Eastman Guitars T184MX

This is a ES-335 shape, but with a smaller 14'' lower bout, and completely hollow apart from a block under the bridge and stopbar.
Made in China in 2007, hand built according to tags etc, in Beijing at Eastman strings, a huge name in violin making.

It's all solid woods, hand carved arched top and back plates, the Eastman site specs it as mahogany back and sides, but mine has a flame maple back, very nicely bookmatched, and the top is even more figured and flamed. The sides are bent mahogany with kerfing like an acoustic guitar, the neck is also listed as three piece mahogany on the site, but mine is maple with a slight flame to it, and this is confirmed by the colour of the wood in the trussrod cavity.
The peghaead and fretboard are very nicely figured ebony, and the binding is maple on this one as well, not 7 ply like the site says.

The woods used are very nice, and the nitro laquer finish is very well done, on a par with my Gibson J-185.
I love the violin coloured finish over the maple, reminds me of cellos and the like...and hopefully will age as nicely.

There are two Kent Armstrong humbuckers, 3 way to toggle them, and individual tone and volume controls ala Les Paul or 335.
Gotoh hardware,tuno matic,stopbar, and tuners are 300 series by gotoh.
Bone Nut 1 and 3/4 inch, 22 frets, 25 inch scale.

Side mounted jack, not front mounted like an es335.
The only plastic I can find are the pickup surrounds and the control knobs.

It's hugely versatile that's for sure.
Unplugged it's very lively and resonant.
It does jazz convincingly, neck pickup is round and warm, with the tone rolled down it's still clear enough for complex chords.

Roll the tone up on clean settings and I can get a nice r+b tone, and fairly cool for Hendrix style chord embellishment.

Two pups on clean setting is very piano like, and hugely variable by belnding different amounts of tone and volume controls, great for acoustic-y stuff.

Bridge pickup is twangy but woody and full, great for country licks and spanky funk.
Add the gain and it will do blues,rock and even metal sounds with conviction, very fat sounding.
At reasonable volume levels it interacts with the amp and is easy to coax controllable feedback into fifth harmonics like the guy from Phish used to do. Actually it sounds similar to his tone.
Midway between clean and crunch you can really vary the dynamics, I like these pickups alot.
Sustain is as good as anything I've tried.
It's a real swiss army knife of a guitar, I can use it for most things, and I'd take it on any cover band type gig without hesitation.
I use it with a Fender twin and a RAT pedal, no other fx or anything....OR into my PA via a Baggs PARA D.I. box for clean sounds,
and I borrowed a little polytone the other day which gave me a nice jazzy tone.

There is a few little flaws in the finish, it's like the tuning machines were done up on the peghead before the finish had set, and it bubbled/raised a little round there.
The nut glue was squezzed onto the fretboard and not cleaned off, so the first fret space has glue on it.
The binding in the F holes is rough in places.

These are handmade and not hugely expensive, so I can forgive these little quirks.
The bookmatch on the back and top are awesome, really well done, it looks like a butterfly on the top, really striking.
Frets were levelled and polished very nicely, the nut was perfect and the action is highish but I like it where it is.
Inside the guitar looks very tidy.
The actual woodwork is fantatstic.

It's a hollow guitar, but seems quite sturdy, very light though.
The hardware is quite good, but there is alot of slop in the tunomatic posts when the strings are off, I dunno if this is normal.
The hardware is gold, which wont stay gold for long as I wear that stuff off in short order, but I don't really care.

The finish is Nitro, so will wear faster than poly etc.
The strap buttons are tiny, and I'll fit schaller locks soon.

The jack,pots and switch are the small, asian made type, not switchcraft, I do expect these to show signs of wear in less than a year,going by past experience.
They work fine but aren't as durable as you'd find on some US or similar made guitars.
I will upgrade these, although there isn't room for a fullsize CTS pot for the bridgepickup tone control.

I would gig it, it will wear faster than a poly finished Fender, and I don't expect it to stay immaculate for long, but I bought it to use it.
I take a backup.

Haven't dealt with them, but the website is wrong on so many details...... the woods are different than they list, it doesn't have split block inlays like they say, and the photo deosn't match the description.
I dunno if they are really that accessible, from reading other reviews, no one has ever had a question answered.
I trust the shop I bought it from, so that will do me.

I like this, it has it's quirks but it looks and sounds good, and is a great guitar for the money layed out.
I'd get another.

Best feature is the sound, followed by the woodworking.Both are great and well above the standard of similar costing guitars, USA or otherwise.
I'd like a narrower headstock with a straighter string pull over the nut.
I'd like better quality switches and pots, but I can do that afterwards.