EKO E.85

bought mine in 1997. Was bought in 1973 and had been played on a couple of times and then laid back in the guitar box. It is in mint condition and has a great tone. The fleur de lis and the name is inlaid mother of pearl, plastic. Been using it for studiojobs ect. not live.

the guitar sound best when strumming with the right pick or with your fingers. I find it wery easy to play. Full sound

medio action and no flaws. The saddle is made from bronce. Original

This guitar will survive anything. It is a work house. I only know the Bjarton guitar that can come any close to this guitar.

I can get it repaired at the same dealer who sold it back in 1973

been in this cicus for 42 years now. Have ovned a shop full of guitars basses and all kind of instruments.

dreadnought acoustic guitar 6 string double pickguard as in everley brothers style gibsons . top is douglas like the ranger series definately spruce anyway and mahoghany back and sides possibly laminate . overall finish is black which is ultra cool well bound with white ornate bindings with detail inside real quality.large body for a dreadnought and the finish after almost 30 years is good testament to eko's quality no warping or bellying .bridge looks like a chunk of brazillian rosewood with gold star topped pins and adjustable bridge ( wish more makers would realise these things are so handy and not a deal of tone gets lost ).neck is 21 frets with rectangular pearl inlays and is of shallow d profile again ala ranger .the headstock has eko in gold and a fleur de lys also in gold with gold plated tuners big flared headstock .soundhole is ornately adorned with rosette .i have had people drool over guitar and have resisited many offers to date .its a stunner!

i have owned many rangers Vl's and this is very similar in sound ,deeper bass than the rangers and this lends itself to jazz blues / country incredibly well . you can finger pick this guitar and will be rewarded with good overall balance and it has a softer side than you'd believe too if picked .but where this guitar excels is plugged in ..i bought for my ranger an artec single coil soundhole pickup which is a copy of the fishman rare earth and boy ! ..what sounds .??20.00 pickup that really picks up a great acoustic sound (have installed 5 now on various guitars and each one as good ).i also put one in this e85 to similar effect ,it has a old time sound which is impossible to achieve with new guitars and is magical to hear .martin sp 12's sound the best on eko's i have found after trying many others.

bought secondhand and the action was fine as it was ,but tweaked when restrung ,you could get this to sit really low indeed if required .the intonation is spot on and the neck joint and bracings all fine even after nearly 30 yrs .the playablity on eko's is legendary and this is no exception ..smooth fast neck with a shallow d profile that suits me very well ,frets wearing well,tuners stable enough and holds tune well .

no problems here ..you could batter a roman legion with this and it would still be in one piece .very well constructed ,the gold plating is starting to go in places but thats pretty standard for plated parts ,pickguard slightly lifting but not really an issue .

not a hope of customer support ..lonf since stopped answering the phone i'd have thought ,although there are old stock eko parts available via at least one source ,although this is a rarer bird than the rangers by a mile .

This is given on the whole vibe of this guitar and based on what it is and not what it was never meant to be ..very important ! it wasnt made to rival a martin for acoustic definition or a gibson for power and depth ,it was made as a beautiful and good all round acoustic guitar for a player who wanted a cool ..sorry ..ultra cool looking stage guitar ,and for this its a ten.i own a ibanez artwood 1980(tama rebrand )martin d18 copy although as good if not better imho. 2 eko rangers .parker .and have played and owned many acoustics over the years .i have sold taylors and ovations but kept this EKO E85 over them due to the wonderful vibe and looks and sound (it has its own voice like no other as many guitars do ).its irreplaceable so i'd be gutted if lost or stolen .

Made in Italy, purchased in 1979. Jumbo dreadnought style, 6-string (steel) acoustic. Black body with white trim, flared head, 21 frets. 2 black, plastic scratchplates, also flared to go with the somewhat ornate appearance of the guitar. Since, with the exception of the fretboard, the whole guitar is painted black it is hard to tell what kind of wood it is made of, but the inside looks like a rough finish reddish-brown wood. Rosewood (?) fretboard with rectangular mother of pearl inlays. "Gold" colored tuners (no brand marked), difficult to turn. Overall cheap manufacture.

I do some fingerpicking and some rhythm. Guitar sound is boomy and a bit dull. Definitely better for low end work, not fingerpicking.

Action moderate. The guitar is set up for playing adequately if not easily. The machine heads are cheap so it's hard to tune. This is not an easy guitar to play. The neck is not quite as wide as a classical guitar but definitely more than your average Martin.

Scratchplate starting to detatch from instrument (after 24 years of mostly sitting in the case). This is certainly a durable instrument in terms of taking knocks since it is built like a tank. This is definitely not a primary use instrument. I take it to gigs (uh, we're talking folk dances) but only to use if I break a string on my other guitar and need a replacement in a hurry.

No information.

In general this instrument is heavy, hard to play, hard to tune (lousy machine heads), isn't the best sounding (who knows what is under that black paint). I suspect that most of the price was to cover appearance features (I can admit this now after 24 years, though I plead not having money then to get anything better), and very little into sound and playability. I bought it as a beginner instrument, though now you can get much, much better beginner instruments for only slightly more than this one cost.