Eastman T486B

[Skip Ellis]

Picked this up today on local FB Marketplace - 2017, nitro finish, Duncan Phat Cat pickups, absolutely new unplayed condition. Upgraded with Grover locking tuners and one of those 'String Butler' thingies. Original pickguard and tuners included. Case even had plastic wrap still on the handle. I wanted something I could use for 'Chet' and chord melody - this should do it, I think. Jury is out on the Phat Cat PUs - might swap bridge out for Vintage Vibe CCH. Got it right enough that I might make a little if I flip it down the road. Sorry for the crummy pic!

[sgosnell]

The String Butler is a nice addition to an Eastman with wide headstock. It makes the string pull straight through the nut, and the bend is over a metal bearing, so tuning is easier, especially with a Bigsby. That looks like it should be able to Chet, if not djent.

[Marc Grossman]

Congrats on the new guitar! Hope you get the sound you want.

I play chord melody on jazz standards, which obviously sounds very different to Chet Atkins chord melody. I bought one of these new, last year. Unfortunately, I couldn't get a really good clean jazz sound on the neck pickup. I was surprised by this given the reviews of the SD Jazz p/u and the T486.

I didn't really even try the bridge p/u because that's not the sound I look for. Not sure if Chet uses mostly bridge, neck or both.

I did think about changing the P/U's. I decided that rather than taking the chance of investing more money into it via a p/u swap that might not give me what I want, I would just sell it. I sold it after a month or two.

Good luck with it!

[Skip Ellis]

Congrats on the new guitar! Hope you get the sound you want.

I play chord melody on jazz standards, which obviously sounds very different to Chet Atkins chord melody. I bought one of these new, last year. Unfortunately, I couldn't get a really good clean jazz sound on the neck pickup. I was surprised by this given the reviews of the SD Jazz p/u and the T486.

I didn't really even try the bridge p/u because that's not the sound I look for. Not sure if Chet uses mostly bridge, neck or both.

I did think about changing the P/U's. I decided that rather than taking the chance of investing more money into it via a p/u swap that might not give me what I want, I would just sell it. I sold it after a month or two.

Good luck with it!

I'm also having trouble getting a tone that I like. This particular guitar has Duncan Phat Cat pickups which are more of a P90 type thing that, so far, I don't care for. Unfortunately, I was not able to try it plugged in as the seller didn't have an amplifier available so I took my chances. It's a beautiful guitar - very well made but, besides the pickups, It's very very heavy; I haven't weighed it, but it's heavier than my Tele which is at about the top of my comfort range, so I think it will probably be turned fairly quickly for something more suitable. I may just build another hollow Tele and put a Strat tremolo in it and be done with. Another thing I noticed about this guitar, that due to the dimensions (?), my thumb pick when playing Chet stuff, wants to hit the neck pickup ring while keeping the strings muted at the bridge - I have to be very aware of hand position which is not something I've particularly had to deal with in the past - maybe just been playing Teles too long. I'll mess with it some more - we'll see. I paid a bit less than the going rate on Reverb, so, hopefully, I can move it with little to no loss.