New Eastman Model: E20OM-MR-TC

[AlanSam]

Winfield - you have some great guitars. Question - what's the best mahogany guitar you've owned?

[Pura Vida]

Winfielder, congrats on the new guitar!  And wow, it seems like you have an amazing collection.  Can you give us a current rundown of your guitars?  It's so great that you're able to compare the E20D-TC vs. E20D-MR-TC vs. E8D-TC (Alpine) vs. Touchstone.  I'd love to hear all of those next to each other.  I will get to compare my incoming MRs vs. E40 and E20 standards (both dread and OM), as well as the E8D-TC Alpine.

[Winfielder]

what's the best mahogany guitar you've owned?

Very close race between

Martin D-18  (standard 2020)
Yairi DYM60HD
E10D-tc
E6D-tc sitka
E10D

I also have an E6D-tc Alpine that I haven't truly evaluated yet because it came with old strings and is still patiently waiting for new ones.

I think the DYM60HD has the potential to be the best, but it needs a better setup.  More aging would help, too:  it seems like a baked top would have been a perfect match with that 50 year old mahogany.  So right now the D-18 is the best.  I've never played any boutiques like a Preston Thompson, Boucher, Collings, Bourgeois, etc.

The guitar I play most is the E10D-tc because it's my favorite.  The normal E10D is my spirit animal, too, it's incredible for an $800 used guitar.  And the E6D-tc that I received a few days ago had quickly launched itself into contention for overall favorite, too.  They're all A+ guitars, it's just a matter of how many extra +'s they have at any given time as my preferences ebb and flow.

My sole guitar for 25 years was a Simon & Patrick SP6 (sitka over laminated mahogany), which I always liked very much.  I love all of the guitars listed above because they're essentially much more spectacular versions and variations of my longtime guitar.  Almost everything I play is originals, maybe a couple hundred of them, and almost all of them were written on mahogany, so they don't always sound right to me on a rosewood guitar.  Mahogany is 'home' for me; rosewood is the exotic temptress

[Pura Vida]

Both of my E20 MR TC guitars delivered this morning.  It's been a busy day, so I didn't really get to do anything more than take the cases out of the shipping boxes, let them warm up, and take a quick peek inside (and maybe a strum or two).  NGD thread(s) to follow, but initial impressions are quite good in the 60 seconds I've spent with each of them.  More to follow, once I get to play them (and possibly swap out the strings, which is my usual new guitar ritual).