The Eastman T59 V is a take on one of the most successful and influential of Ted McCarty’s innovations, the thinline, semi-hollow archtop electric guitar. Around 1957, Gibson was looking to update its product line to address a number of issues, one of which was the rise in amplified stage volumes causing feedback. While the engineering team is credited with most of the design, it was apparently president Ted McCarty’s idea to put a solid Maple block through the center of the guitar.
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The highly innovative Gibson ES335TD was an immediate hit when it was introduced in 1958, blending the resonance, attack and decay of an archtop with the sustain and feedback resistance of a solidbody. This feedback resistance was becoming extremely important both to guitarists and guitar designers as amplifiers became ever more powerful and stage volumes rose. These new models – the ES-335, ES-345 and ES-355 – also sported the new, Seth Lover designed Humbucking pickup.
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MORE →The new Eastman Romeo is a thinline archtop electric designed by Otto D’Ambrosio and features a solid Spruce top on laminated Mahogany sides and back for feedback resistance. Introduced during 2020 but in short supply due to COVID effects, the Eastman Romeo has an almost fully hollow body, but with a Mahogany block from the tail to the bridge. This block provides the necessary support for the bridge and stop tailpiece supports. The top is carved, solid Spruce and the back and sides are formed, layered Mahogany. The neck is Mahogany, with a bound Ebony fingerboard and Mother of Pearl dot position markers.
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MORE →The Eastman SB59 V reflects the classic late 1950s design for a single cutaway, Flamed Maple on Mahogany solidbody with humbucking pickups. While it follows the formula, it’s not a precise copy and Eastman uses their own designs. As a ‘Vintage’ style model, this guitar has undergone an treatment process to simulate the wear of decades of use – except for fretwear.
The Eastman T486B Thinline is an excellent take on the classic semi-hollow design introduced by Ted McCarty, president of Gibson, with the 1958 ES-335. Like most other versions of this design, the Eastman T486B uses pressed Maple Laminate for the top, back and sides, with a Maple block running down the center of the body. The top has a pair of F holes, and here they are bound. On the Eastman, the neck is Maple with a bound Ebony fingerboard sporting Split Block Parallelogram inlays (similar to an ES-345).
Built on the concept of the thin bodied yet fully hollow archtop electric guitar, the Eastman T64V delivers the tone, feel and look of early 1960s models. Gibson produced the first of these in 1959 with the ES-330, and in 1961 extended the design to their Epiphone line as the ES-230 Casino. That model was quickly picked up by British players including Paul McCartney, John Lennon and George Harrison who used theirs on many hits.
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