Eastman AC922CE

[pmgerow]

I don't believe I have played a finer guitar. I was  somewhat unsure about the top sound hole and was quite surprised at the projection being hearing deficient from my Rock and Roll days and of course a hearing aid user. This guitar  has a certain resonance and truer tone that I haven't experienced with any of my others. I am not 100% sure of the brand strings that are on it but I believe they may be Elixir strings. I normally use D'Addario phosphorus bronze custom light gauge. these seem a tad heaver but sound deep.

[sleigh]

That is one beautiful guitar!

[Pura Vida]

Thanks for the photos, and so glad that it looks and sounds so great for you in person.  As for the strings, Eastman ships all of their guitars with D'Addario strings, and most acoustic guitars come with EXPs (which are the coated version of PB lights).  You mention the resonance and truer tone with this guitar.. Eastman really knows how to voice their instruments.  Many of their luthiers came from working on classical instruments, which is how Eastman got started in 1992.

[Piedaddy]

I played the 922 in Penny Lane yesterday and it is a stunning guitar. The finish was excellent and I also got to play a DT OM model. Fun day at the guitar store. The 922 was great - not as much volume as I might have thought but great with the fingers. The upper sound hole did make a difference to the player. As usual you won’t get that much guitar for the money from other builders. I must admit that they also had some Collings with baked tops (OM1) and a C100 model that were spectacular sounding to my ears but not nearly as visually impressive as the 922...also about $4K more for real!

Joe

[jpricewood]

Hey guys,
I'm new to this forum, but I've been keeping my eye on it for a while. I just bought the AC922CE at Penny Lane, so this guitar now lives in Fort Worth, TX. I'm intrigued by this series so I emailed Eastman requesting more details. This is what they sent me: 

 I am glad to hear you are enjoying your Eastman guitars! While the AC922CE is not a Custom Edition Shop guitar, they are made by our master luthier by hand. We have only seen about 10 of these models come in over the years, with the majority of them being produced this year

Does this mean Otto D'Ambrosio, himself, makes these guitars? Surely not. I"m guessing they are talking about their master luthier in Beijing. Either way, it is a work of art.

[AlanSam]

Hi Jpricewood and welcome! Impressive guitar by all accounts. Any pics?

[Pura Vida]

Welcome, jpricewood!  First, congrats on the new AC922CE.  That looks like an amazing guitar.

Yes, you're correct.  When they say their master luthier, they're talking about their production facility in China.  This is the same person/small team that work the E40D, E40OM, and AC630-BD (maybe a few other models).  Otto is based in Pomona and oversees the custom shop (in addition to being their lead luthier and designer).  And yes, from what I read, they only made a handful of these guitars.  I thought someone said that 4-6 arrived together, including yours, so they're an extremely limited run.

[Piedaddy]

You scored a winner! Welcome to the forum!

[jpricewood]

Here are some pics. Maybe I can get a sound clip up later.

[img]C457BE29-6A69-441F-88C6-348FA4F79724 by Jared Wood, on Flickr[/img]

[img]9536CE27-3A2E-41E3-9606-8DD53417BDD7 by Jared Wood, on Flickr[/img]

[img]5A9FEFD3-D4E3-4A04-B445-5E4A26B03B3A by Jared Wood, on Flickr[/img]

[img]98AE3275-08A6-42A6-A1E0-672286B254D2 by Jared Wood, on Flickr[/img]

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[img]529F733D-3FC8-47EE-99FB-581513DC6969 by Jared Wood, on Flickr[/img]

[img]B78C14B0-95B3-437F-A6BE-BBAE698054D6 by Jared Wood, on Flickr[/img]

[img]6BDB584D-06B0-4DDC-99B6-69A5510F6B7D by Jared Wood, on Flickr[/img]

4F660EEA-2A72-4E2D-9025-9B8C313B5167 by Jared Wood, on Flickr

Even got a cool case.
[img]6EE076EE-2B61-4DE3-B7DB-B10248611AAD by Jared Wood, on Flickr[/img]

[AlanSam]

Goodness me JPW  - what an impressive looking guitar! If it had a boutique logo on it I suppose it would sell for an awful lot more. If you can rustle up a sound clip that would be great - I am aware of the limitations of such recordings but I am still curious to hear it.