Got one in the end haha. Cheers mate looking forward to playing it in! Cant believe how quickly your Sb59v is wearing in!

@@Paul-D I play it hard! 😁Shame to hear they are stopping that aged finish.

@theguitaristas yeh it just means the earlier eastmans are going to become the ones people want going forward. The new ones are still good, but the feel is wellll different and you can tell its to just get more guitars to more dealers.

@@Paul-D you called it right!

Thanks for checking it out Paul, much appreciated! Id love to hear it next to your cs goldtop!!

Thanks man. Its a double edged sword from what i seen - they had 7 brand new ones so i got a good taste. I agree its nice to have varnish but as totally new. Makes for a cool option because it will age up naturally. But it was fairly thick compared to what weve got used too which gave it a very different feel. Looking forward to hearing what more people think as the new ones filter into shops

Thanks! 😃

Cheers mate! Be interesting to compare the 2 of them!

welcome dude! Wow fair play, I played an older SB59/v when I went to try this one and was BLOWN away. I thought my normal SB59 was good, the V was totally next level. To the point im ordering the Lollar imperials next month lol. I have limited experience with MIJ Tokais, before id ever come across Eastmans. Same with Maybach. I remember they were both really great, but dont think it was quite at the Eastman level - but would have to revisit to know my mind on that for sure.

@@Paul-D Yeah, before the SB59/v I did have the SB59, which I loved as well, but the lollars + the feel and look of the aged and varnish I knew that for me was worth it to pay that premium for it and yeah, like the pickups better (lollars have that more PAF tone than the 59 that have a more modern sound to me) and the feel is awesome. But the SB59 is also fantastic. If not wouldnt have gotten the varnish one. About the Tokai I dont expect and wasnt looking for something on par with the Eastman, but wanted something I knew was very good, and this I expect to be as good as the USA gibsons at half or less than half of those hehe. Or maybe they will feel better than USA Gibsons. But there are also more premium Tokais, mine is the poly finish with short neck tenon (which is not bad per se, but is cheaper to do of course than nitro, and long neck tenon and other nicer details the more premium ones have ) Also very interesting about the new Varnish ones, had no idea about the change on the truss rod and that they are not doing the aging anymore, and possibly if its thicker is because they spend less time manually rubbing it to make it more thin. And I guess I understand cos the Antique varnish method is not very scalable. Maybe they can do those in some limited quantity. But Im glad I got on of those. Was thinking later on grabbing a T59 with AV, hehe, will have to see if I do it sooner than expected then, cos they will become more scarce as time goes by. thanks and enjoy your channel very much!!

I find the normal SB59 ones to sound good but yes very much a modern tone compared to the lollars that are just genius. Yeh man the older run ones are going to become wayyyyy more sort after. Even the dealer said they were upping the trade in price for the old ones! If anyone has been thinking of getting a Sb59v T59v T64 etc right now is the time to do it. Otherwise there gone/going to become alot more expensive.

Thanks man. My friend has one the same but a 2021 so ill be comparing the 2 probably on the next vid.

Thanks! Will do!

Thanks Mr Paul

Thanks 👩‍❤️‍💋‍👨

It has its own sound especially on the neck that my other guitars dont have

Agree totally 🤘

Thank you 🤘

Its because KZfaq knows you only want to see strats 😅😅

@@Paul-D 🤣 I didn't get notifications weird

Dont get me wrong if i ever get to the point where a customshop gibson is on the cards, ill be chuffed to hunt for one. But yeh you know the score on these things haha. I think lollar pickups just make anything infinitely better, Jason seems to be able to produce new pickups like nobody else ive come across.

Oh... By the by... Why didn't you go for a Heritage? I don't think the battle is only between Eastman vs Gibson. I assume being in England the cost of USA made Heritage vs Eastman would put the Heritage much closer to Gibson & that basically ruled out Heritage!

Thanks man, Actually i think the Heritage ive seen here cost more then standard gibson models haha. I am keen to try one in person though, maybe on my next andertons trip.

@@Paul-D I'll pencil that in... Pauly does Heritage @Andertons. 🤣

Yeh my favourite one is the T59 by miles 🤘🤘

8lb 2 is a lovely weight. I must admit ive been tempted to sell my SB59 and get the V before they all transition to the newest ones and then be way harder to find

Right on! How do you find the Lollars in the SB57 vs your Seymours in the SB59GB (which I have too haha). Essentially off the shelve good quality potted Seymours Vs much more custom shop unpotted Lollars......?

Both are very good, but have preference for the Lollars. I just got the SB57/v this week, so not a lot of time playing the Lollars. So far I notice Lollars have more clarity with low/medium gain and more of a bluesy tone (kind of “honky “). For high gain sd59 and Lollars are different but equally sound great. So the wife rarely comments about tone, but she said she immediately noticed the new guitar (sb57/v) sounds more defined and clear.

yeh man I totally agree with you. The Seymours are quality tried and tested pups.... but the Lollars are a different level. At the show last week I tried to buy a set of them for my SB59 but they were only offering £9 show discount and only had the 4 conductor aged ones.... gutted haha

Yup im actually getting some lollar imperials for it soon and before there even fitted im flipping the magnet 😅 The T59 would be the one to try and track down quick as possible before there all gone and replaced with new ones. The older ones will become very sought after im certain of it.

@@Paul-D I haven't flipped the magnets but my SB59V has the Lollar pickups. I've also played around with the pickup and pole heights, and couldn't be happier with the sound. Hopefully you'll do a vid when you install the Lollars so we can all see the difference. Thanks again for all the Eastman content.

Gibson know people will pay right the way to the top of the customshop to get the best. That greed/need to constantly produce profit left the door wide open for Eastman. Thats how i see it anyways.

Hi mate, thanks and congrats! Im actually in the same boat as you right now as im trying to buy a T64V but looking for shops that still have one left from early 2023 or last year. Early 2023 models are still as they always were finish wise. Its shipments from about half way through the year onwards that have the new finish. Ive spent the last month or so ringing up shops that show as having stock and making sure the photograph shown is the exact guitar your buying. 90% of the time it isn’t which is madness. Ive also found alot of shops to be really reluctant to say if its the newer non aged truetone varnish or the older hand rubbed varnish aged finish - they also seem adamant theres no difference as if you dont know what your talking about lol. Some stores like Coda music have actually distinguished in the listing whether its the newer or older finish and ive even managed to get a few stores to do the same haha. Theres a place in Wales called back alley music that still have a few older ones left brand new at reasonable price. And the guitar photos online are the exact ones they have in-stock. In short, you need to make sure you get hold of the store first and get photos of the exact guitar, youll know instantly then which ones they have. Buying used is always an option and i wouldn’t hesitate to do so at all, but its just super rare the exact one your looking for comes up.

It is very big.

Trust me when you get one in your hands, it wont bother you haha

How does that finish hold up? is it easily marked?@@Paul-D

Your beating me. I have 3 and eyeing up my forth very soon haha

@@Paul-D Haha. I've forced myself to stop. Instead, I'm getting friends to buy Eastmans.

Like the thinking. Ive had a few friends become eastman overs now

Wow fair play, what an awesome dad! Im still tweaking set up preference with it but definitely enjoying having it. Going a gauge up then my usual but trying top wrap to retain the slinky feel i like. See how that goes.

@Paul-D I play 9-42s on it with a nice high action, and it intonates and holds tune surprisingly well. The ONLY caveat, is the ebony fretboard moves alot with 🌡 changes, so be ready!

yeh your telling me haha. the Other 2 I have have been the same too with temp changes

@@Paul-D How did you like the top wrap with bigger gauge? Im thinking of doing the same and also trying out some different strings etc...

This was from Richards Guitars. The few ive bought been from different places. So id also highly recommend Guitar Village & Coda Music too. Peach guitars also sometimes have a good range in

It would be abit noisy but id be very surprised if it was noisy enough to be a problem. The bigger issue might be the size of the neck in the heat of a gig. Its enormous compared to most any LP haha

@@Paul-D Thanks for the reply :)

It's not discontinued but it no longer has any aging. And costs more.

@@Paul-D I hope you're right. There's a video of Pepijn at the NAMM '23 show saying the varnish takes too long to dry so they're using truetone vintage gloss "for all those people who wanted like a varnish guitar without the antiquing". Problem is right before that he show's off a t59/v, so I'm confused. Also, there are a few Reverb listings from Acoustic Music Works with reference to the varnish being discontinued after this year.

I know the normal SB59 and T486 etc are truetone finishes already. The V always indicated varnish and had the aging. Far as i was told and experienced its still varnish and still has the V designation but zero aging at all.

@@Paul-D I bought a T59/TV, which in the spec says "truetone varnish", so I assumed it was still the same varnish but without aging as you said, but it's just "Truetone" - a catalyzed urethane in gloss, which I dislike, probably sending it back....

Im sat playing it right now by chance haha. Yeh id say that was accurate - its very smooth on the shoulders.

@@Paul-D Thank you! and how about the other Eastman? more or less shoulders? I will try to find a local one to try out but might not get to try both

As in my SB59? Its much smaller then the 56 but still nice and smooth on the shoulder. For reference - the necks i find the worst for shoulder is alot of Epiphones and especially the PRS wide thin. So if you agree im certain youll love the Eastman carves

It does indeed. The binding channel covers the seam of the 2 woods

@@Paul-D It must be a thin cap then, you can see the Gibson maple cap past the binding by about quarter of an inch. Their cap is about half inch thick so there is quite a difference there then. Thanks for the info and video.

Yeh there are very small areas you can see it peeking past the binding channel - but i would guess the cap is a little thinner then traditional gibson spec - which will help with why eastman is always much lighter then even customshop gibsons. They always do things subtley off spec - the maple over mahogany neck on the 335 types for example.

This guitar weighs 8lbs 1ounce. That is particularly light but eastman never make a heavy guitar. You just wont see it, check a load of retailers that list the weight 😁

Its true prices have risen sharply in the post covid times. Look at epiphone. Not really sure where we all go on that front.

@@Paul-DI hear ya! I bought an Epiphone Bonamassa’62 335, taxes in it was $1700 CAD. Quality was outstanding though to be honest, better than the Gibson 335s I tried (and wanted to convince myself to buy).

I havent tried one of those yet - i would want too though. 335 is my favourite of all the staple guitar types haha.

@@Paul-Dhighly recommend it Paul! It was ready to go right out of the box. One piece mahogany neck, Gibson burstbuckers, CTS pots, Mallory capacitors, etc. I love it… I think it even looks cooler than a standard 335 dot thanks to the small block inlays and vibrola. Look forward to a video in the future! lol

Agree and disagree here. Ive owned plenty of Gibsons when i had the shop but i never had any of the really well done customshops. I think finding “the one” and owning that is a special thing that isnt really matched anywhere else. But fact is these eastmans give you 95% of that plus they are so well made and i think sound great, and there consistent enough up-to now but cost less then a quarter of my ideal customshop gibson.