Hello folks, I just purchased a very nice example of an Eastman E1D for a price that was hard to believe at my local shop in Black Mountain, NC.  I went there to buy a used dread I saw posted on consignment, but when I played this Eastman, I went whoa! I checked out the action and it had a ton of saddle, great I can lower the action a bit, which was a bit high for me.  I play fingerstyle and flatpick both.  It blows my mind the build quality and specs of this guitar for the price, I really don't care it's made in China. I looked up some info because I had not heard of Eastmans and saw they are handcrafted with care. Then I saw this forum, cool I said! I am a long time player and have mostly smaller bodied acoustics from Martin, Yamaha, Bedell, Fox and Andrew White.  But needed a dread for some reason :-)) I've never had a sapele guitar, but it sounds great and will only get better as I play it.
I don't play out much anymore, use to be in a few bands, trio's etc; but do some home recording stuff these days. My wife and I use to play as a duo, she sings well, me not so much. 
Anyway just wanted to say hello to everyone and I will be perusing here.  Thank you for having me!

Hi there, my bone saddle was a little low so i bought a tusq one to replace it and try out how it sounds. So i did a comparison playing the same pharses.
 
Same strings (Addario XS 12)
Same mic and placement (neumann Mcm 114)
same preamp and gain
no effects in both tracks and same gain.
Same guitar :+)  Eastman E40OM-TC
same render format: 320kps mp3. no effects.

Disclaimer: since the Tusq bridge is a little higher strings are more tense and i had to adjust the truss rod to the right just a bit, not even a quarter of a turn.
It might be possible that i played the scale at the end of both files louder in the tusq version.

I wont give any opinion, i will await for yours.
Thanks, and hope it helps to everyone.
Gustavo

https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fo/trtz5984e...ib3qinkja9

As stated in a previous thread, I've received my E2D-BK. Too me it's even better looking in person! The sound is amazing. Balanced and LOUD! Pictures below along with my Eastman family!!

Last Picture Top: PCH3ce   Bottom left to Right : E1D-CLA, E1DSS (1/250), E2D-BK, AC322ce
thanks for looking!!

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I thought I would start a new thread on the resized Eastmans, rather than continue with Aahzz’s thread on the E3DE.  If I have misquoted you in any way, Aahzz, I apologize, please correct me.  For the sake of this discussion, I have not compared upper bout dimensions, but I will assume they will be proportionately smaller.  Here is the response that Eastman gave to Aahzz when he asked if the E3D is smaller than previous Eastman dreadnought:

Thank you for reaching out to EASTMAN! All Eastman Dreadnoughts have the same size today, however since Bourgeois guitars joined the Eastman family of brands in 2019, we changed our Dreadnought size, to the same size as the Bourgeois Dreadnoughts, this has been a rolling gradual change. So any dreadnought you buy today, is all exactly the same size.You can find all the specs that we can share with you about your Acoustic guitar on our website: https://www.eastmanguitars.com/acoustic    [Note: The website still shows the old specs as of March 14, 2023.]

From their website, the old Eastman dreadnought lower bout dimensions were 16” x 4 23/32” (407mm x 120mm) The Bourgeois website gives the lower bout width as 15 1/2” (394mm).  They do not list the maximum body depth, but list the body depth at the neck (3 7/8”, 124mm).  The lower bout depth that Aahzz received from a dealer measuring an E3DE was 4 1/2” (115mm).  So, old Eastman dreadnought dimensions 16” x 4 23/32” (407mm x 120mm) vs new Eastman dreadnought measurements of 15 1/2” x  4 1/2" (394mm x 115mm): is that a game changer?  Hard to believe that Eastman would make such a change if it negatively affected the tone/volume.  Will they still be very good guitars, but a different sounding Eastman dreadnought that most of us now own?

Rod

I've been shopping for a Dread lately - I had given up on them for comfort issues, but I just missed the big bold Dread tone. My 2 GAs are both Eastman, so I was figuring an Eastman Dread - I've been really impressed with them. However, in looking and researching, I also discovered that they've recently downsized their Dreads, since buying Bourgeois - they matched the Bourgeois Dread size, which is apparently both a touch shallower and narrower. So I was waffling, still planning to buy one, when I wandered into Third Rock Music in Cincinnati. Picked up a Martin D10E.

Aaaah. That sounds like a DREAD.

So, she came home with me. I also have to say that, as nice as the Eastman gig bags are, the Martin bag is even nicer. I have no worries about transporting the D10E to gigs in this bag.

On to the pics:

NGD for my E20SSV!

Brian from Sun Valley guitars delivered the guitar to me while on vacation in Phoenix. My first impressions of the guitar is that it sounds much more bassy, dry, vintage, and more throaty than any other Eastman I have ever played. The tone is much more similar to an old Gibson J45.

The finish and relicing is a very nice touch. The guitar came setup well and plays fantastic.

I don't have the time to post all my thoughts right now but the guitar is exceptional. To my ear it's the best Eastman I have heard. The guitar is just so responsive. I would put it up there with my D28 Authentic and J45 standard.

Posted this in my E3DE thread, decided it deserves its own thread. Apparently, all new Eastman dreads are sized differently than they used to be.

Thank you for reaching out to EASTMAN! All Eastman Dreadnoughts have the same size today, however since Bourgeois guitars joined the Eastman family of brands in 2019, we changed our Dreadnought size, to the same size as the Bourgeois Dreadnoughts, this has been a rolling gradual change. So any dreadnought you buy today, is all exactly the same size.You can find all the specs that we can share with you about your Acoustic guitar on our website: https://www.eastmanguitars.com/acousticIf you want more detailed information, we advise you to contact an authorized dealer, they will be able to help you further.

Does anyone have any experience with swapping out tuners on an E2D, or any E series for that matter? I just want it to be a drop-in replacement. I really don't want to have to do any drilling/reaming or mods. Just want a drop-in. I've read that Schallers, some Gotohs, and possibly Golden Age tuners will drop-in just fine. I'm wanting some cream colored buttons.

Any advice would be appreciated!

I've tried so many different re-stringing methods, and none of them ever worked well or were easy for me to do. However, I stumbled across this video below. Tried this method on my E8OM-TC last night, and it's
super easy and now my strings wind on the post like they should. Super easy method! Figured I'd share.


https://youtu.be/lxoLMEn_aJk

Hi, I have two Eastman flat tops - an E20-P bought in 2019, and an E40-00 bought in 2020.
Both are said to have adirondack (red spruce) tops, and the backs and sides are, according to the web-site "Solid rosewood" 

Even after my many years behind flat tops I'm not always sure tat I can tell the difference between sitka and Adi,  but I'm very happy with the guitars, Eastman, Collings and others.

Eastman seems to have access to prettier rosewoods than many of the US made brands, and it makes me wonder.

Where is all this adirondack coming from when it has long been said that it is in short supply?

With some rosewoods is under Cites control - where does this delightful rosewood come from - is it EIR, or some other wood similar to EIR?

Anybody know?