NGD E10OM-LTD: Christmas Surprise, Pt.2

[Pura Vida]

Two years ago, I surprised my daughter with an E1OO-LTD.  Although she's gotten into new hobbies, she still plays regularly, and the guitar has evolved nicely.  But she's been taking to my OM guitars, calling the body size "perfect" for her.  Earlier this year, I nearly purchased this same guitar, when Gary (NoiseFloor) looked like he might pass on it.  So, when he decided to place it up for sale, I jumped at the second chance.  The thing is that I just purchased a new E10OM, so I decided that this would provide a chance for another surprise and upgrade her guitar to an OM.

Gary covered a lot of ground with his NGD thread: here.

But I'll try to add onto it, where it makes sense.

First, let's talk aesthetics.  Despite this guitar getting passed from TX to OH to CA, this guitar and the case are in mint condition.  The top is mid/wide grain across the lower bout, narrowing at each end and in the center, with some nice color coming on.  The grain leans a little more brown than red, but mostly straight.  The body is gorgeous Mahogany with red-brown stain and tortoise binding.

The headstock is beautiful, reflecting with Ebony on the front and flamed Mahogany on the back.  The board is Ebony with tasteful inlays, and I may give the frets and board a cleaning on the next string change, as the board looks just a little dry.  Overall, the build quality is outstanding, and I can't find a single flaw with the guitar build.

As Gary mentions in his thread, the neck is very comfortable and generally on par with my other OM guitars.  However, for some reason, this neck feels more hand-carved than the others.  The section where the neck meets the headstock is just a little more pronounced, and you can feel that it was done by hand, not a machine.

As for the sound, this guitar is a powerhouse.  The sound is full, loud, and actually has some nice low end growl without the dread low end boom.  Amazing clarity across all the strings, and held its own, when I moved up the frets.

It really comes alive after 10 minutes of playing, and tonight, I A/B'd it against my fairly new E10OM.  While both are quite responsive, the LTD has a little more volume and snarl to it, which make it so enjoyable to play.  My standard E10OM still has some newness to it, although I often forget that it's an Adi top and not Sitka.

Final two points: (1.) Gary (NoiseFloor) was absolutely amazing as a seller.  The guitar was packed and shipped perfectly, and we both anxiously tracked its progress across the country until it arrived safely.  And (2.) I did some research on these E10OM-LTD models.  There were only 70 made between 2012-2018, and it's possible that this was the last one shipped by Eastman, which makes this guitar and even cooler keepsake for my daughter.

PS - the reason this post is coming so late is b/c my kids and I were sheltering from COVID for the last five weeks, so we had to postpone Christmas until we could be reunited with my wife (she's an ER nurse, and I have health issues, so we physically separated when things got worse around here).  We got back last Sunday and opened presents, when we got back home.

Ok, time for the obligatory NGD photos.

[Big-E]

What a beautiful guitar. Lucky lass!

[AlanSam]

Glad to hear your family is reunited!

[Airborne]

Beautiful guitar and great review!

Very happy your family was able to reunite and share a belated Xmas!

Your lovely daughter seems genuinely happy with her gift!

I wish the best for you and yours, with a special shout out to your wife for being on the front lines!

Nurses are underrated in my opinion!

[AlanSam]

Congrats! I've been interested in this model for a while, however, I wish Eastman would do some torch inlays instead of their flowerpot style, for some reason the flowerpot inlays just seem unusual to me.

Obviously a matter of personal taste but I like both. And I'd have either before the abomination on my AC630BD. Not quite true, if the inlay were executed better it would be ok - its design is an attempt to extend the fretboard insert design up to the headstock.

[sleigh]

What a wonderful present, and the grin on your daughter's face as she's looking at the guitar in its case says it all. A beauty of a guitar, as well. Well done, sir! (And it must be wonderful to be reunited with your family at last.)

[Pura Vida]

Thanks, all!  The guitar is great, daughters are awesome (sons too), and nurses are superheroes!  Five weeks is the longest my wife and I have ever been apart, and also the longest time she's been away from her kids.  Glad to be reunited, but the trip was worth it, as I felt safer down there than I have in the last 10 months.  I'll leave it at that, so I don't need to moderate myself, LOL.

My daughter was completely surprised and delighted.  I took the E10OM down with us, and she got to play it a few times during the trip, so I knew that she'd enjoy the LTD, when we got back.

And I forgot to mention that I already replaced the original guard with a Holter Pickguard.  Taylor is awesome to work with, and the guard arrived in the mail shortly after we returned home.

[sagebrush tom]

The gift of music is something that can stay with her for the rest of her life. Beautiful guitar hopes she gets a lot of joy out of it. By the way Brian is there something wrong with the back of the guitar, not a single pic of it?! The backs of Eastman's mahogany models are usually of some very striking beautiful wood....

[Pura Vida]

Thanks, Tom.  I hope that she carries music with her, wherever she goes, just as I have.

No, definitely nothing wrong with the back.  But I was getting so much reflection that I couldn't get a decent photo of the back.  I'll try to take a few tomorrow and add them to the thread.

[eastmanschool]

Good dad!