Eastman T386 Semi Hollow

[gnappi]

Garcon - the picture worked!  The MP3 still no go for some reason..

Good looking 486 - is that wine red or purple color?  Difficult to tell from the lighting..

Ok, one file works! I'll figure out something for tbe audio.

The T486 is just black (T486-BK). But it has a fairly thin finish which does sometimes almost  look like what is called transparent black. I guess the stronger the light, the more this comes out. My Sheraton is always just solid black.

It's good to see a git made in more than one finish. So far the one I haven't seen Eastman do on the T-486 is a heritage cherry burst, I'd like to see one... hang on, scratch that, I might be tempted to get one :-)

So far I've seen the 486 in Trans cherry, tobacco burst, natural, black, their very cool "antique" (I call it root beer) a one off in blue I saw on Reverb.

[jdinaz]

I hope this is the right place to ask this...but what are some popular string choices for the T386 ?

[gnappi]

Hi John, it's probably better as a separate post, and you didn't say what style of music you play. All of my semis
seem to like D'Addario XL half rounds, they squeal a lot less than round wounds when sliding my fingers up and down the neck.

For flat wounds on the semi hollow gits I use D'Addario chromes for a softer Jazzy sound. I'm kinda fond of both in 11's and 12's but I don't bend strings so thin isn't needed.

[nopicknick]

I hope this is the right place to ask this...but what are some popular string choices for the T386 ?

For me it is Elixir Optiweb 11/49....toss the 11 and put a 12 in its place.

[Tbone Berry]

    Hi all, new member here. Thx for creating this focal point by the way. I recently found a used t386 in the basement of an old guitar shop in Switzerland. The guitar dates from 2012 and I knew it would be mine after just a couple of minutes playing it. Price: Around $840. There are some imperfections though. The side marker dots aren’t aligned and neither are the fingerboard dots. No worries however. It plays and sounds excellent. I’m really impressed!

[jdinaz]

Nice one there Tbone ! And welcome to the club.

[Tim Farney]

I’d definitely step up to the 486 for the Duncan pickups. I like them a lot better than the pups in the 386.

[Tim Farney]

Garcon, welcome to the EGF, good to have you along.  Eastman elecs/archs don't get their due.

We used to have a T184MX, loads of fun.  Traded it after we got the AR880 archtop.

Speaking of blues, this is a short demo I did a couple years ago with the T184 doin' the slide thing with my GoldTone PBR do some bass/fills:
 
https://soundcloud.com/bertramd-1/t184mxsb-demo

You’re a stronger man than I, Bert. I couldn’t bring myself to trade my 184.

[Bert]

Tim, I guess I'm just not an elec guitar guy, still have the PBR. 15+ yrs ago I started going acoustic after many yrs with Les Paul & Fender. T184mx is a fab guitar, my son and I just lost interest and moved to the archtop. I'm more attracted to the lesser effect processing and more clean tone of plugged-in guitars. I love to listen to players who can tame the electronic FX. Put a mic in the proper position, near the soundhole of my acoustic and I'm all set. bert

[Tim Farney]

Thanks guys - this is super helpful.  I really do think my next guitar is going to be either T386/486 or an MX.

Garcon:  appreciate the excellent post.  You helped in that I hadn't noticed the pickup differences - I see that the T486 comes with Seymour Duncan pickups (which I like) and assume would be a little higher output vs what comes with the 386.  I didn't even have the MX on my radar - but the idea of the solid hand carved maple top is certainly appealing.

Giffen - thanks for sharing the video!  You are a fantastic player, by the way.  I thought the higher gain you demonstrated sounded good - I didn't hear much squeal.

based in my experience with the Armstrong pickups in my Pisano vs the Duncan 59s in my MX and SB59, I’d say the Duncans aren’t just higher out out, they’re better. My Duncan neck pickups have better clarity, in spite of higher output, than the Pisano. The bridge pickups have more depth. They’re just richer, all across their range