New Eastman acoustic guitar coming my way early next week.

markj · September 2019

Just ordered this up from Peach guitars earlier. https://www.peachguitars.com/guitars/acoustic-guitars/6-string/eastman-e1-ss-limited-classic-finish1.htm Went trying a few Acoustics yesterday on a bit of a road trip. Tried various Eastman and the new Yamaha red label FG3 guitars, really loved the E1SS but the shop just had the natural spruce top model in stock. I like dealing with Peach guitars they are very friendly and even did a price match saving me £28.

Teyeplayer · September 2019

Congratulations, these look great! I’ve the OM version in this finish and it’s lovely. Make sure you update us on how it played when it arrives.

markj · September 2019

Teyeplayer said:

Congratulations, these look great! I’ve the OM version in this finish and it’s lovely. Make sure you update us on how it played when it arrives.

Yes I will.

markj · October 2019

The guitar rolled up early last week but I was full of a cold with blocked ears and couldn't really get enthusiastic about it because I felt crap and couldn't hear very well. From Friday I've been able to hear it in all its wonderful glory with my ears improving daily, not quite 100% yet. Really love the Eastman its super resonant and was set up to perfection by Peach guitars and it sounds absolutely superb, even my Wife says it sounds better than the Martin 00015m I used to own. Might probably try some different strings in the future even though there is nothing wrong with the coated Daddarios. Will put pics up when I get chance.

markj · October 2019

CountryDave · October 2019

That looks gorgeous.

markj · October 2019

CountryDave said:

That looks gorgeous.

It plays and sounds wonderful. It’s super resonant very light in weight with a super thin cellulose finish. It really is a superb guitar.

markj · October 2019

The guitar is getting better everyday, it’s opening up all the time.

Fuengi · October 2019

Sweet! Nice guitars, I've got the E10ss and really like it. The slope shoulders make it so much more comfortable for me than a standard dreadnought.

Amigo · November 2019

I got one exactly like yours, E1 SS CLA LTD, after trying out at a local shop a few weeks ago. I have realised that for me the most important thing in a guitar that I want to play is the neck, and this guitar is absolutely made for my hands. I love how it feels.

After getting it home I noticed that the action was rather high, the saddle was very tall, tallest I have seen on a guitar. Playing open string chords was not an issue, but barred chords were rather difficult to play. Eastman says that the action should be 3/32" on the bass side and 2/32" on the treble side at the 12th fret, and it was 4/32" and 3/32", respectively. I took it to my trusted luthier who adjusted it to perfection, and now it plays as good as I had hoped.

This is my first acoustic guitar with a short-scale, at 24.75", and I must say that it suits me down to a tee. In the past I tried thinner gauge strings to make my long-scale acoustics' strings easier on the fingers, but then I changed tack, got rid of the other guitars, and I looked for a short-scale acoustic, hence this E1 SS, which I love. Bending strings is also much easier.

There is, however, one peculiarity I noticed with the guitar. I have not encountered anything like this in the past, but this guitar exhibits it, at least to my ears, and the shop assistant from where I bought it agreed, to his surprise. Granted, I have not tried many guitars in my life, but still. The sound of the guitar is significantly different to the player compared to the audience. When I play it, in my arms, the sound seems somehow subdued, like the guitar is struggling to make the sounds, like the hand brake is on. However, the sound is very nice, clear and present when you listen to the guitar facing it. The only thing I could think about was the marked difference between the back and sides—sapele, which the player touches—and the top—adirondack spruce, which faces the audience—in terms of tonality. It might also be that the guitar is made of solid wood, and I have never had a guitar made from solid wood throughout before, making me think that it may take a while to open up. This, again, I only notice from a player’s perspective, for recording it sounds as good out of the box as far more expensive guitars. Nonetheless, the feel of the guitar in my hands makes me want to play it, and that is why I will keep it.

One other thing I noticed is that the guitar has a very clear string separation, surprisingly so. Because of that, the guitar is very intolerant to poor picking technique, which I have in abundance. I can’t complain, it is not the guitar’s fault, it is mine. I shall strive to improve my technique to match the guitar, but maybe others will be facing this too.

Last thing: I was initially looking for an OM-style guitar, to be more comfortable to hold for finger-picking, but I stumbled upon a Gibson Sloped Shoulder a while back, which made me think that dreadnaughts can be comfortable after all, if the right type. This in turn led me to trying out this Eastman E1 SS, and I do not regret it.

markj · November 2019

Absolutely love mine, strings makes make a huge difference. Trying to find a make and gauge you like takes some time. I’ve got a set of Martin phosphorus bronze 12’s on mine at the moment. I think the guitar is crying out for a set of 13’s, I’ve got a set of John Pearse 13’s that I’m going to try in the next week.

Amigo · November 2019

markj said:

Absolutely love mine, strings makes make a huge difference. Trying to find a make and gauge you like takes some time. I’ve got a set of Martin phosphorus bronze 12’s on mine at the moment. I think the guitar is crying out for a set of 13’s, I’ve got a set of John Pearse 13’s that I’m going to try in the next week.

The guitar comes as standard with D'Addario Coated Phosphor Bronze 12s, but on mine they seemed very tired to touch, probably due to the time they have been sat on the guitar. I replaced them with a pair of D'Addario of same alloy and gauge, but uncoated, as that was what I had lying around. I think you are right, the guitar strings do make a difference, but I will be waiting for another while to change them. If you try them with a set of 13s, maybe I will try a set of 11s just to exchange opinions

Image: /plugins/EmojiExtender/emoji/fb/1.gif

I am not too keen to go 13s, as I tend to finger-pick, but I might give it a go at some point.

Andy79 · November 2019

I’d buy one in a flash if it wasn’t for the 1 11/16 nut. Funny as the square shoulder Eastmans have 1 3/4

Amigo · November 2019

Andy79 said:

I’d buy one in a flash if it wasn’t for the 1 11/16 nut. Funny as the square shoulder Eastmans have 1 3/4

I was pretty adamant in the past that I wanted a wider neck guitar, due to my love of finger-picking. I even bought a Seagull S6 Mahogany with 1.8" nut, which sounded marvellous, but which I traded in for this beauty. The shape of the neck feels so right for my hands that I forgot about the neck width. Granted, my technique got sloppy with the wider neck guitar, as I noticed when I started playing this guitar seriously, but it is now improving to the point where there are very few instances where I need to think about the finger positioning. Hopefully such instances will vanish in the not-too-distant future.

Have you tried one yourself?

Andy79 · November 2019

Yeah I tried an E10ss and an E1D. Completely loved both of them, didn’t need the E1D at the time. I very very nearly bought the slope but the width was niggling at me. Such good guitars though.
That day those guitars put some good mid level Gibsons and Martins firmly in the corner.

Amigo · November 2019

Pity it didn't work for you. The ebony fretboard is also something else, which the E10 SS must have had.

Andy79 · November 2019

Yeah. TBH with your help, I’m talking myself back into revisiting it. Ebony, red spruce and mahogany. There’s nothing better.

Amigo · November 2019

I can very well understand it. When I decided to change my guitars I was after a OOO-style guitar, because I thought it would be easier to hold and would have a shorter scale. I then narrowed it down to Eastman guitars, for reason I cannot fully explain or understand myself, looking at their OM-style guitars, which are similar to Martin's OOO rather than an OM, with their short scale. I was drooling over an E20 OM, but then I listened to an E10 vs E20 back-to-back video on youtube and I decided on the E10.

However, there are five reasons I chose the E1 SS in the end, as opposed to an E10 :
- The price (marriage is still more important to me), and the shop took my two acoustic guitars as trade in
- I realised that an SS is far better than a standard D for me, not far off a OOO
- It was readily available in my area to try (and I liked it)
- It has sapele back and side, which is nearest to mahogany I could get
- I fell for the Classic finish

I am not involved with Eastman in any way, other than as a keen but unskilled guitarist owning an Eastman

Snags · November 2019

@Amigo The thing about it sounding different for the player, I've had that on almost every acoustic I've played and have always assumed it's because you're above and behind the sound hole and top when playing.

Amigo · November 2019

@Snags Indeed, that hapened in the past with all the guitars I ever played, but in this case the difference was more striking than ever before. Is it that the Adirondack top has such a different sound profile to Sapele's back and sides? This is the first Adirondack top guitar I ever played, so I am trying to sample the community's experience in the hope that there might be something I can learn from it

markj · November 2019

Amigo said:

markj said:

Absolutely love mine, strings makes make a huge difference. Trying to find a make and gauge you like takes some time. I’ve got a set of Martin phosphorus bronze 12’s on mine at the moment. I think the guitar is crying out for a set of 13’s, I’ve got a set of John Pearse 13’s that I’m going to try in the next week.

The guitar comes as standard with D'Addario Coated Phosphor Bronze 12s, but on mine they seemed very tired to touch, probably due to the time they have been sat on the guitar. I replaced them with a pair of D'Addario of same alloy and gauge, but uncoated, as that was what I had lying around. I think you are right, the guitar strings do make a difference, but I will be waiting for another while to change them. If you try them with a set of 13s, maybe I will try a set of 11s just to exchange opinions I am not too keen to go 13s, as I tend to finger-pick, but I might give it a go at some point.

I've settled on a set of John Pearse 12's in Phosphor bronze, absolutely superb strings. Can highly recommend.

Amigo · December 2019

markj said:
I've settled on a set of John Pearse 12's in Phosphor bronze, absolutely superb strings. Can highly recommend.

Thanks for that, I still have the D'Addario's Phosphor Bronze .012 on it, and I am warming up to them, and to the guitar with them. More practice needed, I fear. I am more inclined to think that 12s are still the best string gauge for the guitar, but I am holding final judgement still.

markj · December 2019

Amigo said:

markj said:
I've settled on a set of John Pearse 12's in Phosphor bronze, absolutely superb strings. Can highly recommend.

Thanks for that, I still have the D'Addario's Phosphor Bronze .012 on it, and I am warming up to them, and to the guitar with them. More practice needed, I fear. I am more inclined to think that 12s are still the best string gauge for the guitar, but I am holding final judgement still.

Tried a set of 13’s they weren’t right for the guitar and my fingers!

Epsilon · December 2019

I'm continually astounded by the specs and quality of guitar that Eastman put out for the price point. I've yet to try a bad one, although one of their lower end mandolins I tried a few years ago needed some work. A solid wood guitar with an adirondack top and good quality pickup for under £1k - amazing!

Enjoy!

Amigo · December 2019

markj said:

Amigo said:

markj said:
I've settled on a set of John Pearse 12's in Phosphor bronze, absolutely superb strings. Can highly recommend.

Thanks for that, I still have the D'Addario's Phosphor Bronze .012 on it, and I am warming up to them, and to the guitar with them. More practice needed, I fear. I am more inclined to think that 12s are still the best string gauge for the guitar, but I am holding final judgement still.

Tried a set of 13’s they weren’t right for the guitar and my fingers!

That settles it then

After playing the guitar a bit for a bit longer I am content with the 12s, I do not think that going 11s will improve the sound.

Epsilon said:

I'm continually astounded by the specs and quality of guitar that Eastman put out for the price point. I've yet to try a bad one, although one of their lower end mandolins I tried a few years ago needed some work. A solid wood guitar with an adirondack top and good quality pickup for under £1k - amazing!

Enjoy!

It is indeed a very good guitar. I am astonished at the range it has, form very soft finger strumming to fingerpicking and vigorous strumming it can take a variety of personas with ease. And I must mention the string separation, which, on the downside, highlights poor technique...

I also hooked the guitar up to a normal amp, and also to a PC audio device and the sound I got was excellent. It has the same Fishman Sonitone that my old guitar had, but the difference in sound is night and day. I don't know what Eastman do to their guitars, but they certainly know a thing or two about them.

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New Eastman acoustic guitar coming my way early next week.

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