Eastwood Guitars Rocket

One year after buying a Rocket Guitar with Bigsby tremolo from Eastwood, I am extremely happy with its features. The main reason I bought it was the looks of the guitar (awesome!), and I still don't get tired of looking at it... It can be reminiscent of a Flying V, its 'Space Age' look is distinctive enough.

The colour of my guitar is white with a beautiful cherry-wood style pickguard. The pickups are two P-90s that give good power and fine timbre at the treble range when played through my Fender Twin Reverb at rehearsals or my Line 6 Toneport at home.

The neck is thicker than average but surprisingly comfortable and playable. I think it's the most comfortable guitar I have for playing between the 17th-21th frets. The Bigsby-style tremolo is excellent! My guitar stays in tune quite well even with heavy tremolo abuse.

The only drawbacks: At first it is quite difficult to play when seated, although with a strap you can get easily get accustomed to it. That's a small price to pay for such an original shape in the guitar. Another problem is that standard gigbags won't fit its shape, and Eastwood doesn't supply specific cases. I had to buy a bass gigbag that, however, suits it imperfectly. The cheapo controls are quite fragile too -the bridge volume has got loose a bit over this year.

All in all, amazing features -especially for the price. I also got free shipping to Europe -very valuable thing indeed.

For playing lead or chord arpeggios in 60s-style music or any kind of psychedelia, this guitar is perfect. It has power and good tone. I am absolutely thrilled by the sound of this guitar using the bigsby tremolo bar in the high range. Fantastic!

However, for playing power chords or power barre chords, the kind of sounds it delivers are more up to one's personal taste. I think they are great, somewhat similar to Danelectro sounds, but very different to, for example, my Fender Telecaster. At first, chords sounded a little 'muddy' to me (being used to Fender or Gibson style playing), but I soon realized that I could get other great sounds -more like vintage 'garage' tones- from this guitar.

Fret action and finish, flawless for me. The guitar was playable from the beginning.

The pickups, however, were a little unbalanced from the factory setting. The plastic cover of the pickguard was also difficult to remove (I still have bits of plastic around the tone controls that are annoyingly difficult to get rid of).

The guitar is quite solid, but I don't know whether it will be durable or not.

Very good customer support. Mr. Robinson answers really quickly to all emails with inquiries and is helpful.

The only thing I can find small fault in their service is in that I asked them for help on buying a case-guitar bag and they only said it was a "common size". My experience was that standard Fender or Gibson 'common size' bags won't fit the Rocket size. Try a bass guitar bag instead.

A fantastic and very distinctive guitar for a really good price. I would definitely buy another one if stolen. I absolutely love its shape, lead playing sounds and bigsby tremolo.

I was so satisfied with this guitar I later bought a Savannah from Eastwood -also a beautiful and really fine guitar.

For information, I play guitars and keyboards (Hammond organ) in a 60s-70s rock/blues rock vein. I can compare with my other guitars: Fender Strat American Standard from the 1980s, Fender Tele Highway-1 (2004), Danelectro 12-string (06), Gibson Les Paul Studio (1990s), Epiphone SG (90s), Variax 300, Eastwood Delta 6 and Savannah. I keep coming back to my Rocket...

I got the powder blue with dual humbuckers and a bigsby tail. I ordered it directly from mike, who gave me all the details I asked for. Apparently the pups are made by some korean company called MUSE. The bigsby didn't seemed to be a licensed bigsby but seemed to be made by some other company. A friend of mine got a licensed bigsby for his gibson and complained about the spring being too strong. The stock spring for this one seemed perfect. The nameplate was just a black spot. It came with a cable and allen wrenches for truss rod and the roller bridge.

I'm in an indie pop band and it sounds really well with a little blues driver through my line 6. The neck pup has a full sound but the bridge pickup leaves a bit to be desired. I quite love the neck pup though.

The action was too low and it buzzed a lot, especially with the stock strings. The pickups were too high and the strings hit them. The intonation had to be fixed a little, but after setup the guitar was great. It had no flaws that were unfixable.

I play shows with it. I got a foam bass guitar case (which seems to fit it better than any other case I could find, and only cost about $40) from musicians friend and it fit well. I had to tighten the bigsby tailpiece, which kept swinging while I was playing. It seems really dependable and I would definitely use it as my sole guitar. It hasn't let me down since I set it up.

I emailed Mike, who seems to be running the whole operation, and he was a breeze to work with. I haven't to get it repaired. I believe the warranty is 90 days, which seems short, but the guitar seems solid and I'm not worried.

I've been playing for about 4 years and have a couple other guitars. I love its shape and the looks I get at shows. "Where did you get that?" seems to be a popular one. I wish it had a better bridge pickup or maybe a middle pup, but it sounds fine as it is. It had a few scratches on it, but all guitars inevitably do, and it has a really fast neck. I'm definitely glad I purchased it.

Bought in '05. Made in China. 2 generic Asian humbuckers w/ Gibson-style controls. (Licensed)Bigsby tailpiece w/ roller bridge. Faux-Gotoh tuners. Bound rosewood board. 22 Medium frets. 25.5" scale length. Metallic red finish, white 'guard, lotsa shiny chrome. Very striking appearance --something like a softened Flying-V. Came with a cheesy cable and a truss rod wrench.

For straightforward rock, it has a fine sound. The humbuckers have decent output. They seem to be a little darker sounding than the standard humbuckers present on Asian guitars in this price range, though that may be my imagination. I'll eventually replace the bridge pickup, but there's nothing inherently wrong with the stock units.

Fit and finish is flawless, except that the bevel on the pickguard is a little haphazard.
The setup is another animal entirely. Although the action was passable, the guitar wouldn't play anyhwhere close to in-tune. It appears that the bridge was not even touched at the factory; when I corrected the intonation, it as necessary to move the saddles quite a distance. In the case of the low-E, I actually had to reverse the direction of the saddle (they're built to be reversible, so this isn't as awful as it sounds) in order to give it enough travel to bring the 12th fret octave note into tune. The nut slot for the G string was binding a bit, too, but that was easy to fix with a swipe of folded 1500-git sandpaper.
Ah, and the strap button screw completely pulled free of the body after only a short period of playing. This required some remedial work. It always pays to check your buttons before the instrument falls to the ground, though I used the "drop-test" because I was too dumb to do so. I was lucky; the fall was not fatal.
After my setup tweaks, the Rocket now stays in tune well, and is as comfortable to play as a V-style guitar can ever be.
Conclusion: While the paint, binding, and fretwork are all high-quality, there are devils in the smaller details. I have tools, and just enough know-how to deal with small stuff. So, while all of the problems were minor, I feel that a beginner might have become frustrated.

Strap button aside I have no qualms about the basic reliability of this guitar. It's solidly built, and has a quality feel overall. The pickups don't rock in their cavities. The tuners, knobs, and switches all feel solid, and the Bigsby installation is snug and clean. I expect the Rocket to hold up well.

I ordered this guitar and one of Eastwood's electric resonators right from Mike, the main honcho. I was impressed with his frankness (he told me I'd get a better deal on a case than what he could offer) and he gave me a break on the shipping (which was steep, even with the break.) The guitars showed up promptly. I guess I could have carped about the bridge setup, but it was easy enough for a non-beginner to bring up to snuff.
BTW: I was indeed able to get an Epiphone Flying-V case for short money from a store which had sold out their stock of V's and had the cases lying around. It's a perfect fit.)

I like it a lot. It gets attention, and rightly so -- it's sharp. I miss the comfort of a Strat any time I pick up ANY other guitar, but as long as I remember to hold the Rocket correctly it's nice to play.
While its Gibson-like electronics prevent it from being sonically revolutionary, it's nonetheless an unusually sharp-looking and good-playing instrument, particularly within its price range. Even acknowledging the setup issues, I have no reservations about recommending this guitar to anybody looking for something a little sexier than your average electric. It makes you want to pick it up and play.

2005 Rocket string thru body, one P90, made in China, black, one tone one vol. Nice finish no flaws, fast neck. 2 rear strap buttons.

actally i didnt expect much from this guitar, i traded one of my guitars for it. I liked the looks. But when i played it thru my Koch Amp it sounded very good, great tone, reminded me of the brit sound of the 60's. animals, kinks. This guitar has string thru body, nicely done and maitians a good degree of substain. I would like to change th P90 it came with with to a vintage p90, I'm sure it would imporve the great tone to a fantastic tone machine..

surprisingly it played well right of the box.. no buzzing. fast action. med frets, quiet controls, nice bridge. Nice black finish, one thing i noticed is that this guitar wants to be played like a bass guitar, I think the shape of the guitar make the guitar somewhat unbalanced, but still feels good. Has two strap buttons on each fin.

The guitar is built like a tank! hardware seems strudy for gigging, I think this guitar would withstand abuse very well. With a bit of minor upgrades and a vintage p90's I think this guitar will blow away some more pricy guitars...and you can't beat the rocket shape real eye catcher

I have been doing busniss with My Rare Guitars for about 2yrs now, buying and trading, always a plasure doing business. Mike really loves guitars and it shows in his website.

I have been playing since age 16, i,m 57 now.. palyed them all new used, the good and the very bad.. the chinese built guitars are really good playing instruments, Not American Quality, but better the most imports. But most importently EASTWOOD GUITARS took the lead in remaking unattainable guitars(for most of us)obtainable..

Made in China 2005, In a beautiful sky blue with white scratch plate. It's a classic oddball shape - kind of rocketish but also has more than a passing resemblance to a goose on the wing! Also a pointy, spearhead like headstock for warning off undesirables - I love the look. It has a Bigsby trem and roller bridge, 2 chrome P90 pick-ups. The control cluster (nice, bright chrome - 2 vol, 2 tone) is a bit inaccessible with the Bigsby - you just have to be aware of it while playing. I bought it on the net from myrareguitars.com in Canada. The neck feels really nice to me, perfect shape and nice action. It also stays in tune really well.

It has a bright vintage sound which is exactly what I was after. Neck pick-up has the woody, bluesy tones, and the bridge position really barks. I'm amazed by the sound of this guitar for the money. It has a great clean sound, though my Behringer 212 amp unfortunately doesn't have the clean volume to do it justice - I'll have to mic it for clean playing. It distorts evenly, and backing off the bridge pick-up to half gives it that great vintage overdrive sound I love. The pick-ups are quiet too. The Bigsby works really well, and as I said before - it stays in tune!!!

The only criticism I can make here is a couple of small paint chips on the body where the neck is attached at the front. No one else will notice, but they're there. It was quite well set up, just a couple of string buzzes I'm sure can be adjusted out.

It seems like a very robust guitar - though I've noticed the neck flexes fairly easily. I'll be careful with it as I am with all guitars - since I broke the neck on my Mosrite dropping it out of a van many years ago! I can't tell if the chrome will stay put - I'm just a bit suspicious due to its low price. And there's the previously mentioned paint chips. I bought this as a second guitar to my Cole Clark Mistress, and I've been very pleasantly surprised by its sound and playability, but I don't gig without a spare as I don't like string-changing silent pauses in the middle of sets!

Haven't had to deal with the company apart from the purchase, which was effeciently and courteously done - no mean feat considering it's travelled to the other end of the earth. I didn't get any paperwork with it, and sending it back with a faulty whatever wouldn't be worth the time and cost involved, but I knew that before I bought it. Importing into Australia costs a bit in taxes - about $US150 - and it was held over in quarantine for three weeks. This pissed me off at the time, but I don't regret it at all. I have something unique, fun and very useable.

I've been playing for 26 years, but I'm not that good - a slow learner...This company sells so many great looking guitars I might be tempted to buy something different if I lost this one, but I'd definately get another Eastwood. In fact, I'll probably get another one anyway - probably a High Flyer Ramones. I love the Rocket's looks, sound and uniqueness. I guess I compared it to my old Mosrite, and to the other wacky stuff Eastwood makes. It's much more playable than the Mosrite for me - mainly due to the neck and tuning. I just wish it had in-built pyrotechnics for an Ace Frehely type blast off!

STUMBLING THROUGH SO MANY LOOK ALIKE GUITARS THESE DAYS, IT WAS INTERESTING AND A PLEASURE TO FIND THE EASTWOOD ROCKET WAS SO DIFFERENT. THIS IS A GREAT & FUN GUITAR! IT'S GREAT TO KNOW
THAT I DON'T HAVE TO MORTGAGE THE HOUSE TO GET A GREAT SOUNDING GUITAR THAT DOESN'T LOOK LIKE EVERTHING ELSE OUT THERE! I CAN'T BELIEVE THE PRICE WAS SO INEXPENSIVE FOR SUCH A UNIQUE AXE.
BOB SMITH

IT WAS FUNNY, BECAUSE WHEN I FIRST PLUGGED IT IN, I WAS ALITTLE DISAPPOINTED IN THE SOUND...ALITTLE MUDDY...THEN, I REALIZED THAT THE PICKUPS WERE COVERED BY THIN PLASTIC TO PROTECT THEM FROM SCRATCHES IN SHIPPING...WHEN I TOOK THEM OFF AND PLAYED THE ROCKET THROUGH MY CYBERTWIN...ROCK & ROLL...THE SOUND WAS RICH/FULL AND HAD ALL THE TONE THAT YOU WOULD EXPECT FROM A GUITAR THAT WOULD BE MUCH MORE EXPENSIVE. FROM ROCK & ROLL TO COUNTRY...THIS GUITAR HAS IT ALL...PLUS, IT'S REALLY A DIFFERENT LOOK.

EVERYTHING ABOUT THIS GUITAR WAS OUTSTANDING...I COULDN'T FIND ANY FLAWS IN THE FINISH. IT ALSO HAS A BIGBSY TAIL PIECE THAT IS ROCKING.

CAN'T ANSWER THIS ONE YET, BUT SINCE I TAKE GREAT CARE OF MY GUITARS, I EXPECT THIS ONE TO BE AROUND FOR A LONG TIME!

GREAT SERVICE...WHEN THE GUITAR WAS LOST IN SHIPPING, THEY IMEDIATLEY HELPED ME LOCATE IT. TURNS OUT IT WAS AN ERROR BY ME THAT KEPT IT FROM ARRIVING EARLY. MY BAD!

I OWN OVER 60 GUITARS...MY FAVORITES ARE TELES & STRATS. I CHOOSE THE EASTWOOD ROCKET BECAUSE IT'S SO DISTICTIVE. IT SEEMS NO ONE WANTS TO MAKE GUITARS THESE DAYS UNLESS THEY LOOK LIKE AN OLD GUITAR. ITS GREAT TO SEE AN EYE CATCHER LIKE THIS AND SOME OF THE OTHERS THAT MY RARE GUITARS NOW MAKE & SELL. IF THE OTHER GUITARS ARE AS WELL MADE AS THIS ONE, I'LL DEFINETLY BE BACK THERE TO BUY.