Post by countryblues75 on Jan 23, 2019 13:36:32 GMT -5
Hallo, I received my new Eastman E1 OM just before Christmas and I've been putting it to the test for a month now, so here are my honest impressions.
The guitar looks solidly built but not heavy at all, finishing is good but not flawless (there are little imperfections in the tortoise binding, nothing to get mad about).
To my surprise, the E1 OM has a matte sitka top (I expected it to have a gloss top actually) while b/s are made of a kind of "open pore" solid sapele, which I like very much because of the peculiar tactile feeling of its own. We all know chinese guitars are sometimes criticized because of the too heavy poly finish: this is not the case of the E1 OM for sure.
The sitka top wood looks ok (nothing stellar though), while fingerboard and bridge are made of a very nice, smooth ebony wood. On the other hand, I have to admit the three rings, black/white rosette looks a little "cheap".
All that said, this guitar sounds GREAT: it really has the loud, direct voice you expect from a sitka/mahogany (sapele) 000. Not much overtones, but every note sings out clear and punchy: I love old time fingerstyle blues/ragtime pieces and this is a perfect guitar for that style.
Moreover, playability is top notch (short scale and, even more important, the guitar has been set-up by the UK online seller): just a few minutes of playing and I felt completely at home with it (nice 1 3/4 nut width and a substantial but not baseball-bat neck profile).
All in all, this guitar is a great buy: despite being an entry level guitar in the Eastman traditional series, it has all the punchy tone I was craving
Here are a couple of pics
The guitar looks solidly built but not heavy at all, finishing is good but not flawless (there are little imperfections in the tortoise binding, nothing to get mad about).
To my surprise, the E1 OM has a matte sitka top (I expected it to have a gloss top actually) while b/s are made of a kind of "open pore" solid sapele, which I like very much because of the peculiar tactile feeling of its own. We all know chinese guitars are sometimes criticized because of the too heavy poly finish: this is not the case of the E1 OM for sure.
The sitka top wood looks ok (nothing stellar though), while fingerboard and bridge are made of a very nice, smooth ebony wood. On the other hand, I have to admit the three rings, black/white rosette looks a little "cheap".
All that said, this guitar sounds GREAT: it really has the loud, direct voice you expect from a sitka/mahogany (sapele) 000. Not much overtones, but every note sings out clear and punchy: I love old time fingerstyle blues/ragtime pieces and this is a perfect guitar for that style.
Moreover, playability is top notch (short scale and, even more important, the guitar has been set-up by the UK online seller): just a few minutes of playing and I felt completely at home with it (nice 1 3/4 nut width and a substantial but not baseball-bat neck profile).
All in all, this guitar is a great buy: despite being an entry level guitar in the Eastman traditional series, it has all the punchy tone I was craving
Here are a couple of pics
