Eastwood Guitars Airline H-44 Stratotone

Mine is stock just delivered yesterday from Eastwood. Golden Bronze which is closer to a sparkly red. Abscoultey beautiful. Raised Airline logo on headstock, cable included, extra bridge-thing included.

I could not be any happier with this guitar than I am. It sounds great, it looks great.... it's tiny. I play mostly pop, rock.... I can do anything with this. I use an old Fender Champ and and get a nice clean but chunky sound from this.

Great action right out of the box which is always my main concern. No flaws that I can see, but my eyes have stars in them when I look at it.

It feels like it could withstand anything. It's like a small solid piece of wood. The hardware is great, strap buttons solid. The only guitar that I've ever loved was a Rickenbacker 325 which I regret selling more than I can say. This Eastwood is the closest thing I've found to playing that Rick. If I could have designed and built the perfect guitar for me, it would be this.

Mike is great. The beginning and the end. This is a guy who loves guitars, obviously the service is great the guitars are great.

I've been playing for 15 years. I have had, in that time, a zillion guitars. The Rickenbacker 325 I mentioned which is the most expensive and best guitar I've ever owned. Yamaha APX 700-12, Fender Jaguar.

If it were stolen I'd replace it. In fact I do believe I will buy another one in black within the next month. There is nothing, not one thing that I don't like about this guitar. It's basic and wonderful. And I wouldn't cram it up with lots of additional features that are unnecessary. The neck of this guitar is fantastic. Don't be afraid when you hear the the term "baseball bat" neck. It is the most comfortable neck I've ever had the pleasure to play, including the Rickenbacker. I am female, 5 feet tall, so you can imagine how small my hands are. The fat neck is a plus, not a minus.

I bought it sight unseen, just for the aesthetics. It was a happy surprise as soon as I started playing it, that it felt like my long lost Rickenbacker.

The only thing I wish it had is a twin brother or sister.

If you want a guitar that looks incredible and plays like a dream and is fairly priced, go for it.

Basic features are as described in the other reviews.
I don't find the tone cut switch particularly useful. The sound with the tone rolled all the way of is not much good for anything in my opinion. However the originals had a similar device & maybe some players like it. I don't have any problem with the intentional simplicity of the guitar.
My main complaint is the neck. I've played original Stratotones - the necks are fat all the way down & well proportioned. The one on the Eastwood tapers off sharply below the 7th fret. Down around the nut the neck is not fat at all - just a bit wide. This makes it awkward to move up & down the neck. You keep having to adjust your grip. I don't know why they did this. It seems like a cop out to me. They make a big deal about a 'fat' neck but then don't really commit wholeheartedly to that aesthetic.

If you are looking for a sound akin to the original Harmony Stratotone this is not it. I don't like the mini humbucker. It is ridiculously over-wound (which seems to be the fashion these days) measuring upwards of 14k. If you play punk, heavy rock, loud modern blues & need to make a big amp distort then you are more likely to appreciate this pickup.
I use a small Supro amp. I like some distortion but with the Eastwood pickup I could barely turn the vol above zero before the amp was completely overloaded & the tone unusable. I installed a replacement pickup that is a more conservative wind (single coil) & works great with that particular amp giving a nice distortion with the vol about half way up.
So if you want to drive a big amp hard you will like the Eastwood pickup. If you prefer to use a small amp it may not work so well.

Good overall. A bit of sharpness around the edge of the nut - no big deal. One fret was visibly not seated quite right but it didn't affect the playability so again - no big deal. I found the quality acceptable for a $500 guitar.

I've had it about a year. Seems like it should hold up well.

They seem to be good people at Eastwood.
They express a willingness to back up their products & desire to be helpful.

The negatives I have mentioned are to do with my personal tastes.
Overall the guitar is of a good quality.

As others have described. Mine's a DLX model, with two mini humbuckers. 20 frets, one tone, one volume knob, three-way selector. Super thick, baseball-bat neck. I have very small hands, but the neck feels nice.

Mine came with a case, including a instrument cable and Eastwood Guitars DVD. Ash body, 24 3/4 inch scale, set neck. I got the newer "taxi-cab" yellow finish, which is a very cool color, a deep, almost orange-ish yellow.

It has a small body for an electric guitar, which may not appeal to everyone.

One of the first things you notice with this guitar is the sustain. You can strike a chord, walk away to have a cup of coffee, come back and it's still ringing. (Ok, not quite, but you get my point.) It's not a string-through body, but it has amazing sustain. Almost too much at times, if that's really a criticism.

This guitar's sweet spot is dirty blues or garage rock. The humbuckers (especially the bridge) are somewhat hot and quite dirty. You're not going to get a super clean, jazzy sound out of this guitar, but if you're looking at one of these, that's probably not what you're looking for anyway.

The neck pickup is less crunchy and has a good, clean-ish humbucker sound. I generally play it through a Fender Pro Junior amp, and the guitar sounds pretty crunchy with the volume knob on the amp turned up past five or six.

It's not the most versatile guitar on the market, but it sounds amazing for what it does.

I bought the guitar used (but like new) and it was set up well with no finish issues. Nice-looking and playing guitar right out of the box.

I've only had this guitar a couple of weeks, but it seems very solid. You could use it for batting practice in the afternoon and gig with it in the evening.

I've had some contact with Eastwood Guitars and the response was amazing. The tone knob was broken when I got the guitar, and I couldn't find a matching replacement anywhere. The guy from Eastwood shipped me a set of knobs for free.

I'm just an amateur hobbyist, but I've owned around 20 budget guitars. This one is among my two favorites -- fun to play and a great sound.

Made in Korea, it's a 20 frets guitar with a volume and a tone knob. There's also a pickup selector as it's a "deluxe" (two mini-humbuckers).

i ordered it with a hard case and had the surprise to have some gifs inside ! a demo cd, documentation and even a jack !

It's just in my hands as i write this :

This guitar will blow your mind !
it's made for loud blues, even if it looks like a toy...

This guitar loves dirty tones and the bass are so round, i thought i was playing my bass guitar first time i hit the strings !

a few things to adjust as the guitar was not totally set up "for me".

Mike is a great man, patient and knows how to help.
In fact, i'm a french customer and had no idea how to deal with that as my english is not so good and i've never bought a guitar that had been to be ship.

Thanks to Eastwood guitars !

rock on.

Re-issue of Harmony Stratone. Two mini-humbuckers, volume tone and selector switch, poplar body, mahogany neck.

The sound is great. It's got a really old time sound. Think mid 50's Harmony. And although it's not an exact copy it's got the essentials. I play it through a Fender Vibrolux and a Victoria 18 watt amp. The guitar is surpisingly versatile with many unique sounds. I've played it on jazz gigs, blues gigs and it works for either. It has some of the quality of a big box guitar but also has some of the bite of a telecaster. The sound is rich, complex....sometimes a tad distorted. But if you like the texture of natural distortion, you'll love it.

Set-up was good. The nut needed filing, (30 seconds worth) in order to keep the top e-string in place when plucked hard. The frets are thin for my taste. But the set-up and adjustment otherwise was great. It intonates decently and there was no flaw in the workmanship.

I've played it on about a dozen gigs. No trouble so far. I have the feeling the pickup selector switch might go. But it's made to play. I wouldn't use it without a back-up simply because I like to beprepared. "But i brought a strat to a gig and never touched it. Just played the Eastwood all night.

They are the best.

If someone stole it, I'd replace it immediately and I have at least a dozen other guitars. For the price there is nothing better.

The features should be well known from the reviews below. I bought two of them. A copper colored two PU DLX and a black one PU STD (black with two PU's are sold out until december this year.)
I liked the slide sound of them so much but i'm not really a good slider.I'm a better lap steeler. So i customized one into a lapsteel (even a fake pedal steel). I mounted a higher nut and a "Duesenberg Multibender" bridge and it sounds amazing.

I'm playing blues and if you do too, than this is the guitar to go for! The model with two pick ups is so versatile.
I'm playin them through a Fender Hot Rod Deville 4x10. Nothing special on the floor but a Ernie Ball Volume, a Whammy for octaving and a TS808. Compared to my Gibson Les Paul Std the sound is a bit warmer and got more bass. I could not say wich one sounds better... the 3000 Euro Gibson or the 300 Euro Eastwood. I actually bought it as a back up for the Gibson... it's got my main guitar at the time... Amazing

I mailed with Mike from Eastwood a few times and he told me that the H44 is the only model in their program under USD500,- made in Korea.
No flaws, nice finish. Setup was fine. I used that little trick with the ducktape for the bridge wich is loose on the guitar like on the original, so i would not have to calibrate so often. Works great.

Sturdy workhorse... you can play shows, or baseball with it. You even could defeate conan the babarian with it and play on.
I do not have the feeling i have to watch out all the time to keep it in mint condition. I think this is the kind of guitar where one will like every scratch, dent and ding that happens during touring. I'll do.

Contact Mike... absolutly fast and friendly. When i wrote him the first mail concerning shipping to Europe i got an answer within two minutes. He must have a blackberry in his pocket ore something like that!

I started playing when i was five years old, thats 24 years ago now. I'm a professional since ten years now (former major recording artist now indiependend and more happy). Got a couple of other guitars from larivee parlor accoustics to sitars from india.
My current live set consists of a gibson les paul std hb, a epiphone j200 ('96 korea), a hoefner jazz guitar from the fifties and my two H44's from Eastwood.
I came to the Eastwood Site cause of the replica of the airline 3p dlx. A friend of mine is playing a white original on stage. I wanted to check out the replicas and watched many video reviews on Eastwood Guitars. The H44 review and sound was so standing out, that i forgot about all the others and went for the H44. I might get a Tuxedo and a Airline sometimes but I'm not a lawyer hanging guitars behind glass in his office... so I'll need a reason to purchase ;) I'm shure I'll finde one soon.

very solid guitar what you see is what you get and it's perfect.

exelent blues sound

perfect

I've only had it for a week so far it's been great

great guitar for blues

Wild copper metallic flake finish much nicer than one would imagine from a Korean Made instrument, but then again these are made special in a small shop so your talking custom shop quality at a working mans price. I bought the single pickup version, though a double pickup is available at a couple bucks more and i'm sure it is much more versitile.
Big, fat, short, neck, but tapered like it was designed by doctor that specialized in hands thats how comfortable this neck is! It forces you to play right. body and neck looks like one piece no bolt on here plus a truss rod which the originals failed to have. One mini humbucker at the neck position so this thing is warm as hell, simple volume and tone with a roll off tone switch which lets you double as a bass player if need be, very cool. The body and neck are both ash I believe.

I played this guitar through a bunch of amps. But this guitar comes alive through a small 5 watt tube single ended Fender Champ or clone type amp. This set up has so much tone, that you would swear your were using a reverb tank a true country blues axe, think Muddy Waters lightin' Hopkins and you get a pretty good idea of what your in for.

I don't know how it came from the factory, but Mike at "MY RARE GUITARS" who is the man behind these little beasts as well as a truck load of other great recreations sets the guitars up to play right out of the box. The guitar came with 10's, a slick action, perfectly intonated, and in tune. Fit and finish puts the originals to shame.
the only modification I made was to roll down the sharp ends of the nut wit a little sand paper.

I played a whole solo gig a couple days after I recieved it through the mail.This guitar can cover anything from Robert Johnson to Cat stevens without having to change guitars, great finger picking axe with tones of tone.

Call Mike At MY RARE GUITARS and find out for yourself.

I have been playing the better part of some 30 years and I'm a strict Tele man and when it comes to screaming blues I will always use a Tele. But for country finger style blues and solo work through a small tube amp, a Tele can't touch this guitar.

Fat,fat neck.Two pick-up model.Nice and light.Adjustable truss-rod is a nice upgrade from the Harmony stratotone who's necks tend to get pretty wonky and then the only fix is a re-fret or a neck press.

I just assumed this was going to be a blues machine but i have found that I like the dark,fat tone for jazz as well.Running this beast through a Vibroverb the tone is greasy and gut-wrenching.When I ran it through a Deluxe Reverb it seemed to mellow out the tone a bit and for my tastes made gave it an acceptable sound for jazz.

A very well set up guitar.Vey low action(better than my Gatton).I had to file the bridge notches out a little bit as the strings were popping out on the e and b when i was finger picking.The machine heads and the pots do not measure up to the rest of the guitar but these are very inexpensive fixes for a player to make. Gorgeous copper finish.

I never play without a backup but this thing gives the impression that you could beat the hell out of it and it would come back fighting.

Mike Robinson is a friendly,stand-up guy.Have no fears about customer support.

I have a Gatton Tele,a JV Tele,and a Gretsch 6120.This guitar is one of my girls now.I have been playing professionally for 25 years and I know junk when I see it.The Airline H44 is definitely not junk.At this price I'm thinking of getting another one.

I give this guitar a 10 for features 'cuz it has the ones that I covet... big fat neck, big fat tone, and simple, vintage design. I have the one pick-up orange copper model with the switch that acts as a tone bypass when in the up (soloing) position. I can set the tone knob a little darker for rhythm playing then flip the switch for soloing that essentially turns the tone all the way up without having to mess with the tone knob.

I play Texas/Chicago/West Coast style blues straight thru either a Juke 1210 or a Victoria 35115 (like tweed Fender Pro)run thru a Revereberato unit. No effects pedals. This guitar sounds big, fat n' greasy thru both. I have to get used to picking somewhere other than right on top of the pickup 'cuz it is pretty hot and you can hear the tapping. I'm workin' on it! Also, I have to remember to turn the volume down on the guitar if I turn around to adjust my amp when I'm on the gig 'cuz it has squealed a couple of times on me. All things considered... I am really glad I made this purchase and am eagerly awaiting the Eastwood version of the Kay Barney Kessel, which I will buy in a heartbeat.

The guitar was set up reasonably well at the factory but I took it to my guitar tech and he put in a bone nut and fashioned a bone bridge for me to replace the plastic pieces. It didn't seem to change the sound much but it did help to correct some very slight string spacing irregulatiries that were present. I also had American pots installed which seemed to help both the volume and tone controls slightly with response. The frets needed leveling slightly, too. Right now it plays like a dream.

Since I received the Airline H44 about month ago, I have played it more on the ten or so bar gigs I have had than my 1993 custom shop Strat, which has been my main guitar since 1993. Everything on it seems solid and the bridge, which I marked after intonation, as not moved at all. I have a tendancy to rest my strumming hand on the bridge sometimes to get that muffled sound and it still hasn't budged. I always like a backup guitar when on the gig but I would be OK with taking this out by itself if I had to.

I emailed owner Michael Robinson about not having the word "Tone" on the tone knob when I got the guitar. Ones was delivered to my doorstep three days later with a personal handwritten apology from Michael. He is GREAT!

I have been playing for 41 years, 27 years professionally in nuthin' but blues bands. I would definately buy it again if it were lost or stolen. I love the simplicity and vintage vibe of this guitafr and it sounds great... a perfect compliment to my Strat.