California Dreamin'

Last year’s D'Ambrosio series guitars signified numerous firsts for Eastman, not least that they were US-made with boutique prices to match. These new FullerTones capture the magic at a fraction of the price

- Dave Burrluck

EASTMAN FULLERTONE SC '52 & DC 62 £799 & £899

CONTACT Eastman PHONE [phone] WEB www.eastmanguitars.​com

What You Need To Know

1 Doesn't Eastman just make old1 style archtops and Les Paul copies? Harsh but fair! That was pretty much what the brand was known for until it turned to original designs with the Romeo, Juliet and D'Ambrosio series - and now these Fuller Tone models.

2 Why 'Fuller Tone'? It's actually the name designer Otto D'Ambrosio gave to the unique neck joint used on his eponymous series guitars. Those are made in the USA in pretty small numbers, but the guitars you see here are Chinese-made and similar in design, including the neck joint, which gives the new line its name.

3 Tonerider pickups? Doesn't Eastman use Lollar, Seymour Duncan and Bare Knuckle? Correct, but Eastman actually already uses Tonerider pickups on the archtop AR372CE-P90, which features two Vintage 90s, and Eastman has also used the Alnico 2 Classics. Tonerider pickups are designed in the UK and made in their own exclusive factory in China, and are known for excellent sounds at sensible prices.

Eastman is one of the few brands we can think of that, having built its empire on heavily inspired-by designs, has turned its back on those to create a new, original path. Yes, many of those older designs are still in the catalogue, but the new-design wave began with the Romeo, in 2019, an original thinline that nodded back to the jazz age but moves effortlessly into 60s style with models such as the Romeo LA. Juliet followed in 2022, rather rockier with a raised-centre solidbody and a single-cut outline that shares a strong family resemblance to Romeo. These models achieved the often difficult balance of being original in style but seemingly rooted in the past.