# Eastwood P90 Special



## david henman (Feb 3, 2006)

...just for a lark, i got an eastwood p90 special (the company is in georgetown, ontario). 

i picked it up yesterday and played it, for hours, when i got it home last 
night. 

oh. my. god. 

back in the 70s i played a gibson sg with p90s through an ampeg half stack. 
i still have live video footage. this guitar gives me that tone again, and that's just the starting point. it is modelled on the gibson les paul double cut with p90s, and takes me in an entirely new (old) direction from my fenders. 

i literally could not put this thing down.

i must say, despite the fact that it's made in china, the components (vintage-style tuners, pickups, bridge and other hardware) are top notch!

oh, and its black.......


-dh


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## Baconator (Feb 25, 2006)

*Congrats!*

Very cool! I've been tempted to try out a cheap P90 guitar and I like the Eastwood models since they're different than the standard cheap copies. Any guitar that keeps you playing longer than you intended and puts a smile on your face is a good purchase as long as you can deal with the credit card statement :smile: 

One last obligatory note: Need Pics 

Cheers!


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## david henman (Feb 3, 2006)

Baconator said:


> One last obligatory note: Need Pics
> Cheers!


...i'm a little "challenged" in that department. here's the site - its the p90 special, black:

www.eastwoodguitars.com

anyone want to give it a try?

-dh


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## Baconator (Feb 25, 2006)

I can try . . . .










I copied the address of the pic from the site, hit the 'Insert Image' button from the toolbar in the 'reply to thread' page and whammo.

You (and I) learn something new every day :food-smiley-004: 

Nice plank!


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## david henman (Feb 3, 2006)

Baconator said:


> I copied the address of the pic from the site, hit the 'Insert Image' button from the toolbar in the 'reply to thread' page and whammo.


...ah, so it doesn't work when you do that backwards!

:confused-smiley-010 

-dh


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## torndownunit (May 14, 2006)

I gotta say my review of the P-90 Special doesn't match yours. I am just going to offer a different prospective, not to be rude but just for people's info since most of Eastwood's business is mail order and you can't see the guitars up close. David got to try one out in person and liked it, but there are a lot of things you can't see on these guitars when it comes to mail ordering them.

First of all the body is made of Basswood. Which isn't always bad, but for this type of guitar it is. It should be mahogany. And you can get similar guitars for cheaper that are mahagony. And that body is covered with one of the thickest finishes I have seen. It causes the guitar to sound 'dead' when compared to other dual P-90 guitars.

The neck is REALLY narrow at the nut (1 5/8"). So if you don't like that kind of profile, or have big fingers, the guitar is not for you. A lot of the Eastwoods have the same narrow neck profile. It's among the narrowest necks I have seen.

I personally felt the hardware and electronics on the guitar were pretty cheap. At the time I was trying out a lot of P-90 guitars, and the Eastwood P-90's just didn't do it for me.

I WANTED to like the guitar. The guy who runs the company is a great guy. And it's great that they are local. But the guitars are just way overpriced for what they are. A guitar like my Reverend cost me only a little more, and every component on it from the neck to the pots are top quality parts. If I wanted a cheap dual P-90 guitar I would pick-up an Agile or an SX. Less money, and better specs. 

http://www.rondomusic.net/ad2300jr.html
http://www.rondomusic.net/gg1jrtvy.html

for an example.


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## torndownunit (May 14, 2006)

David, did they have this in at Georgetown:










It's one I have been waiting for.

Body: Mahogany
Neck: Mahogany SET
Fingerboard: Rosewood, Dot Markers
Scale Length: 24 3/4"
Width at Nut: 1 11/16"


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## david henman (Feb 3, 2006)

torndownunit said:


> I gotta say my review of the P-90 Special doesn't match yours. I am just going to offer a different prospective, not to be rude but just for people's info since most of Eastwood's business is mail order and you can't see the guitars up close. David got to try one out in person and liked it, but there are a lot of things you can't see on these guitars when it comes to mail ordering them.
> First of all the body is made of Basswood. Which isn't always bad, but for this type of guitar it is. It should be mahogany. And you can get similar guitars for cheaper that are mahagony. And that body is covered with one of the thickest finishes I have seen. It causes the guitar to sound 'dead' when compared to other dual P-90 guitars.
> The neck is REALLY narrow at the nut (1 5/8"). So if you don't like that kind of profile, or have big fingers, the guitar is not for you. A lot of the Eastwoods have the same narrow neck profile. It's among the narrowest necks I have seen.
> I personally felt the hardware and electronics on the guitar were pretty cheap. At the time I was trying out a lot of P-90 guitars, and the Eastwood P-90's just didn't do it for me.
> ...


...good points, all. i believe this guitar is only $400 - dealers may sell for less. difficult to imagine getting more guitar for less money.

the tuners, bridge, pickups etc do appear, to me at least, to be good quality. the tuning seems to be quite stable, as well, and this is the major downfall of most inexpensive guitars. as for the neck, the one on mine is gargantuan, compared to my fenders and g&l.

obviously, for $400 you're not going to get the build quality of a more expensive guitar.

its nice to be back in p90 land!!!

-dh


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## david henman (Feb 3, 2006)

torndownunit said:


> David, did they have this in at Georgetown:
> 
> 
> 
> ...


...i didn't go to georgetown. i got mine from a mutual contact.

are these guitars not sold in stores?

i'd like one of these, as well. and a gp!

-dh


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## torndownunit (May 14, 2006)

David,

2 store near me that carry them are Folkways in Guelph, and Pinecone Music in Georgetown. The guy who owns the company has some affiliation with the store in Georgetown so they carry pretty much every model.

I have gone there several times with the intention of buying different models, but wasn't happy with them when I got there. The main issue being that most of them have the same neck profile! It's so weird why they picked that neck profile for multiple models.

2 models I am interested in right now that have the different neck profile that I want to try out are the SG type model I posted, and the 'Classic 6'. But the Classic 6 has that same 1 5/8" neck profile! It makes no sense for a hollow body at all. The SG style one has a 1 11/16" profile though.

This is the Classic 6:










One of these looks pretty cool for slide too:


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## GTmaker (Apr 24, 2006)

speaking of P90 guitars I had a chance to try a Godin at Folkway music a while back and for 400 bucks it looked and sounded like a good deal.
Check out the Godin web site for detalis


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## torndownunit (May 14, 2006)

Those Godin LGP90's are an amazing guitar. They do look a little different though, and aren't for everyone. I had one and got it got $400 too. I only sold it because the one I got was insanely heavy. After awhile it started to feel a little too heavy for me. I have a bad shoulder and it just wasn't working out. The feature set on those guitars is fantastic though.

Another great dual P90 guitar on a budget is the Squire Tele Custom II. You can get one for around $300. It's sort of based on the Fedner 72' Deluxe Tele, but has 2 P-90's instead of the wide range humbuckers.


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## david henman (Feb 3, 2006)

torndownunit said:


> I have gone there several times with the intention of buying different models, but wasn't happy with them when I got there. The main issue being that most of them have the same neck profile! It's so weird why they picked that neck profile for multiple models.


...is the huge neck (at least partly) responsible for the heavy tone? i think i can get used to it, over time, but its a challenge. 

-dh


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## torndownunit (May 14, 2006)

David, the materials used are really strange choices for that type of guitar. And that contributes a lot to the tone.

It's a Basswood body, with a maple neck and a rosewood board. Which means it doesn't sound anything like a Gibson Special, Double-cut Jr. or the other Gibson models that companies base those types of guitars on. In my case, that is what I was looking for...a cheap knock off of a Gibson double-cut. But the Eastwood Special sounded nothing like that to me. The super thick finish on it deadens the sound a little too, and the guitar just doesn't "sing".

If you like the guitar and the sound, none of this matters. I only wanted to post my review because if people are shopping for one of these expecting a budget version of a Gibson double cut they might be disappointed. It has it's own thing going on.

The thing I don't get is, the Corona which I posted a photo of (the SG style) is all mahogany (neck and body). It has wider neck too. And it costs less money. From looking at the photos it also appears the finish is a lot thinner. I have no clue why they didn't use similar specs for the P-90 Special. It would have been a great take on the original, and would have cost less money.


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