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Due to a shoulder issue and pinched nerve, I picked up an eastman el rey ER2 . This is the version with the archtop tailpiece and two pickups. This particular guitar had gibson classic 57 pickups which are a huge upgrade over the stock pickups. Guitar is a little neck heavy when standing which is no surprise since I've owned them before.
It's a great sounding guitar with a hint of benson/wes in there due to the maple neck, ebony board and spruce top. IMO, it's the best sounding of any of the eastman archtops in terms of jazz guitar tone assuming you're looking for a more modern metheny/benson/kreisberg tone as opposed to a more '50s style jazz tone which the thinner instrument obviously doesn't have.
However, one thing that was a little disconcerting is that despite having no f-holes, I found the instrument constantly on the verge of the feedback point where some notes bloomed into woofyness due to over-vibration of the top. Kind of surprising. I have not found this to be the case on most of the other semi-hollow guitars. Of course, the other semis are not as lively as the el rey which does not have any bracing on the top.
I did not keep the guitar so I'm back to playing my 175 and dealing with the shoulder pain...
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06-25-2014 10:20 AM
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Sorry about the pain struggles Jack. Hope your back problems are soon behind you.
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it's actually neck, not back. I had c4-5-6 fused about 10 years ago but recently had an accident which pinched the same nerve as the disc issues I had before. I'm hoping the pinched nerve is just a temporary thing but the symptoms are very similar.
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Time for a tele
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Jack the Eastman 372 (175 copy) is super light in weight! Try one when you get a chance, my only gripe is the thinner neck profile.
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not interested in a 372. My 175 is super light. It's the body thickness that's the problem with it. Plus, my 175 sounds way better than a 371/372.
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Fair Dinkum Jack, I've got a slight bad shoulder, I wear a strap like folk guitarists, fastened to the head stock, so the pressure is on my back not my shoulder. Give it a try.
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The convenient thing about a 2 PU guitar is that controlling the top vibration via various size and shape (and material) soundposts is very easy through the back PU hole.
I suppose you have to be over 50 to say "back" and "front" PU.
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Ah the dogmatism of jzucker is back. Yea -_-
Originally Posted by jzucker
not interested in a 372. My 175 is super light. It's the body thickness that's the problem with it. Plus, my 175 sounds way better than a 371/372.
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He's right though
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We older Lester players used to call them lead and rhythm pickups. Originally Posted by PTChristopher2
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Jack, ever try the Eastman T184MX? You seemed to love your last Eastman thinline, and this one is even smaller at 14" lower bout like the El Rey. From what I read on another site, it's been semi-blocked only under the bridge area and not the pickups (which are currently Duncan 59s). Carved mahogany back and sides and neck, carved maple top. Originally Posted by jzucker
T184MX Thinline Electric
Hope this helps. Good luck in your search, and I hope you're feeling better soon.
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Hey Jack,
I am still digging that Eastman T165MX that you sold me...it might be something to consider as it's thinner than a 175 by quite a bit and manages to sound "jazzy" without any hint of FB. I know it's more suited toward a Ford or Sco-ish vibe, but it does a pretty nice job sounding big and clean.
Just a thought.
Heal up!
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How did you upgrade the pickup on a hollowbody guitar without "f" hole
????!!!
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Jack, if you're willing to play a somewhat neck heavy guitar for the sake of light weight, why don't you go back to a PRS Hollowbody? I understand the ones with the piezo are less neck heavy.
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When I got my El Rey 1, there was a mild hum from it, and whenever I would tilt it forward, I would get loud static & popping noises. Fearing a broken solder joint at the output jack, I removed the pickup, controls and output jack through the pickup cavity. I was right. After resoldering the output jack, I carefully threaded wire through each of the holes in the body that would receive either a control or the jack. I attached the wires to each of the pieces that I needed to pull through, and gently worked them into position by pulling the wires. It took 3 tries, as the output jack wires kept winding around the wires I was using to guide things. It was difficult to position them all properly before the pull. With a bit of patience, everything came back the way it belongs. Eastman keeps all internal wiring maddeningly short. It's as if they bring the wires through, then trim and solder the components individually in place. You could do a pickup swap by just pulling the pickup slightly by itself and grafting a new one to the existing wires, but it wouldn't be ideal. Originally Posted by Falling_leaves
How did you upgrade the pickup on a hollowbody guitar without "f" hole ????!!!
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Thanks for your sharing....
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I had an ER2 for a while. It was a very early serial number I bought new from Jeff Hale when they first came out...I think it was serial number #003, or close to that. I found out the El Rey designer, Otto D'Ambrosio, lives within an hour of me, so I brought it there for a setup one time. He showed me some of the history of the design and some pics in had in a binder from the process. Very nice guy. I really liked the guitar. Mine did have a small dead spot somewhere in the upper register, don't recall exactly where at this point and it wasn't major. It was neck heavy. It could do anything from jazz to fusion to rock. Also sounded bigger than its size when using it for jazz.
Last edited by monkmiles; 07-01-2014 at 01:23 AM.
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I have a very dark (in the best sense ) resonant Super Strat ( doesn't sound like one ) but am thinking of something Hollow or Semi Hollow but not barely semi hollow sounding like a 335 is. I am phatter/darker than a 335 now unplugged .
And I would like the additional sustain that stoptail gives and the El Rey 3 seems to do that and the Sadowsky Semi ( luthiery PLUS the cutouts and minimal center block) also does but too much $.
The El Rey seems to do it with just a block under bridge and tailpiece (no center block at all).
I just sent Eastman an email suggesting that they can eliminate the top heavy POSSIBLY by merely adding mass to the Block toward the bottom of the Guitar ..( not much resonance there anyway ).
Also I said they could shorten the Headstock and run the 'Eastman ' logo vertically but that's a branding issue - so probably they won't.
I also suggested they explore the '7/8ths Hollow' just block under bridge and tailpiece on a few other models similar to the Pisano size or at least one.
Meaning a 'Thin Neo Archtop Design 2.5" to 3" deep but with a Stoptail for extra sustain [ won't sound the same but could be great ].
No idea if they will - but I record sitting down and it seems silly to have a neck heavy Guitar - I love Jescar ..047 /104 frets ..they are on my Carvin Guitar I have now ( Eastman's default frets).
I have not played an El Rey 3 yet but it sounds like a much deeper Semi Hollow and I think the 25" ( was mislabeled as 25.25 " in one spec sheet ) helps dense chords keep better note separation - which is why you can't fake tone depth by turning down the tone knob too far - chords get really buzzy muddy on some Jazz Demos .
But the neck dive is silly to me - UNLESS it messes up the tone to have interior extra wood way at bottom edge of the Guitar ...maybe 6 to 8 ounces of wood ?
Do the Eastman T 186 Guitars balance well or are they neck heavy also ?
I am going to take a little trip where I can try out a couple Eastman's especially El Rey 3 to see if the slightly wider neck is an issue for me switching from one to another..
Also want to see if the T186 is phatter sounding than an ES 137 .
1.69 " to 1.75 " not much but I don't want to deal with unnecessary playing adjustments .Last edited by Robertkoa; 06-06-2018 at 01:45 PM.
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Hi Robert,
A lot of content in that posting. The info you sent them has been sent to them many times by myself, jeff hale and others. An easy solution to the neck heavy issue is to add weight to the endpin jack. This is what jeff hale did. I would add that it should come with a pickguard. I know they included a pickguard for a while but probably only 20% came with a pickguard. I think the extended headstock was a license agreement with Otto who designed the guitar. I am not sure they are making that el rey anymore. They retooled the el rey into a bigger body and single pickup (and still neck heavy from what I'm told).
The 186 is not neck heavy but the 185 and 184 are. Those 3 should also come with a pickguard IMO.
I never had a problem with the 184 and el rey sitting down. It's when standing that they become cumbersome for me.
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Sure glad I saw this posting. A T184 MX got "sold out from under me" last week on Reverb. Now, to hear it is neck heavy, I'm glad I didn't go with it. I'm much more likely now to consider the T186MX
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Hello Robert,
We are glad to hear you are enjoying our guitars and we thank you for your input. We have started to address the imbalance issue on our light weight guitars on the T184MX-GB. On this model you will see that we have reduced the size of the headstock to accommodate for how light the body is. We will not be enlarging the center block of these guitars as it would reduce resonance and add weight, but we are working to make these guitars even better than they currently are.
Thank you,
Eastman Guitars
They just sent this response above - cool that they are really thinking ' Tone ' and apparently they shrunk the headstock on the one model ( so far ) .Last edited by Robertkoa; 06-06-2018 at 08:24 PM.
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i wish they'd do this and add a pickguard to the el rey!
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You probably have more influence than you think ..send a couple of your vids with the El Rey...remember they kind of intimated that they are addressing the issue on their lighter Guitars and the El Reys are 5 lbs. You could be next ! Originally Posted by jzucker
They will probably send you one ( prototype ElRey )to Review - mention that you heard about the Headstock shrink and would love the El Rey with smaller headstock ...
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do you have contact info? I was an endorser a few years back and in fact, they have a couple of my el rey clips on their youtube page but my contact doesn't work there anymore. Originally Posted by Robertkoa
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