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Old 04-12-2011, 12:31 PM
LoMa LoMa is offline
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Join Date: Aug 2009
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Well, I've played RK's, sitka Blueridge's, and Eastman's.

As far as I know, the sitka topped Blurdige guitars all have a real narrow nut and string spacing at the saddle (the adirondack ones have a wider nut). Perhaps the specs on the BR-73 are different than the other sitka topped ones - I haven;t played that particular model. But generally, the neck profile on sitka topped Blueridges is slim AND narrow. The string spacing feels narrower than on a Martin standard 000 - too narrow for me, especially fingerpicking, but YMMV.

The RK's are too chunky for me, but then I don't like V necks, so I'm not the one you should probably pay attention to on that. Anyway, I can't play them comfortably so I don;t know a lot about them.

I'm familiar with both the Eastman E10-OM (mahogany) and E20-OM (rosewood) and I like them. Real comfortable to play with a 1-3/4" nut and a 2-3/16" string spreads at the saddle. The string spacing feels comparable to a Larrivee (perhaps very very slightly narrower), but is narrower than an Martin OM. The neck profile is a low oval. Feels good for finger or flatpicking for me.

The Eastman's seem to have a consistent and unique tone. They are definitely bass heavy and are very lush with a lot of overtones, in my experience. It's a tone you like or don;t like. Some people find them boomy or muddy, others love them. I like them a lot, but I found I liked the mahogany much more than the rosewood models I played - the rosewoods were a bit too much of a good thing for me. The mahognay was very lush with a lot of overtones and excellent sustain, but still had some clarity to it. A very pretty tone. My spouse ended up getting one.

Anyway, I'd say give the Eastman's a try and see what you think. I like the adirondack tops, the string spacing and neck profile, and the nice thin nitro finish too.
Heck, go crazy if you have the opportunity, and try them all out!

Last edited by LoMa; 04-12-2011 at 01:03 PM.
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