RomanS
Poster Extraordinaire
I've been getting back into playing more acoustic guitar during the last 2 or 3 years, after playing mainly electric for the last decade.
The only acoustic (aside from a Loar acoustic archtop) I had was an old Guild GAD30 I bought in the mid-'00s - great sounding little thing, but over the years, after playing mainly Teles with fat baseball bat necks (Warmoth Fatback & Boatneck profiles), I've come to dislike its super-thin neck, and it also has developped some problems - very worn frets (needs a refret), a crack in the top behind the bridge, and a rattling sound (loose bracing?)
I got a '69 Harmony H167 2 years ago (very nice FAT neck, looks super cool - but it's a bit fragile, and it is very quiet - great for solo fingerpicking, but nothing much else).
I also got on the waiting list for an Iris OG as a treat for my 50th birthday, but the waiting time for those is loooong...
Well, I recently started playing with an acoustic only band, and I attended a bluegrass camp - and I've been lusting for a nice dreadnaught ever since...
But since that Iris is going to cost quite a bit, it needed to be something "affordable"; plus, I wanted something with a neck that wasn't super thin - which immediately ruled out all "budget" Martin models, with their terrible "modified low oval" neck profile - most uncomfortable neck ever, feels like an '80s Ibanez shredder... Same thing with most other "affordable" dreadnaughts, thin necks only...
Also, guitar stores here in town don't have a great selection of good acoustics, no way to try out stuff, had to rely on hearsay and order by mail...
I was set on getting a Takamine EF340S-TT, because it's supposed to have a super fat neck - but got to try the rosewood version of that at the bluegrass camp recently, and while the neck is great, indeed, it had a super-thick "dipped in glass" poly finish (hate the look of that, I prefer more "rustic" finishes); didn't sound that great, either...
A Yamaha FG3 I played sounded great, the neck was OK, but I couldn't get over the Halloween pumpkin orange finish...
Now, Eastman has been on my radar, but none of the stores here have a lot of those - I tried an E1OM that was great (but not what I was looking for), another one of those that was so-so, and an E1D that was OK, but being their shop demo, had super-tarnished frets, and a few dings; neck on that wasn't a super fat baseball bat, but kinda "mid-size plus" (just like on those E1OMs I tried).
Well, with a lack of options I started looking for E1Ds online, and found an appealing one at TFOA in the Netherlands; that store has a great reputation; but what attracted me immediately was the amount of "silking" on the top of the E1D they had for sale - silking, which is most visible on perfectly quartersawn Sitka spruce tops, is said to be an indicator for exceptional sounding instruments.
So, took the gamble, ordered it -- and got lucky!
The E1D I received plays super nice - the neck is chunky (.93" at the first fret), more so than the one I tried at the store; it was set up quite well (I wouldn't have minded slightly higher action - but it came with 12s, I prefer 13s, will try those on the first string change), very nice fretwork, and that open-pore finish feels very "fast" (and looks great, too, much better than the plastic-y thick gloss finish usually found in that price range).
But best of all: It sounds amazing! Super-lively, plenty of bass, plenty of treble, it's the proverbial "rings like a bell" tone - really great guitar, love it!
For some reason, my E1D came with a red-ish pickguard, different from the dark brown one found on most of the ones you see online; that red matches the shade of the mahogany back and sides perfectly, so I'm not complaining!
Look at that nice chunky neck, and awesome feeling open-pore finish - can't get any less sticky than that (I usually only put a single coat of TruOil on my Tele necks, and sand down lacquered necks, can't stand that sticky feeling of a gloss neck).
Those tuners are great, too, not as ugly as clunky Grover/Schaller types, but just as smooth, and these even have screws on the buttons, for adjusting how tight they feel (rare with open-back tuners).
And look at the gorgeous silking on that top, rare to find in that price range:
EDIT: Should have cleaned that finger print on the bridge, before taking the photo...
The only acoustic (aside from a Loar acoustic archtop) I had was an old Guild GAD30 I bought in the mid-'00s - great sounding little thing, but over the years, after playing mainly Teles with fat baseball bat necks (Warmoth Fatback & Boatneck profiles), I've come to dislike its super-thin neck, and it also has developped some problems - very worn frets (needs a refret), a crack in the top behind the bridge, and a rattling sound (loose bracing?)
I got a '69 Harmony H167 2 years ago (very nice FAT neck, looks super cool - but it's a bit fragile, and it is very quiet - great for solo fingerpicking, but nothing much else).
I also got on the waiting list for an Iris OG as a treat for my 50th birthday, but the waiting time for those is loooong...
Well, I recently started playing with an acoustic only band, and I attended a bluegrass camp - and I've been lusting for a nice dreadnaught ever since...
But since that Iris is going to cost quite a bit, it needed to be something "affordable"; plus, I wanted something with a neck that wasn't super thin - which immediately ruled out all "budget" Martin models, with their terrible "modified low oval" neck profile - most uncomfortable neck ever, feels like an '80s Ibanez shredder... Same thing with most other "affordable" dreadnaughts, thin necks only...
Also, guitar stores here in town don't have a great selection of good acoustics, no way to try out stuff, had to rely on hearsay and order by mail...
I was set on getting a Takamine EF340S-TT, because it's supposed to have a super fat neck - but got to try the rosewood version of that at the bluegrass camp recently, and while the neck is great, indeed, it had a super-thick "dipped in glass" poly finish (hate the look of that, I prefer more "rustic" finishes); didn't sound that great, either...
A Yamaha FG3 I played sounded great, the neck was OK, but I couldn't get over the Halloween pumpkin orange finish...
Now, Eastman has been on my radar, but none of the stores here have a lot of those - I tried an E1OM that was great (but not what I was looking for), another one of those that was so-so, and an E1D that was OK, but being their shop demo, had super-tarnished frets, and a few dings; neck on that wasn't a super fat baseball bat, but kinda "mid-size plus" (just like on those E1OMs I tried).
Well, with a lack of options I started looking for E1Ds online, and found an appealing one at TFOA in the Netherlands; that store has a great reputation; but what attracted me immediately was the amount of "silking" on the top of the E1D they had for sale - silking, which is most visible on perfectly quartersawn Sitka spruce tops, is said to be an indicator for exceptional sounding instruments.
So, took the gamble, ordered it -- and got lucky!
The E1D I received plays super nice - the neck is chunky (.93" at the first fret), more so than the one I tried at the store; it was set up quite well (I wouldn't have minded slightly higher action - but it came with 12s, I prefer 13s, will try those on the first string change), very nice fretwork, and that open-pore finish feels very "fast" (and looks great, too, much better than the plastic-y thick gloss finish usually found in that price range).
But best of all: It sounds amazing! Super-lively, plenty of bass, plenty of treble, it's the proverbial "rings like a bell" tone - really great guitar, love it!
For some reason, my E1D came with a red-ish pickguard, different from the dark brown one found on most of the ones you see online; that red matches the shade of the mahogany back and sides perfectly, so I'm not complaining!
Look at that nice chunky neck, and awesome feeling open-pore finish - can't get any less sticky than that (I usually only put a single coat of TruOil on my Tele necks, and sand down lacquered necks, can't stand that sticky feeling of a gloss neck).
Those tuners are great, too, not as ugly as clunky Grover/Schaller types, but just as smooth, and these even have screws on the buttons, for adjusting how tight they feel (rare with open-back tuners).
And look at the gorgeous silking on that top, rare to find in that price range:
EDIT: Should have cleaned that finger print on the bridge, before taking the photo...
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