Eastman SB57/n Guitar, Lollar Imperial Pickups, Ebony, Vintage Nitro Finish, Black

Player's Perspective

The Eastman SB57/n "Black Beauty" is a fully-loaded, totally old-school-spec'd take on the "Custom" single-cutaway, double-humbucker guitar at an extremely reasonable price point. In addition to the immediately recognizable "piano" black finish, gold hardware, and beautiful high-end appointments, the guitar features the tried and true combination of a mahogany body and neck with a maple top and gorgeous black ebony fingerboard. Eastman also spared no expense on the hardware, going with Gotoh hardware across the board - the Tune-o-Matic bridge, tailpiece, tuning machines, and strap buttons are all high-end Gotoh offerings.The vintage-shape mahogany neck feels immediately reminiscent of the guitars this Eastman is based on, whilst remaining playable for the modern player - not too thin, not too thick. 

At the heart of the guitar are two of the highest-end "PAF"-style pickups out there - the venerable Lollar Imperial humbucker set. These Lollar pickups have become nearly a "standard" in the boutique guitar world for a reason and are pretty much the perfect "PAF". They capture the quintessential "1959" tone - clear, bright, and clean with a fantastic middle position on lower-gain settings, but are ready to rock hard when you dig in and turn up the gain. Add a vintage-style wiring harness with premium components like CTS and Switchcraft parts, and you have a top-shelf tonal formula.

For a contemporary take on a vintage guitar that checks all the boxes of what this style of guitar should be at a very accessible price, give the Eastman SB57/n a spin - you'll quickly find out how underrated these guitars are.