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

Hi all -

I am interested in soliciting member suggestions and ideas for our growing EGF community.  I can't promise all ideas will be implemented, but wanted to see what ideas might be out there... 

Several of you have reached out via private message with suggestions.  Here's a partial summary:

* New Sub-forum ideas
  - Eastman Rare / Discontinued / Collectable
  - Off Topic 
  - Eastman "New model / specs / news"
  - Luthier's Corner (tips / repairs etc) 

* A stickied "Show us your Eastman" Photo thread in the electric and acoustic forums

What other ideas are out there?  

One comment regarding sub-forums - I am hesitant to add too many at this phase to avoid the possibility empty sub-forums -- but if enough folks agree on certain sub forums, I'm all ears.

I'd also welcome any feedback on ideas to help gain more EGF exposure and promote user growth.
Thoughts?  

Merry Christmas and happy holidays!

What's up with Gbase? Is anyone buying or selling there? What have your experiences been like?

I'm posting this on other sites in the hope I can get someone to refinish a PG for me.

I have an unusual Eastman T-165MX, and none of the MX series come with a pick guard, which is bothersome as I use the PG to anchor my right hand.

In my arsenal of spare parts have a natural flamed maple Ibanez PG that I can easily modify to match the pickup rings, but I'd like to have someone strip and finish it to match the "root beer" color of the Eastman finish.

Does anyone know of a PG maker or luthier that can / will do it for me? Failing that, does anyone have suggestions on the best way to strip the poly without dorking up the PG binding?

Also, I think an additional discussion header for upgrades and modifications would be a cool idea :-)

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Hi all - 

Excited to announce a new feature for our EGF community - a "Like" button for posts.  You can find the link button at the bottom of posts. 

I had to make some manual changes to the plugin to adapt it for this forum, so please let me know if you see any bugs with the system - otherwise, enjoy!

Tim

I was fortunate recently to stumble on a fantastic deal for a T58. Here she is!



I own two other Eastman guitars (a T186mx and a T486-bk). One of the big attractions for me with these guitars is the neck -- which I love for their slightly greater width at the nut. But the T58 neck is slightly thinner than the others so I was a bit concerned buying it without the chance to try it first. But once I received and played the guitar it was instantly familiar. The feel of the neck is classic Eastman (i.e. great).

The T58 stands alone in the Eastman lineup, I think, and was inspired by the Gretsch 6120. The TV Jones pickups are amazing -- powerful, clear and with a unique voice unlike Humbuckers or P90s. If you are looking for a Stray Cats / Rockabilly sound the T58 is an absolute bulls-eye. This thing drips 50's rock'n'roll. I think it improves on the Gretsch design by keeping the vintage, understated Eastman look (IMO Gretsch guitars can be gaudy). Eastman also eliminated the complicated controls. The guitar is gorgeous to look at and dead simple to operate. 

I have a somewhat light touch usually but find that with a little overdrive the T58 invites aggressive playing. It is so authentic sounding you can't resist learning a few Rockabilly licks. What more can you ask of a new instrument if it propels you down new corridors?

Anyway, three weeks in and I couldn't be more pleased with this purchase. Another Eastman winner.

Have any of you found pickups that you just cannot bond with? Pickups that go against everything else you have or had and you "can live" with them by diddling with amp EQ and the git to force it into submission worse still going to another amp?

I have. The Seymour Duncan Jazz and the Lindy Fralin plain "humbuckers" The former is VERY bright necessitating excessive tweaking on the amp(s) and guitar to get decent sound out of, and the Lindys have such low output I can't really use them at all in my 1-5 watt tube heads.

Neither would I recommend due to their issues.