..yeah.. i'm not used to these switch-ups.
But the pluses far outweigh the drawbacks with Eastman.
For me, on this purchase (eastman ac822ce) it was a replacement guitar for my beloved 1984 Martin OM-28.. i just needed something more reliable for performance.
Nitro was a checklist "must have" item for me on this and I took a lot of pains to make sure that it was.. (talked with sales at the seller, spec sheet said it was, etc..) and then 8 weeks later i find out that they switched it all out behind the scenes, didn't warn or say this change happened 6 months ago and the worst is that there is still no authoritative info on exactly what this Truetone is. I talked with Mark yesterday and he seems like a great guy and super knowledgeable about these guitars and their production. Mark says it's a "water-based lacquer that's very close to nitro. Thinner than nitro. Looks and feels like nitro. Ages like nitro. " Yet the Eastman memo calls it a "dual urethane". Are those the same thing? I'm not qualified to know really.
Dana at Bourgeois has three different proprietary finishes that he offers. If this is from Dana then which one is it?
The good thing is that it's probably a very good finish in the long run, on many levels.
I do love the guitar and I do like the finish.
I feel a lot better about what I have after talking with Mark. I just don't like surprises like this on a $2,130 purchase.
But the pluses far outweigh the drawbacks with Eastman.
For me, on this purchase (eastman ac822ce) it was a replacement guitar for my beloved 1984 Martin OM-28.. i just needed something more reliable for performance.
Nitro was a checklist "must have" item for me on this and I took a lot of pains to make sure that it was.. (talked with sales at the seller, spec sheet said it was, etc..) and then 8 weeks later i find out that they switched it all out behind the scenes, didn't warn or say this change happened 6 months ago and the worst is that there is still no authoritative info on exactly what this Truetone is. I talked with Mark yesterday and he seems like a great guy and super knowledgeable about these guitars and their production. Mark says it's a "water-based lacquer that's very close to nitro. Thinner than nitro. Looks and feels like nitro. Ages like nitro. " Yet the Eastman memo calls it a "dual urethane". Are those the same thing? I'm not qualified to know really.
Dana at Bourgeois has three different proprietary finishes that he offers. If this is from Dana then which one is it?
The good thing is that it's probably a very good finish in the long run, on many levels.
I do love the guitar and I do like the finish.
I feel a lot better about what I have after talking with Mark. I just don't like surprises like this on a $2,130 purchase.
