Trial by Fire: Eastman go head to head with a vintage Gibson!
We're big fans of the Eastman brand, and if you've chatted to us in the shop you'll no doubt have heard lofty claims from us about how well these fantastic instruments stack up against the guitars they're based on. 'Incredible', we say, 'best value you'll ever find in a 335 style', 'It's like you're playing a vintage one!'. To be fair, we're salesmen, it's our job.
Still, it's fun sometimes to put ourselves on the spot and see just how our claims stack up, and today the staff have decided to put me on the spot: take Eastman's new 'like you're playing a vintage 335' T59v limited, take my own bonefide vintage Gibson ES355, put them head to head and see whether I can hand on heart say the Eastman compares. It's going to be tough on the Eastman, because I love this guitar.
A little background
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Gibson introduced the ES335 in early 1958, and it was joined by the upmarket ES355 at the end of that year. The 335 was a genuine game changer: an arch-top guitar that looked fairly traditional from the front but contained a solid maple block running the length of the body that dramatically increased resistance to feedback. It was intended to be the ultimate blend of the best bits of solid body and hollow body electric guitar design, and it's one of Gibson's most successful guitars. The 335 was a curiously plain looking guitar given it's high profile launch and relatively high retail price, and Gibson quickly added a much flasher looking model: the ES355 featured multi-ply binding, gold hardware, and a luxurious pearl inlaid fingerboard. The following year a third model, the ES345, was added with an additional feature of stereo wiring with an extra tone control, and these figures were also added as options on the 355. The 355 was also distiguished from the other two models by its striking cherry red finish, but a handful of 355s were made in alternative colours including a stunning black model that eventually found its way into the hands of Keith Richards.
Eastman meanwhile was founded in 1992 to manufacture violin family string instruments, and branched into archtop guitars in the 2000s. You can read our history of Eastman here (https://www.forsyths.co.uk/content/131-workshop-diary-an-introduction-to-eastman-guitars ). The T59 was introduced as the ultimate Eastman 335 copy: it sported a mix of Eastman's favourite features from the Gibson line including ES355 binding and ebony board and the ES345's split parallelogram inlays, and most strikingly a varnish finish courtesy of the violin department that is aged in the same way as Eastman's upmarket violins. It's an interesting take on the commonplace relic idea that's currently very fashionable in the electric violin market but violin makers have been doing it for centuries and the different approach makes these Eastman 'relics' look very different to the typical nitrocellulose relic. The T59 also gets some of the best pickups and hardware the market can offer, so it's as highly spec'd as a 335 can get and still at a commendably low price-point.
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Our subjects
In the red corner, a 1965 ES355TDSV. 1965 was a transitional year for Gibson in which the headstock angle was changed to reduce breakage and the nut width was controversially narrowed from 1 11/16th to 1 9/16ths. Our example has the shallower headstock angle but the nut width splits the difference at 1 5/8ths. It's the stereo version so it's designed to be used with a Y cable and two amps, the two pickups then being outputted to different channels. We're A/Bing through our trusty Fender Bassbreaker so we're using a stereo to mono cable. This 355 is a very heavily worn example but it still looks radiant in it's luxurious cherry red finish.
In the black corner is our T59V, but it's not just any T59v: this is a limited run version that clearly doffs its cap to Keith Richard's beloved black '59 ES355. The hardware is gold, and there's a Bigsby vibrato in place of the regular T59's stop tailpiece. The pickups are Lollar Imperials in place of the usual Seymour Duncan Antiquities and there's a further subtle upgrade under the bonnet in the form of some posh Sprague Orange Top capacitors in the wiring loom. There's no stereo silliness on this guitar, so it's a nice familiar set up. The fingerboard retains the split parallelogram inlays of the ES345 but there's an attractive pearl motif on the headstock in a nod to the 355's split diamond headstock inlay.
First impressions
You look at the Gibson and it's instantly a classic – the 355 was the guitar of choice for Chuck Berry and BB King, and it's the guitar you saw Johnny Marr with in the 80s, Bernard Butler in the 90s and Noel Gallagher in the 2000s so as Brit rock guitars goes, the cherry 355 with it's glistening pearl and glinting Bigsby is iconic.
The Eastman looks, to be blunt, a little wonky with noticeably less recurve coming out of the waist so it looks a little pinched in outline. This is intentional, as Gibson is notoriously litigious about protecting their body shapes, so it's perhaps understandable that Eastman would err on the side of caution. Beyond that it's a very charismatic guitar and I instantly thought of that classic Loius Vuitton advert with Keith Richards nursing his 355 in a hotel room (which I won't post here because, well, Eastman aren't the only ones who don't want to get sued). It's a good looking guitar as long as you're not one to obsess over historical accuracies.
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Build and finish
1965 was the point where Gibson were beginning to struggle to effectively expand to meet the incredible demand for their products and mid-late 60s Gibsons often betray a few signs of more rushed production than the earlier guitars with 335s often quite messy internally. Having said that, as a premium model the fit and finish of 355s is usually pretty decent and this guitar is pretty tidy inside and out. We're amused by the label, which looks like someone brought their 7 year old into work and gave them the labels to fill out to keep them occupied, but otherwise this is a well mad guitar. It's a well used guitar and the lacquer has crazed dramatically with thick spiderwebbing all over and some genuine honest-to-goodness armwear on the lower bout. The gold hardware has long since given up any pretence of shininess, particularly on the Bigsby where it's plated straight onto sand cast aluminium.
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The Eastman is incredibly clean inside and out, and there's certainly no sense that the company rush these through production. In particular the fit of the spruce liners that couple the maple block to the top and back are very neatly finished in comparison to Gibson.
The black violin varnish is certainly eye catching – after all, you don't see very many black violins – but it looks good. The only negative thing we'd say is that these violin varnishes are inherently slightly cloud looking and, whilst it's not too noticeable on the standard colours it's definitely not a mirror finish. I don't think that's too big a deal as anyone buying this is going to be into the antique look and it's certainly got the vibe of a guitar that gets gigged every night and given a quick polish when the strings are changed rather than a museum piece.
Speaking of aging, comparing it to the genuine age of the lacquer on the 355 it's not especially realistic but again I don't see that as a big strike against the Eastman – it's a different finish material, it's not a guitar intended to be a perfect replica or fool anyone into thinking it's a 50 year old instrument, and it looks good whatever quibbles one might have about realism.
Playability
The necks are quite different between these two guitars. Gibsons from '63-'65 are probably my favourite era for neck profiles with a medium C that fills out nicely but not too dramatically towards the body. The 1 5/8ths nut width will go down well with Fender players and it doesn't feel cramped to my reasonably slender fingers. Having said that, the 1 ¾” nut on the T59 has noticeably more space between the strings and if you have large fingers I think you'll find the Eastman a lot more accommodating. T59s are usually a bit of a D shape, wide but not too deep – this one feels considerably thicker and more of a '59 style chunky C profile. Although the 355 instantly feels old due to the significant wear on the neck, the Eastman doesn't have that off-putting 'new guitar' stickiness and it's a pleasure to play.
I also noticed a big difference in the Bigsbys – the vintage one is quite soft with more limited travel, whereas the T59 Bigsby is much more responsive and definitely better for Neil Young style aggressive use. It's nice to see a proper US sand-cast Bigsby on the Eastman rather than the usual licensed version.
Sounds
335s are funny guitars in terms of sound and personality – there's not really any one 'classic' 335 tone, rather a real range where some are refined and sweet sounding, others brasher and with a bluesy bite and some seem to be under the impressions they're actually Les Pauls. This 355 is at the rockier end of the spectrum with the PAT sticker humbuckers imparting a focused, slightly compressed sounding tone on either pickup. The six position varitone switch on this example is pretty underwhelming - they do vary from one guitar to the next and I've liked them on other 355s, but this one sounds pretty anaemic. Stereo Gibsons have a tendency to sound a tiny bit muffled compared to mono versions, and I can hear that in this guitar comparing it to a '66 ES335 we had handy – I don't think it's a fault as such, more that they were designed for a purpose that most of us don't use and there's a compromise entailed in having that wiring circuit summed to mono. It's a good sounding guitar but it definitely lends itself to the Johnny Marr/Bernard Butler end of the spectrum rather than BB King/Freddie King. For bright, spiky indie though that bridge pickup does the job marvelously, and it can do a pretty decent Les Paul impression when heavy gain is applied.
The Eastman is immediately noticeably more dynamic – if you play it fingerstyle or you're careful with your pick attach it definitely has an expressiveness that's a little better than the 355. Running though a little jazz comping or some bluesy BB King lead on the Eastman is incredibly rewarding with plenty of sweetness even on the bridge pickup. Dialing in a bit of crunch for some Let It Be era Beatles licks also put a big smile on my face, and it's able to sound raucous without losing too much clarity as the amp begins to break up. With heavier settings it loses a little clarity in direct comparison to the 355 particularly on the neck pickup, but there's plenty of girth to the sound and it's certainly no wimp when it comes to heavier tones.
Conclusion
If I'm honest, I'm not sure I wanted this to be such a close thing! It's worth reiterating that vintage 335 series guitars vary a lot and this one guitar in no way representative of all of them so my comments about tone might be different with a different subject - I found the '66 ES335 I also had to hand writing this much more similar to the Eastman for example - but the Eastman was without doubt head and shoulders with the Gibson and when it came to clean sounds I had to reluctantly hand the win to the Eastman.
The 355 is an iconic guitar for sure and my love for it is undiminished, but I think it's more than possible to revere these old classics whilst also appreciating the quality that modern guitars can offer. Whichever way I spin it though it's got to be a hearty pat on the back for the talented workers at Eastman – this is a simply phenomenal guitar.