Hi, with every new guitar I go on a string odyssey to find the best voice for the guitar. As my new E10SS has its own sound I feel like I'm starting from scratch again, plus trying new strings/picks keeps that NGD feeling going.

On my HD28, which I moved on a couple of years ago, I finally settled on round core strings because I loved the feel of them, but since then, with the pandemic and Brexit, my favourite round core strings - Pyramid Western Folk - have become too difficult to buy from a UK vendor or have shipped in at a reasonable cost.

So I wanted to comply a list of all available round core sets for acoustic from as many brands as I can and I was hoping anyone here could add any brands or sets I am missing? 

Curt Mangan 
Pyramid Western Folk 
Newtone Masterclass 
Newtone Heritage 
Thomastic-Infeld Plectrum Bronze 
Thomastic-Infeld Spectrum Bronze
Martin Titanium Core
DR Sunbeams 
DR Veritas 
GHS Silk and Bronze 
GHS Thin Core Phosphor Bronze

That's all I can find right now but I'm positive I'm missing some sets, GHS might have more and I'm not sure if the Silk and Bronze sets from Martin and D'addario and other brands are also all round core?

A few weeks ago, I purchased this guitar from Dave's Guitars.  I've been eyeing up this model since Eastman redesigned it a couple years ago.  They added an arm bevel, second sound hole, and abalone headstock and fingerboard appointments.  For this year, they switched the top from Engelmann to Euro Spruce and replaced the dovetail joint with a bolt-on neck (likely influenced by their Bourgeois collaboration).  I liked this Maple version the best with the natural top and Maple body and matching inlays.

I made arrangements to ship the guitar directly to my mom's house, as I was traveling across country the following weekend.  It was a bittersweet trip (seeing my grandmother for the last time), but it would provide me with an opportunity to play guitar for several relatives for the first time.  But as my travel neared, the UPS tracking continued to read "Label Created" with no updates.  After several emails, on Friday (hours before my flight), Dave's found my guitar in their store.  It was never picked up.  They apologized and realizing the time sensitivity, they issued a new shipping label and sent it overnight with Saturday delivery, so it would be waiting for me the next morning.  I am so thankful for Dave's taking this extra step to correct an honest mistake, even though it probably cost them their entire profit on the transaction.  I will not hesitate to buy from them again and again!

Ok, let's talk about the guitar!  This guitar is gorgeous.  The Euro Spruce top is uniform, narrow, straight grain and super silky.  The Ebony is jet black with beautiful Maple leaf inlays that match the abalone rosette.  The Maple body is dyed a orange-brown with flame Maple binding, and the gold Gotoh tuners match well to the overall design.

The neck is a medium carve and incredibly comfortable.  It was set up well, and although I normally can't stand coated strings, I haven't minded the D'Add XT, so I haven't really peeked inside beyond the two sound holes.  From what I can see, everything looks super clean and in line with Eastman's constantly great build quality from the last 5-6 years.

The sound surprised me in several ways.  First, the guitar is very balanced and clear, which I'd expect with a Maple body, but the low end is stronger than I was anticipating.  This was very good news b/c I was afraid that the Maple would be too bright or perhaps sound thin, but this isn't the case.  Second, the guitar is really responsive.  It resonates all over and has a really lively feel for a brand new guitar (and maybe I subconsciously thought the bolt-on neck would take away from this, but it 100% does not).

Also, I'm having far less adjusting to this guitar than I did with my AC630-BD (Maple Jumbo).  Perhaps the change from Engelmann to Euro Spruce is a factor, or maybe I'm just more used to playing a Maple body now.  This guitar is made to be strummed, but it does well with my limited fingerstyle and flat picking.  It handles everything up and down the neck equally, and the second sound hole is helpful.  I need to play with it more, as well as the arm bevel, to see how much of a benefit they provide, but they may very well add to the resonance in this guitar.

It comes with a LR Baggs Element EAS VTC pickup, but I haven't plugged it in, yet.  I just got home from my trip last night, so I took some photos today.  Once I decide to change the strings, I'll take a closer look inside at the bracing and bolt-on neck behind the pickup battery pack.

Again, my sincere thanks to Dave's Guitar for the purchase, great setup, and taking the extra steps to deliver my guitar in time for my family visit.  I haven't owned a GA body size before, and I wasn't sure how I'd like it, but this guitar has exceeded my expectations in nearly every way.

Obligatory NGD photos:

Somebody make an offer for this before I do!

1976 Guild D25m Acoustic Guitar USA | eBay

But what's interesting to me is I thought this was an all Mahogany model, but the top looks blonde almost like spruce, and the back and sides look almost like oak, but I'm sure it's just the finish and age. 

I have been playing my new E1OM so much the other guitars are being neglected. This guitar sounds so good and is so much fun I just can`t stop playing it. 95% of the time it`s the one I grab. Have it tuned double dropped D.

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Looking for something to offset the brightness of the maple and enhance the mellowness. Gonna go with mediums regardless.
Thoughts??

In the past I have been critical of Eastman on two main points - tuning machines and pickguards. Well I should also give credit where credit is due. I recently picked up a 2021 AC522CE. This is the redesigned model with armrest and sound port. The tuners are Gotoh SG301 and they are smoooooth. But the purpose of this post is to point out the guard. It is of high quality material with an excellent pattern. It came polished and best of all with polished radiused edges. Kudos to Eastman!!

More on the AC522CE-GB in a later post.

So I've had an E20D-TC for about a year now.  Getting to know the guitar has been very interesting.  Fit and finish and looks are outstanding on it, but the tone has always been a bit off in my mind.  And by that I mean that it wasn't delivering in the power and clarity that I wanted out of the guitar. 

So far two changes have helped dramatically IMO.  The first one was moving from phosphor bronze strings to 80/20.  To my ear, the 80/20s have helped with note separation and clarity when I strum.  

A second change, and arguably even more dramatic, has been to move from light gauge strings to mediums.  The medium 80/20s really move the top and the whole guitar now reverberates.  The tone is much more assertive while still being clear.  I've had guitars go somewhat dead on me with mediums (chocked the top) so I wasn't expecting this one to go in the other direction.  But this one will be on mediums for the foreseeable future.  

And finally, and the top of this post, is that I bought some unbleached bone pins from amazon.  They are super affordable, so I wasn't going for top quality.  I just wanted to compare them to the ebony pins and see if I notice any difference.  I've switched from plastic pins to ebony before and with one guitar I noticed a big immediate difference.  With the other, I didn't notice much at all, although I prefer the look so I left them on.  

The E20D-TC had ebony pins on and they were in fine shape.  But I noticed that most Martins have bone pins on their D28 / HD28 guitars so I wanted to see if it changed anything.  Much to my surprise, the guitar improved noticeable to my ear.  Now, part of that was that loosening and tightening the strings seems to liven them up.  But even a week or two later, the guitar has improved sustain and sharpened up the tone, which is something I was looking for.   So overall quite pleased with the change.  And for about $10, it is a no brainer to try for me.  Oh and the pins just dropped right in with no adjustment which is key.  

I'd definitely recommend trying it out.

direct swap-in or mod required? info and discussion of parts, upgrades, eastman-compatible specs

saddles, tuners, pick-up, bridge pins, pick-guards...
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Saddles for eastman acoustic guitars:

• "Fits Many Eastman Guitars 
  
• Length: 69 mm 
  
• Thickness: 3.2 mm 
  
• Height: 9 mm 
  
• Radius: 12 inches "
  

Received my E1D Classic finish earlier today! I wasn't planning on buying a guitar Monday morning, put it in my cart to check tax and shipping closed the window. Woke up Tuesday morning to that "Offer you can't refuse"!
WoW!!! Eastman blows it out of the park! great feeling neck, incredible sustain and tone. AND LOUD!!!

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Fare warning, I'm about to start complaining.  I've been wanting to try a Zero Glide nut for a while now and went to the Stewmac site to order one.  It was going to cost me 47.71 plus 11.00 shipping and with tax it came to 62.50.  Eleven dollars to drop something in an envelope that would cost them maximum maybe a buck to mail to me.  So I thought I'd check out the source themselves and went to the Gold Tone Music Group site, who makes them, to check their prices.  It cost me 34.99 with free 2nd day air!  Won't be going back to Stewmac again.