Eastman Guitars 810CE

This is a 2006 Eastman AR810CE archtop guitar. Beautifully flamed maple back and sides with a hand carved spruce top. This one has the Classic finish, just stunning to look at. Pickup is a floating Kent Armstrong mini-HB with a hidden from view under the pickguard volume control. It does not have a tone control. Apparently the new 900 series Eastmans will have volume and tone controls. I believe the neck is 1 3/4" at the nut but I read somewhere that it may actually be somewhere in between 1 11/16ths and 1 3/4. The guitar comes with a boot black spit shined case. I like it alot but I know, just like my black car, it's gonna' really show off every little scratch. Most importantly though, it will protect the baby inside!

I can't wipe the dumb smile off my face when I play this guitar. As stated by another reviewer, I just don't get tired of playing it. I own two other really fine hand made acoustic guitars and a couple of electrics. I love them all but I have never reacted to their tone the way I have to this one. The tone is FAT, juicy and delicious. As an acoustic guitar it has a loud, warm, cutting, woody and snappy tone. Did I mention that it is rather loud? I can't help but feel its incredible resonance as I play. When I plug it into my '72 Princeton Reverb it sounds warm and fat and it retains the best of its acoustic properties; it is at heart a damn nice sounding jazz guitar. My '66 ES-175D, while incredible in its own right, just doesn't have the same fatness of tone that this one does. Beyond jazz, it sounds amazing as a rhythm or lead instrument for a variety of other styles, T-Bone Walker style blues comes to mind.

Everything looks good to me. There may be a little finish drip onto the binding, but I had to study the darn thing to find it. The action was a tad too high for me BUT I will not lower it [for now] because I do not want to upset the tone or volume. The flamed maple is gorgeous as is the classic finish; kind of violin like.

It appears to be a solid, well made instrument. The finish is gorgeous and I would definitely gig with it, preferably sitting down. Having said all that, only time will tell how well made it really is.

I love the way it looks, sounds and plays. This is an easy 10.

2005 810CE in sunburst, 17" body
solid handcarved spruce top
ebony fretboard
maple back, sides, 3 piece neck (hardly noticeable)
ebony pickguard and tailpiece with metal string holders
single floating "eastman guitars" humbucker with hidden volume control
wonderful, light, molded case with little felt bag for tuner, strap, whatever
Very light and somewhat delicate french polish nitro finish

Disregarding cost for a moment, this is the best sounding instrument I've ever played. It's a jazz box and no one should have delusions of thrashing with this. Chord melody, solo picking or big band strumming is what this guitar is built for. In each area is surpasses expectations. I've never actually been able to enjoy sitting on a couch with a guitar for hours and not get a little bored and tired. The intonation is amazing and the tone and sustain allow for all the musical ideas to speak clearly.

The action was a little high and the strings a little light, (.12), but I slapped on .13, lowered the action and it plays great. I lost a little volume by doing that, but when it's just me on that couch..... Plugged in, it takes a little time to eq it properly to get the right amount of bass and rolled off treble. I have to say this is the first pu/volume control I've had that hasn't lost tone when you turn down. You get the same tone at 1/2 as you do at full.
There are minor finish flaws: the sunburst leaked on the binding a little on the top, the binding is slightly misaligned on the headstock. DO I care? No! It still looks stunning, but it's a player, not a artwall piece.

The guitar is a jazz archtop with floating bridge and pickup. You drop it, it's gonna break and chip. With that in mind, I will continue to gig with it, but only while sitting on a stool and playing with lots of elbow room. I don't want chips and dents on this beast. In a few years the finish will start to seriously harden and I'll be more comfortable with it at a gig. But, right now it needs to be treated like a really large egg. Will it be reliable? Sure! The tuners are good the wood is solid as heck. I'm keeping the humidifier in it, so and wood strinkage hopefully won't occur. On a jazz gig, I won't use a backup, this will be fine.

Not sure, but I'm participating in an eastman guitar forum, and the distributor is quite active with any questions his international customers have. My dealer is wonderful and will gladly help with any issues.

I've been playing classical, blues and jazz guitar for just under 30 years. I've had GAS for a jazz box, a real jazz box for years now. I came across these on the web and was hesitant about trying them because of the price. I've been burned by asian planks before. So, I kept looking at pricy Gibsons and vintage Vegas and Epiphones while ignoring these Chinese made 'value' boxes. I tried three different guitars of the same model and brought home the best sounding one. Since that time it has held it's own with a big band with many 'oohs' and 'ahs', plus it's been used in a blues band setting. My goal is to learn enough chord/melody stuff to do restaurant gigs. This guitar is the future for me.

Solid carved spruce top, solid maple back and sides, Kent Armstrong pickup.

Superb sound, bell-like tones across the range even with flat-wounds.

Set-up was spot-on out of the shop (Guitar Factory). Fretwork is flawless, intonation perfect.

Well built and finished. The people who made this really know how to build instruments.

No requirement so far.

I went from a Gibson ES 165, and the Eastman is so much better it's embarrassing. Fit, finish, quality, materials, workmanship and price are superb. Can't say enough good things about this guitar, it is so much bang for the buck. A professional instrument in every respect. Maybe companies like Gibson will take some notice.

This is a 2005, Chinese, handmade guitar. Has solid, hand-carved spruce top with insanely flamed maple body and sides. Very traditional jazz box with F holes and single humbucker, floating pick-up with volume control only. Beautiful sunburst gloss finish, single cutaway, full depth (3"). Has ebony tailpiece, gold non-locking tuners (Jinco brand?) Neck is 1.75 inches wide at nut; 25 " Scale; medium-jumbo Frets on a rosewood fretboard. Very nice case, strap.

Fantastic for fingerstyle jazz. Great acoustic and amplified sound. I use with my Marshall 50 watt acoustic amp. Rich, woody jazz sound, not bright or tinny at all. This is a jzz box and should be used as such.

How well was the guitar set-up at the factory? (How was the action?)
How well were the pickups adjusted?
Properly bookmatched top? Properly routed bridge?
As with all handmade guitars, there were a few finish flaws but nothing serious. All the hardware was properly aligned and the frets were nicely dressed. Very high quality wood.

The guitar seems very solidly built and I intentd to use it for live playing. The gold hardware seems like it will last, as does the finish. I always gig with a back-up guitar, no matter what I am playing

I have had this guitar for several weeks and it is everything I wanted in an archtop guitar, at about 25% of what you would pay for an American made archtop. This guitar is stunningly beautiful and I also love the sound, which is tonally right on for fingerstyle jazz. My favorite features are the nice, wide fretboard, beautiful finish and sunburst and the insane flamed maple back. I compared these to many other guitars, including Heritage, Gibson, D'Angelico, and some local custom made. They were all nice, although I think Gibson has backslid so far it is pathetic. I choose this one because it was priced such that a normal family guy/part-time musician could actually afford it without sacrificing anything. I bought mine from an add on Harmony Central from a guy named Steve Curry (e-mail: modernvintage@sbcglobal.net). He is a great guy, honest, helpful, returns e-mails, and gave me a great price. I highly recommend him. I also bought one of his bands' CDs, "The Texas Gypsys" and it too is great. I have been playing 35 years and own a Martin 0018V for my acoustic, along with an older Fender Strat. If this guitar was stolen, I would contact Steve and order another one in a heartbeat. This is further evidence that China is going to take over the world...but, as Hendrix said, "that's OK, I still got my guitar..."