Eastman woes

[mando5280]

I bought an Eastman 615 after playing several. I chose this one based on sound alone. #I should have noticed the significant defect when I bought it. #Since then, it has been well played and I overlooked its obvious alignment issue. #Recently, I removed all the stings and the bridge pulled to one side as soon as the tension was slightly released. #I am concerned by the lateral force on the bridge. #It is difficult to get the bridge position just right. #This isn't right.

Here is a series of pictures illustrating the center line of my poor crooked Eastman mandolin.





The Eastman sounds great and has opened up nicely, but the uneven forces on the bridge aren't going to help it last. #What should I do? #What can I do? Thanks for your advice (please avoid the overseas manufacturing discussion).

Rob

[sgarrity]

Have you contacted the store you bought it from or Eastman, assuming you bought it new?

[Doug Edwards]

If I really liked the mandolin, I'd just move the tp. If the holes show they can be filled and colored. That's just me, I tend to keep everything a long long time, so re-sale value doesn't matter so much. Heck, I still have my first guitar (48 years) and have only sold two in my lifetime.

[mando5280]

I went back to the original store to buy various items and don't like the vibe of the sales people and staff (other than the guy I originally delt with).

There is a terrific acoustic store north of me that carries Eastman, Collings, Pomeroy, Krishot, Gibson...etc. I would absolutly trust their expertise. I'm not sure if I can take it to another Eastman dealer or not.

[MikeEdgerton]

Sean Chase is Eastman's representitive here on the cafe. His username is SChase@EastmanStrings. I'm guessing his e-mail address might be the same with a dot com on the end of it. Send him a PM. I'm sure he'll be happy to help you.

[sunburst]

The glue joint of the back may or may not be the center line of the mandolin. I see that it lines up with the back of the neck in the picture, but the neck could be off center too.
What is important is for the tailpiece to line the strings up with the center of the fingerboard, whether that puts them in the center of the mandolin or not.
I agree with Doug. I'd move the tailpiece so the strings are in the center of the fingerboard, centered on the bridge, and not deflected to one side or the other on their way to the tailpiece. That may or may not result in the string path being the center of the body.

[mando5280]

Good advise so far. Thank you. I pm'ed Sean.

This is a great mando and I would be up for moving the tailpiece if it will be structurally or acoustically better. Aesthetics are not my concern as it is well played everyday.

The strings between the nut and bridge are centered on the fingerboard. From the bridge to the tailpiece the strings are skewed to the point that the D string closest to the G is straight from the tailpiece to bridge to nut.

[Stephen Perry]

800 624 0270 Eastman Strings. You can send it to me for evaluation if you want. I can't cover costs, but you might be able to work something out with Eastman. Eastman would probably like to know if one of their dealers has impressed you so much that you won't go back.

[atetone]

I had a mandolin with the same problem once so I just took it to a local repairman and had it moved.
It was kind of tricky for him at first though, because the center joint line was not the center of the mandolin.
It took him 2 tries to get it right.
Mine was a prime example of what John (Sunburst) said about not relying on the center glue line.

[Caleb]

If the playability/intonation was ok I'd just leave it. But that's me.

[SChase@EastmanStrings]

Sorry, it took so long to reply to your PM, I have been on the raod for a while. We are more than willing to cover this as a warranty issue. You could take/send it to one of our dealers for evaluation/repair and we would pay them for the labor costs.

[Stephen Perry]

You're welcome to ship it my direction.

Incidently, this last batch of mandolins from Eastman is the best yet. Really nice work, no glitches, and I think they must have done something to the bars or graduation. Really sound nice right off the bat.

[BiscoMando]

wow, that's funny that this happened to someone else, too!

I bought my eastman used (no warranty!) and i didn't notice the defect until weeks after i got home. I bought it based on sound alone, and my goodness, these eastman's have punch! They bark! but I just don't get how they could be putting so much attention to detail and not notice something like that!

anyways, when i went to have my pickup installed, they had to bore a wider hole in the tailpiece and they did me a nice favor by filling the old holes and moving the tailpiece into the centre.

I'm really not adding any useful information here, i just thought it was funny about eastman misaligning tailpieces. As long as it sounds good and doesn't fall apart, I'll take it. I don't have 10K to drop on a Collings or Gilchrist or some custom builder job, so my eastman will have to do, and it does nicely!

[BiscoMando]

one more thing, what is the year/serial number on your eastman? cause my tailpiece was off in the same direction by about the same amount. perhaps they made several like this.

mine is from '04, serial number 92 (one of the first eastman mandolins, i guess)

[mando5280]

SChase@EastmanStrings: Thank you. You guys are awesome.

giannaviolins: Thank you. I am deciding what to do and will keep you posted.

BiscoMando: I think mine is an '05 and it does sound great.

[hardryde_mando]

I used to have a 515 where the tailpiece was slightly bent, and it ended up pulling the side off of the back.

[Richard Russell]

I'm dealing with the same issue, but not with an Eastman. My Jbovier has the problem. It's funny, just as mentioned above, the glue center line is not true center on mine. But these things aren't easy to catch. Two dealers had their hands on my mandolin and they didn't catch it. I finally noticed it, but I had to look closely. Jeff at Jbovier said he will take care of things, but, I hate to send it away as the sound is great! I think I eventually will, I don't like things being off like this.

[Joel Spaulding]

Just curious - other than as a cosmetic issue, how does the glue line being slightly off-center affect the stability of the back plate? Any builders care to comment?

Thanks,

Joel

[Stephen Perry]

I can't see that it would impact stability. I've had notably incoherent old violins through that have held up fine. A compromise to decide what the centerline of the instrument is! The glue turns the plate halves into effectively one piece of wood, if it's good glue.

The only time I've seen ribs pull away from a block is where either environmental conditions weakened the glue or the joint was dry to begin with. Isn't terribly difficult to make a dry joint between block and plate. The block's end grain soaks up glue.

[DryBones]

I'm dealing with the same issue, but not with an Eastman. #My Jbovier has the problem. #It's funny, just as mentioned above, the glue center line is not true center on mine. #But these things aren't easy to catch. #Two dealers had their hands on my mandolin and they didn't catch it. #I finally noticed it, but I had to look closely. #Jeff at Jbovier said he will take care of things, but, I hate to send it away as the sound is great! #I think I eventually will, I don't like things being off like this.

My JBovier has it too. And that was with Jeff upgrading the tailpiece before he sent it to me. It's always bugged me a little but it sounds too good to care. Now if this was a custom built $3000 job I would expect more but afterall these do come from a factory in Korea.

[Bill Snyder]

Just curious - other than as a cosmetic issue, how does the glue line being slightly off-center affect the stability of the back plate? Any builders care to comment?

Thanks,

Joel

No effect on strength or tone or stability. Three piece (or more) backs have been used and they don't join in the center. Symmetry is aesthetically pleasing but otherwise not necessary.