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Welcome to the New Golden Age!

During the 1920’s, guitar maker Lloyd Loar sparked the archtop revolution and ushered in the Golden Age of guitar making. Instruments from this period are coveted for their brilliance of tone, beauty, and craftsmanship.

The luthiers at Eastman Strings, famous for building some of the most highly regarded violins and cellos of the late 20th century, have now turned their attention and skills toward the handcrafting of guitars and mandolins. If you are searching for unequalled tonal brilliance, ease of playing, and beautiful woodcraft, you will find all these things and more in an Eastman

 

Praise For Eastman

“The biggest surprise in the archtop field comes from Eastman Strings.”
Acoustic Guitar magazine

“Eastman is positioned to storm the archtop world with a product so far exceeding the current accepted notion of price/quality ratio that it is likely to cause bedlam in the archtop manufacturers world.”
Just Jazz Guitar magazine

“These are great sounding guitars that can stand up against the best, regardless of price! ...Bring on the big band, because this guitar is a rhythm monster!"
20th Century Guitar magazine

“With an understated elegance enhanced by a lovely violin style finish and lack of ornamental decor, Eastman Strings’ AR810E archtop guitar is an overtone-rich, high-projection instrument perfect for guitarists who desire a straight-ahead jazz ax that’s equally capable of sensitive solos or driving rhythms at a price that won’t risk eviction.”
Down Beat magazine

“Perfect, stereotypical jazz guitar tone, right out of the box; no fiddling with the amp, no fussing with the guitar; just turn the tone control down to about 6 and there it was...”
Vintage Guitar magazine

“The Uptown hypnotizes with its classic look and beautiful sound.”
Jazz Times magazine

 

Finish Options

Eastman's Spirit Varnish:

Our luthiers are renowned world-wide for the quality of their hand-applied spirit varnish. Drawing on generations of expertise gained in the world of violins, Eastman has perfected a finish that enhances both the beauty and tone of the instrument.

Classic
shades from dark red-brown to golden-brown

Golden Age
shades from orange-brown to light yellow-brown

Eastman's Rich Lacquer:

To create this handsome finish, our luthiers use spirit varnish and finish with two coats of lacquer. The lacquer is then buffed back almost to the spirit varnish leaving the protection of lacquer and the luster of spirit varnish.

Classic
shades from dark red-brown to golden-brown

Golden Age
shades from orange-brown to light yellow-brown

Sunburst
shades from dark red-brown to golden-yellow

Classic/Sunburst
Sunburst finish top with Classic finish back

Blonde
light yellow-brown/natural wood finish

 

Warranty

Eastman Strings warrants its instruments to be free of defect
in material and construction for the lifetime of the product.
Cases are warranted to be free of defect in materials and
workmanship for one year from the date of purchase. For
complete details including limitations and restrictions please
visit
www.eastmanstrings.com

 

Download Eastman catalogue in pdf