Eastwood guitars?

[Unsprung]

After my latest reply in the "To mod, or not mod?" thread, I headed over to the forums at the Surf Guitar 101 web site. In the thread "Gretsch for surf..." that I've participated in, one of the other regulars turned me on to Eastwood guitars.

http://www.eastwoodguitars.com/index.htm

What I saw there (and I looked at every instrument) confirmed the turn that I took, with the replies to the poll, that I should mostly buy exactly what I need, or buy better, and modify/tweak to suit. Instead of buying a Fender '72 Telecaster Deluxe, then adding a Bigsby B5, I could always buy an Eastwood Supro DLX. At this point, my way of thinking has pretty much gotten past the major modification desire. If I'd happen to buy an Eastwood Hi-Flyer for a surf guitar, but feel that the P-90s aren't quite to my liking, there are plenty of other P-90s to choose from.

I don't know how known Eastwood guitars are, and even if they might not be in the main stream, I'm not beyond buying lesser known brands. Not many folks know of/have heard of Johnson guitars, but I'm quite happy with my Johnson JG-622-E acoustic/electric bass. For as much as I like Fender guitars, and particularly Telecasters, I truly realize that I'll have to occasionally look at other brands, in order to get what I want, with the fewest mods/tweaks possible.

Matt

 

[dgatwood]

I don't know how known Eastwood guitars are, and even if they might not be in the main stream, I'm not beyond buying lesser known brands. Not many folks know of/have heard of Johnson guitars, but I'm quite happy with my Johnson JG-622-E acoustic/electric bass. For as much as I like Fender guitars, and particularly Telecasters, I truly realize that I'll have to occasionally look at other brands, in order to get what I want, with the fewest mods/tweaks possible.

I definitely know Johnson. Both my acoustic and my electric are Johnson guitars. The acoustic, all I've done is replace the strings. I liked it enough to buy the electric, though I'm still trying to find a set of strings that I'm truly happy with. The original strings were decent, but they rusted quickly and hurt my fingers. The replacements are coated strings and still rusted quickly. I don't play it that often, so rusted strings are just sad....

On the electric, I asked for opinions on it before I bought the thing and nobody replied, so I figured for the price, I couldn't pass it up. New strings, a compensated nut (with string height set a good bit higher), and a little bit of intonation adjustment later, I like it.

According to their website, the Eastwood are Chinese/Korean-made, depending on the model. I believe Johnson is all made in China, though I could be wrong. Not a bad thing, necessarily, just a little background info.

 

[hungovermorning]

I've played a few eastwoods and know a friend who owned a sidejack. They look really nice and seem like a great guitar but they sound/play like typical mediocre instruments. I'd rather buy a $100 Teisco any day of the week compared to one. They just don't play well even after a pro set up.

 

[David Artis]

I've played a few eastwoods and know a friend who owned a sidejack. They look really nice and seem like a great guitar but they sound/play like typical mediocre instruments. I'd rather buy a $100 Teisco any day of the week compared to one. They just don't play well even after a pro set up.

I tried some out a local store a few weeks back and would have to agree with this.