Eastman AR580CE

**grayn** · 10-13-2023, 02:29 PM

Well, after many years of looking into and nearly getting a hollow bodied jazz guitar, I finally succeeded and brought one home with me a week ago. I went over to Frets Guitar Centre, in Cleveleys, to try out 3 jazzers in my price bracket. I mostly went to try out an Eastman AR580CE but they also had some cheaper models I wanted to compare with. These being an Epiphone Broadway and a Hofner HCT-J17. The Broadway is quite a handsome guitar, with some decent build quality. The Hofner does look quite cheap, close up. And it is the lowest priced of the three. But I really liked the pickup on it, which had a full, clear tone. All 3 guitars were pre-owned and I could have bought both the Epi and the Hof, for the price of the Eastman. But as soon as you pick up the Eastman, you can see and feel why.

The AR580CE oozes quality, with it's spec and build/finish qualiIty. It has ebony fingerboard, bridge, pickguard, tuner buttons and tailpeice; quilted maple binding to body, neck, head, f-holes and pickguard. Other features include a solid spruce, hand carved top, Gotoh tuners, pearl split-block markers on the fretboard, a Seymour Duncan Jazz pickup, a Switchcraft jack socket and a brass underside to the ebony tailpeice.

Yes, this Eastman is a real looker, with it's honeyburst body and beautiful overall finishing. More importantly, it plays very smoothly and comfortably and the Seymour Duncan pushes out a very full, sweet tone. The 16" wide 2 9/16" deep body isn't the biggest but I see/hear that as an advantage. Acoustically it has a well balanced, very well defined tone. Not swamped by the bass, a much larger body might produce. This amps up well and again, has lots of vibrant, well balanced tonality.
The guitar came with some brand new D'addario Chromes flatwounds on. I like these, they feel good and are surprisngly vibrant. But I replaced them with some Thomastik BeBop round wounds, that are a lot more to my taste.

So, I am improving on my chordal range and structures and enjoying that mellow, single lines mood. Just need to up my game, to make the most of this Jazz box. I am using an Orange CR120C combo, at the moment. A 2x12, twin channel, solid state amp. With some unusual, for me, eq settings and some spring reverb, I am getting some great tone. But hope to pick up a DV Mark Jazz 12, some time in the future.
Eastman AR580CE-jpg