Great timing!! Eastman AR580ce

[Groyniad]

it has a lovely thick/round acoustic voice which translates into a great fat friendly amplified voice. The production values are fantastic - even the bloody case knocks the competition out of the water. Better than any boutique guitar case I’ve ever had for example.

[AKA]

Beautiful!

X bracing?

AKA

[Groyniad]

This is another guitar purchase based on hearing Rich Severson reviews on you tube.

I need a less precious instrument to play in tropical conditions. I have four other guitars that cover laminated and non laminated guitar types - two gibson and two heritage. I simply can’t decide which of these four are my favourites. It is easier to specify what I haven’t tried in the straight ahead arch top line than what I have. But this Chinese built instrument is very new to me.

16 not 17
solid top laminate sides and back
2 9/16 depth
25 scale
Chinese

the stock pickup sounds very good.
cheap gotoh tuners and crappy vol and tone knobs
bonkers binding
gets crazy loud before feeding back

itbis a live question whether I will end up using this ‘beater’ more than the others - it seems to work that well!

hope they’re paying their luthiers at decent rates….

[Groyniad]

x bracing? now you've got me

[Groyniad]

I think it should be parallel with this mounted pickup but...??

[furtom]

This guitar is on my list of things to consider.

My ideal electric tone is the L4 CES, but they are a bit pricey. I'm looking for an affordable substitute...

Best with it

[Groyniad]

do you mean L5 CES?

I can't recommend Rich S's videos enough for giving you confidence that you are getting an instrument that can be made to sound good.

I'm particularly liking the 25'' scale - the 2 9/16 depth and the hugely stable and very well positioned pick guard (which I use as a finger-platform in playing)

my sweet 16 has made me think that the most important thing to consider are the dimensions of the instrument. if you can't get really properly comfy with the guitar, you won't play it much. 16 x 2.6 x 25 - these are hugely comfy dimensions for a medium sized person....This is largely to say that Gibson's almost ubiquitous 3 3/8'' is very hard to live with however nice it sounds.... 3'' is just about bearable.

I notice no loss of tonal interest at 2 9/16'' - just a huge gain in ergonomic appeal

[Klatu]

I've seen many Eastman 805s and 810s, but haven't seen any with those inlays. Were those special ordered from Eastman, aftermarket?

[Hammertone]

...cheap gotoh tuners…

There is no such thing as cheap Gotoh tuners.

[skykomishone]

Pretty darn nice! Happy New Guitar day! And the most important thing is that you like it.
I really like some of these Eastman's.

[furtom]

do you mean L5 CES?

Sorry, I had L7s on the brain due to another conversation. Is that old age?

Actually, I meant L4 CES, though an L5 would be pretty ok too.

But those L4s are different with the 175 body style. They manage to get what sounds to me to be the perfect electric jazz sound.

[furtom]

I can't recommend Rich S's videos enough for giving you confidence that you are getting an instrument that can be made to sound good.

Did you buy it from him, too?

I love that guy. Knowledgeable and a nice player. ?

[Groyniad]

There is no such thing as cheap Gotoh tuners.

well they're nothing like as good as the 21:1 with the funny roundy 'knobs'....

maybe I have to tighten them

(I replace any tuners that aren't on a gibson with Gotoh 21:1 (are they called '501' or 'delta' or something?)

so I'm a big friend of Gotoh tuners

[Groyniad]

Did you buy it from him, too?

I love that guy. Knowledgeable and a nice player. ?

I think he's great - knowledgeable - nice player - super helpful.

this Eastman is exactly as nice as he makes it seem in his reviews/demos.

no - I didn't get it from him.

[Groyniad]

I've seen many Eastman 805s and 810s, but haven't seen any with those inlays. Were those special ordered from Eastman, aftermarket?

Sorry Klatu - I got the numbering backwards - it is a 580 - I just corrected the thread-title

[citizenk74]

That's a real beauty! Congratulations, and play it in good health!

[Oscar67]

A couple of years ago I went out to buy a really nice archtop. Tried lots guitars in the shop, vintage, new, American, European, Japanese, Chinese, if it was there then I played it.

Because the flesh is weak, I compared the guitars on several points:

-acoustic sound
-amplified sound
-comfort in terms of size/shape
-tuning stability
-intonation
-ease of playing
-mojo/does it make me want to play it / does it make me play better
-quality of design, construction, parts, fit & finish, durability

At that point in time, the AR580CE eclipsed everything. At least to my ears, hands and eyes it did. I bought it and played it every day ever since. A demo video of my personal guitar can be found here (not me playing).

Since then, I have been fortunate enough to be able to get a few very nice archtop guitars, including a ‘35 L7 and a Collings CL Jazz. I love them dearly for different reasons. Although the Collings is the best of the bunch (as it should be), the Eastman still sees the most use. It just makes me want to play.

The combination of a solid carved top and laminated back/sides strikes me as a ‘best of breed’ kind of approach. Acoustically it is very rich and full-sounding and sometimes verges into good flat-top territory (I string it with D’Addario roundwound .012s or John Pearse Archtop .012s). Amplified, the SD Jazz pickup can do anything I want it to do, from trebly faux-country-esque to blues to all sorts of great jazz tones. The volume and tone pots are well-chosen and provide endless shades of goodness.

I’ve read that the AR580CE was originally intended to be a signature model for a well-known player whose name I can’t remember right now, but the deal fell through. Anyway, incredible guitar. They’ll have to pry it from my cold dead hands.

[Jerzy]

Beautiful!

X bracing?

AKA

parallel

[Jx30510]

So it is parallel bracing? That's nice, since it's more traditional to the Gibson style construction. I thought it would be X braced since I heard most Eastmans had X bracing.
In my recent quest of an archtop, I haven't found any guitar that is so close to what I'm looking for.
I found a used one yesterday for sale, should be getting it if everything is OK.

[Woody Sound]

I’ve read that the AR580CE was originally intended to be a signature model for a well-known player whose name I can’t remember right now, but the deal fell through.

Yes, I think it was Norman Brown.