Martin 000-13e vs Eastman E60m?

[Riverwolf]

Sorry if this has been asked before...
I am wanting to upgrade my 000 Recording King RO-10.
I have always wanted a Martin.
But the Eastman seems to have the better reviews.
Anybody own or play both?

[B.G.]

Obviously trying them would be the first option but its probably tough finding an Eastman at local guitar shops. I've had lots of Martins and a few Eastmans. In this case I would personally go with the Eastman. Thats just my personal opinion. The Martin 000-13E seems like a guitar that martin will eventually discontinue. They constantly try to tap into the lower end market, usually unsuccessfully. I believe the whole performing artist line has been discontinued. The gpcpa, omcpa, dcpa, etc. These new "E" series are Martin's next venture. The Eastman probably has better quality wood between the two models. Martin is using something called siris on the E model. Just another alternative wood. Also the Martin has a richlite fingerboard and bridge as oppose to the Eastman using ebony. Also the Eastman is a dovetail while the Martin is a bolt on. You get more for your money from the Eastman. If you want a Martin you'll be alot happier saving up and getting a standard model or vintage series, marquis, golden era or authentic. Not that they're arent great lower end Martin's but you wanna be happy, right? You might also wanna look at Larrivee if you want a quality all solid wood dovetail acoustic.

[Guitartanzon]

I have to respectfully disagree. I have a martin OOO-12e, Koa. There is no bolt on neck, its mortise and tenon. Its an extremely well built guitar...with nice action (Plek) and playability. It has a great neck contour, the martin High performance neck, very comfortable. You should consider what neck contour you prefer, I “Think” the Eastman has a more more chunkier C neck. But you may like that. Also, I personally like Richlite fretboards, easier to play, never warp or chip, dry out or crack. I do no consider it “low end” at a street price of $1250 except. I just put a set of Gotoh gold tuners on her as an upgrade, as well as a BOB Colosi bone saddle and bridge pins. She sounds terrific. Its deseves a place in my wood display case. Its the best guitar their Mexico operations make and keeps my “Nazarith Pa” made Martin company. I would be confident the OOO13e is a very nice guitar. Try to find one and play it. Then you can decide, if you like, or not.
Hey, Eastmans are great guitars, I have had a few, but if you buy your Martin 00013e from AMS, you have 45 days to try it out. If you do not like, send it back, buy the Eastman.

[B.G.]

Originally Posted by Guitartanzon

I have to respectfully disagree. I have a martin OOO-12e, Koa. There is no bolt on neck, its mortise and tendon. Its an extremely well built guitar...with nice action (Plek) and playability. It has a great neck contour, the martin High performance neck, very comfortable. You should consider what neck contour you prefer, I “Think” the Eastman has a more more chunkier C neck. But you may like that. Also, I personally like Richlite fretboards, easier to play, never warp or chip, dry out or crack. I do no consider it “low end” at a street price of $1250 except maybe the cork sniffing elite do. I just put a set of Gotoh gold tuners on her as an upgrade, as well as a BOB Colosi bone saddle and bridge pins. She sounds terrific. Its deseves a place in my wood display case. Its the best guitar their Mexico operations make and keeps my “Nazarith Pa” made Martin company. I would be confident the OOO13e is a very nice guitar. Try to find one and play it. Then you can decide, if you like, or not.

The Martin mortise tenon neck joint does use a bolt for extra stability. Nonetheless I've had a few that still pulled up regardless of the extra support and they required neck resets. As for lower end, they are most definitely a lower end Martin as they're made in mexico and use cost saving materials and techniques. Richlite is not technically wood and doesn't sound or feel as good as the real thing. Mortise tenon joints dont require hand carving and also is a way for Martin to cut costs. None of these techniques or materials retain the tone that Martin is known for. You can call me a snob if you want. I'm fine with it haha

[Peter Z]

The mortise and tenon joint is easier to fabricate for sure but I don’t see any problems in using a bolt. There are very expensive guitars using bolt in the neck joint.
I think, it’s more a personal preference and how important traditions are for you. Same with Ritchlite. I don’t have any guitars with Ritchlite fingerboards but I played a few. I got aware it was Ritchlite after playing them, so it made no difference to me.

Everyboy is free to like what he likes! So many great choices today, I love that!
Therefore it would be sad, if Martin discontinues the 12 or 13 series. At least one should stay on the market.
Guitartanzon, why do you think those lower series are not successful? Where I live, I see quite many of them.
I have a 000-1, I think the 1-series were one of the first cheaper Martins. That is a good guitar, even if the sides are laminated and only the top and back are solid wood.

[Cool555]

Go for the Martin 000-13E. Play both if you have the opportunity. If not, watch YT videos. Just my personal view.

Here’s a video to watch:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4cbJ...&feature=share

[Guitartanzon]

Originally Posted by B.G.

The Martin mortise tenon neck joint does use a bolt for extra stability. Nonetheless I've had a few that still pulled up regardless of the extra support and they required neck resets. As for lower end, they are most definitely a lower end Martin as they're made in mexico and use cost saving materials and techniques. Richlite is not technically wood and doesn't sound or feel as good as the real thing. Mortise tenon joints dont require hand carving and also is a way for Martin to cut costs. None of these techniques or materials retain the tone that Martin is known for. You can call me a snob if you want. I'm fine with it haha

No insult intended. Sorry, I removed the cork sniffer phrase. It was not directed to you. My point is, if $1300 is low end, then what are all the guitars $300 - 1000???? Low end for Martins are HPL X series. The OOO13 is a nice quality guitar, in its own right, made in Mexico by proud skilled people. Same as those in BejingChina making Eastmans. And Richlite is used on guitars like the Jeff Tweedy, a $2500 guitar. Richlite is not cheaper, it is just a different material used for fretboards with a lot of advantages.

Here is one for sale on Craigslist
https://gainesville.craigslist.org/m...179912684.html

[YeOldRocker]

There's an awful lot of misinformation being passed around here as if fact.

I think the 13 series Martin is a fantastic guitar and value, as are the 12, 11 and 10 series; the price point between them is more about finish, satin or gloss, bindings, and wood choices. I believe the 13 series uses siris for its B&S, instead of sapele or rosewood, or at least that's true for its dreadnought.

The made-in-Mexico Road Series are extremely well-built guitars and sound fantastic at their price point, but fantastic nonetheless. They are all solid wood guitars, from the 10 series to the 13. The Mexico factory is not an anonymous budget bunker using child labor - it is a Martin factory established for decades, and using skilled Martin personnel. Its location is largely the reason its products are much less expensive than Nazareth, much as Eastman's lower prices, coming from China, (although, IMO, not low enough) are less expensive than a US manufacturer.

Richlite, which has plenty of detractors for a number of largely irrational reasons, does not notably affect the tone either significantly, or at all - there are more expensive American-made guitars from Martin and Gibson (and maybe others) that use it, too, and their tone is unchanged by its use. I believe it will take a long while for many purists to get over its use, but it does have many advantages over wood. Still, if one chooses to not like it, fine, but don't claim it impedes tone or somehow makes a solid wood guitar not a solid wood guitar.

Martin changes line names often, which is confusing, but it's more of a re-marketing thing than replacing a failed line. Mexican Road Series Martins used to be laminate back and sides, but now the Road Series is all solid wood, while the much less expensive X series use HPL. The Performing Artist series, made in the US, wasn't discontinued because of lack of quality or interest. In fact, it was pretty popular; as far as I can tell, though, it split into several other series, both Mexican and US made. The Road Series (Mexico) and the 16 series (US) both continued important attributes of the PA series - the PA neck, which I personally love and which was really the defining feature of the original PA series; the Richlite fingerboard and bridge material; and decent sounding Fishman electronics (the 16's electronics are a bit better, but both series do the job well). The woods selected, while less hand-selected perhaps than higher end Martins, are still all quality grade. What it does not have, understandably, is all the hand-tooled quality of the much more expensive models. That said, when I upgraded my OMCPA4R with a bone bridge and had some basic professional setup done, the distinction between it and, say, an OM21 was minimal at best. What garnered the most criticism on the PA series, I think, was the electronic preamp, which sounded(s) great, but was much more obtrusive, visually, with added buttons on its upper side, whereas the RS and 16 series now use less obtrusive and lighter soundhole controls.

Eastman makes good guitars, and some are arguably competitive with the big name US brands. So, again, you should probably play a number of any/all of these choices and figure out which one you prefer, rather than relying on the peanut gallery, myself included.

[roylor4]

Originally Posted by Riverwolf

Sorry if this has been asked before...
I am wanting to upgrade my 000 Recording King RO-10.
I have always wanted a Martin.
But the Eastman seems to have the better reviews.
Anybody own or play both?

I owned an Eastman E6OM for years. It's gone and my Recording King ROS-10 is still around. Had the RK before I bought the Eastman. That tell you anything?

[lowrider]

'I have always wanted a Martin.''

This is the thing, if you want a martin, get a Martin. If you get something else, you'll still want a Martin.

I've never played that Eastman but I have played the Martin a couple of times and I think it's a wonderful guitar. If you want the Martin tone you'll get it with the 000-13e, you won't with an Eastman.

To the guy who says he has had several neck joint failures with the Martin mortice and tenon neck joint; you must be very hard on your equipment. What do you do, bang stakes in with the guitar?

[Guitartanzon]

Originally Posted by lowrider

'I have always wanted a Martin.''

This is the thing, if you want a martin, get a Martin. If you get something else, you'll still want a Martin.

I've never played that Eastman but I have played the Martin a couple of times and I think it's a wonderful guitar. If you want the Martin tone you'll get it with the 000-13e, you won't with an Eastman.

To the guy who says he has had several neck joint failures with the Martin mortice and tenon neck joint; you must be very hard on your equipment. What do you do, bang stakes in with the guitar?

Well said comment on TONE......
Martin has a Martin sound...favors more bass
Taylor has a Taylor sound,,,,,favors more mid-treb
Gibson has a Gibson Sound....thump and growl..
Eastman has an Eastman sound

KEEP ON EYE ON USED MARKET....there are some great deals lately around me...on craigs and facebook. I could go broke.
Martin 00015m $800
Martin OOO13e $900
Martin Custom shop burst Grand Sym Cut away...$1000
Martin black smoke 00017 ...$1300
I just bought a mint OOO15sm 12 fret hog top on the Forum from a great guy for a great price .

[lowrider]

With the Forum Sponsor discount, you can get a new 000-13e for around a grand.

With the deals we can get, unless there is a specific used guitar I want, I can't see any reason to buy used.

[Riverwolf]

Originally Posted by B.G.

Obviously trying them would be the first option...

Originally Posted by Cool555

Play both if you have the opportunity.

Originally Posted by YeOldRocker

So, again, you should probably play a number of any/all of these choices and figure out which one you prefer, rather than relying on the peanut gallery, myself included.

I could maybe find both models in Portland, 100+ miles...
Nothing local.

[pinweasel]

I have the dc 13e and I love mine Workmanship is great and it sounds wonder ful. I can’t speak of the Eastman but my Martin is a nice guitar. As far as the richlite goes it looks and plays well the reviews I’ve seen on richlite were all favorable. But I can under stand that people just prefer wood.

[roylor4]

Originally Posted by YeOldRocker

There's an awful lot of misinformation being passed around here as if fact.

I think the 13 series Martin is a fantastic guitar and value, as are the 12, 11 and 10 series; the price point between them is more about finish, satin or gloss, bindings, and wood choices. I believe the 13 series uses siris for its B&S, instead of sapele or rosewood, or at least that's true for its dreadnought.

The made-in-Mexico Road Series are extremely well-built guitars and sound fantastic at their price point, but fantastic nonetheless. They are all solid wood guitars, from the 10 series to the 13. The Mexico factory is not an anonymous budget bunker using child labor - it is a Martin factory established for decades, and using skilled Martin personnel. Its location is largely the reason its products are much less expensive than Nazareth, much as Eastman's lower prices, coming from China, (although, IMO, not low enough) are less expensive than a US manufacturer.

Richlite, which has plenty of detractors for a number of largely irrational reasons, does not notably affect the tone either significantly, or at all - there are more expensive American-made guitars from Martin and Gibson (and maybe others) that use it, too, and their tone is unchanged by its use. I believe it will take a long while for many purists to get over its use, but it does have many advantages over wood. Still, if one chooses to not like it, fine, but don't claim it impedes tone or somehow makes a solid wood guitar not a solid wood guitar.

Martin changes line names often, which is confusing, but it's more of a re-marketing thing than replacing a failed line. Mexican Road Series Martins used to be laminate back and sides, but now the Road Series is all solid wood, while the much less expensive X series use HPL. The Performing Artist series, made in the US, wasn't discontinued because of lack of quality or interest. In fact, it was pretty popular; as far as I can tell, though, it split into several other series, both Mexican and US made. The Road Series (Mexico) and the 16 series (US) both continued important attributes of the PA series - the PA neck, which I personally love and which was really the defining feature of the original PA series; the Richlite fingerboard and bridge material; and decent sounding Fishman electronics (the 16's electronics are a bit better, but both series do the job well). The woods selected, while less hand-selected perhaps than higher end Martins, are still all quality grade. What it does not have, understandably, is all the hand-tooled quality of the much more expensive models. That said, when I upgraded my OMCPA4R with a bone bridge and had some basic professional setup done, the distinction between it and, say, an OM21 was minimal at best. What garnered the most criticism on the PA series, I think, was the electronic preamp, which sounded(s) great, but was much more obtrusive, visually, with added buttons on its upper side, whereas the RS and 16 series now use less obtrusive and lighter soundhole controls.

Eastman makes good guitars, and some are arguably competitive with the big name US brands. So, again, you should probably play a number of any/all of these choices and figure out which one you prefer, rather than relying on the peanut gallery, myself included.

This emboldened section is in itself a mistruth. The SC-13E is laminated B&S, not all solid.