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Next Tuesday, I fly out west to retrieve an early, single pickup 7 string Eastman El Rey. I have enough air miles to go free, so it's cheaper and better for the guitar than shipping. Even better, I get to meet another forum member face to face. I've been chasing one of these for years to be my workhorse. I love my Raines Tele 7 - but I really wanted a small archtop and settled for the Tele because I couldn't find a good one at the right price for a beater. The size (14" lower bout, 2" deep body) is ideal for the close, cramped areas in which I find myself playing all too often. And it weighs about 6 pounds, which will lift a burden from my shoulder (my 10.5 pound Les Paul).
There are a few ratty areas on the top that look to me to be from picking and finger resting. The bad area is between the pickup (neck position) and the rim, and it's fortunately confined to the darkest part of the sunburst. I'm 99% sure these were finished with nitro, so I can touch it up with a StewMac stick and get a decent result. Even if it's something else (which I doubt, but will call Eastman to check), nitro sticks are fine for touching up most finishes. I may even fit a pickguard there cantilevered from the pickup mounting ring screws with a foot resting on the bridge base. Or I could have a MoP inlay put there like Wes's
At 14.5" x 3" inside, I think the Mono Vertigo Electric gig bag should be just right. And in keeping with my one-in-one-out rule, I'll be selling the Tele 7 if the El Rey proves to be as perfect for my needs as I think it will. I have my ESP 7 if I need a solid body, and the Epi LP7 is still playable. I'll keep the Roland synth pickup on it and use it on the few gigs I do a year that need me as a horn section and/or a B3.
NGD post coming soon!!
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06-12-2025 01:02 PM
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good for you my man, your persistence paid off!
ps I'd leave the mojo but that's me.
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I'd agree with you if there was still any finish at all on those areas, but I don't like to see bare wood. Even nitro on nitro, no touchup will be perfect without more work than I'm going to put into it. I just want to cover the bare wood. I'm a pretty gentle picker, so I don't think I'll do any damage to the top. If I do find myself nailing it too much, I'll fit a thin clear lexan guard. The size and shape of that body ae too right to ruin with an opaque guard.
Originally Posted by wintermoon
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Verrrrrrry nice! Did you make the guard? Originally Posted by krusty
Alumitone!! I have a pair in the Raines Tele - they’re great. Unfortunately, Lace had stopped making them in gold when I got mine. But assuming I sell the Raines now that I have this, I may put the original humbuckers back for the buyer and plunk an Alumitone into my El Rey. I had them made to Benson specs anfter Gabe at Lace sent me sound clips of various options. These sound great for any genre and are perfect for a workhorse guitar I’ll use for most gigs.
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Just run your finger across your forehead after a gig and smear it on the dings, a few times and they won't pop as much. Originally Posted by nevershouldhavesoldit
Over time dings on old guitars become less pronounced when they acquire some patina.
It's better than stick touch ups imo but as usual ymmv....
ps isn't this particular guitar one you were trying to acquire previously? I ask because the dings look familiar.
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Pickguard and pickup ring were custom made when I had the guitar refinished many years ago. I wanted the guard to echo the body shape. The result was awesome. Add in a set of locking Gotoh 510 tuners that drop right on too. Pickup is actually the fusion/jazz 251. Originally Posted by nevershouldhavesoldit
I just picked up an amp that has me selling both my Fender Jazzmaster Ultralights, and ending the endless amp quest entirely. It’s a Sarno Tonic tube preamp in a TC Furlong custom cabinet, with a Straight Ahead SA500 power amp and a 15” speaker. Originally conceived as a pedal steel rig. Sounds unbelievable with the El Rey.
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That’s very close to the Benson spec. I doubt that I could tell yours from mine. Originally Posted by krusty
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I really wish they had a 15" El Rey. It's my "Goldilocks" size for archtops.
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No yeah, it's nitro. Eastman's nitro finish was blended very scant on the plasticizer, so it was prone to chipping and wear . . . a bug for some and a feature for others. Originally Posted by nevershouldhavesoldit
Sorry for the giant-size but (as usual) I don't know what I'm doing: Originally Posted by nevershouldhavesoldit
If you search "guitar head plate wood" on EBay you will find some gorgeous pieces for lunch-money prices.
That one's Zircote IMR.
I can't believe I've had that ER-4 since 2018. It's just home plate for me -- one of the truly unexpected wins of my gearhead action.
Winner winner winner! Originally Posted by nevershouldhavesoldit
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That's awesome, I've only seen a few 7 string Reys I always wondered how many they actually made.
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For me, it’s all about room to move. Apart from the vanishingly small number of rooms with big stages, almost all of my gigs are in cramped spaces. So I use the Tele on many gigs for which I’d prefer an archtop. I hate dodging mic stands, music stands, keyboards, drum frames & hardware, cymbals, saxophones, walls, bass headstocks, etc. I also prefer sitting, but there’s barely room to stand in many venues. Originally Posted by Woody Sound
I once got knocked off the stage at a club in Maryland called Bayou Blues. The stage was small for the band, and the bass player had a habit of closing his eyes and rocking from side to side in a circular motion while playing under the influence of unknown substances. He was right next to me, with just enough room for us to stand right next to each other (backs to the edge at the side of the stage) with our instrument necks angled forward and to the left (parallel to each other).
We were really cooking on an up blues tune. He was rocking from side to side with eyes closed tightly, wildly swinging the neck back and forth. For strong accented hits, he’d raise his bass high to the left on the beat before and whip the bass down and to the right like a lefty’s golf swing while plucking the big note. The back of the headstock hit me in the cheek on the upswing and I fell backwards off the stage. Ain’t no place for archtops.
I’m tall & thin, with long arms and hands. So size is not an issue for playing - it’s a matter of survival for me and for my guitar.
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I always keep trying to play 7 string,even buying a Kiesel Zeus 7. I just realized you really need to make a commitment to playing it all the time. And I just haven’t had enough gigs that warrants it.
Kudos to finding a really cool 7 string,and many gigs for it as well!
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Yes, it's the same guitar. The current seller beat me to the punch last time around. But we never give up......except for that 15" Foster Basin Street 7 that was posted for sale several times over about 18 months a few years ago. That seller was so difficult that I finally gave in and gave up. But when the current owner decided to sell the El Rey, he very kindly contacted me first because he knew that I wanted it. He'd bought my Carvin 7 about 5 years ago when I thinned the herd and planned to use my Ibanez AF207 for most gigs. I had both the Les Paul 7 and the ESP 7, and I thought it would be easy to replace the Carvin with a small 7 string achtop at my leisure. Five years is very leisurely Originally Posted by wintermoon
I haven't seen it live yet, but I don't think those are dings. They look to me like the finish was rubbed off, and Sam's post suggests that this was a common problem with the nitro on earlier Eastmans. My 810CE7 is Frnech polished and my Jazz Elite has their TrueTone thin poly finish - so I have no experience with their nitro finishes, There appears to be a fine line of similar damage along the top edge of the cutaway and a few tiny areas on the bass side of the upper bout. If they were just dings with finish still there, I'd leave them alone.
Patina is fine. But bare wood looks wrong and is not patina to me. It's easy to cover, and I'd rather look at measles than raw skin wounds. Nitro will melt into the surrounding finish, and those StewMac touchup pens are really good. You have to be careful not to get too much on the spot, because more than you think comes out and it runs very fast. Because of this, using the tip of the pen is imprecise and the cause of most bad spot repairs. I dab a little into a tiny dish and use a very fine brush to apply it a tiny dot at a time under magnification.
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by dings I mean they look like tiny nicks from a fingernail/pick contacting the top.
are you getting a seat for the return trip or hoping it fits into the overhead bid, or bribing the flight attendant to have it put in the coat closet
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Originally Posted by wintermoon
by dings I mean they look like tiny nicks from a fingernail/pick contacting the top.
are you getting a seat for the return trip or hoping it fits into the overhead bid, or bribing the flight attendant to have it put in the coat closet
When I ding a guitar, I really ding it. The two times I've done that were identical incidents almost 70 years apart. I managed to smack the top on my first good guitar (a new Gibson LG-1 I got when I was 11) with the plug on the end of its DeArmond pickup cable, leaving an 1/8" depression between the bridge and the rim a little way up toward the bass side of the lower bout. I did exactly the same thing to another guitar last year while coiling a cable to hang it up - same ding, same place, same sinking feeling. But this time, I got over it in about 5 minutes. Last time, it took years.
The flights are far from full, so I plan to put it in the overhead bin. I have priority status on the airline, so I board right after first class and should have no trouble finding room. It's a small guitar, but it's in an Ameritage hard case and they're hefty. I'll ask the ground crew at the airport if I can get it in the first class coat closet. But in case it doesn't fit (how's THAT for an extended pun??), I'm bringing a soft gig bag and a pair of heavy flannel king sized pillow cases in my little backpack. If necessary, I'll put it right above me in the overhead bin in the gig bag and gate check the empty case. If enough empty seats remain, I can probably get the crew to let me strap it into a seat next to me.
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Where did you find it? Originally Posted by nevershouldhavesoldit
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a whole 1/8" and 70 yrs apart?? I take good care of my equipment but I guess some people's idea of 'really dinging' differ. Originally Posted by nevershouldhavesoldit
When I ding a guitar, I really ding it. The two times I've done that were identical incidents almost 70 years apart. I managed to smack the top on my first good guitar (a new Gibson LG-1 I got when I was 11) with the plug on the end of its DeArmond pickup cable, leaving an 1/8" depression between the bridge and the rim a little way up toward the bass side of the lower bout. I did exactly the same thing to another guitar last year while coiling a cable to hang it up - same ding, same place, same sinking feeling. But this time, I got over it in about 5 minutes. Last time, it took years.
but best of luck, hope it all works out fer ya.....
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I've also done in more than a few headstocks with the cut ends of the 7th strings. The sharp cut end of a 75 is a dangerous weapon, and I'm Originally Posted by wintermoon
But seriously, folks - this is the light comedy part of the program. Maybe I'm a bit more obsessive about my stuff than many. But there's been serious buckle rash on the backs of most of my solid bodies, finish hazing on the bass side of the lower bout where my arm covers it, pick rash on vulnerable tops etc. But I don't ding!
I'm no stranger to disaster. Remember when the stand collapsed last year and dropped my Ibanez on its face, breaking the pickup ring? I know I posted about it. I had to repair the ring myself because it's wood and not a standard size. There are none available, so I did it with pieces of the original surround from my Les Paul 7 as reinforcements. I cut a wood piece to fill the area that was shattered, and I stained it with a touchup stick.
I'll post pics when I get the ER and document any repairs or touchups I hav to do.
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I've been trying to buy a good one for years. This one came up a few years ago and a forum member beat me to it. We knew each other because he'd bought my 7 string Carvin some years ago. He recently decided to sell the El Rey and knew that I wanted it. So he kindly contacted me and now it shall be mine! Originally Posted by Mick-7
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And, as you know, that forum member bought it from me. I bought it from a friend here in Milwaukee, and the original owner was Jeff Hale (remember J. Hale Music?). BTW, I cut and installed the truss rod cover from a piece of ebony pickguard that didn’t fit on anything else I had.
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Ooh! VERY nice! I'd love to have another 7-string, but the majority of them are of the Superstrat variety, which really isn't my thing - I'd prefer an archtop or semi-hollow, but they're not common, and cost much more than I can afford at the present time. Oh well!
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If anyone is interested...
Shameless plug here for three gorgeous 7-string guitars made by Marek Witkowski.
I guess I'll post these in the For Sale section.
Last edited by Hammertone; 06-14-2025 at 09:09 AM.
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There’s a nice solid/carved American Archtop for sale at Guitars ‘n Jazz Dale Unger American Legend Carved 7 String Natural Blonde Archtop w/ OHSC — Guitars 'n Jazz Originally Posted by EllenGtrGrl
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Oy!! A week after I buy the El Rey, you dangle these in front of me?? Have you no decency?? Originally Posted by Hammertone
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