Eastman T58/V

[tamerlane]

Bert---
I hear you on the T184mx. My brother owns one, so I can and do borrow it fairly often. I swore it was going to be the next Eastman I'd get (his has the Lollar Imperials as I remember) due to both electric and acoustic tone & playability as well as super light weight. Versatile as all get out too. And even though it's solid instead of laminate, I had pretty much zero feedback issues with it. Only thing I'd change on it if I could, would be having beefier 50's carve neck instead of the slim 60's carve. But it's simply far superior to any ES 335/ES 330/ES 345 I've owned or played. Another big plus to me is smaller 14" body. It just feels super comfortable to me.

 But then they came out with the T/58's, T/59's & T/64's!!! And all are available in the Antique Varnish finish that I just love as they truly look like a guitar that's been well played & well loved. So with those three, plus a T184, it'll be fun to see what comes next. And have thought of inquiring if they could take a standard T184 and do an Antique Goldburst ( yum!!) on it.

But given your style of playing, I could see why the T184 would be the one to top. Something about the solid carve is just mojo laden to me.

[Bert]

Anderson, you are a huge help and thank you very much.
 
Yesterday a couple acoustic buddies stopped by for a session (ain't that what we do).  They both absolutely loved the AR805ce and neither play jazz or own an archtop.  We talked about the hardbody vs solid wood thinline, got a trustworthy confirmation on my T18X direction.

My one old friend plays in a contemporary music group in his church and is being pushed to get an electric for leads.  He's a very good guitarist, I mentioned the tube amp, effect electronics etc and he was like I know, urhhh.  But, an hardbody is probably the best route for him when push come to shove.  He's a Eastman guy for sure, but is in limbo, working his way along.  Acoustics with K&K have been his go-to for a long time.
 
I appreciate you, Don, Gary and others for being so good about sharing your knowledge and experience.  Sure is a relief to have a more clear direction for me.  And, I'm sharing your info with others, pay it forward.   
bert

[tamerlane]

Bert,
  I hear his "Urrhh..." regarding tube amps. There are some solid state options that ain't bad at all ( and this is coming from a tube snob---- I'm a worse tube snob than I was a Gibson Les Paul snob. But then I found Eastman! Maybe there's hope yet.....). The Quilter Microblock has pretty good tone, especially for being pedal sized; $145 new; and great construction. It says they're 30 watts with 8 ohm cabs, but in a side by side comparison, I found them to be the equivalent of a 10 watt tube amp. Which is loud. And plenty of volume for 95% of venues. One thing solid state can't do though, that a tube amp can, is picking dynamics. The responsiveness, which is kinds crucial for blues and blues rock like I mainly play , just ain't there with solid state. You need the old analog stuff for that. My favorite tube amps are converted American P.A. amps from the late 40's to late 50's. They were truly built to last--- and they have--- can be had for little coin and another $200 to convert them to a guitar amp.
 People are always amazed by the tone on mine. It's an American Stromberg Carlson from 1959. 22 watts. I did the conversion with a friend. I paid $130 for it. It literally kicks the butt off $2500/$3500 boutique tube builds. But another thing is I don't have to be fretful when taking it out to play, as first, it was cheap!  And second--- these things were built by a bunch of WW2 vets, and they built them like tanks! You can't kill 'em. If you're friend wants some recommendations along these lines, let me know as it's a fun thing for me.
Ciao