UNPLANNED DOWNTIME: 12th Oct 23:45
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I've played a few Eastman guitars before over the last year or two, and had already fallen for an E10SS/V in GAK that I was aiming to buy sometime next year or so. However, already being a long-time J45 fan, when this one came up in the GV BGM sale recently I really couldn't resist it.
Build-wise it's incredibly clean - no tooling marks or finish flaws that's I've found so far, and the internals are perfect. This one as the same full-rounded 50s profile that the E10SS/V comes with, and is a joy to play. As you can see from the pics, the nitro finish is very thin, and already shows a bit of grain sinkage over the Adirondack top - no bad thing in my opinion!
Tonally it's everything I love about slope-shouldered builds. It's got that warmth and woodiness, with plenty of depth and upper-clarity, but a rolled-off sweetness compared to traditional dreadnoughts. It's brilliantly responsive for both flat- and finger-picking, although the string spacing could be a shade wider if you do a lot of the latter; that said, I've adjusted perfectly well to it so don't let that put you off them. When it arrived it seemed to have phosphor bronze strings on there which were fine, but I prefer the sound of 80/20s so I fitted my usual EB Earthwood's which brought out a bit more warmth to the guitar.
I've probably put more hours into this guitar over the last ~6 weeks than I have on all my others over the past year combined. It's properly addictive, and never sounds bad - a keeper!
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