Eastman El Rey 2- Anyone familiar?

mlr1122 · #1 03-16-2013, 07:35 PM

A friend has one of these in a sunburst finish. Really cool looking guitar. Guitar is a 2008 model and looks brand new. I own many acoustics and am aware of Eastman, but have very little info on this. Is it a versatile guitar? Well made? He wants 1000 for it. Any help would be greatly appreciated...

msr13 · #2 03-16-2013, 09:51 PM

It's a wonderful guitar, and one of the few guitars I regret selling. I sold mine a couple of years ago for $850 and have seen several since in that price range. $1000 might be fair if these are getting harder to find. Not sure.

This summer I decided to get a new one (albeit the El Rey 1. My dealer and I went through two of them-- both with funky necks. Both were sent back and I am still without an El Rey again. So, just check it out or make sure there is a return policy. There are several good blues, fusion, and jazz videos on youtube. I have not heard it used as a rock guitar. So, I think its versatility may be limited to those three fields. But, boy, it nails them. That small body can sound like a full size archtop.

If it's neck is good, I would certainly buy it, even at the $1K point. Try and deal though. Hope that helps.

mlr1122 · #3 03-17-2013, 02:40 PM

Great! Thanks very much for your response.

choucas09 · #4 03-20-2013, 01:03 PM

I've had an El Rey 1 for about three years and I love it. Highly playable, very dynamic, unique looks and very light(5.25 lbs). I've got eleven electrics and this is the one I take when jamming. The aforementioned dynamics allow me to drop behind or come in front of the others with ease just by varying my attack. This also makes it wonderful when using overdrive as I can go from clean to dirty via attack better than any of my solid guitars. I will eventually change the pickup for a hand-wound HB sized P90 as the Kent Armstrong HB is too muddy for my taste and I have to fiddle with eq to get the definition I'm after.

Here's what it sounds like.........https://www.box.com/s/8epovs63x80xjbtmd4h1

mlr1122 · #5 03-21-2013, 06:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by choucas09

I've had an El Rey 1 for about three years and I love it. Highly playable, very dynamic, unique looks and very light(5.25 lbs). I've got eleven electrics and this is the one I take when jamming. The aforementioned dynamics allow me to drop behind or come in front of the others with ease just by varying my attack. This also makes it wonderful when using overdrive as I can go from clean to dirty via attack better than any of my solid guitars. I will eventually change the pickup for a hand-wound HB sized P90 as the Kent Armstrong HB is too muddy for my taste and I have to fiddle with eq to get the definition I'm after.

Here's what it sounds like.........https://www.box.com/s/8epovs63x80xjbtmd4h1

Yes! Thanks choucas for the input. Beautiful guitar and your sounclip is fantastic. I like the growl your able to get out of the er1. Looks like im gonna go for it...