Unsolicited opinions on the G5230T and Gretsch as a whole.

[Mr Swisher]

I really was looking at picking up an Eastman, but their headstock looks... lifeless. I know that's a petty complaint, but even on their nicer models it seems like a design afterthought. It's just a "butterface" aesthetic that I just can't get past. Is a used Gibson worth four or five or six times as much? Practically speaking, no, but I have to acknowledge how much irrationality comes into play when spending a bunch of money on a guitar. My own petty tastes and potential resale value have kept me from exploring potentially better guitars. The Gibson name on the headstock still carries a lot of cache.

I may look at selling off a couple guitars so I can trade up to the black ES-335 Custom I've always wanted, if I ever come across it. I'm sure it's out there.

I get that. We guitarists like what we like and that's all that matters.. I class my Eastman as one of my four great guitars.. but yeah.. it's got the head stock and it says Eastman, and unless you are in the know about them it probably looks cheap.

Heck I just spent an extra £600 on Gibson over a Tokai just because it says "Gibson"... it's probably of equal quailty. They were both amazing.

The one thing that sold me on the Eastman was playing it. I was in a store with some money and tried all sorts. The Eastman didn't wow me on looks, but the second I played it it was just sooooo good. It's my daily "go to" guitar.

 

[Alaska Mike]

That's what I don't get. They make a beautiful playing and sounding instrument, which for the most part looks like a high quality piece. Then the headstock just is so 'meh', like a cheap guitar from the '70s you got out of the Sears catalog. I just can't wrap my head around it. It's not just the name, which I think is classy enough, it's how it's presented. I think with a little more tasteful design work (something many Asian brands struggle with), the guitars could be stunning.

 

[Desirsar]

One of the suspected characteristics of Nitro is that it will continue to shrink for many years, thus improving the tone of the guitar.

As long as we're acknowledging that this only applies to hollowbodies...

 

[Roy Clark]

As long as we're acknowledging that this only applies to hollowbodies...

Hey that was Ron Kirn saying that not me. I tend not to think about it or over think about it to much. I trust Ron though. I talk at a place that he joined as well. He is a smart older man that builds some amazing high end guitars. Look him up.

 

[Alaska Mike]

I wonder how much of that is really just the wood changing as it ages. I'm sure a thicker poly finish that retains some structural integrity will somewhat deaden the resonance of a semi-hollow or hollow body guitar, especially if it was applied thickly.

The way wood is cured these days for mass-produced guitars is very different than it was decades ago. I would think that would have a much larger affect on tone than the finish choice. My older guitars were much more stable through temperature and humidity changes. I've adjusted the truss rod on my oldest guitar exactly once. The frets have never sprouted from the rosewood fretboard. My newer guitars all have to varying degrees, with the exception of my American Ultra Telecaster. The frets were all dressed well and smooth when I bought the guitars, but cold/dry weather brought a bumper crop of fret sprouts. Stew Mac is on a first name basis with me these days.

 

[wildeman]

If these guys knew about guitars like we do, they would've played clarinet