The Jazz Guitar Chord Dictionary
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  1. #151

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    Congrats. The strings that I have found to really work well on my 371 are Newtone Archtops. IMHO a noticeably great difference from other strings.

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    The Jazz Guitar Chord Dictionary
     
  3. #152

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    Beauty! My AR 372CE is supposed to have a wider neck at the nut, too but to tell you the truth: I don't feel a difference compared to the Gibson specs....

    As for the case: a proper hardshell case was included when I purchased mine.

  4. #153

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    Congrats looks really nice. And at that price it is a no brainer. I own several, all bought used, Eastmans.

    I have no issue with the stock cases. Good enough for me. What pickup came installed?

    Congrats again.

  5. #154

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    I have an Eastman AR 372 (two pickup version of the same guitar) and string it with Pyramid pure nickel flatwounds - nothing too bright or harsh here. The KA pickups are fine with me as well after I spent some time to find the optimal setup for them.

  6. #155

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    Sorry if I sound like a Debby Downer but that is just a bright sounding guitar. It is what it is.
    Beautiful build and nice to play but those top strings are bright and thin sounding.
    Doesn't matter much what you do, it's not going to sound like an ES-175.
    I owned that guitar but not for very long (and a couple of other Eastman's too)
    I eventually came to realize that the sound I was looking for was in a Gibson.

    Though if you gig a lot, that bright sound might be just right in a combo. Mud can be a problem too.

  7. #156

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    I’m with Longways, wondering why you would buy a guitar you felt was overly bright/brash? If you can return it, do so immediately. Changing pickups and pots should ideally be done to further bring out the “nature” of an instrument, not mask its fundamentals and I believe if you go that route you will spend a lot of money and always be dissatisfied.

  8. #157

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    Add a set of 12 chromes, roll off the tone knob and "voila".

    One of the persistant issues with Eastman "tone" is that they are so loud acoustically you can't really hear the electric tone until you turn up the amp quite a bit or go to the other side of the room and listen to someone else play it. Many people swap out the pickups for something else (the list is long) but I don't think the asian origin KA's are all that bad.

  9. #158

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    I played an AR371 for a couple of years. I changed the pick-up - I put in a Lindy Fralin P-92. If anything, that PuP delivered substantially more punch than the stock Kent Armstrong. But I felt the guitar needed it. The acoustic properties of the 371 made it so rich and boomy when playing through an amp and with other instruments that I felt the P-92 put just the right amount of edge on it for soloing. Strings - I used TI GB 12s. Anyway, it's a great guitar. I sold it to a neighbor and made him promise to sell it back if he ever loses interest in it.

  10. #159

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    I have one of these jazz boxes too and I love it. As one of the other members mentioned, it IS indeed a bright guitar, especially with the stock pickup and D'addario round wound strings that it came with. I recently swapped out the pickup with a Seymour Duncan Seth Lover and I love the sound. To me it does not sound quite like a Gibson 175 but I still love it. To me it sounds like a very modern guitar now. It has an extremely focused sound that reminds of early Kurt Rosenwinkel recordings. Weird.

    I have not yet tries flat wound strings on it though. I currently have Tomastik bebop round wound 13s and usually play it through a Henriksen Blu. It won't sound exactly like a Gibson. I am not sure of the laminate composition Gibson uses but it's thicker than the Eastman. The Eastman laminate is Birch/Basswood/Birch if I recall correctly. Anyway I really like the guitar and I am also still experimenting with the sound. To answer the original query, yes it is less bright than before with the Thomastik string and the Seth Lover.

  11. #160

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    Quote Originally Posted by ugarte
    Add a set of 12 chromes, roll off the tone knob and "voila".

    One of the persistant issues with Eastman "tone" is that they are so loud acoustically you can't really hear the electric tone until you turn up the amp quite a bit or go to the other side of the room and listen to someone else play it. Many people swap out the pickups for something else (the list is long) but I don't think the asian origin KA's are all that bad.
    You're right the stock KA's aren't bad pickups. I swapped mine out with the Seth Lover mainly because I had a buddy who had already done that with his AR-372CE in the neck and I really liked it. There was nothing "wrong" with the original pickup though. With a great amp the stock setup can sound really good.

  12. #161

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    I got one recently. Only because it was offered for 200CAD (150 USD). I also have an ES 175. AR371 is very light. It has an OK acoustic sound. A bit bright. Electric sound is noticeably thinner and brighter than the ES 175. My ES 175 is a modern one. I don't know how it compares with vintage, lighter build ones. I'm not a big fan of it's electric sound.

  13. #162

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    I had one - very nice guitar for the price. I put a Bare Knuckle Blue Note P90 in place of the stock pickup. Sounds pretty good to me.



    Here I play it unplugged, fingerstyle, my own arrangement of Stella by Starlight:




    It's not a 175. It's its own thing. And that thing is pretty good. Depends what you are looking for.

  14. #163

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    Quote Originally Posted by Rob MacKillop
    I had one - very nice guitar for the price. I put a Bare Knuckle Blue Note P90 in place of the stock pickup. Sounds pretty good to me.
    Sounds real nice to me as well! :-)

    Here I play it unplugged, fingerstyle, my own arrangement of Stella by Starlight:
    Nothing wrong with that, in fact quite nice. I really don't understand why some think that it is overly bright. I mean your tone is hardly "Tele-icepick bright"! Have you turned the tone knob down at all?


    It's not a 175. It's its own thing. And that thing is pretty good. Depends what you are looking for.
    Sorry for the confusion-I just refered to the ES175's appearance, not necessarily it's sound.

    Doug

  15. #164

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    Doug, the fingerstyle Stella was unplugged, so, no, I didn't turn the tone knob down But when plugged in I probably set it about 6 or 7. The amp was just a Yamaha THR5. But the Bare Knuckle is a great pickup, certainly a good upgrade. I think I sold it because I was moving more towards pure acoustic playing, but if I were to play electric again, I'd certainly consider getting another.

  16. #165

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    Quote Originally Posted by Rob MacKillop
    the Bare Knuckle is a great pickup, certainly a good upgrade. I think I sold it because I was moving more towards pure acoustic playing, but if I were to play electric again, I'd certainly consider getting another.
    The "Bare Knuckle" name used to make me think that they were heavy metal pickups until I actually heard them a few times.

    Doug

  17. #166

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    I have one with a Seth Lover pickup at the neck and it's a great workhorse guitar!



  18. #167

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    Just tried one again recently...I dunno...not my bag at all. Generic feeling neck, anemic pickup, sharp fret ends...honestly, it was crap. An Ibanez or Epiphone in the same price range is 10 times better.

  19. #168

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    Recently considered one as a 175 substitute, as it was offered at a great price. Played it acoustically only, and found very little difference to the maple-necked Ibanez I already have. Thin and bright vs. my ES-175 1959 VOS.

  20. #169

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    I have the two pickup version (AR372) and it's an excellent insrument. Nothing left to be desired regarding fit and finish and overall quality. How it compares to more pricey archtops of the same style is beyond my knowledge, though.

  21. #170

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    I had one briefly. I don't think I kept it 6 months.
    Lots of other members here have flipped them too.
    Mine was pretty and well constructed, but that bright thin sound just didn't inspire.

  22. #171

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    Wow-quite a variety of opinions! I know it's not a Bennedetto or Sadowsky, but then neither is the price. All I need to do is find one to try out.

    What do others think of one of the D'angelicos for around the same price as the AR371? Or the Godin 5th Avenue?

  23. #172

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    Quote Originally Posted by Doug B
    Wow-quite a variety of opinions! I know it's not a Bennedetto or Sadowsky, but then neither is the price. All I need to do is find one to try out.

    What do others think of one of the D'angelicos for around the same price as the AR371?
    Not that much variety if you think about it. The people who liked it had different pickups on it. The only other person who liked it actually had the two pickup version. Nobody so far said they liked the stock AR371. Well, I can only assume those installed different pickups also didn't like the stock version

  24. #173

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    Quote Originally Posted by Doug B
    Wow-quite a variety of opinions! I know it's not a Bennedetto or Sadowsky, but then neither is the price. All I need to do is find one to try out.

    What do others think of one of the D'angelicos for around the same price as the AR371? Or the Godin 5th Avenue?
    I think both of those sound better than the 371. The Eastman John Pisano models sound good, but cost more $$.
    Also worthy of consideration are the Epiphone Premium 175 or an Ibanez Jazz hollowbody (not sure the model).

  25. #174

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    A friend who plays a peerless gigmaster brought one over. Sounded much better (warmer acoustically) than any 371 I've played. Not a fan of poly finish though.

  26. #175

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    Quote Originally Posted by omphalopsychos
    A friend who plays a peerless gigmaster brought one over. Sounded much better (warmer acoustically) than any 371 I've played. Not a fan of poly finish though.
    Poly finish would put me off as well. Too plastic looking.