# NGD: Archtop



## Trespass (Jul 15, 2011)

Had the opportunity to snag an Eastman AR805ce at an unbeatable price. 

Hand carved top and sides, all solid woods. 16" bout, 3" deep. Kent Armstrong pickup, beautiful art deco tuners. As always, pictures don't even come close.

To the left is the work of an archtop luthier friend of mine, a 17" cutaway New Yorker style archtop. Maybe 2.5" depth vs. the full 3" the Eastman has.

**Beware: Awful picture taking skills**

































*Fret Access:*
In terms of fret access, on the Eastman I can comfortably play up to the 10th fret (assuming pointer on 10th, pinky on 13th). The cutaway on the New Yorker, I can easily play lines with the pinky on 16th fret. I've been playing this in jazz groups and in a lot of different groups the past month, so I've gotten pretty good at playing up to the 15th fret by sliding my hand around and fretting like a cellist, but it's really only to hit a few notes.

*Sound:*
I originally purchased it with the idea of playing it acoustically (I play a Godin 5th Avenue without the pickup at the moment). However, it has an amazing plugged in tone with flats. I was floored. Currently, it has .012 DR Zebras on it (http://www.drstrings.com/catalog/zebra-wound-round-cores), which are acoustic strings with a nickel wind that still allow it to be picked up by the pickup. 

With proper acoustic strings, it sounds amazing acoustically. That rich, archtop tone. Not a whole lot of volume, but an incredible amount of sweetness and character. With flatwound (Thomastik Bebop 13s I believe were on there, I saved them regardless), it is incredible plugged in. Altogether not feeling how it sounds with typical roundwounds.

Definitely planning on trying the Benson set (flatwound 14s) once I stop using it as an acoustic guitar.

*Finish:*
The finish is really lightly applied polish of some kind. Unfortunately, it's quite easy to get dirty and stay dirty (fingerprints as witnessed in the image). There isn't a whole lot I can use to get them out, and what is approved to use on french polish isn't that strong. To be honest, I'm not really bothered at all, as most of the time I'm playing it in a fairly dimly lit club.


***Bonus Pic**:* Playing it as part of the Toronto Jazz Festival**


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## SirMyghin (Jul 15, 2011)

Beautiful axes there.


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## IB-studjent- (Jul 15, 2011)

I've never had GAS for an archtop.......I do now.....


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## technomancer (Jul 16, 2011)

VERY nice


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## MaxOfMetal (Jul 16, 2011)

Win.


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## yingmin (Jul 17, 2011)

What was the "unbeatable" price? There was an 805CE at a Guitar Center for $1000, and I was having a really hard time talking myself out of buying that one. Good thing it's been sold.

By the way, this is an 805E. The "C" is for cutaway, which this guitar doesn't have.


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## AcousticMinja (Jul 17, 2011)

This is porn. 

Amazing. Nice score there!


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## Trespass (Jul 17, 2011)

yingmin said:


> What was the "unbeatable" price? There was an 805CE at a Guitar Center for $1000, and I was having a really hard time talking myself out of buying that one. Good thing it's been sold.
> 
> By the way, this is an 805E. The "C" is for cutaway, which this guitar doesn't have.



You're right, my mistake.

That's a crazy price, you definitely should have purchased it. I play a lot of archtops these days (I live near The 12 Fret) as well as hang out with a professional luthier who specializes in archtops, and I can confidently say that they either are equal to or better any factory made guitar in the $2500-$3000 range.

I've directly compared my Eastman to the handmade guitar above, as well as a $8000 Gibson Le Grande (Currently at the Long & McQuade at Ossington & Bloor here in Toronto).


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## yingmin (Jul 18, 2011)

Trespass said:


> That's a crazy price, you definitely should have purchased it.



I know, but I've spent so much money on gear recently that I'm trying really hard not to make any more big purchases for a while. Every once in a while something still slips through, though. Eh, there will be others, maybe not for THAT cheap, but still much cheaper than new. Really, I think I'd rather just hold out for a 7-string, anyway. Too bad those aren't as likely to show up used.


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## Trespass (Jul 19, 2011)

These guitars used, have the greatest price to performance ratio I've ever seen/heard/played.


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## Nonservium (Jul 27, 2011)

Holy shit, both of those guitars are sexy. My hats off to you sir.


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## Guamskyy (Jul 27, 2011)

beautiful


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## floyo123 (Jul 28, 2011)

I can just agree ... beautiful!


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## trenolds39 (Jul 29, 2011)

I've been looking at getting a nicer archtop, and Eastman 805 series are on the top of the list. Are these made in the US? I find it difficult to believe at that price point.


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## yingmin (Jul 30, 2011)

trenolds39 said:


> I've been looking at getting a nicer archtop, and Eastman 805 series are on the top of the list. Are these made in the US? I find it difficult to believe at that price point.



They're made in China, but don't let that scare you. Chinese production doesn't necessarily mean that it's bad; it just USUALLY does.


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## Trespass (Jul 30, 2011)

trenolds39 said:


> I've been looking at getting a nicer archtop, and Eastman 805 series are on the top of the list. Are these made in the US? I find it difficult to believe at that price point.



It's right beside a 100% Canadian made and wood sourced archtop by a Toronto luthier in the pictures above. I believe that says something about the quality of their work. By no means is it the be all end all, but they are unbeatable in price-performance.


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## SirMyghin (Jul 31, 2011)

yingmin said:


> They're made in China, but don't let that scare you. Chinese production doesn't necessarily mean that it's bad; it just USUALLY does.



The deal is they are not an import in the sense a large company making a cheaper offshore line. They are a company of their own, importing work they take pride in to us, it just costs less due to exchange rate. (not correcting you, just clarifying for the other guy)


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## GATA4 (Aug 3, 2011)

Terrible GAS for something like this 

Amazing acquisition, sir.


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## Nyarlath (Aug 6, 2011)

An entirely different world. Break out some Django or Wes!


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## engage757 (Aug 8, 2011)

yingmin said:


> They're made in China, but don't let that scare you. Chinese production doesn't necessarily mean that it's bad; it just USUALLY does.



Agreed, in most cases.
These are actually handmade in China. A buddy of mine is a studio multi-instrumentalist and he just switched all his mandolins to Eastman. With the exception of their finishes being a little shoddy, these guitars are TOTALLY on point. My local shop has a bunch of them they can't sell. People should just play the instrument and not get off on Fender's bullshit of "making us pay more for the country the CNC machine is in". Eastman makes a fine product, made me rethink China. 

congrats dude! That's a beauty! That back is pure sex! I am thinking of snagging a Pisano model soon!


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