Issues with a new Eastman t49d/v

[SaintTikhon]

I received a new guitar in the mail today and am experiencing a few issues. I wonder if you might have any advice. The issues are:

1. The high e and, to a lesser degree, the low e strings have a tendency to slip off of the fretboard. Is there anything I can do to correct that issue? I noticed that the shop put some flatwound strings on the guitar and the low E and A strings don’t fit in the nut. Perhaps the issue might be corrected if I use a different gauge and tension string. I’m afraid that the nut or neck is faulty but the issue is likely more minor than that. I believe the guitar usually comes with roundwound NYXL .12s with a wound g string.


2. I’m hearing some static on my amp (Princeton Reverb reissue just a couple of months old) when the guitar is plugged in, especially when I’m not playing anything. I don’t hear this when I use my other guitar. Any ideas on what might cause a static sound? The screws around the output jack and the pickup switch are tight.


3. There is some rattling in the body when I play loudly. I imagine this is due to changes in humidity and temperature from the store to my apartment, which is rather dry due to radiators although I run two humidifiers at all times.


I’m not very knowledgeable about these issues and don’t want to adjust things without advice. I would greatly appreciate it if you could advise me on likely causes.

Aside from these issues, I’m very happy with the guitar.

[leroydobbs]

1. The nut or bridge (or both) need attention. I can’t imagine the string gauge is your problem unless the strings were out of the slots enough to make the action feel weird to say the least.
Round vs flat would be irrelevant to either the fit at the string slots or the spacing (which sounds like your issue). Could also be that your floating bridge is out of square, relative to the plane of the neck, and needs to be positioned properly. Can you provide a pic of the guitar as it is?

2. Can you be more specific than “static”? Is this a buzz, hum or hiss? Crackling sounds? Is the sound affected by turning the control knobs?

3. Most common cause of rattling in ES 175 would be the pickup cover vibrating in the mounting ring, or against the pick guard where they meet or both.
Usually this can be killed by wedging a slice of a pick or some other material as a shim between the pickup cover and mounting ring.


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[leroydobbs]

Also re #2-
Do you hear this noise while you are touching the strings? This is a single pickup guitar, correct?
Edit-
I see your post says you have a pickup switch. Does moving the switch affect the noise?


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[Bflat233]

1. Those guitars are spec'd for 12-52s. So it's unlikely it's the nut. Check the bridge to insure the strings are in their slots. Otherwise, there's a problem. Did you purchase the guitar new? Eastmans now come with a lifetime guarantee. Be sure you take it to an authorized retailer and repair shop.

2. Is the noise a popping sound - or a humming sound? Either way - could be a grounding issue. Try plug on a different part of the room, or a different room.

3. I had buzzing problems with the pick-guard hitting the plastic rim on the pick-up. Check that ... you can fix it with a small patch of felt affixed to the pick-up rim underneath the spot where the pickguard is landing on it (if it is). If the rattle is coming from inside, you might take a look inside the guitar with a mirror or by taking a picture with your phone. Look for wires hitting the underside of the top.

[sgosnell]

The string distance from the edge of the fretboard can be changed slightly by recutting the string slots so they're slightly narrower, and the strings are closer together. It doesn't have to be a dramatic change.

If the E and A strings don't fit into the nut, the slots can be widened with a file, or with sandpaper wrapped around something thin like a credit card. Go slowly, checking often, and don't deepen the slot, just widen it. If you're not comfortable with this, have someone do it.

Rattles in an archtop are common, and can be difficult to find. There are multiple threads on this forum discussing this issue. I suggest reading them and investigating all the myriad possibilities.

[omphalopsychos]

Before you go cutting new slots, is your bridge centered properly?

[73Fender]

I'll just say that apparently Eastman's customer service is very good. One of my Eastmans is a 722 CE acoustic that I bought from the original owner who got it from Eastman as a replacement for a guitar he returned.

Good luck to the OP, follow the good advice above. I'd contact Eastman as well.

[mnorris777]

I received a new guitar in the mail today and am experiencing a few issues. I wonder if you might have any advice. The issues are:

1. The high e and, to a lesser degree, the low e strings have a tendency to slip off of the fretboard. Is there anything I can do to correct that issue? I noticed that the shop put some flatwound strings on the guitar and the low E and A strings don’t fit in the nut. Perhaps the issue might be corrected if I use a different gauge and tension string. I’m afraid that the nut or neck is faulty but the issue is likely more minor than that. I believe the guitar usually comes with roundwound NYXL .12s with a wound g string.


2. I’m hearing some static on my amp (Princeton Reverb reissue just a couple of months old) when the guitar is plugged in, especially when I’m not playing anything. I don’t hear this when I use my other guitar. Any ideas on what might cause a static sound? The screws around the output jack and the pickup switch are tight.


3. There is some rattling in the body when I play loudly. I imagine this is due to changes in humidity and temperature from the store to my apartment, which is rather dry due to radiators although I run two humidifiers at all times.


I’m not very knowledgeable about these issues and don’t want to adjust things without advice. I would greatly appreciate it if you could advise me on likely causes.

Aside from these issues, I’m very happy with the guitar.

I bought an Eastman 371 from Peach guitars about a year ago and experienced some of the issues you're describing. Some of it was just set up and some of it I think was just things having shifted a little in transit. Often if they are mailing a guitar they might loosen the strings a little and that can cause the bridge to shift.

1. The high E was slipping off the fretboard for me. The issue was a combination of the bridge having moved slightly down towards that side of the board. However, I also noticed that the high E and the B string were not evenly spaced like the other strings as they passed over the bridge - each string had a very slight groove where it sat across the wooden bridge and the high E and B were not sitting in their grooves. Adjusting both these things fixed the problem. The nut itself was actually fine.

2. I'll leave that to others as not had that experience.

3. I had this from the pickguard. When I rested my fingers on it or touched it in a certain way, the metal bracket that attachs it underneath would sometimes lightly touch the body and make a knock or creak. I got a small sticky pad (like you'd have under a desktop audio speaker), cut it to size and stuck it on the part of the bracket that might touch the body and it stopped it. As an initial workaround I stuck a tiny bit of folded cloth under it, which worked but would fall out. The sticky pad works great though, and you can't see it under the pick guard at all.

Worth noting I also changed my strings to 12-52 flatwound and had no issues with the nut or anything else in doing that.

Hope these help. Worth checking before you decide to go and do more drastic things like re-cutting the nut etc, as it maybe just requires these little simple adjustments. I was an archtop noob when I bought mine and had no idea the bridge was only held in place by string tension and could therefore shift a lot or even fall off if you removed that tension.

[snoskier63]

Before you go cutting new slots, is your bridge centered properly?

If the bridge is not centered correctly either the high E or the low E will have a problem, but not both. I wouldn’t go cutting the nut slots right away either, but would first measure the string spacings to see if the are correct based upon the width of the neck. Of course you want to be sure the bridge is positioned correctly before doing anything to the nut. Seek some help with both measuring and filing (if appropriate) if you aren’t comfortable with it. A new nut may be in order if the current nut was incorrectly cut, and it is an easy and inexpensive solution.

Regarding static, I have experienced that before when touching the pickguard while plugged in, but it was never noticeable over the other instruments while on stage or in rehearsals, so it shouldn’t matter.

Rattling in the body when playing loudly suggests something loose internally is reacting negatively to the vibrations of the guitar.

I would have an authorized Eastman service center check out all three.

Good luck.

[SaintTikhon]

Thanks for all of the replies. Much appreciated. Here is an update:

1. My bridge wasn’t centered properly. I changed the strings to NYXL 12s because I prefer roundwounds and adjusted the bridge at the same time. I haven’t had a problem since. I don’t know why I didn’t think of the bridge position! I guess it looked centered but wasn’t.

2. The static was a slight hum I guess. It stopped after the first day so I’m not sure what caused it. Maybe interference with something that went away.

3. I still haven’t fixed the rattling but it’s not very noticeable and doesn’t happen at all unless I strum hard. I had my spouse press on various items when I played and I think it’s coming from the neck pickup. I will investigate further and follow the advice to put a piece of a pick or some felt fabric to prevent it.

Thanks again!