Eastman AC522CE-GB

The Eastman Strings brand was founded in 1992 by Chinese flutist Qian Ni after graduating from the Boston University School of Music. Over three decades, the company's portfolio has grown to include acoustic, semi-acoustic and electric guitars (Eastman Guitars) and with it the brand's fame, so that the company's players include such luminaries as James Dean Bradfield (Manic Street Preachers), Adrian Utley (Portishead) and Lee Ranaldo (Sonic Youth). In the case of Eastman instruments, you can rely on superior craftsmanship, demonstrated by features and techniques such as hand-cut ribbing or individual tuning of the instrument's soundboard.

The Eastman AC522CE-GB is an all-massive Grand Auditorium-style electro-acoustic guitar. The front of the guitar is made of European spruce, while the back and sides are made of mahogany. An ebony fingerboard with 20 frets is glued to the mahogany neck with a nice "C" profile.

The rounded lower body cutout ensures good matching at the higher positions of the fingerboard, while the orientation on the fingerboard is facilitated by pearl position markers (Abalone). The resonance of the top is supported by hand-reduced ribbing (Scalloped X).

The strings are mounted across the bone zero fret in gold-finished tuning machines and an ebony fingerboard. The luxurious workmanship is accentuated by a soundport opening in the guitar's headstock providing musicians with instant feedback, and traditional touches in the form of mahogany body and fingerboard binding complemented by imitation tortoiseshell lines, a wooden rosette with tortoiseshell inlay, imitation tortoiseshell pickguard and mother-of-pearl company logo on the headstock.

The guitar's voicing is handled by LR Baggs Element EAS VTC electronics with a sub-coil pickup and Volume and Tone controls discreetly placed in the instrument's soundhole. The guitar comes in a carrying case.