NED - New Eastman Day

D30Man

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Sorry beating you to punch Ray :) Though yours is for more interesting!

Soooooo yesterday I went to Morrison Guitars located here in lovely Rockwall, TX.. Great little shop owned by father and son Brett and Mitchell Morrison.. Mitchell runs the joint and is a hell of a luthier.. He has worked on all of my Guitars and always does a great job.. He has installed pick ups in my F-55 and my D-35. Pickups he designed and built himself. Also when I built my Daredevil themed strat he set it up and straightened out when I was done.. He is a also an excellent builder of acoustics and electrics.. If you are ever in the greater Rockwall area this shop is worth checking out..

That said I was plucking around on the decent selection of Eastman guitars they carry and decided to take not 1 but 2 home with me... Yes I bought 2 at once.. That is a first for me..

So I picked up an E6D Dreadnaught with a beautiful burst sitka spruce top, gorgeous solid hog back and sides, and a lovely tortoise binding around the body.. very similar to some of the norlin era Gibsons.. except I am sure this one will stay in tact :) This thing is dynamic with balanced highs and lows and projects beautifully.. I did a shoot out with an all hog Collings in the store and this one won.. Not like I was going to thrown the $4600 on the Collings or anything.. Instead grabbed this one for a cool $800 with probably the nicest Eastman case I have ever seen..

The other is one that will make a wonderful campfire guitar and has a pretty nice voice in its own right.. It is an Eastman PCH ( pacific coast highway ) OM.. This is Eastman's budget line and it is a great value.. It boasts a stained solid spruce top with lam back and sides.. Great little $260 guitar.. Mitch threw in a nice Eastman bag.. It has excellent volume and and is super light weight.. Great for travel and camping as I said.. It will fit that bill nicely..

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D30Man

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And please forgive the sub par pics!!! My house is very dim and it is just to damn hot outside :)
 

D30Man

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Now that was an example of an enthusiastic customer!

Yeah they saw me coming.. And usually I am a much more conservative buyer.. Oh well.. I felt like spending my money at a local shop that has taken good care of me and my guitars over the past few years.. I have brought my guitars in there for quick adjustments and they wouldn't charge me anything for it.. Felt like it was a way I could pay them back and I got two stellar guitars out of the deal.. I have always been a fan of Eastman.. I wouldn't consider them your typical MIC guitar.. They are handcrafted in a workshop instead of a sweat shop and they put a lot of care into these.
 

Westerly Wood

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that dread looks really great. i am not surprised it won out over the all hog Collings but imho, that is probably a spruce vs hot top projection thing. hog tops are super subdued in projection, spruce not.
 

Mark WW

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Yeah they saw me coming.. And usually I am a much more conservative buyer.. Oh well.. I felt like spending my money at a local shop that has taken good care of me and my guitars over the past few years.. I have brought my guitars in there for quick adjustments and they wouldn't charge me anything for it.. Felt like it was a way I could pay them back and I got two stellar guitars out of the deal.. I have always been a fan of Eastman.. I wouldn't consider them your typical MIC guitar.. They are handcrafted in a workshop instead of a sweat shop and they put a lot of care into these.

The only music stores we have that carry any guitars in O-Town are Guitar Center and Sam Ash. I ordered my Eastman Electric sight unseen on line so I get your enthusiasm.
 

Westerly Wood

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that is what my Br needs Al. probably get that on ebay...
 

D30Man

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that dread looks really great. i am not surprised it won out over the all hog Collings but imho, that is probably a spruce vs hot top projection thing. hog tops are super subdued in projection, spruce not.

It is a beaut WW and yes spruce projection was a big differentiator I am sure, but even that said, just the overall tone was more dynamic.. I have owned a few all hog dreads and it was the dark warm balanced tone ( not projection ) that always won me over.. I was just more impressed over all with the Eastman.. So was the owner.... Granted.. The Collings wasn't exactly going to go him with me even if I had been more impressed with it.. And I am not taking anything away from Collings. I have played a few and they have all been pretty amazing guitars..

I guess the thing for me is I am not a $4k guitar guy - at least not at the moment. My most expensive guitar is my F-55 which was $2k ( normally street price $3500 - but was a scratch and dent ).. That will be as high as I go for a while..
 

D30Man

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Mark- What model did you order? 335 copy? Their electrics are damn nice.. They have a Les Paul that is $1800.. Granted it is probably 3 times better than a new Gibson LP... Sorry if any Gibby lovers out there :)
I picked up a black double cutaway Gibson LP with a single P-90 yesterday at GC killing some time.. It felt like I was holding plastic and it just looked like whoever built it didn't care.. Neck joint was kind of sloppy looking..
 

adorshki

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Unfortunately, your privately owned guitar shop does not feel the same as you. Eastman guitars are made in China.
Tom
To be fair I don't think his preferred shop would be able to find a domestic built instrument to offer at that price/quality point.
I don't hold it against 'em as long as they're not trying to hide the county of origin, as some internet sellers appear to do.
 

D30Man

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totally right there with you. i am more now a $400 guitar guy :)

Ha! Right?

Now mind you when the kids are gone I hope to be in a position to throw down on a lifetime boutique guitar, buuuuuut for now I have been pretty lucky with my sub $2k guitars..
 

jcwu

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for now I have been pretty lucky with my sub $2k guitars..

All my life I've only ever owned sub $2k guitars. In fact, it wasn't until finding LTG that I finally owned my first (then second then third) over $1k guitar(s)...

You guys cost a lot.
 

txbumper57

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Yeah they saw me coming.. And usually I am a much more conservative buyer.. Oh well.. I felt like spending my money at a local shop that has taken good care of me and my guitars over the past few years.. I have brought my guitars in there for quick adjustments and they wouldn't charge me anything for it.. Felt like it was a way I could pay them back and I got two stellar guitars out of the deal.

Congrats D30Man on two great looking guitars! I do the same thing with my local mom and pop shop. They have been taking care of me and my Guitars for 20 years so whenever I can purchase something locally to throw them some more business I do. I do purchase online as well but if I am buying something like a mid level Mandolin or a guitar for my friend's kid who is learning I always try to buy through them first as opposed to online, even if it means I spend another $100 or so. I mean I would have spent that in shipping anyway right? Best of luck with your two new acquisitions, Big fan of the Teardrop burst on that Dread!

TX
 

D30Man

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Congrats D30Man on two great looking guitars! I do the same thing with my local mom and pop shop. They have been taking care of me and my Guitars for 20 years so whenever I can purchase something locally to throw them some more business I do. I do purchase online as well but if I am buying something like a mid level Mandolin or a guitar for my friend's kid who is learning I always try to buy through them first as opposed to online, even if it means I spend another $100 or so. I mean I would have spent that in shipping anyway right? Best of luck with your two new acquisitions, Big fan of the Teardrop burst on that Dread!

TX

Thanks TX! Agreed all the way around.. Now if I could just get the shop to start carrying US Guilds..
 
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