Eastman Mandolins

[dwc]

I've played an Eastman 805(which I own) a Weber Hyalite and a Gibson A-9 and I played them within a few days of one another. This particular A-9 did not excite me in terms of chop or tone when I played it. My teacher thinks its great and wants to buy it. I told him when he did, I would buy his Hyalite because I think it sounds great. I really think there is a lot of "the grass is greener on the other side" going on.
All three are good instruments and the thing I noticed most was that I still sound pretty lame no matter which instrument I was playing. My teacher sounds great on both my Eastman and the Hyalite.
There are sound clips of an Eastman around somewhere and that Eastman (and the player) sounds great. I have decided that in my case more lessons and more practice will upgrade my tone far more than an instrument upgrade.

[ShaneJ]

Absolutely. The TARHEELS are the GREATEST! I'm tempted to stop at Home Depot and get a gallon of sky blue paint on the way home, just for old time's sake. Maybe I'll just have a Pabst BLUE Ribbon instead....

Mark

JML...everything at HD is orange. You'd better go to Lowe's instead (they're blue).

[meskalito]

615 vs. 815? How much better is the 815 back?

I can't find any decent comparative photos.

[bdisp]

....good one SJ.........ya' reckon HD sells Carolina blue rirght now???.....

[J. Mark Lane]

JML...everything at HD is orange. #You'd better go to Lowe's instead (they're blue).

Uhhhhhh....Dang, I can't think of anything clever to say.

[meskalito]

Sorry, I can't see them.

[Skittle]

Thank you. Lets have all Eastman owners post a JPEG of their mandolin on this thread.

[bjc]

Do Eastman's come in blue or orange?

[bjc]

SKY BLUE I suppose?

[meskalito]

Is it wrong to say that I like the even grain of the 615 better than the high flame of the 815 (at least this second)?

Thanks a lot for all the pictures. This is a very helpful thread.

[mpeknox]

My Eastman MD605 located in another thread.

[GnomeGrown]

I believe I read in another thread that the differences between the models were primarily cosmetic, flame in wood, binding, etc...

does anyone else feel this is the case?

[travers chandler]

I own a 605 and find it to be the best of the Eastman's I have played....To address some of what was being said earlier.....now obviously mandolins differ....but I went to pickers supply a few weeks ago with my 605 and did some comparisons...I played 2 gibson 9's neither of which compared to the eastman...the only two I played that beat my 605 was a collings(of course!!!) and another eastman...an 805 which had a killer sound....now obviously this was just a small comparison...and obviously my eastman probably wouldn't hold up as well as compared to higher end american made mandos but I have found that my 605 holds up really well on stage and in studio...I have played a lot of mandos professionally and non professionally and I have found that my eastman holds it's own and does very well on the road and it has opened a little....Now I am not saying it is the greatest mando on the planet by no means but it does very well for what I need playing bluegrass music and I will sing Eastman's praises far and wide.....

[mpeknox]

I will sing Eastman's praises far and wide.....

Testify brother!! The more the merrier IMHO. My 605 is killer too.

[JEStanek]

I'll jump on board. #I just my 814 from Steve Perry's fine shop yesterday. #Stunning. #I haven't picked it much (it arrived as I was fixing supper for my kids and I waited until my wife got home at 9:30 for the unwrapping). #This photo was sent to me from Eastman Strings. #I'll post more when my fingers hurt from playing it later tonight...

As a new player I can only review it like this... the V neck feels nicer than the rounded necks I've played before, #aesthetically she's a beauty. #I like that the Eastman F4 has a F4 neck (joining at 12 instead of 15). #This mandolin makes me want to play better. #It has tone bars with a support below the soundhole.

I've got no financial stake in this but Steve from Gianna's was great to deal with.

[Spruce]

Here's Eastman Serial #007...

I'm a bit of a wood-hound, and this mandolin displays some wood that just kicks butt on every level....

The depth of figure, the angle of the flame, the tight grain behind the figure, and lack of "worm-track" that one see a lot in Chinese maple are all remarkable traits in this particular maple...

Stunning wood...

[bdisp]

JES.....my 814 is like yours. I like the classic finish with the light burst on the back. My s/n is 008. What are they up to now??

[Eric F.]

That F4 above is really sweet looking. Bruce's blond is just stunning.

[JEStanek]

[QUOTE]....my 814 is like yours. I like the classic finish with the light burst on the back. My s/n is 008. What are they up to now??

I'm number 022 my new lucky number.

Jamie

[JEStanek]

Spruce,
That blonde is a bomb-shell!

[J. Mark Lane]

Hey Bruce, how does that thing sound?

[Spruce]

It's a good mandolin...

I'm the camp cook at the Oberlin Violin Making Workshop, and we gifted #007 to John Dilworth, a great violin maker from London...
He plays it every day, mostly swing stuff...

It needed a bit of setup, but luckily we had some very talented makers there who whipped it into shape...

This is the first Eastman I had ever seen, so it was a bit of an eye-opener...
My only complaints centered around the body-scroll which didn't curl around quite enough, and the cheesy logo....
Other than that, I could have lived with it for a main F5 and did indeed play it heavily for about a week...

Here's the top...
Probably Chinese spruce...

[J. Mark Lane]

Hm. OK. Who's up for a trip to Mandolin Brothers? They've got a nice selection of mandolins there <g>. Let's have a group mando-tasting, and include some of these Eastmans. Takers? (Weekdays only, please...I never visit music stores on weekends.)

[bdisp]

JML........fly me round trip, put me up, wine & dine me, and I'm in. I need at least a weeks notice......

I'll bring my new Snakehead. More on that later.

How 'bout them HEELS!!!!!!!!

[J. Mark Lane]

Absolutely, Bob. I mean, while we're at it, you can just pick any mandolin in the store and I'll buy it for you. Do you prefer Cristal or Dom Perignon?