Stromberg vs. D'Angelico EXL

[Brian B.]

Hello folks,

I'm an old guy looking to get back a bit into playing after a 20 or so year hiatus. I'm in the market for a guitar under $1,500. As far as I can tell, both the Stromberg guitars and the D'Angelico EXLs are good instruments for this price range. Does anyone have any comments on the difference between them. I'd love to hear most of all from anyone who's played both. I'm probably most interested in playability, feel of the neck, etc.

I imagine that I'd mainly be playing by myself (through an amp) at this point in my life. If any ensemble playing is on the horizon, certainly it would be small and the volume would be very low.

Thanks for any insight!

Brian

[billwilliams]

Both of these instruments are generally well rated, I believe.

I'm in a similar situation playing and age-wise and opted for an Eastman 805 CE which you might perhaps find within your budget and I'm really delighted with it.

Bill

[billwilliams]

Just seen this in RMMGJ which might be worth considering and it's in the US ...

https://groups.google.com/forum/?fro...zz/dUoWb3TSPpU

[Brian B.]

Hi, again, folks. I should rephrase: I'd love to hear from anyone who's played *either* instrument. - Thanks!

[kris]

Peerless Guitars - Fine Archtop Jazz Guitars & Archtop Guitars

Try Peerless guitars

[82Benedetto]

The Eastman and Peerless instruments are, far and away, better than Stromberg and D'angelico in my honest opinion. Of those, I prefer the Eastman instruments.

However, I must also mention my A Mano Guitars. I will not attest to quality, but they are in the D'angelico and Stromberg price range.

[spiral]

The D'Angelico was a decent deal when you could get it direct for $800, but the one i played seemed pretty generic, like any Epiphone 335-style: thin neck, decent finish, nothing special. I agree that Peerless is a better buy, and based on messages from RonD about his A Mano--and the fact that they are custom and solid carved tops--you probably are better off going with either of those two ... If it was my money i would buy the A. Mano.

[rpguitar]

I own a D'Angelico EXL-1DP and have previously owned a different EXL-1DP and also an EXL-1SH.

I also own an Eastman 904CE and have previously owned both an 805CE and a 604.

The Excel that was blown out for $800 USD was a crazy good deal. The newer ones at twice that price are not as good a deal, but they are still the same great guitars. Fit and finish are nearly perfect, albeit a little "clinical" (i.e. lacking mojo). They bridge the gap nicely between a true carved top and a true laminated top. The top is "pressed" spruce and the acoustic volume is actually pretty loud, and quite nice. Definitely more alive than a Gibson 175 but not as organic as a true carved top.

The Eastmans are generally extremely good guitars in a different class. However I get the idea that they are a bit less consistent than the D'A guitars due to their more handcrafted nature. I am lucky to live near Guitars 'N' Jazz (Summit NJ, USA) which stocks something like 100 Eastman guitars, so I've picked mine out carefully from a bunch of candidates.

[RonD]

The D'Angelico was a decent deal when you could get it direct for $800, but the one i played seemed pretty generic, like any Epiphone 335-style: thin neck, decent finish, nothing special. I agree that Peerless is a better buy, and based on messages from RonD about his A Mano--and the fact that they are custom and solid carved tops--you probably are better off going with either of those two ... If it was my money i would buy the A. Mano.

I will cast my biased vote for the A Mano.
Now I'm just waiting for 82B to update his website... so I can start "designing" my next one.

Cheers, Ron

[Steve Z]

Brian,

My recommendation is that once you decide which guitar you want to try and buy it used to save some money. Also, since you are getting back into playing guitar you will likely get back to speed pretty quickly and may want to trade up in the future. By purchasing used you may be able to break even on the initial purchase or just loose a little... much better than the loss of trying to sell a guitar that was purchased new.

Eastman archtops can be found used well within your budget. I have an Eastman 810ce and it plays and sounds great.

Good luck.


Cheers,
Steve

[NiAg]

A second vote for Steve Z's opinion.

Many guys have gotten back into this after a long break. It is common to go through several guitars as you settle in.

Buying a modest guitar new means that you are likely to want to get a better axe later and that you will find your first guitar to be worth very little.

Buy a better guitar used for sure. MANY available at great prices in this depressed market.

[82Benedetto]

Everyone makes good points. I would first try to decide if you prefer a laminate or solid top guitar.

If you are anywhere near NJ, the D'angelico HQ is right in Red Bank!

[gtr_5155]

I prefer my stromberg.Bought it direct from the distributor,WD Music.I was able to specify the strings,setup,etc,and a TKL hard case was included.They use kent armstrong pickups,and the tone is fantasticthrough my Jazz Kat or my Roland with an LR Baggs preamp direct in to the Roland power amp section.Some problems have been noted with the Eastman pressed tops trying to unbens back to flat.D'Angelicos vary depending on which factory made them.At one point Vestax was making them,the Aria,and I cannot remember the 3rd one.Some newer D'angelicos come with Kent Armstrong pickups,but not the earlier ones.

[rpguitar]

Eastman archtop guitars do not have pressed tops. They are all carved. I have never heard anyone note a problem with an Eastman top "bending back to flat!"

[jmstritt]

I would look for a used Eastman and I think you would be much happier.

[gtr_5155]

Eastman archtop guitars do not have pressed tops. They are all carved. I have never heard anyone note a problem with an Eastman top "bending back to flat!"

Sorry if this is in error,but I did read this on a few posts.Some right on this forum.I have also heard this problem related to the Loar guitars.If I am wrong,I apologize,as I have not experienced this problem with an Eastman myself.

[cjm]

Eastman archtop guitars do not have pressed tops. They are all carved. I have never heard anyone note a problem with an Eastman top "bending back to flat!"

A bit off topic, I suppose, but something I've wondered about is whether lower price carved guitars like the Eastman and even less expensive Loar's rely heavily on CNC machine carving rather than hand carving.

There would seem to be little incentive to continue building press formed solid spruce tops anyway, particularly with the cachet and market appeal of carved wood. The investment in equipment to accurately and reliably press form a top isn't trivial, and CNC machine costs continue to decline...

[rpguitar]

I definitely haven't heard of Eastman tops failing for any reason, but if you can find a citation, I'm always eager to broaden my horizons! Eastman pretty much made their reputation on being reasonably priced carved top instruments. That's always been their marketing niche, and very much a real niche for players as well.

I don't know as much about Loar, but I know that they do have a line of cheaper models that are not traditional "solid, carved" woods. Eastman pretty much has avoided that, until now, that is, with the introduction of their ES-175 copy (purpose built as laminated).

It's really the thickness of the top that makes it more or less pliable, and hence more or less resonant. I believe you can achieve much thinner top plates only by the time- and skill-intensive practice of hand carving. But who knows; maybe CNC can be programmed to reduce a slab of spruce to a wafer thin, acoustically sensitive archtop one of these days. Seems it would be a fun experiment for a technically minded and CNC-equipped luthier to play around with.

[Brian B.]

I realize that this conversation has taken a bit of a turn, but I thought I should mention that I ended up going with neither of these choices, but with the Peerless Monarch (from Lou at Guitars 'n Jazz ... who is just an mentch!).

I've had the bugger now for about six months, and I'm just has happy with it as ever. It does play pretty nicely ... but boy does it sound beautiful through an amp! Back the last time I was playing (more than 15 years ago) I had more expensive guitars, but they did not sound nearly as nice as this! I'm appreciating now, how important it is to have a guitar that gives you a nice sound (vs. one you really have to work hard at getting to sound nice)! It affects your playing ... you strum a simple chord and actually appreciate it!

Here's my (pretty poor!) attempt at a Barry Galbraith arrangement:

Of course, I can't chime in now about either the Stromberg of the D'Angelico! But I'm very happy with what I ended up with!

multas gratias vobis ago!

Brian

[Brian B.]

Oh ... I should add that I had a very specific and very limited budget. The choice wasn't between this guitar and an Eastman with a carved top, but rather between a guitar at this entry level or nothing! It turned out I was shocked by what a nice guitar I got for the price!

[rpguitar]

You done good, Brian. Nice guitar, nice playing, and a great overall result.

[M-ster]

Guitar looks nice and sounds great, Brian!

[kennon]

Brian B.,
I am in a similar guitar search as you were on. I also have been looking at the Peerless Monarch and loved the sound you shared with your videos. What amp were you playing that through? And if you don't mind me asking, did you try several monarchs and was that much variation or did you just order it in the mail? I am not able to play one here in the south where I live.
Thanks! Your videos are nice - you are clearly enjoying that guitar

[Brian B.]

I live near one of the distributors (Lou from Guitars n' Jazz ... who is just a wonderful guy), so I was able to play three. All played and sounded great, so it was something of eenie meenie miney mo. I thought that one of them might have had a little kink in the neck (though at that point it was the first time I picked up a guitar in like 15 years, so I wasn't 100% sure), but it didn't look like anything that couldn't be easily straightened.

I was on a *very* limited and specific budget, so anything I spent on an amp would have taken funds away from the actual guitar. In the end I decided not to get an amp at this point at all, but instead play through my computer with a Line 6 POD GX. This turned out to be a *great* decision! First, it's unbelievable how many varied and beautiful sounds the Line 6 POD can make. Second, it allows me to record almost professional sounding recordings directly into Audacity (w/o an expensive mic!). Third, even though I don't have an amp, I can plug the POD into my stereo to get enough volume to play with other guitarists and even horn players (surely not enough to play with piano and drums, but that's not an issue to me right now).

Sometime this year, I probably get an amp, but I'm in no rush at this point!

[Brian B.]

> All played and sounded great, so it was something of eenie meenie miney mo.

Actually, I was kind-of shocked by how much guitar I was getting for the price. I was expecting one thing, but they were actually really nice guitars!