Eastman and pick guards
 

Is it true that Eastman ships their guitars with the pick guard’s unattached?

My E6D-12 came with the pickguard un-attached, in the case. Peel and stick. I have yet to install it.

I've owned 3 brand new Eastmans and all came with the guard installed.

My E1-SS came with pickguard attached. It may be up to the dealer to put them on or leave it to the customer. I see plenty of models without them.

Mine came attached.

For years Eastmans shipped with the pickguard unattached and in the case pocket. The first 4 or 5 I bought were pickguard-less until I added them. I'm not sure of the date, but in the past few years, they've come installed from the factory (or the shop in Ponoma). My last 3 Eastmans had the guard installed upon arrival.

Eastman Pickguards
 

My 3 Eastman acoustic guitars from 2020-2021 all came with pickguards installed. I had the dealer remove the guards on the AC630-BD and AC622ce but left it on my E40D dreadnought.

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I'll be taking a road trip to an Eastman dealer one state over next Saturday (who also happens to be the Amazon Eastman seller). I'll ask him if they show up in his shop attached or not.

I have two I'm interested in, an E-6 OM and an E-20 D. If I get the E-6 it will be my fingerstyle & camp fire guitar, and I'd want to leave the guard off. The E-20 would be my bluegrass guitar, and I'd want it on.

My E20-P bought in 2019 came with the pickguard attached - it wasn't very nice and has since been replaced.

My E40-00 came with no pickguard.

They look nicer now .... first pic -as received, second pic as now.

Many guitar brands like Martin, Gibson, Taylor, Guild, Yamaha etc use very specific pick guard shapes that help identify the guitar if you can't see or read the headstock. Does Eastman have a unique pick guard or other design elements that help identify them as such?

Merlin666

Not really on the shape. The shape depends on the series and sometimes they differ on when produced. The AC series tends to have "hatchet/tomahawk" style guard. Most of the slope shoulder models will have a "J45" style and sometimes even a batwing design. The traditional E series are more Martinesque in the guards with the OM and smaller using the small tear drop design similar to Martins OM design. The guards on the dreads are similar to Martin dread guards.

One thing to note, newer guards are of a much better quality (2019 or so and newer). The material seems not as pixilated or thin though they still do not have a radiused edge to them. I have three Eastmans - two with high quality Holter Pickguards (E40OM and E6D-TC) and one I removed the hatchet guard and went clear (AC622CE). I guess my point is you can always replace the guard.

Eastman guitars used to arrive with the guards uninstalled, which was good b/c the guards were terrible. In 2018, they began pre-installing the guards, which as Tom C mentions, have gotten considerably better in the last year or two. I purchased two new Alpine Spruce TC guitars this summer, and aside from my AC630-BD (see the recently bumped "Blonde Bombshell" thread), these are the first two guards that I haven't immediately wanted to replace (although I may still replace them with Holter guards).