Eastman Archtop Guitars - Have they lost their way?

[Silly Moustache]

The thread about round/oval hole guitars made me review this.

I was really very impressed when Eastman started reproducing the old (pre-'40s) Gibson designs - both F-hole and round hole versions.

I felt that they had discovered a very under developed area of American guitar design to re-introduce to a later generation versions in high quality but with an affordable price ticket.

I used to be on the Eastman guitar forum (well it was a Yahoo group back then), and there was an American Marketing guy (representing Eastman) who was active on it.

He asked us to vote for what we'd like to see Eastman do once they'd got their versions of the L3,4,5 etc down.

I suggested that they further pursue the pre '20s Gibson styles, and then perhaps the L-0, L-1, L-2 and early Jumbo flat-tops designs.

At that time their guitars were very much hand made in a relatively modest factory, full of craftsmen and women, which was often closed due to humidity issues.

Then the guy left Eastman, and they closed down the Yahoo group. To my horror they went into the already saturated Martin clone direction.

Now they churn out Martin style flat-tops (and I suppose they are quite good), and mainly copies of electric Gibson semi-solid/semi acoustics, (laminated bodies with p'ups screwed into the top, i.e not acoustic archtops.

I suppose their market research has directed them into these directions and they seem to be successful, but I am saddened that they abandoned their original direction, and there is now a niche market for a revival of the early 20th century Gibson designs waiting to be filled by another far eastern craft maker.

Please don't talk of Godin and Loar, and Peerless seem to be copying Eastman's new directions, albeit with less subtlety.

Your thoughts ?

[B. Crittenden]

On the Martin clone direction....Ever since the first day I went to lutherie school the main guitar I've wanted to build and improve on is the early Gibson L1 and I am now finally building this model. Every time I tell luthiers I want to and plan on building parlor sized oval or round hole archtops they immediately laugh. When I told my school instructor he told me I was crazy and would never make money, recently at the Memphis guitar show I was talking with another well know archtop builder and was asked "Do you want a good piece of advice?, If you want to make money doing this don't build archtops!" Obviously this was in good humor and we both laughed but there is a very real truth to it. Unfortunately archtops are a niche market, and then when you get down to small body archtops it becomes a very specific customer. A company like Eastman probably couldn't even produce multiple models of guitar in that size range and not loose immensely, simply because its such a specific and small market. I can only imagine this fact and that flattops obviously dominate the market is why they went the martin clone direction. I liked what they were doing, for the price you couldn't beat it!

[petestorz]

I used to have a 910ce that I absolutely loved but it developed some feedback and tuning issues. Though I think that comes with the territory with handmade archtops. The thing was so unbelievably loud. As loud as my cheapo Walden dreadnaught. I have the El Rey 3 now and absolutely love it. Does the archtop thing all the way to metal

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S9sM_QqsjJ4

[Spook]

Like any other business, Eastman takes a hard look at the market and figures out which direction offers the most growth and ROI. For those looking for dreadnaughts and OM's it's a good thing. For the much, much smaller crowd that favors archtops, not so good.

[amyFB]

I picked up an Eastmann arch top with f-holes this summer. AR605CE (search the archtop sub forum for my NGD post). I had spent a year trying to find a guitar with the sound I wanted (warm and creamy like caramel). The only one that had come close was an old Gibson for $3k and I just wasn't ready to fork over that kind of cash for a guitar I knew would not get a lot of play time. I heard a lot of good reports about Eastmann archtops and finally got my hands on one at Merlefest this summer.

Acoustically it is okay, a little quiet but I do have flat wounds on it so that doesn't surprise me. However, amped, with a little chorus or reverb dialed in and it just purrs. Action is great. And it's awfully pretty to look at!

It cost $1250 and that made my pocketbook happy.

Unlike many here, I don't have quite the breadth of comparative play experience that allows a deeply nuanced critique of its similarity or differences from other brands.

Cheerios!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Silly Moustache]

Originally Posted by Spook

Like any other business, Eastman takes a hard look at the market and figures out which direction offers the most growth and ROI. For those looking for dreadnaughts and OM's it's a good thing. For the much, much smaller crowd that favors archtops, not so good.

Yes, they seem to have cut back on proper acoustic archtops and focussed on the archtop looking electrics with a fence post in the body to take a pichk-up screwed ion but either way - a limited market.

I was thinking of the early Gibson flat-tops - L-0,L-1, L-2 and maybe the original "jumbo" etc., these would appeal to the blues boys (and me).

To be fair, they are now making versions of the Gibson J-45 style.

Of course they decided to serve the much larger market -Martin flat-tops etc., and seem to have done well. I had assumed that the budget Martin copy market was already over served - but, it seems, I was wrong.

[Silly Moustache]

Originally Posted by B. Crittenden

On the Martin clone direction....Ever since the first day I went to lutherie school the main guitar I've wanted to build and improve on is the early Gibson L1....

I'd love to see pics of that when you are done!

[jimmy bookout]

FWIW, I remember thinking when Eastman first appeared that I could not believe they could be making money and be successful with their broad range of acoustic archtops. Clearly, they weren't and this is why you've seen the change in direction. I love archtops as much as anyone but they were offering SO many in the early days (f-hole, oval hole, different back/sides, dimensions) that it obviously didn't make business sense to continue down that path.

So, no, I don't think they lost way, I think they made a survival decision.

JImmy

[drive-south]

I'm sure there are plenty of Eastman archtops in circulation that can be purchased used.

There is also Peerless archtops. Check out Guitars n Jazz website. They have a pretty extensive inventory.

Eastman archtops have been inching up in price the last few years are no longer a real bargain with most in the $2k range.

[kmcmichael]

I have several. The 185, the double set pickup version and the traditional floating pickup version. I am getting the 7 string and converting it to 6 string due to a preference and a little authritus. I still think they are a bargain. Everyone wants the looks of a flattop, yet you can never get them to sound good without a microphone. It think the arch top can be a great alternative.

[mr. beaumont]

Eastman's designs were never really all that traditional, they were pretty much out of Benedetto's book.

[campusfive]

Although I'd agree that the diversification of their product line may have taken their focus off the archtop market to some extent, I'd still say that their carved-top archtop guitars are still excellent, and are a tremendous value.

I've always been a bit bummed that they didn't go with a more vintage aesthetic, opting instead for the faux-Benedetto vibe. I replaced the wood, Chuck Wayne-style pickguard for a Gibson-style tortoise one. In the 10 years I played it as my main guitar, I never did get around to swapping the wood tailpiece for a vintage trapeze-style one, although someone on the Jazz Guitar Forum did, and it looks awesome, and reported that is sounds good too.

Aesthetics aside, an Eastman 805 or 810 (or 605 or 610, for that matter) are all excellent acoustic archtop guitars for well under what comparable sounding acoustic archtop would cost from any other maker. They don't sound 80 years old yet, but nothing new does.