Eastwood Guitars

[KRamone27]

Does anybody here own one of these and if so do they feel and sound like a good quality guitar? I checked Harmony central for reviews, all up in the high 9's but I'm questioning the credibility of the reviewers. Kevin

[dubtrub]

64sunburst owns one. See it here.

[64sunburst]

I own an Eastwood Sidejack, which is their inspired-by-Mosrite guitar. I've gigged for 25+ years(part time-weekends) so I think I know guitars somewhat. The Sidejack is made in China(my first Made in PRC guitar) but is a nicely built guitar. Construction and cosmetics are very good. The only flaw is a half-inch finish crack near the neck joint - or at least I hope it's a finish crack. Oh, and the nut does tend to bind a bit. But other than that I can't complain - neck was straight and action set-up very nicely. Well, I hate the Burns vibrato on it, but that's a part selection issue. It sounds great and the greenburst looks fabulous too. I've had the guitar for 7 months and while I haven't gigged with it that much, it has always sounded great and played well. Will the guitar hold up over time? That's a good question, but from what I can tell, I think it will. I'll be keeping an eye on that finish crack just the same, but the neck does feel stable. But I can say that it is definitely NOT a shoddy piece of cr@p. If there are any problems, Mike Robinson of Eastwood is very responsive - he's good to deal with.

If Eastwood can keep the prices down, then I think they are a good value. I saw Rick Holstrum(I think that's his name) playing a green Eastwood Tuxedo(?) on the Leno show backing up Mavis Staples. Man, what a cool and funky tone he had. I almost bought one of those just on the basis of that TV spot. So overall I'd say they are good guitars as long as you can get a good price on them. Hope this helps.

Byron

[64sunburst]

I should mention, if you're asking specifically about the Sidejack and how it compares to a Mosrite, I'd say it's a nice guitar but does not sound anything like a Mosrite. A Hallmark would be worth the extra cost if you want a Mosrite clone. But if you're wondering about the Eastwoods in general, and I've tried out other models, they all seem like good guitars.


Byron

[MWaldorf]

I had a chance to try a Saturn '63 model, and I was pleasantly surprised. The Jag style vibrato was smooth, the neck felt nice, the tone was good and the hardware felt substantial. I'm not in need of any new guitars at the moment, but I think their guitars are cool and among the more imaginative in their price range on the market.

[KRamone27]

I'm just trying to get an idea of what they're like from people that own one and actually gig with them on the weekends and spend time with it. I was adding up my budget for my JRM2 project and for the extra $100 I could buy the JR Elite model and then upgrade it with better pickups, pots etc... over time.

[JohnnySpitfire]

I've got an Eastwood Airline Map and i love it, really well made guitar for the price. Sounds great through my blues deluxe, really chunky. Holds up well to a bit of down tuning too (which my fillmore hates).
Neck is quite Gibson-esque.

I second the opinion of Mike Robinson as well, he's a pleasure to deal with.

http://www.eastwoodguitars.com/GTRs/airline-Map/airline-Map_frm.htm

[cityrat27]

i have play many guitars.. fender strat, gibson les paul, epi les paul, ibanez RG, and The Johnny ramone signature by MJ,... and and and...

but non of this guitars had a so small neck-profile than the Hi-flyeR! thats great to play... all chords and notes grippen easy! u can play very fast with this neck!
the fabrication is really good... all bands are ocatve-clean and the edges are roundet!
the neck is glued and is a gibson mensure!
the mechanics are sensitive and from good parents!
the paint is also top!

the sound is a mix from the Les paul juinior (thinking at the billy joe armstrong modell) to a lil bit fender standart stratocoaster!

when you play distortion you get a lil bit humbucking ramones sound on a marshall-tube amp!
u know... with much overtones and still a good bass-basement when u play muted!
its not a guitar to play heavy metal but u can play a moderat gain-level with a acceptable interference grade! with a noisegate u can kill this hiss!

clean is also very good.. its sounds like mosrite! not more to say !

the only detriment were the P90 pickups... they startet early with microphonie!
but when u replace them or wax them u have no problem with them anymore!
i personally wax them cause i like the sound of this pickups and now they dont generate a unwated Feedback all the time!

sorry for my bad english but I´m an austrian..

cheers

[Nokie Van Reinhardt]

I own a Sidejack DLX and my only beef is the Burns tremolo which has been replaced by a Strat style arm on the newer models. Outside of that it's a nice player with some cool tones.

[Sixstringer]

The only experience I had was with one that was at a Guitar Center in West Palm Beach. It was a midnight blue color JR Elite (which I thought was odd). I had the thing in my hand and almost bought it, but decided not to. I probably would have if it was a white one. I just searched it, I guess it's still there. It was the first week in May when I looked at it. From what I remember it was in dire need of a set up, but otherwise ok.