Eastwood Guitars Classic 6

From the serial number, I would surmise that my guitar was made in 2007. As with most of the "newer" Eastwood guitars that are priced below the $500.00 tipping point, this guitar was made in China, as opposed to South Korea. Mine has the walnut finish, and is constructed as described on Eastwood's website, with the exception of the bridge. The bridge on mine (and I would assume would be the same on anything manufactured after 2007) has a fixed Tune-O-Matic bridge, rather than the floating rosewood bridge as described on Eastwood's website. This is a rather significant change in the construction on this guitar, and I would think that Eastwood would want to update their website to reflect this change. I replaced the stock trapeze tailpiece with a Bigsby B70 (as recommended by Eastwood), although I believe that the Bigsby B60 vibrato would be a better alternative, especially if your looking to most accurately replicate the Gretsch Country Gentleman look and feel. The polished gold pickguard that is included with this guitar feels out of place, given that all of the other hardware on this guitar is chrome. In my opinion, a brushed gold finish, or a 5 layer black/cream (that would match the detailing on the outer front edge of the face of the guitar) would have been a better match to the style and construction of this instrument.

I'm using my Classic 6 with a Fender Vibro Champ XD amplifier, and a BGI Gold Rush patch cable. The sound is perfect for the country, blues, jazz, rockabilly style that you would expect from this style of guitar.
I purchased my guitar from Emerald City Guitars in Seattle, and it was fully setup and adjusted when I had the Bigsby (which was purchased at the same time as the guitar) installed. I had the stock 10 gauge strings replaced with 11 gauge at that time. The only problem that I have with the sound of this guitar is that the selector switch drops the neck pickup when the middle setting (which should activate both the neck and bridge pickups) is selected. I believe that this is a defect with this particular instrument, rather than a design flaw, however.

Since I didn't buy the guitar directly from the manufacturer, I can't comment on how well the guitar was setup when it came from the factory.
The finish is solid and uniform throughout the body of the guitar, and the finish matches perfectly between the neck and the body. The pickups seem to be positioned appropriately, and are well balanced and suited to the style of this guitar. The TOM bridge is a significant departure from what is advertised on Eastwood's website for this model, so the rating is reduced slightly because of that. Controls (knobs and selector switch) are solid and well constructed. The frets on my guitar do not have the sharp edges as were reported to be found on earlier models.

The guitar seems to be solidly and well built. I purchased my guitar strictly for recreational playing, so I don't know how well it would hold up during live (performance) playing. I think that it would depend quite a bit on the player, and the style of playing.. The finish is very good, and I don't believe that I'll ever have a problem with wearing, given my usage. The quality of the hardware seems to be comparable and appropriate to the overall construction quality, very good considering the cost of the instrument.

Warranty on this guitar is 3 years from date of purchase.
I will likely need to excersice the warranty process for re-wiring of the switch/pickups, so we'll see how it goes..
I really like the fact that Mike Robinson (the CEO of Eastwood Guitars) receives and responds (although not immediately) to the email that is sent to him.

When buying this guitar, I was considering a Gretsch 5122DC and a Schecter Corsair Bigsby. I am happy that I selected the Eastwood. I would like to see more information (wiring diagrams, more accurate description and images, etc.) from their website. I'd also think that if Eastwood consolidated their manufacturing out of their South Korea facility for all of their guitars (and adjusted the lower end unit cost appropriately), the overall quality and reputation of these instruments would benefit.

Eastwood Classic-6 double cut-away (similar to gretsch country classic style). Walnut finish. maple body & neck.
Chinese made
two filtertron style humbucker pickups. 3-way toggle switch, 2x volume 1x tone knob. tune-o-matic bridge.
case, cable & tools included.
finish on the guitar is great, really deep strong lacquer & nice binding.
Had one of these before that i modified with new bridge & bigsby but was stolen on me (filching gits!) that had a lovely abilone motif in the headstock that wasn't present on my new one. but the bridge on this one is far superior to the old free-floating bridge so i can't really complain!

Beautiful range of tones available on this guitar, bridge pick up very bright & with the hollow body perfect for that gretschy twang. neck pick up lovely & warm round tone. great for jazzy/ country warmth. this guitar is great for my style, i play with various artists going from bluesy/gospel to country, rockabilly, rock n roll, and quirky rebo-esque stuff. its very playable & versatile.
I use a fender twin amp and the valves really help getting tones to ring pure. for the price i can't fault it.

Guitar was set up really well, it's shipped with .10 gauge strings which i replaced with my usual heavier gauge. minimal adjustment needed to raise action slightly to accomodate heavier gauge, absolutely no problems with intonation & pick up distances.
binding & finish very good quality, lovely grain in the top & back body.
1 volume knob was slightly loose but allen key was supplied so easily remedied.

Played my last one live & in studio constantly. very strong construction and never had a problem, even travelling by air with temperature changes from being in aeroplane holds & ham-fisted baggage handlers! so i'm not expecting any trouble with this one.
again for the price i can't fault this guitar.

played another eastwood guitar in a studio and was impressed with the quality so I emailed eastwood directly and asked Mike loads of questions. he was, and still is very helpful and i never have to wait too long for replys and assistance from him. Guitar is warrantied under usual conditions. company support is great, got loads of stickers & a dvd with this guitar too.

been playing about 16 years, used to use a 62 kay & various other old things which were lovely but very unreliable on the road. the eastwood classic 6 is a great replacement. I've had one stolen from me & I had no hesitation in ordering another one. It looks cool as **** & sounds great, whats to fault?!, nuthin! again, for this price you can't go wrong.

The guitar I got was a Chinese-made Classic 6 in the orange flamed color, with most aspects standard except for a Bigsby vibrato bar I had them install before shipping it over to me. Got the hardshell case for extra, plus shipping.

My Classic 6 had an excellent sweet tone, plugged simply into my Marshall. I've got a GNX4 that can pretty much make any guitar sound like any other guitar, but this is one I feel happy about playing just on its own. I grew up with a 1969 Les Paul Custom and have been playing a borrowed Strat in recent months, and I'm very pleased with the Classic 6's own unique voice.

The Classic 6 arrived in great shape -- having been shipped all the way to me in Taiwan, it had somehow managed to make it through the air-cargo holds almost entirely in tune. Not a scratch on the guitar.

Slight buzzing on a couple of frets was easily remedied.

Pickup switch knob (plastic) was cracked and had fallen into the guitar. I was able to fix it with a little Super Glue and screw it back on. Also found a cheap replacement knob at a local guitar store.

The Bigsby vibrato bar works great -- to the extent that using it makes this guitar go out of tune under certain situations, all are standard situations for Bigsbys to do that.

So far, it has been holding up well to my daily use, although I hope to rotate it onto the stage soon.

The company has been excellent. I wrote to the general address from overseas just asking if I could take a factory tour when I go up to Korea in early April. The CEO, Mike Robinson, responded personally and exchanged emails with me with humor and thoughtfulness until I simply decided to go for the Classic 6. Even cut a bit off the shipping for me. My family name being "Eastwood" meant this started off as a bit of a lark, but he won me over and has made me a happy customer.

The neck reminds me of my Les Paul Custom, while its sound is its own. This guitar serves as a great, sweet-toned and yet inexpensive ride into the world of semi-hollowbodied guitars. I've been broadening my musical horizons into more blues, jazz and country, and the Classic 6 has been a great companion on this new road.

Made in China, 2006 or 2007
2 gretsch style humbuckers
Maple body
Maple neck (set)
Brown finish
semi-acoustic shape
'335 style' centre block
Chrome hardware
Included cable, tools (usual chinese crap)

I play 60s style pop rock, psycedelia, 80s (smiths, the cure etc.)
I play it through a fender blues deluxe 40 watt 1X12" combo and sometimes a ibanez tubescreamer.
SOunds fantastic clean and driven. A little too much treble harshness at high gain/volume.
Pickups are great. Great gretsch twangy tones and dirty dirty driven tones.
My favourite tone is the neck pickup on clean but to the point of overdrive.....nice dirty tone
for once i have found a guitar for under ??400 that has a great sounding neck pickup. usually for this money they are shite.

When i got the guitar the action was fine but all the knobs were loose and the guitar had to be fixed at the shop i purchased it from. I gave the man the bag that came with it including all the tools etc. and he lost it!

Also, the centre block is not solid and i believe this to affect the guitars' feedback provention. I am no expert but on more up market semi-hollows they are solid with no cracks.

The quality of these chinese made eastwoods tends to vary as i've found out. My advise is to buy your guitar through a reputable shop not directly from eastwood. However, the Korean made guitars are very very nicely made. If there is a problem, get the shop to fix it. The frets could also be kinda sharp edged.

I have not yet gigged with this guitar but i have a feeling that i may need to buy another one to use as a backup from what i can tell of the build quality. For ??350 i would just buy a new one and not repair the guitar. Saying that, i have practised with this guitar solid for a year and it hasn't let me down once. it has been dropped by my clumsy rhythm guitarist many a time.

Warranty is one year....i believe

The guitars i use live and in the studio are the eastwood classic 6, eastwood nashville 12 (12-string riviera copy..NICE!!!), a modified squier tele thinline and a Indie two-tone (kinda like a noel gallagher epiphone but with racing stripes!).

For less than ??400, this is a fantastic guitar given the fact that a gretsch country gentleman is at least around ??1,500. You could buy four for that money.

I love almost everything about this guitar. i will keep it forever. it has become my "signature sound".

Nice (looking) Gretsch knockoff. The way the electronics are laid out is weird.

Pickups (single or humbucking? ) sound thin & hollow. Not much oomph here. I have a $200 Squire Jagmaster with better-sounding factory Duncans.

Fret edges are sharp as hell. Tuners suck-ish and the bridge allows 1/4 inch travel of strings making it impossible to stay in tune. All controls were loose & rattling something fierce. I'm also not a fan of the sharp-edged fretboard thing they got going on. Orange over flamey maple finish is gorgeous.
I've been repairing and maintainting my own guitars for about 15 yrs. and this one is particularly difficult to find a compromise between super high action and buzziness with. I think the neck/fret job is shite.

Bridge is cheesy and just plain crappy. Tuners are about what you'd expect for a guitar in this price range.

Sorry to be overly negative here but I bought this guitar on a whim almost soley based on looks & have been very disappointed with the sound & playability of this instrument. I own a nice '73 ES-335 & a Martin d28 for reference. I also have a Squire! that is a lot nicer to play/tune without all the loose connections and wires spliced with masking tape!!!!! She's a real beauty though, so if you're thinking of hanging something on the wall of your rock'n'roll burger restaurant & having it signed by some rat-tailed sneaker wearing has-been, go for it. I scratched mine 2 days after i bought it & can no longer return it to the dealer so I'm actually contemplating keeping the knobs and throwing it in the garbage. For 600 (I paid too much because I live in Canada) You'd think you might get something that wouldn't cut your hands and sound like a string tied to a paper plate covered in tin foil. But this guitar being made in China probably has an overwhelming amount to do with that. If I weren't paid to make this guitar, I would do about the same quality of work.

I have the Orange finish model, Very attractive flame maple top, Dimensionally, the body is almost comparable to a Gretsch Nashville, as the lower bout on this one is about 16 5/8" wide. Body depth is (at the body edge) 2" deep and will ( w/careful measuring) accept a Bigsby B-6 vibrato tailpiece if you modify it ( which I did). P/U's are Eastwood's EW Retro's, which do provide much of the " sparkly twang" one would expect from a Gretsch,w/ both pickups on.This model has a neck p/u volume control pot on the treble side of the upper bout and a master tone and bridge volume pots at the lower bout, w/a wooden compensated bridge and Gretsch-type styled long tailpiece. No "tone switch" wiring feature on this so if you are interested in "authentic" features, you can stop here although it would probably cost more if it was included, and a lot of people who own Gretsches ( and I have a Country Classic II-1962, 4 6128-1962 Duo Jets, and a G5570 Elliot Easton model) call it the "mud switch". Works for me!!!!

I play classic rock,(80-70's), country and this delivers. The pickups ( I play mostly w/both on), are clean and "reminiscent" of a Filtertron ( but a little more output). I play thru a Drive G120V combo ( 2- 12" w/120 watts w/a "bright" switch), and I can get that "glassy" tone. The pickups can get a little "brittle" at high volume, but you can rollback both volume controls to solve that ( this is where I miss the Gretsch's master volume pot).

Action/ intonation was perfect, very little adjustment had to be done for p/u height ( to my preference). Finish was a very vibrant Orange stain, w/an attractive flame maple showing thru the top. No evidence of sharp fret edges, All in all, a very pretty guitar.

I would think w/care, this would withstand live playing.. I intend to use it as a spare to my Country Classic II. The tuners ( Gotoh) hold pitch.It came w/ strapbuttons behind the neck/body joint and on tailpiece, and I replaced them w/the Gretsch hangarbolt/strap tip. The originals were securely on when I took it out of the box. I could depend on it if needed, I feel.

Mike Robinson has responded to all my e-mails re: info.,etc.Very friendly and helpful!

I have been playing for about 45 yrs. now and have amassed ( at last count) around 225 guitars. Everything from Gretsches, Rickenbackers, Gibsons,Fenders.I would get a replacement if something happened. I think Mike and his people are "on to something" for offering afforable replicas ( with user-friendly improvments), w/the Eastwood philosophy. HATS OFF TO THEM!!!!!!!!!!!

I got the Eastwood Classic 6 in the new beautiful white color, and it looks stunning. The body style is reminiscent of those Gretsch Country Gentlemen that are way too expensive for me, so this guitar is great when you're looking for that style but don't want to spend your college savings!! The pickups give it a nice warm tone and are also like the Gretschs. The playability on the neck is fantastic, no innotation problems or action problems, it's perfect for me.

This guitar suits my style very well. I play rythm guitar in a rock/folk rock band and the tone from this guitar is fantastic. I've yet to gig with it but the next show we do I will be playing this. You can get a bright tone out of this, which is great for rythm, and you can get a fat, rich tone which is great for picking. This also sounds great on a bluesy distortion, even on a more metal distortion it cuts right through and sounds fantastic.

The action is great for me, not too high, not too low, it's just right. The neck is smooth and really lets me slide to those high notes that I find you can't do on epiphone les paul's (even gibsons) and telecasters. The sustain is great due to the center block running through the middle of the body, which lets the notes ring out for which seems like hours.

All the hardware on this guitar seems to be reliable. I think I will really be able to rock with this thing on stage. The finish seems like it'll last a good amount of time. Aa much as we all love strats and telecasters, their finishes fade and chip very easily. This Eastwood seems like it'll stand a lot of abuse. The strap buttons are good, the strap hasn't fallen off yet. I think I will be able to depend on this guitar for a long time. I may wind up using this as my main guitar and using my Gretsch Corvette as a backup, or just switching off with both.

The Eastwood guys are great, really nice and helpful.

I've been playing guitar for quite a while, since I was about 5, and I'm 16 now. I own a few squiers, a Gretsch Corvette, a piece of crap Oscar Schmidt hollowbody (loved it at first but the neck started buzzing and the pickups aren't reliable.) I promised myself I'd try to stay away from hollowbodys and semihollows, but I couldn't resist this eastwood. I also have an eastwood mandocaster, which is amazing. I play everything through a line 6 spider 11 combo, but I'm hopefully upgrading to a B-52 half stack pretty soon.

BUY THIS GUITAR, IT WON'T LET YOU DOWN!!

So here s my second turn on an Eastwood Classic 6. As stated in my former review, I had to give back my first try on the Classic 6 due to ongoing problems. Features on my second try are just the same as on the fist one: Rather good chinese-made replica of a Gretsch Country Gentleman, laminated maple body, maple neck, the colors may vary from a rather light brown walnut (as my first one) to a rather dark brown with a hint of red (the new one). Two Filtertron lookalike PUs, three knobs for Mastervolume, Volume and Tone, plus a three way toggle switch PU selector. No tremolo arms, which I think is for the better on this guitar. The guitar looks absolutely amazing and has all the controls you might ever need.

As mentioned in my review before, I play kinda garage blues, and this guitar fits to that sound perfectly. The major point on that guitar are the pickups - something you would rather consider changing immediately on a budget guitar like this - but you might not need to consider here: The pickups, for my taste, have the right amount of twang and sound pretty full. Neck PU is bassy and fat, but not too muddy, neck PU is, eeeer, bassy and fat too, but not as much as the neck PU. I play my Classic 6 through a Hiwatt custom 50 and a Vox AC 30 - and it sounds just right for me. The only thing I dislike is that the PUs tend to whistle ab it if I use my Superfuzz, but I am going to have that fixed by my guitar tech with a little wax. To me it seems like a guitar that will fit a lot of styles. I dig the dark but twangy tone of these Pickups. Plus the guitar sounds pretty balanced if you play it dry, too.

Well, as this has been my major point of complaint with my fist Eastwood as you can clearly read below, this time I got lucky. Despite some sharp frets on the neck at the high strings that i had to get fixed and some problems with the floating bridge that got fixed by taranaki guitars where I bought the guitar from, no problems. As Arne from Taranaki does all he can to secure a proper and ready to play setup with all the guitars he is selling, I do not know how the guitar has been set up directly out of the box. Mine has been good thanks to Arne, he even fitted the right strings for me on that guitar.
Overall, this guitar seems to be much tighter than my first one. For example, the fret job has been much better, the headstock on my new guitar has only been half as fat as on my first one, so the guitar is balanced way, way better strapped on since its not neck heavy, the whole construction seems sturdy, the colour is so nice that I have to look at this guitar all the time thinking "I like the overall look of this guitar much better than the all-golden-show-off parts that you get with the real Gretsches". As nothing is perfect - especially with inexpensive guitars like these whith whom you always have to have some efforts to make em road ready, it must be an eight.

I have been playing this guitar live and as it is brand new it will take some time to settle in properly. But it does sound great live and did not cause any problems. But I had it set up by my guitar tech before using it - so I do recommend that to everybody. I think this guitar will need some upgrades on tuners, maybe the bridge and the potis along the way, but experienced players will know this and not be astonished too much about that fact. As I have a mahogany trauma because the neck on my les paul special snapped once and took three attempts to get it fixed properly, I sincerely hope that I will not have the same experience with a maple neck (at least they make baseball bats out of maple.....). But as you do not throw around a semi-acoustic with a set neck anyway if you want to keep it, it should withstand live playing pretty well.

If you have a problem or a question concerning Eastwood guitars, just write to them and Michael, "the man", responds to you personally - wow.
But as warm words might not help me out here in faraway germany, I??m glad that I can fully depend on Arne from Taranaki guitars (www.coolguitars.de) who does Eastwood stuff here in germany. He will make sure to get you the best playing guitar you can get out of your new instrument and does take some time and effort to make it happen. So Eastwood are pretty well represented here in germany.

I am playing for almost 15 years now, did a couple of tours, played all of the major festivals here in germany and austria, so I know what to expect of guitars like these in a live surrounding. I take them as a basis to work on and customise them to my needs along the way. As you might not want to do this with a ??? 2000 Gretsch unless you do have the money to play with, I always stuck to Japanese/Chinese/Korean or mexican guitars and created very personal instruments for myself way below the amount of a new Gretsch/Fender US Model. As I said in my former review - thats why I love the idea of eastwood guitars - because they absolutely play my game the way they do it. All of their models are cool looking, and display you with a good starting point to upgrade and experiment with without spending huge amounts. As unsatisfying and unpleasant my first encounter with eastwood might have been, I am very glad to have given them another try. I would definitely buy an Eastwood again - but only after I have tried it personally.

Here??s my second review on this guitar although I now have a new one of the same model. Well, it is still a Gretsch Country Gentleman Lookalike, with Pickup Selector Toggle switch, three knobs for Master Volume, Volume and Tone, a wooden bridge and two filtertron-like looking Pickups of Chinese make. Colour is a very dark brown with a touch of red, body wood is bound laminated maple, the set neck is maple as well. Construction this time is much better than on my first Classic 6, the neck is slimmer, the headstock only half as fat than on my former model, paintjob is flawless, frets are a bit on the sharp side on the side of the high e string, the wood bridge needed some new stringholders, as on the factory bridge the strings tended to pop out of the holders. I have the feeling that this guitar is much closer to what seems to be Eastwoods intention. This is a solid, good basis of a guitar to work with - and to upgrade to your own needs and specs.

The thing I loved most about this guitar - and here??s no difference to my former Classic 6 model - is the sound. I play a dirty kind of blues based rock music (Dirtbombs, Jon Spencer, Chrome Cranks - you get the idea) and that guitar does sound good for that task right out of the box. So for the first time ever I did NOT consider to instantly upgrade in the PU department. They simply do sound good as they are. Fat, woody, with a lot of twang. On my new Classic the PUs tend to be a bit on the whistly side but I am going to have that fixed by my guitarman. In short - this guitar sounds much better than you would expect from a guitar in this price range.

The guy from Taranaki guitars (www.coolguitars.de) does spend a lot of time to earase the flaws these guitars do have when you take them right out of the box, so I can only judge the guitar after his setup - and as he sets them up professionally and fixes little problems like the one with the my wooden bridge and the strings popping off their stringholders - the guitar was ready to go as I picked it up from him. All there was to do was to get the sharp fret ends smoothened out by my guitar tech - nothing too spectacular or too expensive. Finish is awesome, the frets needed a little work, but the guitar did play and feel right from the start. Thats why I gave Eastwood a second chance. And Im glad I did.

This is a not expensive chinese made guitar. Of course it will need some maintenance as you go. But then again even a 3000 dollar Gretsch will.
I expect needing to upgrade parts when necessary. Maybe the bridge will have to be upgraded and the potis maybe too. But the guitar is as durable as any other semi-acoustic out there - maybe a bit more durable due to its maple construction. You do not throw a semiacoustic around like a punkrock guitar anyway - but I do play hard and do some windmilling and stuff and dont think that this guitar will have a problem with that. I am going to rate it a seven as there definitely will be a point in the near future when there will be a need to upgrade on some parts. But the basis of the guitar - the wood, the sound, the construction is good and looks reliable to me.

Eastwoods main man Michael answers all your mails in person.
Wow. But that does not help you faraway in germany. The customer service of Taranaki guitars is exceptional - you can always talk to Arne, the owner, if a problem emerges and he will most likely sort it out. So the german "branch" of Eastwood is mighty fine. I feel good as a customer.

The overall rating has to be a 9. For an inexpensive chinese made guitar this guitar surprises you on many occasions - thankfully this time the right way. The pickups sound good, the tuners hold the tuning well, the guitar looks better than a real Gretsch to me as I dislike the overly show-offish Gretsch features like too many gold parts and stuff. Eastwood settles on the chrome side of things and this gives the guitar more a look of understatement. Plus it was a good idea to miss out on the Bigsby Tremolo most Gretsches have. Simply because I dont need one. So, after the first Classic 6 having been a real disappointment, I m very glad I gave Eastwood a second chance. My advice to anybody considering buying a Classic 6 is to go out and try one before buying as the quality might vary vastly and not every guitar dealer is so cool as Taranakis Arne who frankly sends a model back if its not good or tries to fix the problem with his guitar builder to avoid customer disappointment. With this guitar Eastwood is back on my list again - I would definitely consider buying one again.

New Eastwood Gretsch Country Classic Lookalike,made in China. Two Filtertronlike PUs made by Eastwood, beautiful walnut colour, two volume pots, one treble pot, PU selector. T-shirt, some picks and a funny cable (very thinnish, works, though) and some tools came with the guitar. Right out of the box, this guitar does look absolutely amazing. But then....well, let??s do this step by step.

I play fuzzy, loud rhythm and blues (think Blues Explosion, Deadboy and the Elephantmen, Dirtbombs, Delta 72...you get the picture), and as I??m starting a guitar drums duo right now as well, I was looking for a guitar that could deliver fatter tones than my Thinline Tele (the one with the single coils).
That??s exactly what the Eastwood Classic 6 does. Sounded fabulous right out of the box - thick,grungy with a very cool twang to it, but not muddy - very gretschy, indeed. Good job on the Pickups, really! As a fender "regular" I was expecting to save up on Gretsch replacement PUs as I thought this would be the weak spot on a guitar in this price
category. So everything fine here - but then the trouble started.

Welcome to the complaint department! This is where I have to do something I??d rather would have loved not to - but what can you do. First of all: I love the IDEA of Eastwood guitars - producing freak guitars from the past and making them affordable and more playable than the originals. As I have a friend who had a guitar shop selling Eastwoods I had the chance to check out the Airlines, Sidejacks and Phantoms - all great guitars, very inspiring. So I was expecting the Classic 6 to be a winner as well. Well, you??ve got to understand that there are two production lines at Eastwood: The models made in Korea and the ones made in china.....So the models I was able to check out were Korean made. The Classic 6 as well as some other models, is chinese-made. Not to put the shame on anyone, but apart from the looks and sound there wasn??t too much right with this guitar - and I??m certainly NOT overexpecting a guitar as good as an old Gretsch for that budget - but still, there??s only so much you can tolerate. I had to change the bridge for a fixed one as the wooden bridge was not fitting properly and had it??s edges in the air, not on the body of the guitar. Then the Input jack fell of during the second rehearsal, the potis didn??t work properly, were not mounted properly - no big deal, I??ve had them changed. But then the neck started to "work". First of all, there were some dead spots occurring in the 13th fret on the high b and e strings. Took the guitar to my guitartech, he fixed the frets, everything fine. I played the guitar for a week or so, hoping it would work properly from then on.....but then: Dead spots occurring again - this time on the low e and a strings - again in the department over the 12th fret. Plus the wood of neck seemed to "work" heavily, I had the neck readjusted several times and my tech told me - watch this - if this stops appearing - use the guarantee - return option. Plus the fret job on the neck was CRAP. I know what to expect from a chinese made budget guitar - but it??s certainly NOT having the whole thing being rebuilt from scratch.....because of faulty workmanship or due to kinda lazy quality control. Funny enough - this seems to be a common problem with the chinese-models - I??ve noticed the same issues with the new Hagstrom guitars....
So to cut a long story short - as much as I loved the look and sound of this guitar, after the fifth visit at my tech??s shop, I??ve had enough. The Classic 6 had to go. Luckily the guy from the shop where I bought it was very cool and nice and helpful - he swapped the classic 6 for a Hofner verythin contemporary (chinese-made as well, but far better in quality and playability). So sadly I had to leave the beautiful lady for a more functional (although it has the same body shape - thinner, though) guitar. Well, the finish was beautiful on the Eastwood and it??s quiet a piece of solid wood (though it??s lightweight) - if they??d only used older wood that would not work that heavily.......this could be a great guitar. That??s what makes the bonus point.....

After all the trouble I??ve had with this guitar, I trusted it as far as low fat groceries. So, sadly, no live experiences - as a guitar like this is supposed to be proudly shown off on stage - normally.
But as you??ll need some basic kind of reliability onstage, I??d never ever thought of using it live after these problems. As the other reviewer said:"I`ll expect it to work beautifully forever in a studio environment" - probably, yeah. But....there??s only so much you can take.

Well, I??m quite chuffed that the man himself answered my mails - so that??s very nice and kind. Living in the US or Canada, I??m absolutely convinced these guys are about to sort any of your problems in very short time and with a very kind attitude. But as I??m living in Hamburg, germany, the shipping would be as much as a the guitar itself, just to exchange it - so what can you do? Nobodys fault. Once again: I absolutely LOVE the idea of eastwood guitars.

I??ll have to quote the ever great Tim Rogers of australias greatest living rock band You Am I here: "she said, hey boy, are you just in love with the idea of me?"
Same thing here. This could be a great guitar - once Eastwood is going to vastly improve the qualitiy issues. Besides that, the guitar looks absolutely stunning and sounds really good. But as you might want to actually USE the guitar for music making reasons and not as furniture to look great in the house and/or impress your friends at every fortnight??s hobby-jam - you??ll need to look elsewhere.
To give you an an idea how I feel about this guitar: I??ll be checking my guitar dealer in about six months or so again to see if anything happened concerning the quality of the instruments. If so, I??d definitely give it another try. So all is not lost. Until then I??ll be playing my Verythin, that sounds amazingly fat concerning its very thin body.

2006 Model made in China for Eastwood Guitars
Finish is a beautiful Walnut color.
The neck reminds me of a 'Ric' neck (not much taper)
2 Volume 1 Tone Gretsch style knobs.
2 Eastwood Humbuckers.
Eastwood always does some sort of special promotion to introduce a new line. For the first 30 days you might get a free Strap, micro amp, a free pedal, free case, free shipping,etc.
I do wish Eastwood offered a case for all of their models.

My Classic 6 came in the post yesterday. As I pulled it out of the wrapping I was shaking. It's a beauty. I immediately strummed the opening chord to Hard Days Night. Not only does it look the part but, it's a great feeling guitar, well balanced, sensitive pickups. I plugged right into my Silvertone 1482 Tube Amp and have been annoying my neighbours by playing Paperback Writer over, and over. It sounded good in all my amps but, I think this guitar is most at home with a low watt small speaker tube amp on 10. It was the "Dark Horse" sound I was hoping for.

* 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?
* Did the guitar contain any flaws? (misaligned bracing, poorly filed fretwire, finish flaws, poor quality wood, rusted or oxidized hardware, loose tuning pegs, poorly cut nut, poorly fit saddle, noisy pickup selector, loose controls, etc...)


It was in tune out of the box. It was fitted with 9 gauge strings which are too light for me. So, it will have to be set up for 11's. Also one of the volume knobs had come off in shipping and was rolling around in the body. I fished it out and put it back on with no damage to the body.

* Will this guitar withstand live playing?
* Does the hardware seem like it will last?
* Is the finish good enough to last, or does it seem thin and easy to wear off with lots of playing?
* Are the strap buttons solid?
* Can you depend on it?
* Would you use it on a gig without a backup?

Every new guitar I get, no matter what it is get's setup the same way, by the same guys, with the same nut, tuning machines, reinforced jack plates, etc. because most new guitars that aren't Boutique, Handmade guitars are made in a factory, on an essembly line fitted with cheaper hardware that won't last long on a heavy tour scheduel with sweat pouring into it every night. period. But that's not really what these guitars are about. This suspect this guitar in a studio environment would never need more than basic maintiance and work beautifully forever.
I never buy a New guitar based on how cheap the hardware is because I know I'm going to change/upgrade them anyhow.
But at Eastwood prices you can afford to do a little upgrading if you need . or just nab another one for tour. I have two Eastwood Stormbirds too.

This is where Eastwood shines. Mike has answered every email I have ever sent him within hours and is always very helpful. I think when buying a guitar online it's reassuring to know that it's a guitar lover that is selling these to you, not a massive mail order company that will "process your claim". And that he has these guitars made because he thinks it would be cool to have a Club Bass too.

* How long have you been playing? What other gear do you own?
* Is there something you wish you had asked before buying this guitar?
* If it were stolen or lost, would you buy it again or get something else?
* What do you love about it? What do you hate? What is your favorite feature?
* Did you compare it to other guitars? Which ones? Why did you choose this one?
* Anything you wish it had?
* Anything else you'd like to share?


I've been playing for over 15 years. I have early 90's AC15 and a few small Silvertone amps. I have a pile of guitars including a '72 Les Paul Deluxe Gold Top and 1932 Epiphone acoustic to a 2001 Tokai Rosewood Tele-copy.
I am incredibly happy with this guitar. I wish I had band practice tonight. I can't wait to have the Classic 12 and the Club Bass and the Saturn and the...you get the idea. I can't believe that people are out there buying the New Epiphone guitars when they could have a Eastwood Guitar with tons more personallity and a few hundred bucks less. I'm pretty sure these all come out of the same factories. Put the Classic 6 against the Casino. It's all really the same switches and knobs,tuning machines,nuts, etc. but, everyone has the Casino,it's like $150./$200.more and it doesn't look as cool.( in my opinion )
There is truly no beating a 1960's Handmade in America Guitar but Since I was a kid I'd dream about collecting all the Beatles guitars. With Hofners and Gretschs costing well into the thousand$ it's next to impossible unless you are a Richy Rich. Thanks to Eastwood my studio is filling up with classic guitars for way less bread. Can't wait to see what they come up with next. Bang for Buck!