Quote:
Originally Posted by rokdog49
That number you used is far more than the number of guitars Eastman produces in a year. It's been told to me the number is around 50-60 per day. That info comes directly from Ted at L.A. Guitars who is one of their better dealers and has been dealing with Eastman for almost as long as they have been building guitars. He is also very close with the Eastman folks at the L.A. Headquarters and Custom Shop. BTW, that's about 25 years.
What you see in the video is accurate but not everything you see those folks doing is everything that is going on. There are highly skilled folks hand carving necks and doing finish work totally by hand.
The point is, it's still being done by hand, not a robot.
To me that's the definition of hand-crafted, hand-made or whatever ... human beings making things their hands or with tools in their hands. YMMV.
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In 2017, Ted provided me with similar numbers, and around that same time, Eastman confirmed ~6k for acoustic guitars (10k total strings). Since then, their electric guitars have taken off, so if they haven't increased capacity, the acoustic numbers could be lower. I know that customers and dealers have been waiting months for their thermo-cured guitars.
I have a T185MX (all solid wood, semi-hollow electric), which comes in two other sizes... last year, they sold 52 of them in North America (all three models). In addition, I own their premium acoustic models (E40D, E40OM), and I heard (but haven't confirmed) that they only make about 20-30 of each model per year. BTW, Eastman confirmed that they custom voice each of their "40" tops, and they were working to train other luthiers onsite, so they could expand this into additional models. As of 2017, all of the voicing was being done by one person, who was a third generation luthier, not an unskilled laborer (as implied earlier in this thread).
Quote:
Originally Posted by rokdog49
I respect your knowledge, so what's wrong with my challenging statements about something I am familiar with? I did a ton of research before I bought my first Eastman, so I know a little about them and their company.
Saying stuff like they build 200,000 guitars per year which is completely untrue.
In your post you did say your experience was in the past and limited.
Have you tried an Eastman built in the last few years? Have any of these other folks tried one?
I own one and it has received very positive reviews from players who don't know who Eastman is from the man in the moon.
A better question you might ask is why do some these same folks continue to bring up stuff that happened in the distant past.
Eastman has come along way in recent years, but apparently these folks don't know that or choose to ignore it.
I think Eastman is a very "unique" operation, something to hold in esteem and they deserve better than they get from some on this forum. That's my "skin in the game."
Hope that explains it.
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Well said. I admire Jamie for stepping in on these discussions b/c the same things come up, over and over again. I tried to avoid this thread, but I wanted to commend him for trying to set things straight.