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They all look good to me
The Pisano AR380 looks nice. I usually go for chrome/nickel hardware if I have a choice but can live with gold. Nice looking wood on this model but apart from it having the Pisano name attached, not sure what your extra $300 gets you vs AR372. I see it has Pisano name on the pickups too. Just wondering what if any are non-aesthetic differences.
The T49 has Seymour Duncan PU's which is a nice touch but it's also $500 more than AR372 which is a lot for the PU upgrade. I love not having to fuss with the change but it's enough extra to make me consider whether it's worthwhile. It has the special antique finish. I don't mind it but nor do I care about it. Am I missing anything else ? Does it have other upgrades or improvements not on the spec sheet ? I haven't seen these in person.
That leaves the AR372 and AR403 with different cutaways. The 403 has 2 9/19" body thickness which is notable. Both are $1095 and judging by use models for sale hold value well. As noted above, both have what I assume are Armstrong copy pickups. Any opinion on their quality ? Could most tell the difference blindfolded ? They certainly leave space in the cost for an upgrade.
Other option for is waiting for a used Comins GCS-16. Not tons of these on the market and the used prices show it. I've also heard it's heavy for an archtop.
Can anyone recommend an online seller who can offer a modest discount I'm nowhere near a dealer. Some mfr's put hard limits on discounts (PRS etc). For others 15% off is common. I wasn't sure for Eastman.
Thanks, Ben
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08-01-2021 12:59 PM
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Originally Posted by ben2e
I bought my Eastman 810 CE7 from Guitars ‘n Jazz in New Jersey. I’ve known Lou for over 20 years. He’s always been honest with me, reasonable, and knowledgeable whether buying my guitars, selling his to me, or just talking. His prices are very fair - and even if you could get another few dollars off somewhere else, having a reliable dealer who will stand behind his products is worth the cost and more.
One problem that you have to solve (and pay for) yourself will more than offset whatever small additional saving you might get from a less responsible dealer. Just in 2021, I had two problems with a 2 month old guitar (not an Eastman) and the dealer has ignored calls, emails, and messages through his website. Lou is there for you forever.
What could go wrong on a brand new guitar? Within 2 weeks, the new guitar mentioned above developed a weird buzzing resonance only on open G. The one response I got from the maker to my email, complete with an audio clip of the buzz, was that it was fret buzz and I should relax the truss rod a bit. That was clearly wrong. So I started stripping it and found a loose saddle height screw on E1. Screwing that against the bridge plate seemed to stop it, although it returned within days but the 13th fret on the D string. Then I broke a new E string at the bridge in the middle of a gig. Again stripping it down to find the cause (expecting a rough saddle), I found a burr at the top edge of the E1 hole through the baseplate, where the string contacts it - and that’s where the string had broken, when I laid it on the guitar. The bridge / tailpiece unit turns out to be cheap, soft, pot metal and the cause of the resonance. So I ordered a Hipshot.
And a Sperzel tuner stopped tuning a few weeks ago, and my inquiries to the maker were again ignored. I finally just called Bob Spercel to order a new one myself. When he asked me why I needed one and heard the story, he made and sent me an exact replacement at no cost despite my repeated offer to pay (it wasn’t his responsibility to make good - it was the guy who made and sold me the guitar). So Sperzel is also on my list of “worth the cost” good guys.
Any Eastman I’ve played has been excellent. Pick the one that looks, feels, and sounds right for you. But if the choice is between fancier trim and finish from an unknown dealer at the same cost as a more basic model from a known great dealer, give me the latter every time.Last edited by nevershouldhavesoldit; 08-02-2021 at 11:23 AM.
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Don't forget the frog on the tailpiece! Originally Posted by ben2e
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The AR380 is a little thinner than the AR372 according to the specs. Also, I'm not 100% sure of this, but I think I read the the 380 is braced differently, giving it more mid-range and less of the characteristic Eastman brightness. I think I've heard this in demo videos, but I'm not all that confident in what I hear on line. Originally Posted by ben2e
The finish is supposed to be different on the T49. In the demos I've heard online of the two, the T49's sound a little warmer to me, but it's really hard to tell whether that's real or just a function of the the settings and amp used in the videos. Originally Posted by ben2e
I've played a 372, but not a 403. In the videos I've heard of the two, I thought the 403 sounded a little different, but I'm not sure I can explain how. The 403 has a thinner body and a longer scale length, though, so this probably explains the difference in sound I've perceived. The pickups are not Armstrong copies. They're Armstrong pickups, but the ones he has mass produced in Korea to his specs, not the ones he hand winds himself. There was a thread here a couple of years ago where Kent himself popped up and said that the two use the exact same materials, and the only difference is that the hand wounds can be made to custom specs. Anyway, that aside, I have the MIK PAF-style pickups in another guitar and like them very much. I demo'ed two Eastman ar503's side by side, one with Duncan Seth Lovers and the other with the KA pickups. I actually preferred the KA slightly -- that's a very bright sounding guitar and the KA is a little warmer than the Duncan, which I found to be a better match in it to my tastes. But I didn't like the guitar much with either pickup so I'm not sure how much my opinion is worth there, and it's all very YMMV. Originally Posted by ben2e
I've played the Comins. Nice guitar, but more expensive than the Eastmans you're talking about. I don't remember noticing its weight one way or another, but I generally don't notice guitar weight until it gets into 70s Les Paul territory. At that price point, I'd take also look at a used D'Aquisto, Jazz Line which I found to be similar flavor to the Comins but I slightly preferred to the tone and overall feel of it. For Eastman, I don't know of any dealers who offer discounts, but some of the sellers on Reverb accept offers on guitars they are selling as "used" but in "mint" or "as new" condition (which I think means they're actually new, but they can't advertise a discounted price so they'll bargain with you). I haven't looked at pricing since last winter, but at the time dealers were accepting offers of $900-$1000 on AR503's they were listing at $1300-ish Originally Posted by ben2e
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The Pisano is a lot darker sounding guitar than the 371 or 372.
A very nice jazz sound IMO -- I do think the pickups make up part of the difference, but not all.
The 371 & 372 have a much brighter acoustic tone, plugged in or unplugged.
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Thanks ! Good to know. The 380 is definitely a nice looking instrument. Wish it had no premium over the others but maybe worth the extra few hundred.
I'll also check out D'Aquisto too. They were on my radar a few years back. Which model or line should I look for ?
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I think the model is just called "azz Line." Originally Posted by ben2e
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I sent a note to Eastman requesting detail of the AR380CE construction to see if it had any difference from the others. I'm curious now too. It's ~300 cheaper than the T49D (granted without the Seth Lovers) and if they did make structural improvements, would be good to know. Their site mentions none specifically other than building the guitar to John Pisano's requested specs. Their response leads me to think any difference one hears would be from pickups alone.
All of our archtop guitars will have the same parallel bracing for the top. As for the Pisano model, you have stated most of the main differences as well as tuners, hardware and other slight details that John Pisano chose.
Last edited by ben2e; 08-25-2021 at 06:02 AM.
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I could no be happier with my 371. The extra deepness counts a lot, and also the pickup placement. Makes this instrument to the "poor" man's 175.
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