Anyone have experience comparing a Sire Larry Carlton H7 vs any of the Eastman semi-hollow body 335 style guitars? And let's throw in the Epiphone IBC ES-335 since that sits somewhere between the Sire and the Eastmans in terms of price.

I've seen great reviews of the Sire, the only consistent point of critique being a pretty narrow nut at around 40mm iirc, though currently on Sire's website it says 43mm, which is pretty standard. So either they have inconsistent nut width, or they've made the nut wider according to past feedback. 

I don't care much for a Bigsby, and I'm looking for humbuckers. 
I like the varnish finishes on some of the Eastman models since they sound great on acoustics, so I guess the T59/v would be the logical choice, BUT I don't really know how much the finish plays a role on a semi-hollow model like this where the pickups sit in a piece of wood so thick (the center block) that you would never argue it can sound good if it were an acoustic guitar (not to mention the fact that the guitar is made of laminated wood). In other words, 'tonewood' might not matter here in my opinion, and therefore neither does the finish? idk, I guess it comes down mostly to the pickups. 

My question then is, apart from the Eastman having Seymour Duncans and the Sire having some proprietary pickups, is there really that much of a difference? I could basically buy 4 Sires for the price of one T59/v.
Just from my impression online I see the Sire as great budget-ish guitar that beats way above its price, while Eastman is essentially offering close to Gibson Custom shop levels of quality at a more affordable price, but still it costs some serious money.
I should add: I have a Sire P-bass that I put flatwounds on, and it plays and feels amazing. fwiw I'm not a bassist, but still.

I'm also open to other Eastman models, particularly the truetone vintage gloss and how it compares to the varnish, but maybe I should make another thread for that. I understand the truetone vintage gloss replaced what used to be nitro lacquer?

I came across this model, looks very nice indeed.  A few things on the spec which I've not seen elsewhere.  The non thermo sitka soundboard, and 1 3/4" wide nut with a rosewood back and sides. 

https://www.tfoa.eu/en-int/products/bour...nniversary

The last two Eastman acoustics I bought are the newer models built after 2022 , , , an E10D and an E2D CD Deluxe.  They both are acoustic/electrics.  I also have two pre-2012 models.  The newer models are very heavy in the neck block area.  It changes the sound making it boxy and confined but not undesirable , , , just different as I seem to be "old-school" sound wise.  I'm wondering if the electronics installed in the guitars is what causes this heavy and restrained feeling.  If so, has anyone removed the electronics?  I don't play outside the house anymore and prefer an open vibrating wooden sound that I can feel as I play. I seem to remember this subject being discussed here somewhere before but can't recall when or what was said on the subject. Your thoughts are most welcome.  Thanks, Jeffafa

Many of you will be well aware of the types of pickup available  for acoustic guitar amplification - some maybe less so. For those interested the Fellowship Of The Acoustics put together this useful guide - https://tfoa.us18.list-manage.com/track/...3420c33b88

I happened on a T186MX a few weeks ago at The Guitar Boutique near Toronto ON.

Holy smokes is all I can really say -- I had been cross-shopping the Heritage H530 Core and the Collings I30 LC, and had more or less written Eastman off -- the T64 (though great) doesn't have the fret access I need, and the 18xMX series are as rare as hen's teeth.

Thoughts:

Collings - Beautifully made guitar, approaching perfection in terms of workmanship and detail. Like the Eastman, it's a bit of a wolf in sheep's clothing in that it looks a certain way and sounds another. Very much a Gretsch in Gibson clothing. Money no object, I thought that this was the guitar I was going with and was selling stuff off to afford it.

Heritage - Another beautifully made guitar. Very much a better Gibson - there's not really much more that I can say. Personally, the tone didn't really inspire me, but it was important to try out, given the huge price differential with the Collings.

Eastman - I got lucky. I was not expecting to be able to find a T186, but holy smokes was it good. First, it is not in the same ballpark as an ES330/5, even though it looks like one. It's got a totally different thing going, with the carved and voiced solid wood and Collings-adjacent bracing. Within about 30 seconds of playing it, I knew this was the one I was getting -- the tone, touch response, and dynamics are exceptional - it's a bit brighter than a spruce-topped Romeo and much louder and livelier acoustically. The workmanship falls between the Collings (perfect) and the Heritage (pretty close to perfect -- the Eastman is tidier inside, whereas the Heritage is a bit of a mess where they think you aren't looking.)

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Atkin's pre-war parlor inspired L36 Mahogany B&S, baked Sitka Spruce top with aged nitro finish, 12 fret Mahogany neck, with soft 'V' profile, Pau Ferro fretboard, 1.71” nut (bit narrow for me), 24.9” scale. I'd like to get me mitts on this.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m-XQNpHwAP4

Hi all,

My first acoustic was an AC222CE which my parents bought for me back in 2013 or so.  After many years, and many cross country moves, the neck got bent totally out of shape and I ended up giving the guitar away.  I recently purchased a new AC222CE, and I've noticed several things that just don't feel as good about the new one versus the old.  The fret dressing is significantly worse on my new guitar.  The fret ends are really pokey and sharp.  The slotting for the frets and inlays is also pretty bad, and there is lots of chipping around slots.  The top also seems to me to be thicker and less resonant than my old one.  Since I don't have the two guitars to compare, I can't verify these differences, but I'm wondering if any of you have seen a decrease in quality over the years on this or other models.  It could be that this is more of a general QC issue and not a year-over-year degradation.  What do you guys think?

Hi all, I just replaced the Kent Armstrong designed pickups in my Eastman T-386 with a set of Seth Lover pickups from Seymour Duncan.  Below are some notes and discoveries from that process:

My guitar did not require a re-rout to get either pickup to fit.  The routing for the neck pickup is just deep enough for the Seth Lovers to sit flush with the top of the mounting ring, and the bridge routing gives more than sufficient room due to the additional height of the bridge mounting ring.  I did have to chisel out a small piece of wood in the neck route, but that only took a few seconds.  I will say that I'm not impressed with the routing jobs done.  they are good enough, but not clean.

The pots are all CTS, which I thought they might be given that Eastman stocks them an almost all the higher end models but, given that they don't specify on their site who manufacture the pots in the T-386, I was happy to find out for certain.

The factory soldering job is also not the best.  There are some sloppy grounds that were just a mess to free up.  That being said, all the components came pretty easily through the F-hole, and there's a large cavity between the right bout and the bridge pickup route which, though I didn't use it, could be a great way to get the whole loom out if you wanted to replace everything.

I hope this is useful far anyone wondering about pickup compatibility and ease of repair!

Hello! New member here. I went searching for a new guitar a couple weeks ago. Initially I was after a Tele or another Strat (if I found a great one). After trying 8 Strats, 6-7 Tele’s, a Gibson LP Special and a Heritage 535, this guitar stood out as easily better than all of them. Price range for all that I tried was $1300-$2400. The Eastman is a fantastic guitar. I am not a huge fan of the ‘59 in the bridge and will be throwing in a Seth Lover today. But even with the ‘59 (which I’ve never loved) the guitar sounds excellent.

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I'm excited because I just purchased a Martin Super D-18 that was a display model at NAMM 2026. I got it for $510 off the normal price (plus free shipping) from Empire Music in Pittsburgh, PA. It still has the full factory warranty and the original hard case. It will be shipped to me tomorrow (03/23/26) so hopefully I'll receive it within 5 working days.

If you haven't heard about this, the guitar is a dreadnought but with a 13 percent larger body which makes for 20 percent more air volume to make it LOUDER with MORE BASS than a standard D-18. I'll give it a good workout and review it in about two weeks. Has anyone else read about these?