Eastman AR810CE (& Eastman general)

[chyro]

Hi all,

I'm looking to get into an archtop and have been looking at the Eastman AR810CE. If anyone has experience playing this model, or even Eastmans in general. I'm wondering:

-Have you been happy with the sound, fit and finish? Has it held up well?

-Any recent problems with the tailpiece? I know there was a thread on the forum a little while ago and a couple of members had had issues, I'm hoping Eastman has fixed this.

I've been playing jazz guitar for 15 years, but this would be my first archtop (I'm settled on getting an archtop, just narrowing it down now). Thanks for any input from members who've played this box.

[NiAg]

In my opinion, the Eastmans varied quite a bit from one to the next for the first year+, both in terms of fit/finish and sound. But after that (say later '06 and after) things smoothed out quite a bit.

I like the AR810 and 805 quite a bit.

The lacquer is traditional nitro without a lot of additives to make it more flexible. So you might have some checking around the neck joint after a season or two - just like on any other lacquer finished instrument.

The tailpiece is old stuff from when they first got into the guitar business. I have not heard that it is a current issue at all.

I suggest giving the 805 a good ride as well. Great sound from this very comfortable 16" size.

[4thstuning]

I'm a fan of Eastmans and think they're exceptional guitars for the money. Below is a link of a 'for sale' video I made with an 810. The video may give you some impression of the instrument. The first part is consists of its acoustic sound and the second part is a recording of it amplified using a ZT Lunchbox and an RV3 reverb pedal.

YouTube - ‪FS: Eastman 810CE Guitar unplugged and amplified‬‏

The reason it was for sale was that I was trying to get the cash to buy a Dupont gypsy guitar. Subsequently I decided I wasn't a gypsy stylist and decided to keep the Eastman. I still enjoy its unique sound today.

[chyro]

Hey, thanks for the replies guys.

[hurricanebob]

I own two Eastmans, an 805 as well as a Thinline. I've had the 805 for several years now, have played it almost daily during that time, and it has held up very well.

Acoustically it's very mellow, with that distinctive archtop sound. Plugged in, it sounds great: full of resonance that one gets from a solid body guitar, particularly with a spruce top.

The only caveat is that you should make sure you want an archtop that plays well acoustically, which means that it will still have some of that acoustic sound even when plugged in.

I started a thread elsewhere in this section about "looking for a certain sound" in which I noted that sometimes the 805 sounded more acoustic than I wanted when plugged in to my Polytone, a solid state amp.

Moving to a tube amp helped, as did getting the Thinline, which has built-in humbuckers (as opposed to floating). One isn't better than another, but they are clearly different, and you want to figure out which one you want before dropping between $1,000-1500 on a guitar.

[msr13]

Eastmans are great! My local store, Parkway Music just got in a John Pisano Model with the Maple back. Plays great. They are selling it for $1999. It has a couple of dings. 2007, IIRC. Blond with nice figuring. They seem to retail new for between 2600-2800. But the mahogany backed ones can be had for under $2000. Anyway, a top end Eastman at a relatively good price if anyone is interested. Other than I shop there a lot, no relationship.

[goshawk]

I have a 2007 El Rey, and it's my main guitar. I'm not a professional and I don't gig, but the guitar is played everyday and hauled to my teacher's studio on a regular basis. No issues at all with the tailpiece or anything else. The finish, as mentioned, is thin, so you need to exercise a bit of care or you will get dings and other marks.

[Paul Kinnear]

Hi Chyro,
I purchased an Eastman 905ce 7 string in October 2010. Spruce top highly flamed maple back and sides. I play it quite a bit, gig with it all the time, and am very happy with it. It is exactly what I was looking for. The sound is very " woody" and the fit and finish is superb. I am glad I went with the 16" as it is very comfortable to play and there has been no feedback isues. Recently I began using D'Addario .013 flatwounds on it and I like it even more. I have been playing a Gibson 335 for the past 25 years and would compare the quality very favorably so far.

[Scolohofo]

Well,what's wrong with this eastman???[eBay.be: Eastman AR805CE Archtop Jazzgitarre Bj 2005 mit Case (object 170623119660 eindtijd 11-apr-11 23:41:45 CEST)