Eastman 'cello-guitar--'cello "convertible" for less than $25
If interested: Making your Eastman a convertible 'cello to guitar, and back, after some initial investment in time, for less than $25.
I know at least one other poster here has converted his Eastman 'cello to a guitar. I have pondered this for a while. I have never owned a good archtop guitar, and was curious how it would sound. After about an hour worth of research, I located a Chinese-made bridge (Disens) on Amazon for $9.99. I already had an extra slotted guitar nut (Tusq, I think?), so I was good to go. Tusq nuts can be had in the $12-$15 range, so, out of pocket costs (not including a sheet of sandpaper and wear-and-tear on a couple of files) was $21.99.
The bridge is a near-perfect-match for the Eastman bridge. The hole size and spacing is identical, as is it's shape and overall size, so all I needed to do was to cut the string slots in the saddle, remove about 3/16 in from the bottom of the saddle, and it was good to go. NO BRIDGE-FITTING REQUIRED. The nut took a bit more time to fit, but, all labor was completed in well under an hour and a half. A pro could probably do it in 1/3 that time.
The sound is really nice – maybe a bit warmer than some examples of archtops I have played, but certainly still “arch-toppy.”
To change my 'cello to an archtop, or back to a cello, takes about two minutes longer than changing strings. Lots of new possibilities...
Al
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