Updated Specs on Eastman 805 A

  1. Yom
    Yom
    I recently received a new 805 A and I do love it. It already sounds really good and I'm sure it will sound much better when I learn to play it!
    After playing around with it for an hour or two I was kind of shocked to [finally] notice that the fittings were all nickel instead of the gold-plate as shown on the Eastman website (and about everywhere else I looked). I began to worry that I had actually received a 605.

    The label on the inside did, indeed, say MD805...and the fretboard was extended like on the 805 but that chrome hardware (though, honestly, I prefer it) gave me a bit of the old cognitive dissonance. I was a little more concerned after I did some more inspection and noticed that the back of the headstock was not ebony veneer. The specs I had seen said the 805, unlike the 505 and 605 had ebony overlay Front and Back of the headstock. I decided rather than calling and raising hell at the EXCELLENT dealer I bought it from, I'd send Eastman a note first and ask what the correct specs are.

    They replied the next day, explaining that a third party firm had been hired to list the specs on the website and they had made a mistake. The 805 does NOT have gold hardware and the back of the headstock is not ebony veneer. By the time I went to check the website the specs had been corrected (but, of course, the images need to be re-shot so they still show gold.)

    I'm okay with all that - now that I KNOW - but it had me pretty concerned at first. If one doesn't live in or near a larger city it's not always possible to actually see and play an instrument before you take a chance and order; sometimes you have to find a dealer you trust. I was lucky in that regard because, as I said, the instrument is GORGEOUS and sounds superb. It's a good thing I'm not a fan of gold plated hardware and that the lack of ebony veneer on the back of the headstock wasn't a deal-breaker.

    Just wanted to pass this along in case anyone else is looking at an MD805!

    Yom

    Taylor DN4
    '92 Epiphone PR 720-S
    Pono Baritone Ukelele
    '89 Flatiron/Gibson Army-Navy Cadet
    Eastman MD805 A
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