AR580CE in the house

[nostatic]

Was looking to experiment with a 16" body archtop and Dave's had a 580 that looked clean so I gave it a whirl. Showed up today and clean is an understatement - looks like it was never played. Very comfy, my 603-15 feels small by comparison, just waiting on some Ti flatwound string to slap on her.

I actually don't like gold hardware but it works on this finish, I do love maple binding though and orange is my favorite color so it checks off more boxes than it annoys

[AlanSam]

Congratulations on your beautiful AR580CE. I have an all laminate AR371CE with one pup (no longer made) and it suits me fine. Unplugged it has next to no acoustic projection, but at least I rarely suffer feed back with it. I notice the nut on the AR372CE (2 pup version) is now spec'd as 1.72" but used to be 1.75". My AR371CE is 1.75". The AR580CE originally had a 1.75" nut but is now spec'd as 1.72". Is your nut 1.75"?  I'd love a couple of hours with an AR580CE - maybe one day. Interesting comparison of these two guitars below :-

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7MvSJyfuWrQ

[nostatic]

It measures a full 1.75" at the nut. I think this was a '22 build.

[Lukew]

I have this very guitar, which is superb.   Mine is strung with TI Swing flat wound strings and I can't imagine anything I would like better.

Interesting that you have the wider neck width.  The AR580 and the T58 share the same body, but the T58 was specified with the wider neck.  Maybe yours was originally destined to be a T58, but turned left at Albuquerque.  I would prefer the wider neck, by the way.

[nostatic]

I did do a minor mod to fix something that was bugging me. Actually I noticed it on other 580s I saw on reverb, etc - the strings being offset towards the treble side as they move from nut to bridge. Now this is a traditional archtop and the bridge is kept in place by downward pressure - no pins or anything. I loosened the strings and slid the bridge over to center the strings and found the bass strings were at a slight angle from bridge to tailpiece. And if I slid it to where I wanted it, brought it to tension, and leaned in with my right hand (I will sometimes whack and damp the bridge as an effect), it would creep back to the treble side.

Did some internet sleuthing and apparently it is not too uncommon and could be the tail piece is mounted a bit off or possible the tailpiece is bent or otherwise malformed. The ultimate fix is pulling the tailpiece, filling the holes, and drilling new holes offset a bit in the direction you need. I wasn’t willing to go there, but shimming is another possibility. So I loosened the strings, loosened the tailpiece screws, removing the one on the bass side. Then I slid a washer under the tailpiece on the bass side, putting the screw through the tailpiece then washer, then body. Snug everything back up, align the bridge, tension the strings - bingo, spot on.

The flats sound like jazz btw - really nice on this box. Next will be some black tuners to swap out, and maybe remove the pickup cover though the gold finish is already fading to nickel.

[Speks]

Was looking to experiment with a 16" body archtop and Dave's had a 580 that looked clean so I gave it a whirl. Showed up today and clean is an understatement - looks like it was never played. Very comfy, my 603-15 feels small by comparison, just waiting on some Ti flatwound string to slap on her.

I actually don't like gold hardware but it works on this finish, I do love maple binding though and orange is my favorite color so it checks off more boxes than it annoys

I’m interested in the 580ce and have two questions: I don’t care for orange - is that really its color? Also, I’m more into blues than jazz and read a review that it’s beast in the blues world. Would you agree? Or should I look for a different Eastman?

[Lukew]

Speks,

That is pretty much the colour yes, but to describe it as orange is too strong.  The official description is honeyburst and I think that is accurate.  In my opinion it looks fantastic. This guitar is glorious and certainly a beast for blues - and jazz.  You have to bear in mind that it is a jazz box, so will have the sound characteristics of such a device, but you can push it hard.

I hope this helps.