A Guitar And Gear Support Forum

I bought this guitar new about a month ago, have had it for a couple of weeks, and it is a mixed bag - it will be a project. This is an Eastwood Backlund Model 800. Eastwood advertised it in an email at very deep discount. I didn't need another guitar, but liking the design and never having tried out a Duesenberg tremolo, I jumped. After thoroughly checking it out, I have to give it 3/5 stars.

First, I think the design is fantastic, and the build is overall good. It is well balanced and fun to play. My guitar loses its first star because it has blemishes on the top underneath the clear coat. While I got it at a good sale price, it was not advertised as a factory second, but that's what I got. It plays well though and the Duesenberg Les Trem is tight and very responsive - I like it more than a strat, jazzmaster, or bigsby trem. The neck is a great shape, but it would feel better with thinner finish.

The only demo I heard of this guitar was by RJ Ronquillo, and he could probably make rubber bands on a shovel sound amazing. After days with it, I like the neck and middle positions, but the other 3 are not my bag. I think I will be changing the bridge pickup, as it sounds too thin for my music. While it's opened up, I will also see what I can do to shield all cavities and find any grounding issues, because this thing hums louder than my P90 guitars in all but the humbucker position. So I have to take a 2nd star off for the noisiness that should have been handled in production. At their list price given manufacturing in an undisclosed country, drastic hum should not be an issue.

I wish they had found a case that they could sell it with, because the Les Trem and offset shape will make it very hard to find a case for it. I don't trust gig bags with good guitars, so the gig bag offered was not an option for me. Until I find that case, the guitar has to stay home.

I assume after I get the noise managed, I will like the guitar a lot. That aside, I have one other nit to pick here. I was asked to provide a review for Eastwood, and I wrote one. That seems to have been lost, because I was again asked to review the guitar a week or so later. So I wrote another one, a bit longer, as above here. Apparently they just don't post honest reviews that note problems like my guitar has, and that disappoints me greatly. I have 5 guitars from Eastwood, and I thought better of the company before I saw this habit. Reviews mean nothing if a company only posts the most positive ones! I thought you guys should know they do that.

Somewhere, maybe TGP or TDPRI, I read that these won't be made by Eastwood any longer. It's possible this might actually go up in value as they're somewhat unique. Of course, that depends on demand.

Funny, my friend got a Blacklund 400 a few weeks ago and I just dogged him for it LOL! He loves guitars that I wouldn't touch. We've jammed a few times, and then he asks how I did something and when he can't do make his sound like mine, I tell him to quit buying sawdust guitars. He took a pic and gave a great review and it's on the Eastwood website. So maybe you're right and Eastwood only keeps the good reviews to post...

tony1852 wrote: ↑Fri Jun 12, 2020 4:57 pm Funny, my friend got a Blacklund 400 a few weeks ago and I just dogged him for it LOL! He loves guitars that I wouldn't touch. We've jammed a few times, and then he asks how I did something and when he can't do make his sound like mine, I tell him to quit buying sawdust guitars. He took a pic and gave a great review and it's on the Eastwood website. So maybe you're right and Eastwood only keeps the good reviews to post...

Sawdust is a bit strong. It's a mahogany body and in 2 positions the tone is there to be improved upon. But yeah, after 2 tries at leaving a review for it, I'm sure if my review was only glowing, it would have been posted right away. One of the reviews for the guitar is newer than my review.

i just tell him sawdust to get his goat lol! He started off buying $100 guitars but now he's buying much better gear, but I still like to razz him.

Jetsons Guitar. I like the look of it. Have you het them up for any additional sellery off the price for the blems?

fullonshred wrote: ↑Fri Jun 12, 2020 9:42 pm Jetsons Guitar. I like the look of it. Have you het them up for any additional sellery off the price for the blems?

I did not ask them for any more off. The sale price was good and it plays well, so that's not a huge deal. I just wanted them to be more up-front about it, so I did ask them why they only post the positive reviews. Honestly I like the company. I had an interaction with the owner (Mike) years back because I found out one of my Eastwood guitars was originally bought by Elliot Easton, and Mike verified the story for me.

Update: After I asked them why they only posted the positive reviews, they did end up digging up my first review of the guitar and posted it. They also apologized for sending a blem without advertising it as such.