Speaking of vintage vibe and tone -- and on this page recently, Martin's Streetmaster and 00015 , and the Guild M-20 -- I just picked up this guy. 

Sale price wow at $539.00 CND (no case or bag).

 All solid, sitka on mahog, padauk fingerboard and bridge, bone nut and saddle, scale 24.9",  1 3/4 nut. 

Super lightweight, with a light satin finish, it's got its own voice, for sure --woody, airy, clear, resonant (really good note separation)-- and is playable/responsive as all-get-out. The intonation's pretty much spot on.  A comparison to a Waterloo 14 I tried in a shop works only roughly; *similar* feel and overall tone, but obviously not in the same league for touch and shimmer. 

The c- neck is slightly less chunky than those on the Eastmans, but it's a minor adjustment for me. The tuners hold quite well (some humidity shifts these days); might swap 'em later. 

Predictably, there's not a ton of volume in a jam setting (especially playing fingerstyle) but the Fishman sonitone is serviceable; in fact it sounds less "quacky" in this instrument than in others i've heard, maybe because of the lightness of the top? I use electronics mostly for practising with a looper anyway. 

Checking out the inside with a compact mirror, I was pleasantly surprised with the cleanliness of the construction and fit, no glue globs or glitches or misalignment of bracing that I could notice. 

 A caution: RK has had some quality control issues --out-of the-box set up can be notoriously hit and miss, fret work iffy --but my local dealer had several in stock: we chose the nicest, and the set up was straightforward on this one, truss rod and a little saddle sanding. I'd advise a hands-on audition if you can get to one or, if buying online, a trusted vendor (with a good returns policy) who will give the instrument some careful attention before it goes out the door. 

Very good couch companion and haul-around. Feels so far like a keeper.

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Visiting other forums and thoroughly amazed that people in droves jump to get the latest and greatest build with a miniscule build difference thinking it will be the "be all end all" and unless you are richer than rich forget a vintage model selling for 25,50,75,100,150, 200KKKK's, folks constantly buying and selling then buying and selling then buying and selling on and on dang it's bound to be there somewhere!

I'm a curmudgeon and some things simply agitate me...I even agitate myself lol

Check! Check! This thing on?  not much activity around here.

I haven't had a chance to play Eastman's jumbo, but I did have a chance to play this Guild jumbo the other day:  https://acousticvibesmusic.com/products/...l-rosewood

My goodness - this thing was LOUD!  A cannon... it was a delight to play a guitar with that amount of volume and projection.  It led me to this question: what's the loudest acoustic guitar you've ever played (that also sounded good)?

I love this version :-

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qpr4Lc0ORJ4

but also the 1930s original by the Mississippi Sheiks who wrote it. Great blues fiddle!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hBuK2ZOZq6o

To me, this is as much art as any Schubert song I've heard.

Couldn't be happier with my Eastman SB55DC/v Antique Varnish!

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Well I have been looking for a single or no pickup Eastman archtop for a while and found this. I found it on GC and is advertised as an AR403CE. But it looks like it may be a different model than a 403. But I have looked on several websites and I can't quit pinpoint it. From the pics that I have seen the 403 has a rosewood FB with dots, peghead is not bound, pickguard is not bound, etc. Anyone have a clue? The AR503's I have seen do not have a bond peghead and the AR603's appear to be mahogany back and sides. Anyone have a clue? I probably will not have it in my hands until 7/8/2022 at the earliest.

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anyone like em? my local mom and pop music store is going out of busines and everything is discounted, but the only 12/53 set they had were Cleartone so I snaged a pack just to try em.

I was looking for a cheap guitar to leave out so the kids could play it...or me...without pulling out my Taylors or Eastmans.

i was looking at some of the non fully solid offerings from eastman, but decided on a Harley Benton CLA-15M all solid mahogany guitar.  It's here, shipped to the USA for under 300.00 total!

It sounds good...feels good....was nearly in tune out of the box. I have not had time to do any adjustments other than a truss rod tweak and some sanding down of hte bone bridge.

Tuners are amazing...havne't moved at all after tuning.  Way better than expected.

Here's my questions:

1) the guitar is VERY light.  So light that it resonates like crazy (in a good way), but feels like there's nothing in my hands. My taylors (a GC and an AD) feel very heavy in comparison.  The AD has ovangkol bakc and sides which is much heavier than hog, but my GC is spruce/sapele and is still much heavier.  Is this a bad thing? What could be contributing to the difference in weight? Is hog THAT much lighter by definitoin? No electronics so that doens't affect anything.
2) The HB is a thinner tone than expected.  It does resonate iwth some bass when I need it to, but I figured the hog would be a naturally darker guitar...and that's not the case.  It's not a bad sound, it's different, but I expected close to muddiness.  This is very NOT dark and muddy.  Very clear.

I need to probably get it setup a bit because it tends to have a few rattles that I don't have on my Taylors....but it was 222 plus shipping....my Taylors are 2,000 each.  No fret sprout, but probably needs some touching up.

Anybody else have any experience iwth the all solid wood series from harley benton?
 

• Custom Line Solid Wood Series
  
• Style: Auditorium
  
• Top: Solid mahogany
  
• Back and sides: Solid mahogany
  
• Neck: Mahogany
  
• Fingerboard: Pau Ferro
  
• SnowFlake fingerboard inlays
  
• Neck profile: Oval C
  
• Scale length: 643 mm (25.3")
  
• Nut width: 43 mm (1.69")
  
• Bone nut
  
• 20 frets
  
• Pau Ferro bridge with bone bridge inlay
  
• Deluxe Antique Copper open tuners
  
• Factory strings: Daddario XTAPB1253 .012 - .053 (Art. #471307#)
  
• Colour: Natural matt
  

Here it is

Eastman fans have one thing in common, we appreciate a good value for a well-made instrument with quality tone woods.  

I placed an order for a 000-16 StreetMaster today.  Torrefied Adirondack on rosewood.  I'm not sure if the finish will grow on me or not, but I'm willing to give it a try for $1700 ($1999 list less $300 Fourth of July sale).  

https://www.martinguitar.com/guitars/000...aster.html