Eastman Gypsy Guitars Coming

Bones · January 2018

Not on FB. Can u post a link to the video?

thx

MichaelHorowitz · January 2018

FYI, the street prices will be $999 for the DM1 and $1359 for the DM2/v

gitpicker · January 2018

Just to be clear the guitars at NAMM are DM1 and DM1-CLA (for classic finish, aka "the brown one"). The DM2/v is a varnish model that will be released in Summer and will have a Walnut neck, thus why it will cost more.

Stringswinger · January 2018

A couple of thoughts:

1. Eastman is lucky to have Doug on board (as was Saga in days past). His expertise in Gypsy jazz and Selmer style guitars provides those companies with excellent information. A guy with top notch playing skill who owns two Favinos knows his stuff! (Doug, it has been far too long since you and I shared a bandstand. I hope we get to play together next month when you are Stateside)

2. Eastman has provided mid level archtops for years and has been a bridge between the "student level" guitars of Epiphone and D'Angelico (I am not talking about the real D'Angelicos here, I am talking about the Korean made stuff ) and the professional grade archtops of Gibson and the many luthiers who have studied Bob Benedetto's book. It is perhaps time to have a bridge between the Saga/Altamiras and the Dupont/Favinos in the Gypsy jazz guitar world. I wish them the best of luck!

As for me, I will keep playing my Dupont and my Gibsons

roch@rochlockyer.com · January 2018

Hey Doug,
Whatever role you played in the development of these guitars I tip my hat. The 2 models I tried were outstanding for the price point...My favourite Asian Gypsy guitar and one that is absolutely gig-worthy! Congrats on the great work...I hope that Eastman takes care of you

gitpicker · January 2018

Thanks guys! I enjoy my life in Beijing and I very much enjoy my part time work at Eastman. They certainly do take care of everybody, not only me. As for the guitars, they had the idea to make them before I came along. I just pushed a little and worked together with them to get it going further along. We all love the guitars and it's a project they wanted to do for some time because they are fascinating instruments. Nobody at Eastman was thinking making gypsy guitars was going to be a big money maker, they just really love the guitars and the music, so why not make some and see how they can do right? I think they're off to a good start. Very cool to see what they're doing here first hand.

asura · January 2018

@gitpicker Happen to have any pictures of the DM2 model that you could give us a sneak peek of...? :-)

gitpicker · January 2018

Sorry, until we get closer to Summer NAMM it is up to the company to decide when they want to release photos and other info. That is not up to me

dennis · January 2018

ah i must have misunderstood that both models at namm were different and that the vintage looking one would be more expensive!

They were both good and the difference was subtle but I prefered the normal looking one!

At any rate, as i ve said before, they totally nailed the playability aspect and I hope they can keep it consistent