Eastman AR503CE ... Anyone tried one yet? - Page 2

2bornot2bop · #31 12-03-2011, 07:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jim Soloway

Thanks. I really am just another guitar geek. I'm just a little more obsessive than most.

I'm a big fan of your playing Jim. I've been following your demo's on the HOC forum. I have a question:

How in the heck do you get a pitch black background to your guitar photo's? I noticed that on the guitars you posted on the HOC forum.

Is there a trick to it I can learn?

BTW, I'm near Seattle. It would be worth the drive to come down for a lesson if you're ever in the mood.

Enjoy!

Jim Soloway · #32 12-03-2011, 11:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 2bornot2bop

I'm a big fan of your playing Jim. I've been following your demo's on the HOC forum. I have a question:

How in the heck do you get a pitch black background to your guitar photo's? I noticed that on the guitars you posted on the HOC forum.

Is there a trick to it I can learn?

BTW, I'm near Seattle. It would be worth the drive to come down for a lesson if you're ever in the mood.

Enjoy!

Thanks for the kind words.

I was actually planning to start offering lessons this month but we had a major plumbing disaster at our house. There was a lot of damage and we've been in repair mode ever since. We should finally be done in about two weeks. After that I'd be happy to have you come by for a lesson or two. Feel free to drop me an e-mail and we can discuss it.

As for the photographs, it's not really much of a trick. I shoot everything on a large piece of heavy black velvet and I do most of my photos in fairly low light (this is after all the Pacific North West

). As long as I keep the lighting down, it has almost no reflective quality at all.

AZanshin · #33 12-04-2011, 07:14 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jim Soloway

Thanks for the kind words.

I was actually planning to start offering lessons this month but we had a major plumbing disaster at our house. There was a lot of damage and we've been in repair mode ever since. We should finally be done in about two weeks. After that I'd be happy to have you come by for a lesson or two. Feel free to drop me an e-mail and we can discuss it.

As for the photographs, it's not really much of a trick. I shoot everything on a large piece of heavy black satin and I do most of my photos in fairly low light (this is after all the Pacific North West

). As long as I keep the lighting down, it has almost no reflective quality at all.

That was a very beautiful sound sample, I was wondering what your amp setting where for that take since your treble sounds alot smoother than on my AR503ce

Jim Soloway · #34 12-04-2011, 11:22 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by AZanshin

That was a very beautiful sound sample, I was wondering what your amp setting where for that take since your treble sounds alot smoother than on my AR503ce

Thanks.

I no longer use a conventional amplifier per se. Instead, my rig consists of a Pod HD (Line 6's newest generation amp & effect modeler) and a powered speaker. I have the Pod running a blackface Fender twin model with a bit of reverb and record direct from that, so the speaker doesn't really come into play other than as a monitoring source for me while I play. The settings are pretty pedestrian. In terms of analog settings, the bass is rolled off a bit to about 4, the mid and treble are at about 5. There are a lot of other settings available but I don't really use most of them.

I did do two small adjustments to the pickup almost immediately after plugging in the guitar. I lowered the entire pickup a bit (slightly more on the bass side to prevent low end boominess) and I lowered the D string pole piece a bit after that to help control feedback.

I also use a somewhat idiosyncratic picking technique and I suspect that's part of it. I finger pick everything using all five fingers. I keep my picking hand much further forward than most people, often playing over the end of the fingerboard and my touch is absurdly light, so much so that the output from my guitar is much lower than other players at the same settings. It's not really a method that I set out to learn but rather one that developed naturally so long ago that I really don't even remember when or how it began. I'm not sure that I would recommend this method to anyone else but it works for me and it does seem to stamp my own tonal personality on any guitar I play.

And for Tom, they are round wounds, probably 12 to 52. I played it most of Friday evening and off and on all day yesterday and my left hand was quite sore by the end of it. I have a case of GHS Nickel Compound 11's arriving in the next few days. I'd like to try those before I think about doing any serious recording with it.

carlescountry · #35 12-05-2011, 04:55 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jim Soloway

Thanks.
I no longer use a conventional amplifier per se. Instead, my rig consists of a Pod HD (Line 6's newest generation amp & effect modeler) and a powered speaker.

What happens to the Headstrong Lil 'King Junior?

Jim Soloway · #36 12-05-2011, 08:06 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by carlescountry

What happens to the Headstrong Lil 'King Junior?

Part of what happened is that Wayne wasn't interested in continuing the model. The other part was that modeling has progressed to the point where I found that I could get a very similar tone with none of the noise that's an inherent part of tube amps and with no tonal variation based on my volume. No tube amp can do that. The modeler is also much easier to record and that's a very big part of what I do.

Tom Karol · #37 12-05-2011, 08:09 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jim Soloway

And it sounds pretty much like I was hoping: more acoustic content than an all laminate 175 type and much better feedback resistance than a traditional carved archtop.

Jim, when you get a chance, could you elaborate on this? As you know, I've been actively considering the AR403 which is an all maple laminate with rosewood fingerboard, bridge, tailpiece cover, and pickguard. The 503, which lists for $300 more has ebony for all of these as well as a carved spruce top.

The thing is, I can't afford even the AR403 right now, but in a few months I expect to be able to afford either one. I've only played the 403. More acoustic content (when playing at home for myself) would be nice. Performance-wise it will be only used amplified, but exclusively at relatively low volumes.

Thanks!

By the way, I realized that I know Barry's brother - we used to be neighbors!

Jim Soloway · #38 12-05-2011, 10:39 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tom Karol

Jim, when you get a chance, could you elaborate on this? As you know, I've been actively considering the AR403 which is an all maple laminate with rosewood fingerboard, bridge, tailpiece cover, and pickguard. The 503, which lists for $300 more has ebony for all of these as well as a carved spruce top.

The thing is, I can't afford even the AR403 right now, but in a few months I expect to be able to afford either one. I've only played the 403. More acoustic content (when playing at home for myself) would be nice. Performance-wise it will be only used amplified, but exclusively at relatively low volumes.

Thanks!

By the way, I realized that I know Barry's brother - we used to be neighbors!

When they first started using laminates, the primary purpose was to reduce cost. The wood was less expensive and more importantly, it could be steamed and pressed into shape rather than having to be carved. They learned pretty quickly that laminates also respond very differently than solid woods causing some very different tonal results. Pressed laminates are much more rigid than carve solid woods so they don't vibrate as much in response to moving air. That's why they are less feedback prone. Because they aren't vibrating as much they also contribute less of an artifact to the tone and the sound comes out much more "electric". That can be seen as either a good thing or a bad thing depending on the desired tonal result. The classic smokey tone that so many people consider to be the classic sound of an jazz guitar was mostly created on Gibsons built with laminates. Think early Jim Hall or Herb Ellis. Carved guitars tend to be much brighter with a lot more acoustic overtones. Think early George Van Eps when he was playing that great Epiphone or Martin Taylor's solo guitar tone in recent years.

So it really depends on what you're trying to achieve. I get everything I want in my electric tones from the guitars that we've built (plus they're a LOT more comfortable for me to play). What I wanted was a guitar that would provide an obvious contrast with a lot more acoustic content in the tone. On the other hand, I really hate the way arch tops feed back so easily and I consider most solid wood archtops to be pretty much unusable in the real world (at least by me). The 503 is a nice compromise for me. The laminate sides and back reduce the feedback enough to make it functional but the top still vibrates freely giving it enough acoustic zing to sound obviously different than my other guitars. I haven't played a 403 so I can't say for certain that it wouldn't also have enough acoustic content but my expectation based on a lot of experience with laminate arch tops is that all other conditions being equal, it should sound at least a bit darker and more electric.

One of the benefits of not having the money yet is that you can put more time into the testing process before you buy, so my suggestion would be to try both before you make a decision. I know the 503s are starting to ship in numbers now, so you should get an opportunity to try them side by side pretty soon.

carlescountry · #39 12-05-2011, 11:04 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jim Soloway

Part of what happened is that Wayne wasn't interested in continuing the model. The other part was that modeling has progressed to the point where I found that I could get a very similar tone with none of the noise that's an inherent part of tube amps and with no tonal variation based on my volume. No tube amp can do that. The modeler is also much easier to record and that's a very big part of what I do.

Thanks for your reply, Jim. It's very interesting what you say about the current modelers.

West LA Jazz · #40 12-05-2011, 03:03 PM

Beautiful!!! Jim... if you don't I totally understand but how much and where did you order this? Local dealerships here in Southern Cal tell me that they don't even have a list price let alone ship and deliver one by christmas. Thanks in advance!

Jim Soloway · #41 12-05-2011, 03:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by West LA Jazz

Beautiful!!! Jim... if you don't I totally understand but how much and where did you order this? Local dealerships here in Southern Cal tell me that they don't even have a list price let alone ship and deliver one by christmas. Thanks in advance!

I can't really talk about all the details but I can tell you there there are a bunch of them in the process of shipping out to dealers now. I actually got a call from The Olde Town Pickin' Parlor on Friday letting me know that they just got one in. The list price is posted on the Eastman site as $1250 and the street price on the first few that I found out there was about $1000 (and it's a LOT of guitar for $1000).

West LA Jazz · #42 12-05-2011, 04:41 PM

Sounds great! Thanks for sharing, it's much appreciated!!!

Tom Karol · #43 12-05-2011, 05:25 PM

Jim -
Thanks for your long and clear answer. I understand what you're saying vis a vis laminated vs carved. I don't need this guitar as much as I want it! Taking my time in acquiring it will be part of the fun!

Jim Soloway · #44 12-05-2011, 05:56 PM

I threw on some lighter strings last night to see if I could get a better balance of tone and playing ease. Here's a quick recording I did with it this morning with the lighter strings. It's yet another version of Wave. Sorry for the repeat but I've been recording that song a lot for testing gear because it allows me to compare different equipment in a known musical environment. It's basically my way to prevent comparing apples to oranges.

http://www.jimsoloway.com/MiscDemoCl...anWave1BBC.mp3