Eastman 372CE on eBay Looks Nice to Me

[Gary-N-LA]

Is it just me or is this Eastman knockoff of a Gibson 175 a very cool guitar? And is this a good price? I have no idea.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/221515616591

[mr. beaumont]

Very nice price. I played one, thought it sucked, but my experience was not the norm, people love these things.

I thought you wanted an acoustic archtop though?

[Steve DeRosa]

If you're going electric and thinking Eastman, these are similarly sized/priced:

http://www.godinguitars.com/godin5th...kingpincwp.htm
http://www.epiphone.com/Products/Arc...5-Premium.aspx

- if you're looking for 17" big-buck/big-box vibe on a McDonald's budget:

http://www.epiphone.com/Products/Archtop/Broadway.aspx
http://www.washburn.com/products/electric/J7VNK.html
http://www.guildguitars.com/instrume...tno=3795000837

- and for a few bucks less lots of folks seem to like these:

http://www.epiphone.com/Products/Arc...mperor-II.aspx
http://www.theloar.com/products/arch...way-lh-280c-bk

[Archtop Guy]

Originally Posted by Gary-N-LA

Is it just me or is this Eastman knockoff of a Gibson 175 a very cool guitar? [/url]

Definitely yes, it is a heavily based on a 175. Which means it's not primarily an acoustic guitar, and it's acoustic properties vary widely from guitar to guitar. Also, what Mr. B said.

[Gary-N-LA]

Originally Posted by mr. beaumont

Very nice price. I played one, thought it sucked, but my experience was not the norm, people love these things.

I thought you wanted an acoustic archtop though?

Let's face it - I'm an archtop novice and I don't know what I want yet. My discovery process has just begun. So far, I've played exactly one archtop - a 74-year-old Kalamazoo - and didn't like it.

I did play an Epiphone Joe Pass, too. Nice, but that guitar has no volume unless it's plugged in. I would prefer something that works both ways (if I'm getting pickups at all).

[Gary-N-LA]

Originally Posted by Steve DeRosa

If you're going electric and thinking Eastman, these are similarly sized/priced:

http://www.godinguitars.com/godin5th...kingpincwp.htm
http://www.epiphone.com/Products/Arc...5-Premium.aspx

- if you're looking for 17" big-buck/big-box vibe on a McDonald's budget:

http://www.epiphone.com/Products/Archtop/Broadway.aspx
http://www.washburn.com/products/electric/J7VNK.html
http://www.guildguitars.com/instrume...tno=3795000837

- and for a few bucks less lots of folks seem to like these:

http://www.epiphone.com/Products/Arc...mperor-II.aspx
http://www.theloar.com/products/arch...way-lh-280c-bk

Steve - thanks. This was very helpful. Can you give me a similar number of links for true acoustic archtops?

[Steve DeRosa]

Here you go:

http://www.theloar.com/products/archtop-guitars/
http://www.eastmanguitars.com/archtop-guitars/
http://dangelicoguitars.com/
http://www.ariaguitars.com/english/category/daquisto
http://www.contiguitars.com/
http://www.mattraines.com/pages/cfProduct_Intro.cfm
http://www.jazzguitarzone.com/

Some specialist dealers:

http://guitarsnjazz.com/products/archtop-guitars/
http://www.archtop.com/
http://www.myjazzhome.com/

A bit of helpful information:

http://guitargopher.hubpages.com/hub/Best-Jazz-Guitar
http://www.justjazzguitar.com/

These folks will custom-build one to your specs for $1000-1500:

http://yunzhiguitar.diytrade.com/sdp...zz_Guitar.html

- and if you've got $4-5K to spend, don't mind waiting a year or two, and are looking for that once-in-a-lifetime instrument:

http://www.mcampellone.com/

Happy hunting!

[Gary-N-LA]

I saw (and heard!) a video of the Loar LH-700. Wow. Fantastic.

Do they make a guitar with all solid woods like that but with at least one built-in pickup?

[mr. beaumont]

Gary, generally, as soon as you start building in pickups you're killing acoustic tone.

My guess is you might be more set up for a floating pickup. You should check out a loar 650.

The Loar's are parallel braced, a little more vintage sounding...strident, midrangey, loud!

The Eastman solid wood guitars are x braced....much more "polite" sounding. They're really nice too. People might find their tone a little more "flattop" like.

And of course there's plenty of more expensive options...

[Steve DeRosa]

Originally Posted by Gary-N-LA

I saw (and heard!) a video of the Loar LH-700. Wow. Fantastic....Do they make a guitar with all solid woods like that but with at least one built-in pickup?

They do, but as Jeff says you'll be sacrificing acoustic tone/volume in the bargain:

http://www.theloar.com/products/arch...stic-lh-309-vs
http://www.theloar.com/products/arch...stic-lh-319-vs

If you like the tone and visuals of the LH-700 but need a floating pickup adding one of these should do the trick, while keeping a definite vintage vibe:

https://www.lollarguitars.com/blog/tag/archtop/

[Gary-N-LA]

I have to say, I'm impressed with the versatility of the 319 in the video on this page:

http://www.theloar.com/products/arch...stic-lh-319-vs

This is contingent upon having two pickups, of course. But would the 309, with one less pickup, have better acoustic tone? Would it make that big a difference?

[mr. beaumont]

I've played 300 series Loar's. Very unimpressive. Their P90's are awful...noisy to the point of useless.

Do you want two pickups? Otherwise, I'd say look at that godin kingpin again...or the two pickup version....Godins P90 is really great.

This is of course, a primarily electric solution.

I've really never played an archtop that was truly great at both sounds.

[Steve DeRosa]

Originally Posted by mr. beaumont

...I'd say look at that Godin Kingpin again...or the two pickup version....Godin's P90 is really great...

Ditto - I own a CW II, and next to my P-90 LP it's the most versatile guitar in my stable. BTW, Jeff's right about pickups: they'll make or break your amplified tone, and Godin's got some of the best ones I've heard in a low/mid-priced guitar - I'm seriously thinking of ordering a set to swap into a Carlo Robelli '53 ES-5 knockoff I bought years ago as a project guitar but never completed...

[ALongRowToHoe]

I bought a 372ce back a few months ago and have been very happy with it. It is my first archtop and have found this model perfect for my needs. With that said, my one gripe is the pickup toggle switch, doesn't feel super durable; but I'm not hauling it around to any gigs. I considered the Epiphone Joe Pass, Emporer, and Broadway as well as a couple of Gretsch and Ibanez models. The Eastman hit the sweet spot. If you can, go play one and see if you like the tone and feel.