SOLD Eastman AR803ce Archtop Electric Guitar Sunburst, 2009

The Eastman AR803ce archtop falls in the category of the ‘Jazz Box’ guitar – providing the warm, rich, rounded tone an arched top guitar provides so well.

Eastman is one of the world’s largest manufacturers of hand made, carved top instruments, with a background in violin and cello family construction. They pride themselves on following European luthiery traditions, particularly those flowing from 17th century German builders. At the time, many of the the most respected Italian builders were actually German!

For a guitarist who wants a solid wood, carved top and back instrument, guitars like the (now discontinued) Eastman AR803ce archtop or other Eastman models are one of the best values available. Eastman’s quality is very high, with great attention to detail and wood selections.

Here we’re looking at an Eastman AR803ce archtop built during 2009, at the Eastman shop outside of Beijing. It’s in very nice condition with just a few spots of light scuffing. The top is hand-carved Spruce, with bound F-holes, paired with flamed Maple for the sides and hand-carved arched back. The neck is Maple – less figured – with Ebony for the tailpiece, movable bridge, bound fingerboard, bound head plate, and bound pickguard.

The finish is a lovely vintage style dark sunburst executed in Nitrocellulose Lacquer, as was and is used on most if not all traditional archtop Jazz guitars. Eastman has mastered the arts of lacquer finishes.

The Eastman AR803ce archtop is built as a ‘Jazz Box’ so the hardware is very targeted. Sealed gold-coloured tuners with ebony buttons are at the head, a traditional Ebony on Metal tailpiece at the other end, and a single Kent Armstrong humbucker with volume and tone controls – and that’s it. The rest is up to the player!

This guitar plays very well and cleanly, with a warm responsive tone.

The original Eastman hard shell case is included.