Eastman Guitars 905CE

07 model 905 - this is the top of the line 16" model with natural finish - gorgeous! Came with tone control - a plus for this style guitar. Nice case but tight fit.

Excellent jazz guitar for serious pro. Big balancded sound for a 16" body. Pribably the best 16" tone I've heard. Strictly for the serious archtop player.

As good as you would expect out of the box. I lowered bridge and adjusted pickup for more volume on low E string.

A guitar of this style and quality requires gentle handling and care - not designed for abuse.

Had a problem wqith a previous early model which was resolved to my satisfaction in a timely manner. Eastman is serious about customer satisfaction.

Pro for forty years. I have owned dozens of guitars. This is the ultimate players guitar at a bargain price. Quality is as good or better than my more expensive Gibson and Heritage models. I even like the existing adjustable pickup.

I have added a strap button and plan to change the strings to flat wound for a smoother sound. Records beautifully with mic or pickup or both. Case is a little tight for cables etc. Under $10k this is my favorite. Really like the Macafari cutaway.

Wish it had a separate jack for the cable - no comparable models have this but every player I know would prefer this feature. If the owner adds one the modification would probaly reduce the resale value

Great tone, playability and looks for about $3,000. Other than strings no changes are needed or planned. My experience is that the new Eastman models (06-07) are first rate - the quality has improved dramatically along with minor design improvements.

The 905 ce is an archtop jazz guitar in the Eastman custom series, handmade in China and features really outstanding craftsmanship, (best I have ever seen anyway) select tonewoods, wood bindings, an ebony tailpiece, and Schaller tuners with ebony buttons. This model is in natural finish, simply beautiful, solid woods were used all around so no laminates. No serial number or label of any kind in or on the guitar which is the only reason why it doesn't score full points in my book.

This is an archtop guitar so fine for jazz / latin-bossa stuff / finger style. Acoustic character comes through well when amplified. The single pickup is mounted on the pickguard and not on the neck with the volume pot mounted out of sight under the pickguard. The pickup is probably a Ken Armstrong or something similar made for Eastman and a bit too noisy in my opinion. I play it either through a 100 watt Fender deluxe amp or a Roland cube 30. I feel that if you plug in a guitar in this price class you should hear absolutely nothing unless you are actually playing. Eastman do something about the sheilding of your pickups and get back to me!

No flaws, perfect workmanship! Again, never seen the likes of this - and I have owned many fine guitars. Minor detail: Intonation was not set up perfectly on 2 of the strings. A floating bridge is of course always a problem but it took me half an hour to set the intonation up perfectly and adjust the neck for slightly lower action so it's now perfect in every position; no rattles, no noises, perfect.

An archtop is always a more vulnerable guitar; time will reveal how this guitar will stand up to years of playing. These guitars have no history / track record yet so hard to tell.

I have been playing for more than 30 years, owned many guitars including high end American makes. I was looking for a Gibson L5 Wes Montgomery model but found the price outrageous for a laminate guitar.
I opted for the Eastman because it is more than half the price compared to the Gibson, plays really well, sounds good both acoustically and amplified, has good projection and comes with a good case. The workmanship and the woods used are unbelievable. The pickup is something I will probably replace; Eastman should look into alternatives so that the guitar is fitted with a noisefree pickup, preferably a humbucker.