Accidentally came across this new Eastman Gypsy model today, seems to be a laminate version of the Frank Vignola.  Maple St in ATL has two diff versions on order.  Django is similing:

https://reverb.com/item/13901381-eastman...in-natural

I had a chance to play my second and third E1D today. One of them had a factory installed pickup (at no added cost), maybe LR Baggs, not sure. It sounded good with nice action and playability. The other one had no pickup and sounded excellent. The neck carve was slightly deeper. It had a lot of power and drive and was obviously very new, right out of the box. Tall saddles, medium action, and no buzzing on either. My only negative comment is the top edge of the binding on both guitars is slightly sharp. It'd be nice if they rounded it off slightly. 

If I didn't already have two mahogany dreads, I would've bought it. In my opinion, the only deal better than a new E1D is a used E6D. The fact that Eastman can deliver the E1D and E2D at $459 is really amazing to me.

Hello All - Does anyone know what the D'Addario giveaway for recently purchased Eastmans (guitars only) consists of ??

Examples of Eastmans are hard to come by in MN. We have a new shop that is just getting off of the ground. They originally were oriented towards orchestral instruments and now have a fretted area. They are slowly building inventory, but it seems the models in which I am most interested are not yet in stock. This is the same place I had the issue with a delay in the E40OM. They did finally get it in stock last week. I would like to add a sprue/mahogany larger bodied guitar. I currently have the E8D and E40OM rosewoods and a Martin 000-18 sitka/mahogany. I hope to add a different sound to the pallet. My question(s) is does anyone have direct experience between these models? I get the impression these models would be comparable but not identical nor copies of:
E6/10D - Martin D-18 in some permutation
E10SS - Gibson slope shoulder (J15 or 45??) - is the narrower nut that noticeable (1 11/16 vs 1 3/4)
AC522ce - Taylor 3 or 5 series. I previously owned a 514ce which was an excellent guitar but a little too much of the Taylor brightness for my taste even with the cedar top.

My other consideration is a Larrivee SD-40M. This is a sitka/mahogany 12 fret, slope shoulder dreadnaught. I was able to try the RW version and it had a great sound and playability. Unfortunately I have not been able to locate the mahogany model. Any comments/suggestions would be welcomed and appreciated. I would prefer to locate a good used example. I saw the listing on AGF for the E10SS, but decided to sleep on it and missed it. 
TomC

Eastman, Kent Armstrong floating pickups are attached/glued to the pickguard which is attached to the neck with two screws.  Don't know if this was done at the factory on my 2006 AR805ce or at a guitar shop, the solder connections on the pup were way too thick.  Net was the pickguard was sitting too high, it's fixed.
 
I took the pup/pickguard assembly off and proceeded to undo the thick solder to bring the pickguard down to normal.  While at it I decided the 'Tone Control' pod was not needed since I plug into the LRBaggs Para for EQ, etc, and on to to the amp.  Then, I re-soldered the +/- wires directly to the out jack.

My Fishman Artist acous amp was set from before the re-wire, way louder with the new wiring and much better tone overall... it makes sense to me because I like it.

Question is, does the tone control pod drain from the signal flow or am I inhaling too much solder smoke?

I was just wondering whether Eastman guitar fans would be unhappy if Eastman started using bolt-on necks. Not so much focusing on the relative merits or otherwise of using such a build (although I would be interested in your views), but rather whether employing this type of build would run too much against the ethos of 'tradition' which seems to be a significant selling point with Eastman guitars. To be honest I would personally be disappointed if they moved away from what I take to be a pure woodworking approach. Not because of my experience of the sound produced by each method - I have no informed opinion about this. Maybe sometimes it is satisfying buying into myth at the expense of science.

On another forum I saw that a shop called The Fretted Frog is closing and discounting stock. They have some Eastman guitars and at least one mandolin.

They have an Eastman PCH1-OM - With HSC for $199 + shipping and tax. To my location that totalled $260. I would buy it if I did not have my E6OM.

Fretted Frog

(07-23-2018, 09:05 AM)robhanesworth Wrote: On another forum I saw that a shop called The Fretted Frog is closing and discounting stock. They have some Eastman guitars and at least one mandolin.

They have an Eastman PCH1-OM - With HSC for $199 + shipping and tax. To my location that totalled $260. I would buy it if I did not have my E6OM.

Fretted Frog

2nd Eastman off of craigslist in the last 6 months....I don't mind putting up with some dings for the discount!!

Love the balance on this...nice bass and good high frequency response.

Attached Files

20180722_202107.jpg

File size: 4.05 MB

Downloads: 195

Guys at Blues Angel Music got me again. This beauty was just hanging there waiting for ME!

After much discussion and almost as much research, I purchased my first semi-hollow guitar this week.  My T185MX arrived this afternoon, and I am extremely pleased with this instrument.

The build quality is excellent, and I mean this in the most positive way possible... it's clear that it's a fully hand-carved body made entirely by human hands.  It has an elegant maple top with a classic brown-red finish.  The body and neck are solid mahogany and rival anything I've seen in their acoustic lines.  The fretboard is jet black ebony with pearl dots that match the headstock, and everything is beautifully encased with flame maple wood binding.  It's rounded out with Gotoh hardware (tuners, bridge, and tailpiece) and a pair of Duncan 59s.

Between reading the warnings of feedback on a solid wood semi-hollow and barely playing any electric guitar in the last 15 years, I wasn't sure what to expect.  I started things off soft and clean, playing directly into my amp with no effects.  But I wanted to take this baby for a ride, so I dug out my old Digitech GNX2 guitar pedal, which offers lots of different voices.  So, I cranked it up (a little bit), and ran it through dozens of sounds.  Great tone, ridiculous sustain, and no feedback issues.  Absolutely fantastic and completely exceeded my expectations!

Incidentally, the seller is an Eastman fan and sold this guitar because he/she just got a T186MX.  And after my last online encounter, I'm happy to report that this seller did a fantastic job with shipping:  string tension loosened, neck and headstock encased in bubble wrap, paper separating the strings from the fretboard, packed in an over-box, plenty of peanuts inside, box marked fragile, etc.  Since everything worked out, I'll be sure to invite him/her to join us on the EGF!

Finally, there's no NGD without photos, right?  I took these earlier today and posted them on my FB page.  But when I uploaded them onto my IMGUR page, they don't look very clear.  So, I'm going to upload them here, but I may take some new ones tomorrow and see if they're any better.