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I don’t know - I can tell you for example Peter Bernstein’s Zeidler has a beautiful acoustic tone as well as plugged but it’s not a cannon.
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08-01-2025 05:02 AM
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Wanted to throw a quick update on this as I've had the guitar a few more days now. While I certainly have had more acoustically lively laminate guitars, this guitar actually isn't as quiet as I initially thought. The issue was I simply needed to acclimate to the guitar and adjust myself to its characteristics, namely in my right/picking hand. See, for the past couple of months I have had no archtop guitar and have gotten by playing on my Strat/Tele with 10 gauge round wound strings. I can play pretty quick on either of these guitars but a light touch is needed. Attempting to take that same light-touch approach to the archtop with 12 gauge flats did not work and in the past couple days I've realized I need to impart a little more energy into the instrument with my right/picking hand to really drive it and make it sound its best. Coincidentally, playing my Strat/Tele now feels a little strange and reminds me of going back to playing guitar after playing bass for a while lol.
This guitar is actually not bad, if maybe needing a little adjustment and maybe some tech work. The biggest annoyance now is actually not the acoustic/electric volume but rather that I've discovered I have a dead note right on C that is most prominent on the D, A, and E strings. It's not totally dead but with a faster decay than any other note.
I think I need to sit with a guitar for a couple weeks at least before making posts here in panic, apologies.
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No worries. I do that all the time. In fact I think first impressions with a new guitar usually wrong. I do it all the time. Like you said usually I change strings, even change pics around because some have different bevels and are brighter or more dull plus have to adjust how hard or light I dig in to find a tone that I like.
Originally Posted by chris32895
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Every guitar has a learning curve (and every amp, pedal, pick, string set, etc.).
Actually, I've come to realize that every day has a learning curve.
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Beautiful guitar. So if it’s an acoustic tone you’re after why didn’t you buy an acoustic? There are several rare Loar LH650’s found from Japan sellers. Can’t beat them for $1k. These are impossible to find anywhere. I bought mine off Reverb last year. I’m about to send it into my luthier to have it pleked. Originally Posted by chris32895
Yes, this is exactly why I made this post. I have played/owned many laminate and carved guitars at this point. I understand the differences and that one will not sound like the other. HOWEVER, I do think it is possible for a laminate to have decent acoustic properties and resonance. I think an instrument like that is much more satisfying to play both plugged in and acoustically. I was simply surprised at this Eastman because most said their laminates are very thin and responsive and what I got was kind of the opposite. It's not totally dead and it does have a good sound when plugged in.
This may just be what I end up doing as this seems like a still very decent tool for the job for now. The big plus is there are no glaring issues and there was already fret leveling and setup work done so I can get very low action.
I may just relegate this guitar as the "laminate"-sounding instrument for those types of sounds. I have always been a guy that has as few guitars as possible and I think I'm understanding now why some have a bunch of guitars - there are certainly unique traits to each instrument and no one instrument can get every sound you want.
Here's a picture
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I think I know who said that - it was "them". They say that falling in love is wonderful. They say Ruby you're like a flame. They say that vitamin C will cure cancer. "They" are not a very reliable source of information. Originally Posted by chris32895
Eastman carved tops are on the thin side because their inspiration and guide for carved archtops was the Benedetto "how to build an archtop guitar" book. But I've never seen any factual information about the composition or thickness of their laminated tops. Playing them suggests that they're garden variety plywood, no different from Gibson ES ply tops or any other good production guitar with a laminated top.
You're just not going to get the equivalent of a $6k American Archtop for under $2k. Opinions on the internet lead to unrealistic expectations and are not a substitute for your hands and ears. Buying a guitar without playing or even hearing it is risky business.
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The Loar 700 is pretty good as well and probably easier to find. Mine was £500. Originally Posted by 2bornot2bop
Beautiful guitar. So if it’s an acoustic tone you’re after why didn’t you buy an acoustic? There are several rare Loar LH650’s found from Japan sellers. Can’t beat them for $1k. These are impossible to find anywhere. I bought mine off Reverb last year. I’m about to send it into my luthier to have it pleked.
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Hi Chris,
well, if it sounds as good as an ES-175, that is awesome, since you have to pay big bucks for an Gibson Es-175 now that Gibson discontinued them.
My best sounding Jazz box is arguably my 1989 ES 175D, but it is dead as a door nail acoustically. Anytime you cut a big hole in the top and put a full size humbucker in it, it kills the acoustic tone quite a bit.
A while back I bought Epiphones poor mans version of the Gibson L5/Johnny Smith: the Emperor Regent. They made these from 1995 to 2011. It has a 17 inch body, spruce top , laminated maple back and sides, and maple neck. The floating pickup on the end of the finger board allow the top to be fully resonant. I play it with TI flatwounds, but it still has respectable acoustic tones. I always wanted to string it up with some bronze wound acoustic strings to unleash all of it's power but could never bring myself to toss those expensive ($30/set) Thomastiks to do so.
So, I bought another Epiphone Emperor Regent on deal so good I will not mention what I paid, just to have one to play with acoustic strings and it sounds fabulous, but has pretty unremarkable sound on an amp, due to the bronze wound strings. It did however reduce the feedback, which was nice.
BTW, you can find used Epi Emperor Regents all day long in the $500 to $800 range, and they originally came with hard shell cases. I had to do a full set-up on mine and round/polish the fret ends, put on a bone nut, and adjust the truss rod, now it plays like butter. The blond ones are pretty beautiful, especially if you can find one with some flamed maple. Keep that guitar, you can never have too many in your quiver of axes!
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I wouldn't say my '63 ES175 was totally dead as a door nail acoustically but my Blueridge laminated archtop defies all the theory. It is lively as hell acoustically and has a lovely smooth and 'smokey' jazz tone when amplified. It's a joy to play. Possibly a factory 'mistake'!! If I sold it I'd probably get only about 200 for it. Originally Posted by jaymen
Hi Chris,
well, if it sounds as good as an ES-175, that is awesome, since you have to pay big bucks for an Gibson Es-175 now that Gibson discontinued them.
My best sounding Jazz box is arguably my 1989 ES 175D, but it is dead as a door nail acoustically. Anytime you cut a big hole in the top and put a full size humbucker in it, it kills the acoustic tone quite a bit.
A while back I bought Epiphones poor mans version of the Gibson L5/Johnny Smith: the Emperor Regent. They made these from 1995 to 2011. It has a 17 inch body, spruce top , laminated maple back and sides, and maple neck. The floating pickup on the end of the finger board allow the top to be fully resonant. I play it with TI flatwounds, but it still has respectable acoustic tones. I always wanted to string it up with some bronze wound acoustic strings to unleash all of it's power but could never bring myself to toss those expensive ($30/set) Thomastiks to do so.
So, I bought another Epiphone Emperor Regent on deal so good I will not mention what I paid, just to have one to play with acoustic strings and it sounds fabulous, but has pretty unremarkable sound on an amp, due to the bronze wound strings. It did however reduce the feedback, which was nice.
BTW, you can find used Epi Emperor Regents all day long in the $500 to $800 range, and they originally came with hard shell cases. I had to do a full set-up on mine and round/polish the fret ends, put on a bone nut, and adjust the truss rod, now it plays like butter. The blond ones are pretty beautiful, especially if you can find one with some flamed maple. Keep that guitar, you can never have too many in your quiver of axes!
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I hear ya Sleeko,
Amazingly, my '03 ES-165 Herb Ellis has much more acoustic tone and volume than my '89 ES-175D.
The one thing I did notice was my ES-175D has laminated mahogany back and sides, where the ES-165 body is all flamed maple laminate.
The maple, being denser probably accounts for the Herbie being more brilliant and a bit louder, where the softer mahogany on the ES 175 probably kills off and absorbs more of the string energy. I may be wrong but that is my best guess.
So in part this may be why my Herbie when plugged in is a bit more lively on the highs. (it has a BJB floater)
As mentioned, I added a tone pot and cap to get it sound a bit more full, like my ES-175D.
My buddies all maple ES-175D, natural blonde, is noticeably brighter, even when plugged in, but not so much as to not be able to get the great tones.
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