New eastman in the house!

[Jim DeSalvio]

I am the proud owner of a new Eastman MD615 F-style with F-holes. I am mostly a guitar player, and just starting to get into this mando thing. Seems nicely built, and sounds a lot better than my Epi A-style.

Going to start with the 2 finger chords and move on from there. I found a local bluegrass jam a few weeks ago, and hope to be able to bring it to one of those sessions by the end of the summer.

Jim D

[Susan H.]

Hi Jim, I love my 615. It has a bright and beautiful tone to it. I added the Tone Gard this week and that really opened it up. It's loud. Enjoy your jam sessions, I've learned alot at our once a week one.

[JEStanek]

Congrats and play it well!

Jamie

[Kevin Briggs]

Congrats, my friend!

I've been impressed with a lot of the Eastmans I've played. Sound clips?

[JTMartin]

Two thumbs up on the Eastman Jim! Got mine last year after learning on a Fullerton for a year. Love that volume and "pop". I too have always been a guitar player. Found the mando SO much easier to learn. Have fun and congratulations. You bought a fine instrument.

[Golman8]

I've had my 915 for about two years and have enjoyed it tremendously! Congratulations. G.B.

[Jim DeSalvio]

Mandomama,

Can you explain to me what the Tone Gard is all about?

[Greg H.]

Well, I'm decidedly not Mandomama but I can tell you about the Toneguard. It slides on to the mandolin held in place by bumpers on the sides and serves the dual purpose of protecting the back from belt buckles/sweat/bug spray etc. and, more importantly, keeping the back away from your stomach so it can vibrate more freely. You can get them at a number of dealers such as Greg Boyd or get them directly from Tone-guard.com. There have been a lot of discussions on the benefits of Toneguards which you can find here.