From the website:
* E1 OM: Bracings:Hand Scalloped X
* E6 OM: Bracings:Hand-Carved Scalloped X
Also the E1 has a rosewood bridge plate
Under-the-Hood-on-the-E1OM?
The E6OM has a maple bridge plate.
Here are my notes during my Eastman Sitka/Hog quest:
1) E1OM I tried (Hannover, Germany)
Very resonant (too much?). Thick, fat tone. Compression on the low E and A string.
Bluesy tone. A bit too dirty on fingerstyle arpeggio. Very rewarding in strumming.
Finish is thick. Very comfortable (open pore).
Not much Sustain/Ring. Marvellous neck. Has a metallic zing quality associated to lower end guitar: but not in a bad way.
Feel good guitar.
2) E6OM (Hannover, Germany). Really really good. Sounds like a higher-end guitar. A bit too bright. Very balanced.
Neck is a bit thinner than the E1OM. Great tone in both strum and fingerstyle. saddle was too low (only reason why not bought).
Nota Bene: A year later, the E1 is gone not the E6.
3) E6OM (Den Haag, Netherland)
Warm tone, a bit muddy when recorded. nut is cut too high.
That day: Best tone was E40om, best neck was E20om
4) E1OM (Schramberg, Germany). Very Balanced. No obvious compression from low strings.
Very straight sounding guitar, almost stiff. Tone can become metallic and harsh when hard strum. Neck is OK, no better or worse.
5) E1OM (North of Paris, France). Very Very good. Balanced. Good resonance. A bit bright depending on room. Perfect neck.
Low end is not lacking. No noticeable compression. Was hard not to buy... But the 000-15m next to it had WAY more mojo.
6) E1OM (Center of Paris, France). Way louder than (5). lot's of lows and boom. Still balanced. Bad condition for test (noisy room), had to leave.
7) E6OM (East of France) . Neck a bit thin, very similar to the one from Den Haag. Top wood less beautiful. Like the one in Den Haag, the strings is a little high in the low positions.
For the rest the setup/playability is out-of-this-world. Sound is balanced. Much much sustain and nice ring for fingerstyle and arpeggios.
Tone is perfect in both strumming and fingerstyle. May be a bit resonant on the high strings but the playability enables to forget your fretting hand and focus on adjusting your pick position/attack.
To conclude:
My personal opinion is that
the E1 has a slight metallic/harshier character (it is obvious on the E1D). The E6OM is rounder with a better sustain/ring. But they are GREAT E1-OM out there. What is weird is that the first one I try was the most impressive... It was the cheaper sounding guitar but the resonance/boom was exactly where I wanted and the neck was stellar... It had something special. However, it felt dull in fingerstyle and I was immediatly impressed by the E6OM afterward. The next E1OM sounded more balanced but were not as interesting, although they were more versatile.