We are all Eastman fans here ... but I'm curious, what other guitar brands do you own?  I've had a few Taylor Guitars and always enjoyed their play-ability.

I currently own a Breedlove OM that I enjoy from time to time on the rare occasion I am not playing one of my Eastman's.  Curious what other brands folks here own?

From the Eastman IG: 

This is the only place where one can mention “ nut issues “ and it’s quite normal. Anyway, love my 810 archtop but finally getting around to addressing a serious problem. While jumping on any full chord I find myself with a very annoying problem....pushing the low E off the neck as well as pulling the high e off the neck. Looking at the nut, it appears to have been put on by a toddler.....cut incorrectly, spacing is horribe.....pretty sure this was not the work of Eastman as all my other Eastmans are spot on perfect. Any suggestions as what to look for in replacing the nut ?

Hope you had a nice Hanukkah, Christmas, or anything else you're celebrating this holiday season.  This site is off to a great start in 2017, and we'll keep it going next year.  Wishing everyone on the EGF health, happiness, prosperity, and great playing in 2018!

I had not seen this T146 before but this fully hollow model is discontinued (item number 222759649902) and the thin profile looks great. Does anyone have one they can comment on? At a bit over $1k it looks like a winner.

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I know I'd be ripped apart on a Gibson board for my feelings on the 335 / 486 but in every measurable way I find my T-486 quite equal and even superior in some ways to my three 335's. Specs can be deceiving, quality cannot, quality on Eastmans has been outstanding so it comes down to bias IMO plain and simple.

I play both my Figured ES-335 and equally nicely figured T-486 daily, neither have to me the perfect neck pups (I do not use the bridge pup alone) as they are delivered today. Both sound best in my ancient polytone, right now my fave amp.

The 335 over the years has been available with many more finish options and pickups than the 486 currently is, but comparing the models available today, the 486 is an outstanding buy. I don't like saying "for the money" because it's all relative. Some DC semis are far more expensive than a 335, others less but price doesn't always get the best of breed.

To some (like me) is all things being equal on two gits I prefer appointments like tastefully located binding, other players could give a hoot so as in another thread I genned up a spec comparison sheet. So you know, the "measured" are actually taken on my gits, and since there is no real description of the T-486 neck, I added the Gibson nomenclature that best describes it compared to my Gibson 335's with a nearly identical profile.

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This site has nearly 100 members, and I presume most already have an Eastman and many are "lurkers" and the rest are tire kickers looking for information on them.

So... Tire kickers... What's stopping Y'all from asking about them??? If there's an an answer here, you'll get more than being silent. If there's no answer  that won't stop us from coming up with at least an opinion! :-)

Lurkers, tell us what you have! Why / where / when you got it, and your impressions on it?

There are so many variants and models I do not know about (like the Eastman T146 I just discovered) and I know you folks must have others that are till now unknown!

Been an Eastman owner for a month now and boy I found the “One”: the One company, the One guitar at the One price!

I sold my 2016 Telecaster Elite for my fabulous T486 and it was well worth it. Everything abt the Eastman are steps above nearly all other guitar makers proline or high-end marks.

Real pearl! Real ebony! Fit and finish and all appointments top grade and all for $1200 bucks. Just can’t beat it.

The T486 geometry is perfect too. It lays perfectly and comfortably across the chest, no neck dive at all. The neck is nice and fat, no hand cramping from thin and flimsy necks here! Stays in tune whether playing or just chilling in its stand (my Tele had problems with that). 

And, wow, the sound! These are my first Seymour Duncans and they are just gorgeous to the ear. They are my first humbuckers too and wow such a a full, rich and dark sound, absolutely complete with nothing missing.

I love my Eastman and even have dreams about it, haha. My T486 is one great guitar.

I'm surprised that so many players buy gits they don't like, I just don't get it. Then they mod it with pups, pots, and doodads searching for an elusive "tone" when pushing it through a half dozen pedals. There's a player on another forum who openly says that he has replaced hundreds of pups in his days seeking what he obviously as of now has yet to find.

There's been a nice AR-372 out there that was at an extremely elevated price because it's had some designer pups in it... fast forward several months it being unsold and the price is dropping... a LOT! So WHY doesn't a git like this sell???

For all you waiting with a screwdriver in hand to mod your next git here's my take on mods.

If you mod a git with new pups to YOUR taste, first and foremost it just may not meet your expectations, then what? Do it again (and again)? Cut your losses and sell it? For how much? Retail PLUS the cost of the parts and labor? Nah not likely. Then for how much? To who? Someone who wants the SAME mods you chose? Again not likely because the prospective buyer already KNEW it wasn't a good fit and it's for sale, eh? Even if a prospective buyer WANTED the exact setup, they'd be an idiot to tell you that.

Well for sure some players (like me) want the git ALL original. I know some think it's bizarre but it's a fact and I refuse to pay a premium for a git that I have to go ahead and "back mod" it to OEM installed stuff. Add to that the sellers either sold the parts (to help pay for the new mods they couldn't afford) or just threw them away. Perish forbid they keep the OEM parts in the case? Nah, V-E-R-Y rarely have I seen this happen.

So, maybe you think I'm a tool and know nothing and that screwdriver is burning a hole in your hands... Here's a few suggestions for those bound to do it regardless.

1. SAVE THE OEM PARTS!! If you can't afford to do the work don't do it, or wait till the coin frees up. I GUARANTEE that if you have all the OEM parts you have a more saleable item regardless how YOU felt about the quality of the OEM stuff.

2. For gosh sakes, pick POPULAR parts. If you put Joe Blue mondo pickups in a git and decide it wasn't for you who else is going to take a chance with Joe Blue mondo pups? Very few. They'd buy an all original git at a better price and put THEIR faves in it, and maybe just maybe they'd LIKE the git as it came from the factory and not NEED new pups? Yes? No?

3. If you're not REALLY good with a soldering iron get a pro to do it. I look over every git I buy in person with an inspection mirror. When I see burned wires, excessive flux, and solder heaped and gobbed on I walk.

4. Scratches on a git are an immediate devaluation. If you don't know how to or don't care to protect the finish, accept that finish issues WILL cost you money, maybe a lot.

5. Drilling holes, covering holes. I'll be the first person to say I absolutely loathe Bigsby trems. I've only bought two gits with them and they came off straightway. But... The new trapeze mounting plate has the holes in the EXACT place that the original was (Yup a PITA) and in the case of the B6 no holes were in the top, and the B7 I simply screwed gold screws into the holes and did NOT plug them so the next owner (yes there WILL be one, we all die) can re-install the Bigsby that will go along with the git when my heirs sell it.

As an aside when packing a git for shipment... LEARN how to do it. Anyone who got a git from CME knows how to pack a git correctly. I received a 25 year old git with a crap case which was packed in a box with foam peanuts. The binding had issues with hairline cracks as the string button on the bottom hit hard after a drop. I sent it back and it wound up being re-sold at a substantial loss from the price I paid.

I attached a pic of some pics we had some fun over on another forum. I'm sure the owners were surprised at the ridicule some sent him through the selling site.

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Hide the children, I got a new Canon Vixia HF R800 camcorder on-sale yesterday at BestBuy($200)... incredible deal.  It has an external mic-in connector, camera is over there and external mic is over here, in front of the guitar.  In theory a much preferable method to the mic being part of the camera device, to be sure.

I have both of my Shure condenser mics running into my Yamaha AG06 usb interface, the headphones-out cable is running to the cam mic-in.  Took a little time to get the levels set, next time will be piece of veggie cake. Clean recording, no eq or effects.

My one month celebration with the E20-OM TC, an awesome musical instrument, tune is from something I wrote in 1980.

https://vimeo.com/248521185