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Preface: not sure if anyone here purchased this guitar that recently ended on ebay.
The reason I am posting this thread: I admit I thought about buying this one quite a bit as the price was pretty low.
Here it is:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Eastman-E20-OM-...2811219256
The reason I hesitated - I couldn't get over the look of the top. It's just... strange to me. I would assume a top like that, with the discoloration, would be more considered a 'B' grade top? Just curious what others think of the appearance of the top? I was really close to pulling the trigger on this one...
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I looked at this one a lot. I agree about the top. On the other hand, I've had my adi top Eastman about 3 months and I'm now beginning to see stripes I never saw before. Do the markings come out over time?
I assume, but don't know, that the most figured tops are slated for sunburst paint jobs.
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Tim, since I know you're more of a mahogany fan... someone posted this on AGF. I don't know the seller, and the certificate looked different (larger, no signature), but the guitar looks decent.
https://jacksontn.craigslist.org/msg/d/e...68076.html
"It's only castles burning." -- Neil Young
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Chuck, perhaps someone else can jump in on the stripe question. I haven't experienced any stripes on my Eastman Adi tops (just some of the red grain showing), but I had a bit of that with a new Sitka top. Since the guitar started completely blonde, I was hoping it would fade back out, as it darkened, but I sold it before I could find out.
(12-27-2017, 10:34 PM)CRM Wrote: Man that is one ugly top on that one................You did good by not bidding on it for sure.
Agreed. Terrible looking top and cracked too. There are definitely better options out there.
"It's only castles burning." -- Neil Young
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The dark areas in red spruce are called 'grain compression', periods of slow growth over the long life of a tree. Red spruce trees are small compared to sitka, the main reason for more streaks. Grain compression does
not mean that the wood will be inferior in sound or structural quality. Eastman cannot build with AAA red spruce and keep their finished product price in line.
Just for reference, this is an example of current pricing for AAA, AA, & A grades:
http://www.stewmac.com/Materials_and_Sup...uitar.html
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Thanks guys. Appreciate the feedback.
Sounds like I made the right call to pass, although at one point the seller dropped the BIN price to 440(!) - almost too much to resist at that price!
I think the bigger question I still have: why does the guitar exist in the first place? The E20 series is one of the higher priced acoustics in the Eastman lineup... I am surprised they still chose to create the guitar knowing ahead of time it would have such an ugly top. Perhaps Bert, it's because of the reason you mentioned with regards to overall cost structure.
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They probably should have done a shade top on this one. 'Character' could be one way to describe it...but I agree...not sure why they put this one on an E20.
...Then again, someone who cares maybe less about the external beauty factor just picked up a (probably) great instrument at a nice discount. So good on him or her!
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I basically rather have a great playing guitar over a good looking one anyday!
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It definitely wasn't a pretty top, but the cracked top was more concerning for me.
"It's only castles burning." -- Neil Young
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(12-28-2017, 01:33 PM)Meathead Wrote: Thanks guys. Appreciate the feedback.
Sounds like I made the right call to pass, although at one point the seller dropped the BIN price to 440(!) - almost too much to resist at that price!
I think the bigger question I still have: why does the guitar exist in the first place? The E20 series is one of the higher priced acoustics in the Eastman lineup... I am surprised they still chose to create the guitar knowing ahead of time it would have such an ugly top. Perhaps Bert, it's because of the reason you mentioned with regards to overall cost structure.
Part of it is definitely runout, but I have no idea why it's so precise like that... It almost looks like separate pieces of wood near the center (not the two halves).
