Eastman ACTG-2E (Custom Pro) Travel Guitar

Quick review first - This is a great little guitar for the price. I haven’t tried any of the others of this sort, like the Baby Taylors or Little Martins, but I can’t think how they could be better. This is all solid wood and really well finished with a great tone and good volume. If you want a small, short-scale electro-acoustic guitar I can recommend it. Longer review - I have bought guitars from Richards Guitars a long time ago and was very pleased with the guitars and service, so I approached them for advice on a good small short-scale guitar. I wanted a short-scale guitar as I have increasing arthritis in my hands and hoped this would be easier to play. I’d first thought of a Cort mini, but Jon took me through some options (by email) and suggested that, as I didn’t want it for travel, the more expensive, all solid wood hand-made Eastman might suit me better. I researched it online, read and listened to lots of reviews and comparisons, and decided to go for it. I’m glad I did. It is a very well finished and well set-up guitar. The tone is excellent. It doesn’t match the richness of my 21-year-old Taylor 414, but I wouldn’t really expect it to. It’s hard to describe tone, but I’d say it is bright and punchy rather than being mellow. It has very good sustain and feels that (unlike my playing) it will just improve with age. It’s a very good looking guitar too, with a matt finish and very tasteful tortoiseshell type binding. And at the moment it seems to be cheaper at Richards Guitars than elsewhere. One word of warning though, there was some hold-up with delivery of the guitar from Eastman and a guitar that should have been available within 7-10 days actually took 11 weeks to arrive, so if you need it quickly check before buying. Richards Guitars clearly weren’t expecting this delay either when I ordered, and when the delay became apparent Jon kindly offered me a very nice leather strap and arranged for a strap pin to be added to the heel free of charge. Both Jon and Jake offered to supply an alternative Eastman guitar if I couldn’t wait, but I’m glad I did wait. As regards the arthritis, I think the short scale will help a bit, time will tell, but even if it doesn’t it was a good excuse to buy a nice new guitar.

Can’t fault a thing guitar great service great and prompt delivery thank you

A wonderful guitar

Having had a great experience with Eastman electric guitars and more recently a full sized acoustic I decided to switch my Taylor GS Mini out for an Eastman travel guitar. And what a great decision. Comparison between brands can be a subjective thing so my experience isn’t necessarily definitive, but to me there is no comparison. The Eastman is much the better guitar. It sings - like you play a note or chord and you just want to stay there and listen before moving on. The tone is gorgeous. Despite the compact body the sound is full and rounded. Build quality is outstanding as I’ve come to expect and playability is great.