-
Last Tuesday was a busy day. I got up at 4 AM, folded a gig bag into my backpack in case there was no room for the hard case in the overhead bin, picked up a screw in a tire on my way to the airport, flew to Austin, and met the seller at the AUS baggage claim area. We did the deal and spent about 2 hours together having a great time before he headed home. I hit The Salt Lick for some Texas BBQ before flying home with my prize. For those who don't know about it, The Salt Lick was said to have been Janis Joplin's favorite BBQ place. The original is out in the desert - we went there years ago to see what the fuss was about. No disrespect intended, but Texas BBQ is my mother's brisket. The smoke and the sauce are a bit better in Texas, but the meat itself was a little better at my family's table. Since they have a location in the terminal at AUS, I had to have a brisket sandwich before boarding for home. Both flights were fine, and I was in my living room by 8:30 that night.
Brother Rey lives in an Ameritage Custom Gold case, which is probably the best (and heaviest) hard case I've ever seen. It took up one section of the overhead bin, and the flight attendants tried to get me to gate check it. But I reminded them that the FAA says they have to let me bring it aboard if it fits in the bin. One of the attendants was downright nasty about the fact that they had room for 2 fewer bags in the bin because of my guitar. But I stuck to my guns and we got home without incident.
Now my carved solid wood archtop 7 string Eastman family is complete - 16" Jazz Elite 7 on the left, 17" AR810CE7 on the right, and little Brother Rey (14") in the middle.
Here's the back story:
And here's a butt to butt comparison of the body size and the detailing (Elite and El Rey) :
Wintermoon, you can rest easy. There's plenty of patina, and I'm not in any hurry to do anything to change that. For now, I'm not even touching up the bare wood spots. I contacted Eastman to be sure I knew what the finish is. Here's their surprising response: "Thank you for reaching out to us at Eastman. Regarding your El Ray [sic] the finish has a poly undercoat and with a nitro topcoat". I assume that means that there's a polyester base coat, not that there's polyurethane under the nitro. I may get a StewMac nitro touchup pen at some point, but somehow it doesn't seem necessary to me now that I have the guitar. Here are the most noticeable spots:
The peghead is beautiful, with a fine edge of wood binding that matches the body's. It's seen its share of stage knocks and string end gouges, but that's life
. I'll either cut a new nut or fill and fix the G and D slots, which are broken out at the fingerboard side:
Here it is in its case. Notice the built in humdifier in front of the pocket:
The bridge is not original, as the guitar came with gold hardware. But tone and intonation are excellent, so I'm fine with this one. There's some work to be done. I started to fit a set of JS113s and a 75 Chrome 7th, but the slots in the tailpiece won't pass the 75 or the silk wrapped end of the 53 in the JS113 set. It came to me with a 74 RW 7th, but the wrap on it stops short of the ball end and is not doubled over. So I put on a 65 Chrome (the largest it would pass) and JS112s. I'll have to take off the tailpiece and enlarge the slots enough to pass a 75 Chrome and a set of 113s. But TBH, it sounds so good with 112s and the 65 on it that I may not even bother. It's a 25.5" scale, but bending is smooth and easy on it with the 112s and the tone is amazing. I'm absolutely blown away by the volume and quality of the acoustic sound. How Otto D'Ambrosio gets that much great sound from a 14" archtop with no soundholes is a miracle!
Speaking of tone, here's how it sounds on the stand. I used it on last Thursday's trio gig, which was quite an event. I arrived an hour early to set up, and the sun was shining brightly. We hit at 5PM with a beautiful day lighting up the place through floor to ceiling windows. Within minutes, the sun went out and the sky turned black. A howling wind brought in one of the most dense rain storms I ever saw - trees bending 90 degrees, loose objects flying all over the place. We guided everyone as far from the big windows as posible, and the power went out. The major part of the storm passed within 15 minutes, the power came back on, and the crowd was so happy that the gig went well after that. We found out later that there had been 2 tornadoes outside. It was hard to concentrate on playing with all that going on. I kept looking up at the windows and expecting them to come crashing into the building.
I was playing through my Quilter OD202 in a BlockDock 10. The recorder was on the mic stand directly in front of me, so the balance among the trio favors my amp a bit too much. This was also the first time in a long time that I played a jazz gig standing up, which was weird. But a 14" body isn't that comfortable to play sitting, so I put on the strap and figured I'd give it a shot. I think it's going to be fine, and I really love this guitar!
Out of Nowhere:
This I Dig of You:
-
06-25-2025 01:50 PM
-
Looking good my man.
Yeah I wouldn't touch all those marks, there's way too many anywho, but there's that ymmv thing again
.
I like the look of a well played in guitar, someone gigged that thing quite a bit like I'm sure you will.
Nice Mobley number too, but don't forget the little parts at the end of the A and B sections, they make the tune and Hank would've wanted it that way.
-
Congrats on the safe trip and the new axe. Great playing and tone.
As for the salt lick they have delicious BBQ but that is one shit paying and tipping gig, especially considering it and the vineyard they own next door are worth an absolute fortune. I go to Black's, which is on par or better anyways, plus I get a free t-shirt or hat on my birthday.
-
Yeah....we fly without a net. I always send out a play list with lead sheets at least a week before a gig. But that doesn't mean that the sidemen always look at it. As I was counting it in, I learned that neither the bass player nor the drummer had heard the tune, let alone knew it. In my shock, I was bouncing back and forth between them while trying to get it going. Fortunately, I was standing with the guitar on a strap and wireless gizmo. So I could walk back and forth trying to encourage the groove.
Originally Posted by wintermoon
Nice Mobley number too, but don't forget the little parts at the end of the A and B sections, they make the tune and Hank would've wanted it that way.
We also didn't get the original rhythmic feel in bars 13 & 15 with the eighth note rest on the 1. I finally calmed down and included the last flip at the end, but it was not a peformance of which to be proud. I posted it to show the guitar's tone, which I think is outstanding.
-
I’m glad you’re enjoying the guitar. I know I did as well. Nice playing too, btw.
-
Very cool, congrats!
Collings use a mix of Nitro and poly. I think the poly is the first coat, so stop the nitro cracking?
-
I still haven't figured out what they used. Polyester wood filler is often applied before finishing, but AFAIK polyurethane would be an unusual base coat for a nitro finish. Eastman's email says that it has a "poly undercoat and a nitro top coat". I assume that they mean nitro over polyester rather than polyurethane, but I could be wrong. I also don't think Eastman used any polyurethane finishes 25 years ago. the first such use I know of is their Truetone finish, which they describe as a thin and flexible polyurthane. Originally Posted by Archie
Otto D'Ambrosio is in California, and I have his phone number. I'll call him tomorrow to see if he can shed more light on the history, design, structure, and components.
-
Congrats on the new axe. May she inspire your playing for many years to come!
-
Awesome trio, looks like you have all the 7-string bases covered. I have one of those Ameritage cases for classical/flamenco. They ARE heavy.
(Now maybe time for a shredder 7.)
Last edited by Woody Sound; 06-25-2025 at 10:59 PM.
-
I’ll see your Jackson and raise you an ESP Originally Posted by Woody Sound
Awesome trio, looks like you have all the 7-string bases covered.
(Except maybe for a shredder.)
This was my first 7 - got it in the early ‘90s. It’s a beautiful guitar that sounds and plays like a dream.
-
David, that sounds fantastic! Going in blindfolded, I would have no idea that is such a compact guitar. It sounds much, much bigger than it is. Nice playing, BTW!
-
Great guitar, I nearly bought one when I attempted playing seven string 20 years ago, imported from Jeff Hale. Originally Posted by nevershouldhavesoldit
Out of Nowhere:
This I Dig of You:
Are they neck heavy whilst sitting?
Sounds very good, GREAT playing as always.
-
David,
That's one beautiful stable; and wonderful tone and playing!
I'd love to hear what Otto has to say...
R.
-
Thx! This was originally Jeff Hale’s guitar. It went from him to a second owner whose identity I don’t know. It was then bought by forum member Mark M, who has posted about it several times (including in this thread). He sold it to another forum member, from whom I bought it. Originally Posted by GuyBoden
Great guitar, I nearly bought one when I attempted playing seven string 20 years ago, imported from Jeff Hale.
Are they neck heavy whilst sitting?
Sounds very good, GREAT playing as always.
Anecdotal info gathered along the way includes a reported communication from Eastman saying that it was one of the first few and possibly the prototype, based on the serial number on the headstock.
Notice in the pics that it has wood tuner buttons. The original metal buttons were in the case, having been replaced to lighten the headstock and reduce neck dive. When sitting (which is my preference), I’ve always played with my guitar on my left thigh, and there’s no neck dive. But apart from pure love for it, I bought this to play on tight stages and in close spaces, which means standing. On a strap, it’s amazingly light and very well balanced. I haven’t played a jazz gig standing up in a very long time. It felt awkward, and the lack of smoothness & precision in my playing is clearly audible in these recordings. But the guitar is well balanced on the strap - I just have to get used to the different angle and position of the fingerboard.
I’m over 6 feet tall with long arms, and a guitar on a strap is most comfortable a good bit lower than it is in my lap. I’ve played many hundreds of blues dates standing with a solid body guitar - I’ll get used to it for jazz, and Brother Rey makes it feel right. I do like the larger metal buttons because they add leverage for easier and more precise fine tuning. So I’m going to put them back and see how much they change the balance.
-
Congratulations! A wonderful guitar in very capable hands. I'm glad you and Russ had a good time at AIBA. Wish you could've extended your visit. It would've been nice to meet you.
-
Sounds great. Now all you have to do is get rid of that pesky extra string ...
Last edited by John A.; 06-26-2025 at 12:12 PM.
-
If I knew you were there, I would have made the effort. One drawback of the security measures we all take now is not knowing anything about people with whom we interact. Sadly, internet trolls and identity thieves are sucking a lot of the potential joy out of socialization. This is probably what I hate most about the 21st century so far. Originally Posted by D'Aquisto Fan
My wife & I have gone literally around the world to meet friends we’ve met through shared communication and experience. We had a fabulous visit with the Gitterbugs in Finland, met the owner and luthier at a guitar shop in Porto and enjoyed a fado concert with them, and had multiple adventures with forum friends in some far flung places. We’ve also had visits from abroad, eg DocSteve and his family even came to a gig and sat in.
We’ll be back and certain to contact you when the time comes.
-
I hope you will be back. I've always enjoyed reading your posts. It would be a pleasure to meet you. Enjoy that guitar! Originally Posted by nevershouldhavesoldit
-
A little beside the point and off on a tangent : that’s an interesting collection of books there behind the sofa ….. ?
-
Thanks for noticing! We've always loved to travel and see the treasures of the places we visit. So we buy the catalog if it's a museum or gallery show, a book about the artist or subject if there's no official publication available, and a book about the location or venue if that's all we can find. That table is holding about half of a 50+ year collection. The automotive and music sections are in the next room. We had a library in our house, with built in floor to ceiling shelving along an 18' wall and a 10' wall. But when we downsized after retirement, there was only room in the apartment for book shelves. So we keep the large format art books on that parsons table. Originally Posted by gitman
-
My long-former ER1 balanced 'even better' when I swapped in a set of open-back Waverly knock-offs. That and a cotton strap did the trick for me. Originally Posted by nevershouldhavesoldit
But I play with a strap all the time -- even sitting -- so my right arm tends to keep neck-dive from being a problem.
Reply With Quote
Recommandations for Hollowbodies for $600 and under?
Today, 05:20 AM in Guitar, Amps & Gizmos