Yet another new owner thread

pL9577 · 02-02-2023, 06:08 PM

I just picked up an AC422CE on Reverb. It came today and I'm quite happy. I've been playing for about 30 years. I've had several electrics (a strat, a les paul, and a jaguar) over the years and I have a very nice 12-string guitar, but for a 6-string acoustic, I've always just played the 1994 Fender AG-15 I bought in high school, and the top is starting to cave in, the bridge pulling up slightly, etc. and it just isn't worth putting any time and/or money into a $249 guitar from 1994. The guitar appears to be in perfect condition. It plays great. Action measures at just a hair more than 3/32" at the low E and just a hair more than 2/32" at the high E, so pretty close to spec. Neck is straight, no dead or buzzing frets. Overall, my first impression is pretty good.

I have three questions for the much more knowledgable than me folks here. :-)

1. The serial number is 1685XXXX. I'm assuming that's the 2016-2019 serial number scheme and that it was made in Nov/Dec of 2018. Can anyone help me confirm that?

2. It doesn't have a pick-guard. I'm not sure if that's an issue or not for me yet, but if I decide I want one, can I get one from Eastman or do folks recommend something else?

3. It has the Fishman (matrix VT I assume from the reading I've done) pickup in it. It appears Eastman used to put the Schettler Lydia in this model, switched to the Fishman, and then to the LR Baggs in the current year models. I haven't even put a battery in it yet to listen to it, but what are people's opinions about this pickups? Does anyone know why Eastman moved away from the others?

Thanks. I'm glad to be here!

Aahzz · 02-02-2023, 06:16 PM

I can't answer those questions, but welcome, and happy NGD!!

**Pura Vida** · 02-02-2023, 06:22 PM

Welcome and congrats on the new AC422CE. That was the very first Eastman guitar I played, and the sound has stayed with me. I think that Eastman's AC models compare very favorably to Taylor, who are obviously best known for this body style.

As for your questions:
1. this is likely correct, based on the SN logic.

2. Eastman guards are pre-installed, so I doubt they have one in Pomona. But it never hurts to ask them (nothing ventured, nothing gained). There was a time that Eastman didn't pre-install guards, and some owners remove them, so it's nothing to be concerned about. If you can't get a guard from Eastman, you can look online. Many of us recommend Holter Pickguards. Taylor Mullins (owner) makes high quality, custom guards, and he's also a great human.

3. Eastman changes things for various reasons. It could be supply or vendor relationships, or it could simply be that they want to move onto something else. We've seen this a lot in their electric models, where the pickups change over the years. The Fishman Matrix VT probably helped them hit a price point, but it's good enough for most players.

Victor Vector · 02-02-2023, 06:27 PM

Beauty! Nice score. Personally I'd keep it just like it is, no pickguard, but thats just me Smile

As far as your other q's, the only S/N scheme that I am familiar with is the early ones from 2010 so couldn't tell ya. Plug it in n play and see how you like the PUP before wondering if its any good or not or all that other stuff....my guess is you probably will. Smile

Welcome to the forum!

**Pura Vida** · 02-02-2023, 06:30 PM

Victor, this was just updated on the EGF Resources sub-forum. Eastman finally unlocked the mystery to their s/n logic.

https://www.eastmanguitarfans.com/Thread-Serial-Numbers

Guzzi Fan · 02-02-2023, 10:14 PM

Congratulations on the AC422CE purchase pL9577!

Welcome to the EGF!

Rod

pL9577 · 02-04-2023, 01:32 PM

Hi again everyone. Thanks for the replies. I'm pretty confident it's a 2018 and I think I'm cool with no pick-guard. I still haven't gotten a 9V battery in there to test out the pickup, but I will later today. I'm assuming I need to loosen the strings to be able reach up to the neck heel inside the body to replace the battery. (This is my first acoustic electric... :-)

One additional question, does anyone who has or has had an AC422CE find the tuners to be the weak link of the guitar? I'm really loving it so far, but the G string tuner in particular is a little sloppy. It will go sharp after tuning and then when I attempt to back off on the string, the knob moves and then string slips a bit after I've turned the knob. According the Eastman website, the current year models come with Ping RM 1171-CVR 3+3 tuners. Not sure if mine (2018 I think) has the same ones or not. If I decide to upgrade, does anyone have suggestions? The tuners on there look a lot like the grover locking tuners I have on my Les Paul in terms of size, and the one screw on the bottom of each tuner. I want to say I saw a thread about upgrading to Grovers on one of the forums when I was doing my initial research before purchasing the guitar, but I can't remember exactly. When I upgraded to the Grovers (on my Les Paul), I had to ream out the holes in the headstock to a larger diameter. The factory tuners had 2 screws on each and the Grovers had only 1, so I filled the extra holes and did some touch up finish work. I was comfortable doing that on a $400 Epiphone but I don't want to do anything like that on a $1300 Eastman, so I'd want something that was a direct replacement.

Thanks again for all your help!

**Pura Vida** · 02-04-2023, 04:05 PM

Others can chime in on replacement suggestions. But before you do that, you may want to check the nut slot on that G string. Perhaps it just needs an adjustment or some graphite to help keep the string from sticking.

pL9577 · 02-04-2023, 04:55 PM

Thank you. I wondered that as well, but I did end up getting a new 9V today, and when I went to put it in, I loosened the strings and the G tuner knob just started spinning after loosening a bit. I was able to tighten it back up so it's playable for now, but something is definitely wrong with the tuner. The other 5 seem to work great.

As for the pickup, I did get it working and it sounds pretty good. I'm happy with it although the level is much lower than my electrics, so I have to turn some combination of the volume/master volume on my amp up to compensate, but it's not noisy and sounds good. I'm not sure the tone knob does much, but the volume knob works and it sounds good. As this is my first acoustic electric, does anyone know if that's normal (to have to turn the amp up higher than with an electric guitar with passive pickups)?

So, I'm happy with the pickup sound and I guess the answer to this next question isn't that important, but I'm curious anyway. :-)

Does anyone know what model Fishman was in the 2018 AC422CE? I have an Eastman catalog PDF from 2018 that I found on this site (thanks to whomever posted all those), but that year's catalog doesn't really mention the AC422CE model specifically. The only electronics mentioned in that catalog is the Fishman Sonitone. I also did get an owner's manual with my guitar, but it's in (presumably) chinese (not sure if that's normal either). In other research I was doing before I bought the guitar, I had found references to the Fishman Matrix Infinity VT (I think). However, when I compare the board that I can see inside my guitar to pictures online, it doesn't look like any of them. What is printed on the board is Fishman TVT Rev2 459-000-108, which yields no results on Google. Like I said, not a huge deal, but I am curious if anyone knows. (I can post pictures of the board and transducer if that helps anyone.) Thanks again for humoring me. I'm obviously pretty excited about this latest addition to my collection.

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