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My experience has been, that the Eastman company treat their customers as if it was some kind of state monopoly or they were marketing some cheap copy designs.
Fragile lacquer was a minor thing compared with the many other problems I experienced. But if some really wants to know why their guitars can be polarizing, I will be happy to trade the one I bought for less than one ago for something in the same price area.
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11-05-2012 10:28 AM
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I suspect that this policy is a left over from the days when customer service from the retailer was an expected part of the retail guitar experience ...
Originally Posted by mr. beaumont
With the big box guitar stores you are usually on your own ..
especially when purchasing on line
And many of the small stores don't bother either
So decent set ups at the factory have become more important
But you can always learn to do the basics yourself
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I agree with this. There is such a large range if setups that are available that factory setups are usually disregarded by the guitar's final user. Once a guitarist learns to setup their own instruments, they realize that many of the guitars that they thought just "weren't for them" simply weren't setup to their preferences. Originally Posted by Bluedawg
So decent set ups at the factory have become more important
But you can always learn to do the basics yourself
If I were to have judged the guitars in my collection by their setups when they arrived at my door, I would have rejected the vast majority of them. By properly cutting the nuts, tweaking the truss rods, changing the strings, adjusting the bridge height, and sometimes filing some frets, all my guitars are what I would describe as top-of-the-line players.
This is one of the reasons why some of our board members' advice is so valuable. Guys like PTChris actually help us get more value from our instruments when they share their knowledge of lutherie.
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In my experience, a used Eastman is the best way to go and a virtually unbeatable value...about 900 dollars for top shelf woods and components. i actually just sold my Gibson L4 after it had spent the better part of two years beneath the bed, because that's about the time i purchased my first Eastman. now i have another and i'm very happy. as an earlier poster mentioned, i'm not a collector but a player, dings and finish checks don't bother me so much. i want a lightweight guitar with a comfortable neck, great playability and tone...which i get in abundance from Eastman!
as for resale value, i have no doubt i'll be able to resell my guitars for the 900 dollars in originally invested.
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$900 is still a low price on a used solid wood Eastman.
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A guitar player will always change a setup to suit his needs...but there's a difference between changing a basic factory setup and some of the guitars you find in shops that are essentially unplayable until they get any kind of set up...and that's what I'm talking about... Originally Posted by Klatu
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@Klatu:
maybe so...i'm certainly happy with it. i actually paid 800 and have put another 100 of new components on it. it's a Golden Age T146SMD. my other Eastman is a T165SX i bought new from Lou at Guitars N Jazz.
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Because lots of people still hear with their eyes and not their ears.
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I read with my feet. (Just in case Cosmic Gumbo is too busy to post,...)
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This forum is being overrun by armless blind people. Originally Posted by PTChristopher
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I would respond but I am resting my earlobes, which I use for typing.
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Every time I pull my Eastman out there is always one guy who says with disdain, "That's the one made in China right?" As they turn on their Chinese made heals and make a call on their Chinese made phone. It seems to be the country of origin, from my experience anyway. In my eye's there is a huge difference between the Chinese craftsman who needs to work to feed their family and the Chinese government. Human beings built my guitar to try and live a life.
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I'm really trying my damnedest to stay away from this thread due to my affiliation with an American guitar company. But, posts like this make it extraordinarily diffucult. I'll just post this well intended reply to your comments. Originally Posted by Darwin_Hoel
If you think the matter is as shallow as indicated by your post, then you are either uninformed, ill informed or both.
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We really should keep it to the merits of the guitars only, Good or bad. Id hate to see the thread go off track and into politics. Although the original poster did ask the question 'why". So I guess its open to whatever anyone has to say. Personally Im just interested in the replies having to do with build quality etc. Again,just my 2 cents.
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Perhaps Darwin Hoel makes a valid point, for it's hypocritical to snub ones nose at an Eastman while made in China goods permeates almost all aspects of American society.
What percentage of archtop buyers won't consider an Eastman guitar because it's made in China is an unknown.
But I do find it interesting that a distributor of a very well known American archtop manufacturer during a phone conversation y'day mentioned that todays heralded Gibson's, dare I say it, majority parts are produced in China, and later shipped to the US for assembly, to be later stamped "made in america." He went on to say, "yes, and it's legal." WHATTTTTTTT, I said?????? A percentage of an L5 is basically produced in China and only finished here?
If that is true it's newz to me....perhaps Darwin more than nailed it.
Not desiring to start a food fight with Gibson owners....merely passing along what a very well known distributor said, and if I mentioned his name most would know him.
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If his name were known it would give him the oportunity to clarify his statement. Leaving only hearsay leads to nothing more than, more confusion ! Thats the problem with a lot of things today,theres no integrity because theres too much hearsay instead of facts. Give us facts,not hearsay! What is Gibson having made in China? Tuners,tailpieces????? T.O.T.A.
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I have guitars made in China, Mexico, USA, Korea, Japan, Vietnam and Indonesia. In the past I have owned guitars made in The Netherlands, England, Australia, Germany and Sweden. Country of Manufacture is no basis for making a guitar-buying decision.
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If every time you say something, your name ends up on internet forums, you quickly learn not to say anything. Also I doubt the source intended for his comments to be broadcast. Originally Posted by Top of the Arch!
2b's is a pretty informed individual and he knows the difference between a factual conversation and interesting rumor. I will take his input as absolutely credible.
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So I guess its just "hearsay"then?
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Well, of course, I was hoping for the notarized transcript.. Originally Posted by Top of the Arch!
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"The problem with internet quotes is so many of them are not authentic"
Abraham Lincoln
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They arent?
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I would hope there arent too many of us out there that think Gibson makes their own screws,tuners, strap buttons ,plastic knobs etc. When theres no clarification as to what they have made in China it leaves the door open to thinking they are having carved L5 tops and necks etc. made there. Realistically ,I would hope most of us can figure out what Gibson or any other maker can make inhouse. Its just that I find hearsay statements enlarge the "grey area" between "black" and "white".
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in my experience, Eastman has proven to be on par regarding quality of build with gibson. (With regard to what i've owned and played.) I also like the neck of the Eastman archtops/semi-hollows better. for my hands, they play more comfortable. it's a hybrid electric/classical neck.
I also played en ES225 before purchasing my T146 and all things considered: price, tone, weight, construction, hardware, aesthetics...i went with the Eastman. Sure the ES225 has all the nostalgia oozing all over it, but i'm not buying a museum or conversation piece...i'm buying a musical instrument that is going to be played and ultimately abused!
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