eastwoods?

For guitars of the straight waisted variety (or reverse offset).
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nucleardonut
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Re: eastwoods?

Post by nucleardonut » Thu Jan 19, 2017 8:26 pm

There's Korean Eastwoods (which includes most/all of the "Airline" branded stuff), which is on par (both quality and price-wise) with everything else being made in Korea these days (Guild, Reverend). Then there's the Chinese-made stuff, which can be a bit hit-or-miss.

I think some folks have played only the Chinese stuff and concluded that all Eastwoods are crap.

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Re: eastwoods?

Post by noisepunk » Fri Jan 20, 2017 12:21 am

nucleardonut wrote:I think some folks have played only the Chinese stuff and concluded that all Eastwoods are crap.
Not this guy!

The korean stuff is pretty hit or miss too, in my experience.

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Re: eastwoods?

Post by Straight6DOHC » Fri Jan 20, 2017 6:44 am

brucer wrote:I was gassing for a 12-string and picked up an Eastwood Classic 12. I'm an old, middling garage band and basement player, so couldn't justify the price of a Gretsch or Rickenbacker (esp. being in Canada). I also didn't like the heel-adjust truss rod on the Danelectro, mostly due to the hassle of loosening and re-tuning 12 strings. The Eastwood fit the bill for me. Early days yet, but it's well-finished, feels nice and sounds good both acoustic and plugged in. Not a match, but compares favorably with the Gretsch that I recently tried in-store. A little heavy, but no more than my Eastman T486 (I clearly have nothing against a good Chinese-made guitar). At some point I'll get a bone nut installed and I'll probably rewire it with an additional master volume pot a la Gretsch, but overall it's a keeper.

Agree with the comments above re: resale and trades, but happy with mine.
I picked up a second hand one of these a few years ago. Maybe around £300 IIRC. I eventually changed the pickups for custom made ones from Mojo Pickups. I gererally play it with a Janglebox. I can't really fault the guitar for the price I paid and for what it is. Yhere's a wee bit of glue runs on the inside, you won't see that on even an Electromatic Gretsch, but, the fretwork and finish on the outside of the guitar is decent.

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Re: eastwoods?

Post by Subgenius » Fri Jan 20, 2017 3:59 pm

I've had 2 Eastwood Hi-Fliers. They are basically modern playing guitars but still have that vintage retro quirk look. My Hi-Fliers played nothing like a Univox ( kind of a good thing).

I like them but sometimes you can buy an original for as much and sometimes cheaper than an Eastwood . However you're not getting a guitar with the old guitar issues.

I personally like Easwoods.

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Re: eastwoods?

Post by brucer » Fri Jan 20, 2017 5:33 pm

Straight6DOHC wrote:
brucer wrote:I was gassing for a 12-string and picked up an Eastwood Classic 12 ...
I picked up a second hand one of these a few years ago. Maybe around £300 IIRC. I eventually changed the pickups for custom made ones from Mojo Pickups. I gererally play it with a Janglebox. I can't really fault the guitar for the price I paid and for what it is. Yhere's a wee bit of glue runs on the inside, you won't see that on even an Electromatic Gretsch, but, the fretwork and finish on the outside of the guitar is decent.
It does sound good with compression, for sure, especially with a treble switch. Which Mojo pickups did you get? I'm curious whether Filtertrons would be a drop-in swap or if there'd be more to it (new rings, routing?). Not that I'm looking to swap pickups ... yet ... but it seems like I inevitably do on all my guitars :whistle:
Blank.

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Re: eastwoods?

Post by August » Fri Jan 20, 2017 8:19 pm

I bought a new Classic 6 because it looked so cool, the price etc.. It had a few issues that were big enough to sour me to the Eastwood brand permanently:

- bar none, the heaviest guitar I've ever picked up
- bright and harsh, or completely dead and thin, those were the options.
- badly warped neck and sharp frets when new (not just sprout)

It looked perfect, but I found it unusable right from the moment I took it home, and it would have been a real crap shoot throwing money at some of the bigger issues it had. That was '05 or so. Hope they've upped their game since.

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Re: eastwoods?

Post by B » Sun Jan 22, 2017 1:55 am

noisepunk wrote:
nucleardonut wrote:I think some folks have played only the Chinese stuff and concluded that all Eastwoods are crap.
Not this guy!

The korean stuff is pretty hit or miss too, in my experience.
And more misses than hits... Just junk in my experience. FAR from straight necks, poor fretwork, garbage pickups, improper bridge placements. And EVERY one I have ever picked up (and owned, BTW) has been a lifeless blob. Yes, those were the Korean ones.

Love the idea of the line, but a D+ grade guitar for some of those prices is just stupid.

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Re: eastwoods?

Post by muffonrat » Sun Jan 22, 2017 6:05 am

Never played one of these but the airline series has the best headstock shape!

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Re: eastwoods?

Post by MKR » Wed Jan 25, 2017 10:29 am

so umm yeah. i just came home with one. Traded a telecaster for an Airline 59 2P. It's pretty rad. plays beautifully.

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Re: eastwoods?

Post by BoringPostcards » Thu Jan 26, 2017 12:31 am

I like that they build old school lost designs and manage to stay close enough to the old ones to still have the right look, but I don't know if I'd ever drop cash on one because I've read very few positive reviews on them. Most of what I've read is negative. Never having the chance to try one kills it for me too.
Det er mig der holder traeerne sammen.

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Re: eastwoods?

Post by MKR » Thu Jan 26, 2017 6:35 am

BoringPostcards wrote:I like that they build old school lost designs and manage to stay close enough to the old ones to still have the right look, but I don't know if I'd ever drop cash on one because I've read very few positive reviews on them. Most of what I've read is negative. Never having the chance to try one kills it for me too.
I gotta say mine is quite nice. Setting up was easy. Neck is fine, action is nice and low with no fret buzz. pickups sound cool. the impression i get from around the interwebs is that they're nice players. I would reckon they probably play a lot better than the actual vintage guitars they are replicating (like mgeek said).

In any event, i still think people over-value them. The one that i got in a trade was listed for $700 on kijiji which to me is way too much. If i was going to list it, i would put it up for $500.

I'll do up a more thorough review later today.

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Re: eastwoods?

Post by Con-Tiki! » Thu Jan 26, 2017 8:31 am

with photos, of course...
(Christopher, also)
I've been to one World's Fair, a picnic, and a rodeo, and that's the stupidest thing i ever heard come out a pair of headphones.

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Re: eastwoods?

Post by noisepunk » Thu Jan 26, 2017 9:50 am

MKR wrote:I would reckon they probably play a lot better than the actual vintage guitars they are replicating (like mgeek said).
My mid 60s supro has frets that aren't fully seated and a "that'll do" nut and it plays better than some of the eastwoods I've picked up, and the sound doesn't even compare. It's also completely serviceable and would play just as nicely as any fender or gibson if I put a little money into it. I bought the "modern features make it more playable" rhetoric when they first came out, but it just isn't true- they're quirky, not unlike jags and jazzmasters, but they're far from unplayable when you take care of them.

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Re: eastwoods?

Post by Con-Tiki! » Thu Jan 26, 2017 11:14 am

noisepunk wrote:
MKR wrote:I would reckon they probably play a lot better than the actual vintage guitars they are replicating (like mgeek said).
My mid 60s supro has frets that aren't fully seated and a "that'll do" nut and it plays better than some of the eastwoods I've picked up, and the sound doesn't even compare. It's also completely serviceable and would play just as nicely as any fender or gibson if I put a little money into it. I bought the "modern features make it more playable" rhetoric when they first came out, but it just isn't true- they're quirky, not unlike jags and jazzmasters, but they're far from unplayable when you take care of them.
I have to agree.
i have 4 Supro/Airline guitars right now. None have adjustable trussrods, all have perfectly straight necks with good playability.
The wood-bodied guitars have fat, round neck profiles (which i like, but might not be for everyone). The two Resoglas models have much thinner, more modern profiles.
I love them all.

I think, if they have any shortcoming, it's the ergonomics. They put swiches and knobs in odd places. The Eastwoods, and the new Supro guitars have done the same thing, so...

It can also be difficult to coax a "pretty" sound out of those original Vistatone pickups, which again, is something i like.
Maybe the Eastwoods are a little more normal-sounding.
(Christopher, also)
I've been to one World's Fair, a picnic, and a rodeo, and that's the stupidest thing i ever heard come out a pair of headphones.

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Re: eastwoods?

Post by Mike S » Mon Feb 13, 2017 8:36 pm

I bought one of the original Hi Flyers instead of the new Phase 4's. It turned out to be heavy and the neck's fairly uncomfortable. It's also too bad that the non-Fender floating tremolo's don't lock. I'm planning on trying to retrofit the Mosrite-style P90's with the recreation of the Univox humbuckers, but if that doesn't work, I'd rather sell the thing.

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