hey tex, what do you think of the 22ss-v-sb? Thinking hard about one of those.

@sjturner0gmail I really like it. Good bass and low mids, nice treble. Kind of between Rosewood and mahogany. The bass seems to be getting better with 8 months of use, rounder, fuller,, the more I play. The "vintage" came with a scratch on the top, which I never do. I play mostly rhythm while I sing, mostly finger style. It is loud enough to be heard above an electric piano, while I can sing over it. I play old songs (folk, gospel, Americana, counrty of sll ages, stuff I've written, Irish and cowboy) acoustically for groups between 14 to 80 in a living room tsetting (carpet, stuffed furniture, folding and wheelchairs, tile ceilings). I've used Stringjoy lights, Santa Cruz low tension, and D'Addario 0.012 PB. I like the Stringjoy lights the best. It has its voice, not a Gibson J45, but it will growl on some of those cowboy chords. I don't capo beyond the 5th fret, and it has good tone and note clarity on any of those settings. It is great on an open G tuning for Irish tunes. It continues to open up after 8 months of 20 hours (+) a week playing. It matches my voice well (tenor baritone, best key is G). I prefer it over my E20SS-V-sb, which is its backup. I use a violin varnish polish when I change strings (I also play fiddle). Neck has a nice feel, not too thick, easy for Barre chords and a Bm. I like the sound from the Adirondack top. Music Villa carries them and has a KZfaq video. Talk to Paul or Chad. Hope this helps. I've been playing over 50 years.

Aren’t those Eastman guitars mass produced in China?

They definitely speak for themselves!!

Paul is full of encouragement :)

Gibsons ship with their own branded strings. Most people believe that D’addario produces them to Gibson’s specifications and with Gibson’s branding. That happens with lots of guitar brands who sell their own branded strings and has other major string manufacturers producing them. Fender also does this, but not sure who might be winding their strings. Most major guitar brands are happy to use strings without their own branding on the package - like Ibanez uses D’addario strings on many of their guitars and state which D’addario set is installed (where applicable) on each guitar spec sheets. Other big guitar brands use unbranded no-frills type strings. A handful of guitar brands actually bother to make their own strings in house. In most cases, it doesn’t pay when they could be using brands that are already incredible.

Take the 45. Don't need the 35.

By far. The 35 looks and sounds like a cheap knockoff in comparison. I don't even like it. Love my 45, and this one.

J45 outshines the 35 by miles....

I'd take the 45 any day, devil!