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Six months or so ago I shared a long-term review of the Collings CL Jazz. The quality of that instrument is matched only by its price point, so instead of picking another high-end guitar to talk about I chose a real workhorse instrument that's not a clone of anything: the Eastman 580CE. Apparently, this was supposed to be a signature model for Norman Brown. Fellow forum member Monkmiles mentioned elsewhere that he designed it with Brown. Why the partnership with Brown didn't materialize is unclear, but thankfully the guitar was released nonetheless.
Why I bought it & price paid
This was actually an impulse buy. I saw it hanging in my fav store, it called my name, I checked it out and that was it. Paid 90% retail for it. At that time, about four years ago, that amounted to approximately €1680. Right here, right now, they're currently priced at €2149 (the Eastman website mentions €2249). Going into a little bit more detail, its playability, build quality, sound and appearance won me over. These points will be addressed below.
Construction, build and quality
All the detailed specs are easily found online so I won't list all of them here. In short, the 580CE is a 16" archtop with a solid carved spruce top, laminated maple back and sides, three-piece maple neck with ebony fingerboard, a 25" scale length and a body depth of just a hair over 2.5". The electronics consist of a top-mounted SD Jazz humbucker, volume and tone. A striking feature is the wooden binding.
Instead of waxing poetically about fit and finish, I'll summarize it by saying that from a workmanship perspective it's almost perfect. It's really, really, really well-made. No rattles, no excess glue or questionable braces inside (yes, I checked), excellent fretwork, outstanding tuning stability, good resistance to weather changes, etc. All I've ever had to do was adjust string height and truss rod to my liking and that's it. With both 11s and 12s, intonation is excellent. Handles roundwounds and flatwounds equally well. The only improvement area is the output jack, which lacks a jack plate. That's going to cause wear and tear issues and also the jack doesn't secure the cable properly, leading to occasional amp noises when I move (unless I loop the cable upwards through the strap).
Ergonomic considerations
The instrument's modest dimensions and light weight make it very convenient and pleasant to use, sitting down as well as standing up. Nothing gets in the way. Its body depth of slightly over 2.5" is way below that of, say, a Gibson 175 which clocks in at 3.3125". The 25" scale length goes the opposite way, it's slightly longer than Gibson's 24.75" yet significantly shorter than Fender's 25". Speaking of the Eastman's neck: it is superb. This guitar plays like butter. Somehow it's extremely comfortable to play, for reasons that I fail to identify. On this guitar, the common values of a 12" fretboard radius, 25" scale length somehow translate into a very, very easy neck. Neck shape is a 'traditional even C' according to Eastman. It feels far different from the necks on both my Gibson Custom '58 ES335 reissue and my '37 L7, which are much fuller C's and definitely feel more traditional.
Sound
The somewhat longer scale length compared to Gibson's famous jazzboxes translates into a well-defined low end and good intonation, yet without the extra string tension of 25.5" guitars. Both acoustically and electrically, this guitar has its own thing going. From a commercial point of view, that's the double-edged sword. One might judge this guitar based on what it is and what it offers. Or one might judge it based on what it isn't and what it doesn't. Well, it's not a laminate ES 1x5 with a rosewood fingerboard. It doesn't sound like one. Nor does it thunk like one. It's also not an all-solid wood archtop like the L5, L7 or any other famous all-solid instrument from yesteryear. It doesn't quite have the harmonic complexity and subtlety of those (nor their price, I might add). And it certainly doesn't have the acoustic volume of those. As the 580CE's specs suggest, it's squarely in the middle. The solid spruce top adds more volume and complexity to the tone compared to a laminate, the laminated maple back and sides as well as the modest body depth allow high volume situations, the maple neck and ebony 'board add high-end snap and definition to the tone. Acoustically, depending on pick, fingers or both, the guitar can sound angelic, sweet, sturdy or strident. It responds to the player very well. The SD Jazz accurately translates the character of the guitar into the electric realm. To re-phrase that, the Jazz is transparent. I've seen comments that the Jazz might not be the ideal pickup for this guitar because of its supposed brightness, but I beg to differ. The Jazz is the window into this guitar's inherent character. Another pickup might be more to your liking, at the cost (if one can call it that) of obscuring some of the guitar's true character. Although the wide-sweep tone control can roll off tons of high-end without becoming muddy, and although the volume pot also yields endless shades of subtle high-end tuning, I'd venture that this guitar is not a logical choice for those looking for dark Pat Metheny- or Jim Hall-like tones. If you're into Kenny Burrell, however... And it loves a hint of gain! Moving beyond jazz for a minute, the 580CE loves funk and R&B. And with volume and tone full up and some hair on the sound, a strident, stringy nature of this beast comes to the foreground that loves blues, rockabilly and early rock 'n roll. Coming back to what this guitar isn't: it's not a one-trick pony.
Video
This is my actual guitar, but not me playing. Snappy tone, not necessarily jazzy.
Rich Severson made several videos of the 580CE, which show of its darker, jazzy side much more.
The guitar's stringy, textured sound comes across very well in this video. Although personally I'd prefer somewhat less treble, I think this video somehow nails the guitar's halfway-point between all-laminate and all-solid. There's a lot of complexity there.
Conclusion
Would I buy it again? Yes, although the gap between its current price and its then-price hurts.
Would I recommend it? From a quality perspective, absolutely! From a sound perspective it's too personal to make recommendations. I've tried to indicate what you can expect from it.
Do I use it? Oh yeah, a lot. It competes for my attention with the Collings, a '37 L7, a custom shop '58 335 reissue and a recent Ibanez semi (as well as several solidbody PRS guitars) and it's not lacking playtime.
Next up (might be next week, might be next year) is an unusual but very valid choice for a jazz guitar forum: a rare as hen's teeth PRS NF3 solid body.
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09-08-2023 12:32 PM
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That was a really nice review.
Great job!
Joe D
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Great review! I had one of these a few years ago, and while I never really vibed with it the quality was obvious, people always complimented it, and it sounded great. I think still one of my favorite laptop guitars as far as dialing in a really nice direct sound. I paid what now seems like nothing for it, and sold it for not much more, and seeing what they go for now I regret not keeping it as a cool change of pace.
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Good review and format
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Great review that talks about the considerations one would have when considering an actual purchase.
There is something about Eastman archtops. I have a Frank Vignola FV-880. I don't "need" it because I have a couple of other nice archtops too. Every time I consider selling it, I pick it up and play it, and I just can't make myself part with it. Eastman does a great job.
Tony
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Nice guitar! It seems similar to the Eastman Jazz Elite 16 series from GuitarsNJazz, of which I have the 17" version.
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Well said!
Originally Posted by tbeltrans
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Oscar67,
Perhaps the best review I've read on this guitar. It does fall squarely in between a carved and laminate sound, and its a great offering from Eastman. At this price point, nothing really compares- especially with the beautiful wood bindings and solid carved top.
I think with the right combination of strings, pickup and a properly shaped plectrum , you could make this guitar sound however you like.
Thanks for taking the time to put this together.
Sent from my SM-P610 using Tapatalk
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Excellent and informative review. I played a couple of ar503ce’s, which is the same dimensions, woods, and construction with a different finish and ornamentation. Very well made, high quality guitars. No question, Eastman makes guitars really well.
In person it struck me as less bright than the videos I’ve heard (especially the ones from Peach, which make the guitar seem almost unusably harsh/bright). But for sure, there’s a brightness there that’s characteristic of the Eastman archtop line. I can definitely see the appeal.
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The Elite is entirely solid wood while the 580 has a laminated body, which probably doesn't affect tone very much (if at all). But from what I know of these (I have a 16" Elite and a 17" 810), the bracing in the Elite is a bit heavier than it is in the 580, 800 etc. This does make the acoustic tone of the Elite a bit darker. These are all wonderful guitars. Originally Posted by helios
I'm still looking for a 17" Elite 7 because I like the Elite's electric tone and thinner body a little more than my 810's.
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Shaved a bit off of the base of the saddle today to lower the action, because I’m working on some songs with lots of big barre chords that demand a lot from my fretting hand. Kudos to Eastman for the quality of the fretwork. I could go much lower than I’d actually personally prefer, without a hint of buzz or fretting out anywhere on the neck. The photo also nicely shows the arc of the strings to match the ‘board radius.
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Nice write-up! Thanks for sharing it!
A few months in with my AR610ce, and while it’s not the same guitar by any means I concur that it has its own thing going on sound-wise. I don’t have enough direct experience of the great jazz boxes to make any other comment about that.
I can say that I love the sound, both acoustically and thru the pickup. The pickup, while perhaps not as obvious as some others, is clear and full and balanced. My only quibble is that the tone control seems to be linear taper, as the entire tonal range sits in the first 10% of wheel travel.
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