Looking at an Eastman 371

[CoryB]

So, I need a new guitar. There's this empty place on my guitar wall that just cries out for a Florentine cut archtop. I'm looking at the Eastman AR371CE-BD to fill that hole. I'm also considering a Loar LH-350 but leaning hard towards the Eastman right now.

My concern is the size. I'm comfortable with a 000-size flattop but a dreadnought makes my shoulder hurt after a while.

I know the best idea would be to go and play one but there are none I can find within 100 miles of me.

So, how do the sizes compare - 000 to 16" archtop? I know the 371 is about 1.5" less in body depth but how about the lower bouts?

Any help or advice is greatly appreciated. Or if you're close to Richmond, VA and would let me try out your 371 - I'll bring beer.

[mr. beaumont]

I think 16" archtops are very comfortable, generally.

Something important to note that the 371 is based on the venerable Gibson ES-175, which is actually quite deep as far as 16" archtops go. Most 16" archtops around are not as deep as these, but it's also part of their charm-- a good 175 feels quite alive and has a pleasing unplugged tone, even though it's plywood and has (often) 2 pickups cut into the top.

That said...I've played a 371 and didn't care for it at all. Thought it had very little of what a 175 really sounds like, and also wasn't up to the quality I expect from Eastman. But I'm really in the minority, I know a lot of people out there LOVE their 371's.

As an alternative, I'd recommend the Epiphone Premium 175. As close to the real thing as I have found in the "budget" price bracket.

[Archtop Guy]

I've liked the 371's that I've played, but I don't own one so my experience was brief and incomplete.

OTOH, since you mentioned comfort: consider a 403, or even better, a 503.

Me: i play my 17" archtops all the time and find them comfortable. Like you I don't like dreadnoughts, but it's not so much the width as the depth. My archtops range in depth from 3 inches to 3/3/8 inches, and they fit perfectly under my arm. The Eastman 403 and 503 are a shade thinner than 3", they should fit you fine.

The Florentine cutaway? Oh well. The soft cutaway might grow on you.

[Steve DeRosa]

Originally Posted by Archtop Guy

...The Florentine cutaway? Oh well. The soft cutaway might grow on you.

- and if you're looking in that size/price range - and Jeff will agree with me on this - I wouldn't even think of making a final choice before playing one of these:

https://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/5AvCWK2CNB

[CoryB]

Originally Posted by Steve DeRosa

- and if you're looking in that size/price range - and Jeff will agree with me on this - I wouldn't even think of making a final choice before playing one of these:

https://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/5AvCWK2CNB

Thanks but I played one last week at Chicago Music Exchange and it didn't work for me at all. I can't explain why, but it just didn't.

[mr. beaumont]

Originally Posted by Steve DeRosa

- and if you're looking in that size/price range - and Jeff will agree with me on this - I wouldn't even think of making a final choice before playing one of these:

https://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/5AvCWK2CNB

Best budget box on the market, by a mile.

[gmr]

I don't have much to offer here. However, I have an ES 125 and I also have a J45 which has a typical dreadnaught size lower bout. The 125 sits and feels small compared to the j45 (but the j45 does not bother me either). If you can find a local dealer with one of Epiphone's ES 175 models, it would probably be very close size wise to the Eastman. I am tempted every time I pass the epi es175 at my local dealer. Anyway, the thinner body of an archtop makes the large lower bout quite easy to manage from my perspective. It even feels just as cozy as a 000 I used to own, and I love the size of a 000 guitar. Your mileage may vary though.... And yes, that Godin Kingpin II is the best of the bunch in comparable price.

[Steve DeRosa]

Originally Posted by CoryB

Thanks but I played one last week at Chicago Music Exchange and it didn't work for me at all. I can't explain why, but it just didn't.

I can - set it up with 12's or 13's, preferably flatwounds (TMK they come from the factory with wound-G 11's - too light for a full-size hollowbody) to get some "wood" into your tone, and you'll come away with a completely different perspective...

[Mandobart]

Originally Posted by Steve DeRosa

- and if you're looking in that size/price range - and Jeff will agree with me on this - I wouldn't even think of making a final choice before playing one of these:

https://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/5AvCWK2CNB

Not my choice either. I've played several of those 5Th Ave's and their unplugged tone strikes me as anemic. I've played a few Eastman archtops and own their mandocello. Any Eastman archtop I've played (and I haven't played them all) simply sounds head and shoulders above any other newly built arch top. I've tried Gretsch, Godin, D'angelico, Loar, even new Gibsons. Haven't tried the new Epi's or the Guild A-150 yet.

[mr. beaumont]

Well, it depends on what you're going after. If you're intending to plug the guitar in, sometimes a vibrant acoustic sound isn't what you want.

[Steve DeRosa]

What Jeff said...

[MC5C]

Did you know that John D'Angelico made an Excel electric archtop for Chet Atkins in 1950? It was the first electric archtop that he made. It had soundposts under the bridge and a Bigsby pickup in the bridge position. Later the Bigsby moved to the neck position, a P-90 dog-ear was installed in the bridge position, and a Vibrola tailpiece.

It goes to show that a great electric archtop and a great acoustic archtop are two different things. Soundposts under the bridge so the top couldn't vibrate, moving to plywood tops, heavy heavy bracing, all make them almost two different instruments. Floating pickups on a true acoustic are a mid-way, but if you play loud on stage like Chet did, you needed the deader instrument. Some of his personal Gretsches had blocks under the bridge and painted on F-holes.

Article: http://www.premierguitar.com/article...ntleman?page=1

[guitararmy]

http://www.guitarcenter.com/Epiphone...54clFxMEFBQUNS

[CoryB]

Thanks for all of the input so far.

How is the neck shape on the Epi Premium 175? I just picked up a 2002 Epi Dot - would it have a similar contour to that?

I just really didn't like the feel of the Godin so I can't see spending the money on one.

I will be playing for my own entertainment only and probably 90+% unplugged, but I want the option to plug in if I want to. Top end budget is 1K.

Any other suggestions?

[Steve DeRosa]

I played one of the blondes at GC (the guitar - not the cashier ) and it actually feels like a circa-1966 ES-175 (and sounds pretty close - had a former colleague who owned a '67 so I'm using that as my comparison), with the genuine "Slim Taper" 1-5/8" neck characteristic of this period. That said, if you like the thick, chunky, cheeky, hard-D profile Epiphone has been using on their hollows/semis since they reopened the Chinese plant a few years ago (very long story - and very political - so I won't get into it here) you're going to hate this guitar with a passion; by the same token, if you're looking to get into the speedier side of jazz soloing without paying an arm, a leg, and a couple other valuable appendages for a vintage Gibson or Kalamazoo Epiphone, you'll be happier than a pig in poop...