It marks easily, but is repairable and lets the wood breathe.Īside from its visual impact, the impression of that old-school hand-build is enhanced by quite a textured feel to the neck back, for example. It’s a fairly lengthy process and is nowhere near as hard as a nitrocellulose or the more commonly used polyurethane, polyester or acrylic. It comes from Eastman’s extensive experience in orchestral stringed instruments and is applied by hand.įrench polish is actually the process, not the material, though it’s typically a shellac dissolved in alcohol. But it’s the finish, an antiqued ‘French polish’, that’ll be hugely polarising. Unlike many modern single-cuts, it’s not chambered, nor weight-relived, and achieves a pretty good if substantial-feeling weight of 8.7lbs. The neck-to-body angle is steep, too, meaning that the tune-o-matic seemingly sits quite high off the body. The 15.5mm-thick headstock has a matching ebony facing (and truss rod cover) and pearl inlaid logo, and a very Gibson-like top lip along with a steep back angle. The neck, with single-action truss rod, is one piece (there are no headstock-widening wings), while the classic LP ‘crown’ inlays are referred to as ‘Ocean’ pearl and provide the only bling with a subtle sparkle against the bound ebony ’board. It’s certainly made of the right stuff: the mahogany back is one piece, the top centre-joined with a far-from-classic tiger striped maple top but with a nicely deep, violin-like dishing. Shape-wise, it’s slightly fuller in the lower bouts than a Les Paul, but it’s the rounded horn - reminiscent of Gibson’s Les Paul Personal - that immediately provides visual difference. In fact, if we didn’t know better, we might think that ‘Eastman’ was a solo maker working back in the 70s hand-making electric guitars in a garden shed.Īs we noticed when we first looked at these Chinese-made ‘antique’ constructs, when you open the case you do a double-take: is this really a new guitar? It’s obviously a close cousin of the classic Les Paul with virtually zero nods to modernism. Eastman SB59/v Eastman’s first solidbody falls into the former ‘vintage’ category, but our sample - a pre-production prototype of this new design - looks altogether more hand-fashioned than a late 50s ’Burst.
0 kommentar(er)
