Hello everyone!

First, let me apologize for not posting my introduction sooner. I've been lurking, and posted a couple of times, but no intro, so here's my intro.

I'm retired from a long career in IT, a decades long guitar player, damn near 70, married to love of my life. My love affair with guitars goes back a long way - bought my first Gibson electric (Wine colored ES-335TD) in 1972. Up until 30 years ago, I hung into a couple of acoustics, only for when acoustic was called for, but my love was for electrics mainly. I sold my acoustics, and until two years ago, I didn't own one.

In early 2022 on a whim, I bought a PRS SE P20 all mahogany parlor because I was intimately familiar with the PRS wide/fat neck, and for under $500, it sounded like a no-brainer! That lit the flame, gave me new inspiration to play and explore. A year later, PRS released the P50E (spruce top, maple sides), which wasn't the upgrade I thought it would be, but I still liked it, and between the two guitars, my electrics were for the first time since the 70s, getting no playing time.

I ran a small guitar business for a while - building and repairing guitars, amplifiers, upgrades and selling parts. There wasn't much about an electric (short of playing it, lol) that I didn't know. Yet here I was ignoring my electrics for the newfound unplugged love!

If I was going to upgrade further, I thought I'd better read everything I could about acoustics, different brands, tonewoods, strings, etc. Along the way, I discovered Eastman acoustics (I was already familiar with their electrics, having performed setups on a few) and also this forum!

I have an extensive collection of electrics, amps, tubes, etc, but am just getting deeper into the world free from wires, power and amplification. I own four acoustics presently:

PRS SE P20, all mahogany
PRS SE P50E, spruce and maple
Eastman E10OO-TC
Eastman E6OM-TC

I'm sure I'll have a lot of questions moving forward, so please be patient. I'm loving acoustics right now and I'm actually thinking what was unthinkable only two years ago - replace my favorite electrics with acoustics!

I have used “Der Jung” tuners on many of my guitars. They are very high quality and don’t cost a lot of money.
I don’t see the need to spend over $100 to get great tuners.
The ones I like best are less than $30 shipped from Ali Express. They have embossed body’s and knobs that look like engraving. They come in gold and chrome and a bronze color I have not used. They are direct fit drop in for the open back tuning keys used on Martin and Eastman guitars. You don’t even have to change the press in bushings in the faceplate if you don’t want to. They come with round bushings, but Eastman has hex in the guitars I have changed . On my E40D the bushings came out easily so I used the round metal ones that came with the Der Jung tuners.
On my E6D TC Alpine the press in bushings were very very tight so I did not change them.
All it took to install the new tuners today was to remove two screws, change the tuners, and put two screws back in. On the E40D you couldn’t tell it had ever been changed. But in the E6D today the current tuners had made intentions in the back of the headstock that the new oval tuners did not compleaty cover.
But they are hardly noticeable.
The new tuners are 18:1 ratio, the same as the one that I removed, but much smoother and fancier looking with there embossing that resembles engraving.
If you want a plainer look that would fit the same and cover any indentations made by the old tuners they also make tuners with the same body shape as the originals on Martin and Eastmans but with embossed knobs and 21:1 ratio that I have used on several of my Martin guitars, including a D42 and D41 Soecial They are a little more expensive but still less than $40.
They also make a sealed tuner I have used that are 21:1 that is a direct drop in that look and work very much like the $200 tuners but cost less than $50.
Here are some photos to show the tuners and how they are straight drop in.

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I am needing another Dread. I have owned a 1980 Guild D25 purchased new in 1980. Been a great ride. Love the guitar. I'm not impressed with their affordable China Westerly series so I picked up the E1 last at a dealer last week and it checked all the box's and had a wonderful tone. The quilt TC finish is awesome. I saw a you tube review and this guy was showing how heavy the neck was. It would drop to the side in his lap if he didn't hold on. I didn't test this at the dealer and wonder if was or still is true?  Would like to hear any input you may have on my selection. Thanks

Does Bear Claw in an acoustic top negatively affect tone or volume?  Thanks, Bob

Is there any way to know whether the neck on my 2023 AC522 is bolt-on or dovetail without taking the strings off and looking at the joint?

I received my E1P LTD today and it’s awesome. Plays great I had them put 11s on it since I string most of my smaller guitars with 11s. I’ll post some pictures soon. Someone asked me about the contour comfort neck. I can’t tell any difference between that and my older E100ltd. Feels the same to me but that one’s still in the shop so when I get it back I’ll take some measurements. I heard that the Acoustic Shoppe already sold the 4 they received but might have a couple more coming. I’m not sure what the CLA means on the model name, anyone know?

Has anyone heard how many they made?

Picks coming soon.

Hi all - I am making a few changes to EGF on the web server side to continue to make the site perform well.

Please let me know on this thread however if you encounter an unusual issue while using EGF.  Appreciate it! Just making sure my changes aren't breaking anything.

Tim

Hi all,

I am a relatively new guitarist having started older in life. At best, I am in the overlap between advanced beginner/ low intermediate and have been playing a Gretsch G5220 (Broadtron pick-ups) since I started around 4 years ago. It's a great budget guitar and has a nice sound but I am looking to add something different with a fuller darker sound.

I have a milestone birthday and am looking to treat myself to a thinline semi-hollow guitar. I love the deep mellow sound I hear (admittedly through budget computer speakers) from YouTube videos from the Gibson 335 but at £3- £3.5k in the UK, it is out of my league price-wise. My budget is about half that. I have admired the Eastman brand for a while and have looked at comparison videos of the T386, 486, 486B and T59.

To my ears (and I know from my hi-fi hobby how subjective this is) via poor PC speakers, the T386 sounds more mellow with the more budget Kent Armstrong pick-ups. I really love the Goldburst finish on the T486 and the look of the fretboard with parallelograms but sonically it sounds brighter than what I'm looking for. The T-59 sounds much warmer but I am not a fan of the worn-look varnishing or aged Lollar antiquity pick-ups and it doesn't look like Eastman make it available in the Goldburst without the worn-look.

Of course, I realise that the answer is to try all 3 back-to-back but there is nowhere in the UK that holds that kind of stock of Eastman after checking online. In any case, I think I'd be convincing myself to go with the 486 just for the appearance. I originally liked the idea of the 486B with the Bigsby versatility but, to my ears, that sounds brighter still. I have considered getting the T486 and then thinking of changing the neck pick-up (mostly where I play) to something more Gibson-esque but I've heard a variety of expert opinions as to whether it's the pick-up choice or the wood that make the most difference to sound.

Sorry for the lengthy post but I just wondered if anyone else gets where I am coming from on how the guitar sounds to me and had any advice. I'm lucky enough to live near a good guitar tech and was wondering whether adjusting the height of pick-ups might also be a fix. My head tells me to listen to all 3 "blindfolded" and go with my ears. My heart tells me that the 486 Gold burst is so beautiful that it would be worth spending some more on modifying if I can get that idefinable sound I'm looking for.

Any thoughts?
Thanks

For those who asked me to post pictures, here you go.

The pickguard is a Holter. Taylor had one in the shop that fit perfectly ready to go, so no modifications were needed. Couldn't be happier with the results. Love the J-50 vibe!

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Picked this koa beauty up today!  I actually love the fact that the koa is not bookmatched … it’s complex, asymmetrical, etc.!

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