. Anyone who likes a chunky neck would probably not like this guitar. Anyone migrating over from electric would probably find it an easy transition. It is noticeably different than all of my other guitars and will take some practice and getting use to.
8) a little personalization- I had a set of Gotoh SEs that I was going to install on a Martin 000-18 but the screw holes did not line up. I switched out the buttons to white because I thought this guitar just begged for it. The screw holes are a perfect fit, but the shafts on the Gotoh are .65 mm vs .6 mm on the Pings, so some reaming was required on the headstock. I also felt a set of white bridge pins was appropriate, so I changed out the ebony ones with white Blisstime bone pins.

My goal was to add something “tonally” different - mission accomplished!!. I would be remiss in not thanking Ted and Helene at LA Guitars for their assistance - and pricing. Once again they were a pleasure with whom to do business and very patient in their responses. Pictures attached.
TomC

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Just got thru trying a new song on my E10SS/V.
It plays & sounds like a guitar that is "broken in", looks like a vintage guitar.
Since Eastman put the effort into recreating a 60-70 year-old guitar, I'm curious if the top got the same treatment (TC'd)?

So, the other day I opened a topic about cutaways, and while I was diving deeper into that I ran into the age-old question: Am I getting an E8-OM or E20-OM? Right now a dread is a bit too massive for me to play and I feel an OM would give me a lot more comfort when I sit down and practice. Personally, I'm leaning towards an E8, simply because I already own 2 guitars with an Adirondack top (E20D and the prototype of what would be the E10-SS). The E8OM has solid sitka spruce, which no guitar I own at the moment has. Well, the DM1 has sitka, but that guitar has such a harsh and distinctive sound that I don't see myself play soft, non-percussive fingerstyle material on there.

Another reason I'm thinking about the E8-OM is that it has the same woods (rosewood and sitka spruce) as the one in this clip https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7sZp0XzHNJ8, and I love the way it sounds. Now, I know that's a Martin, but at the moment I simply don't have the cash for that, and the Martins I have played over here have sort of left me underwhelmed. One dreadnaught from the 70s was particularly bad, holy moly. I took down a D20 from the wall to verify I wasn't losing my hearing. It was messy, muddled, directionless and all-over. Never really found out what happened there. Also, Josh seems really comfortable playing it.

The DM1 (1250,-) definitely feels a bit cheaper than the D20 (1650,-), and I wonder if it's the same story when comparing the E20-OM (1650,-) to the E8-OM (1299,-). Would anyone know more about this? I'd go to my local store but it's closed for another week and I kind of want to do my pre-research before I go in next week and potentially buy either of them. Also, those who picked the E8-OM over the E20-OM (or the other way around): WHY?

Reverb/Guitar Guys Ohio.

Spoke with Brandon on Reverb about the guitar.
He said its new old stock on display said he'll accept $849 plus free shipping.
Brandon said ok to post the price.
Seems like a good deal.

I don't know Brandon or Guitar Guys Ohio.
Have only messaged him thru Reverb.

I got to play my new T486BK at practice yesterday. To catch you up I had treble bleed circuits installed on the volume pots and push/push on the treble pots for coil splitting. This guitar has the SD Jazz in the neck and the SD '59 in the bridge. It had a pro-set-up done with 9-46 NYXL's and I played it through my Fender Vibroverb RI. They made this amp for a couple of years in the late '80s - 40 watts 2x10. I recently upgraded the speakers to the Jensen P10r F and I can't say enough about these speakers. They were made specifically for Fender and they are worth the premium price.

All I can say is this is a great sounding guitar. The '59 isn't ice-picky and has a lot of great usable tone. The Jazz is smooth and midrangy and together they sound great. I wasn't sure how they would split but they give an approximate single coil sound, especially together. There is a volume drop but that's what boost pedals are for. A really nice vibe is the Jazz split together with the '59 humbucker. It fattens it up just enough.

I'm going to try and record some of this and if it comes out decently I'll post it. I'm a visual guy and audio isn't my wheelhouse.

Thanks.

So, I have a mahogany OM but.. I was thinking about getting a rosewood OM for the "pretty playing", so to speak. Of course the E20-OM is what I was thinking of, but Google taught me there's an interesting thing: the OM20 cutaway. Eastman probably didn't make that many of them but they're out there. While mulling this over I realised I have -over the years- talked about cutaways with people and the immediate response is "Well you lose sound". It comes out so knee-jerk that I wonder how much of it is true. Yeah, no doubt you technically sonically lose some output and maybe there's a different colour to the sound, but the impression I get from the way it's said is that it's mostly meant as a negative. Like they somehow are a *lesser* version of their non-cutaway family. I don't have stores near here that make it possible to compare them side by side, and so I came to our little hangout to see if anyone here has an opinion on cutaway versus non-cutaway.

I personally think that there can be big differences in sound from guitar to guitar, even in the same type. A cutaway might make your sound maybe a little less full, but:
1) you're not a playing a non-cutaway at the same time and thus don't really notice,
2) it offers you access to higher frets and while you might not really use that in everything you play it's still nice to be able to have the option,
3) I think different woods make a much bigger difference than cutaway versus non-cutaway.

Maybe a little high but if the condition is as stated and includes freight, not too bad

https://www.acousticguitarforum.com/foru...p?t=522292

Usual caveats - no personal knowledge of guitar or seller.

The little plastic switch tip on my SB 59 stripped, then flew away. I’d like to replace it with a metal tip, but I have no idea what to order or from where. Any ideas?

Just picked up my new T486-BK from the folks at Midwood Guitar Studio. Craig Landau did the set up and added treble bleed circuits to the volume pots and push/push treble pots for splitting coils. I’ll take some better pics when I get her home to the studio. Can’t wait to hear how it sounds but it really plays sweetly.

Hi all -

One year ago today, EGF was launched.  What started initially as an experiment has grown into an active community of Eastman fans.  We now have 265 users and continue to add to the forum weekly.  I've really enjoyed watching the forum take flight.

It's been great having a place for us Eastman fans to gather and discuss guitars, and it's also been enjoyable getting to know many forum members here.  Big thanks to all the EGF users for the discussion and contribution, and look forward to continuing our discussions into the future!

-Tim