Hi Mandolin Players,
I'm posting this review to help others who may be on the fence about buying an Eastman.
I have owned a Collings MT for about 10 years and recently decided to buy a backup Mandolin to take on short trips to places where I would not want to bring the Collings. I mean, it is generally not a wise idea to take your favorite instrument to the beach, family gatherings, popping campfire, bar, road trips, etc. Has the Collings been to all of these places? Yup. Has beer been sloshed in the F-hole? Yup. Have I learned my lesson--maybe. So, my mission was to find a mandolin that sounded pretty great for as little money as possible. Something that I could throw in the car or hand a kid or stranger without worrying about an accidental scratch.
After reading just about every post on Mandolin Cafe and watching a ton of YouTube videos, I ordered an Eastman MD305 from themandolinstore.com. I chose this instrument because it was made of carved solid wood (some others are pressed), had a radiused fretboard (my preference), and the company had a reputation for making consistently good sounding and looking instruments. At around $509 including a gig bag and shipping (as of this posting), the price was also within my budget.
I spoke on the phone with James, who was knowledgeable about mandolins and excited to talk about music. If you've seen any of their recent store videos, he is the blond guy tearing it up on the mandolin. They sent the instrument really quickly and well packed. I ordered it on Wednesday afternoon and the FedEx driver dropped it off on Friday afternoon. While I was not supporting an American luthier or manufacturer, I was still supporting an American small business and they did not let me down. As others on this forum have found, themandolinstore.com was great to work with.
Let me tell you, I was really pleased with the MD305 that they sent me. I was immediately impressed with the quality of the instrument. The binding, finish, and overall construction seemed as tight as my Collings. As soon as I played a few notes, my wife told me I was being too loud and sent me outside to play with my son on the porch--it was louder than my Collings. The tone was also really great, though it had just a bit less low end bark on the chop. It certainly made up for this with the powerful mids and highs that could cut through any mix. Before getting the mandolin, I was a a bit concerned with the slightly smaller nut size, but that was not a problem at all. In fact, because the radius was 12" on the Eastman as opposed the 5"+ on the Collings, and the Eastman fret wire seemed thinner, the Eastman actually felt like it had more real estate for my fingers--whether or not this was really the case. Overall, the mandolin was easy to play and a real keeper.
Did I get a really great one? Probably. My guess though is that any other MD305 would be made as well and sound pretty good to great or improve with time. It sounds so good that I will be tempted to buy an Eastman MD304 or MD314 (instead of a Collings) when I finally splurge for that oval hole. In fact, my son has already called dibs on this MD305 mandolin as the one he wants to take to college.
If you are thinking about buying your first mandolin or just adding to your collection, I wish you luck!
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