Got a few deals on cheap-O guitars in the past week, and both arrived over the past two days. I thought I'd post my initial thoughts on them, as I had no prior experience owning either of these brands, and I don't ever hear about them in gear forums. I haven't bit much on cheap-Os in the past several years, but these two happened to both draw me in at the same time.
Cheap-O number one: Eastwood Black Widow Bass. Very cool looking medium scale (32") bass that is based on old Acoustic brand basses from the '70s. I had been eyeing these for quite some time. Normally retails at $550, but a Reverb seller accepted my offer of $420. I had never played a medium scale bass before, and I love the way these look.
Cheap-O number two: D'Angelico Premier DC, stop tailpiece model without F holes. This was a complete impulse buy based on a targeted online ad on Facebook. I had never even considered a low-end D'Angelico before, or even looked at their lineup. It's a 335-style guitar, without F holes, in a hot looking black, with a tolerable non-Gibson headstock and tolerable non-Gibson 335-ish body shape, priced at $300 (original retail price $750). I had to bite. But I love 335s without F holes, and I have another one that has only one pickup.
Simply put, the Eastwood is craptastic, and overpriced even at the $420 price, while the D'Angelico is very nice...and a total steal at 300 bucks.
The Eastwood has a crappy finish. Not smooth/level at all. Has some runs. Binding is not cleanly scraped. The frets are poorly dressed, and tarnished. The fretboard edges are super sharp. The strings are crap. The tuners are crap. The three-ply binding is sloppy as hell. The screws, bushings (doesn't use a neck plate), and other hardware is cheaply made and cheaply plated. None of the holes/routs are cleanly cut. The pickup is nowhere near being aligned with the strings. It plays like garbage. Haven't played it through an amp yet, but I know I can make any bass sound good with electronics and amp tweaks.
The D'Angelico is very impressive. Finish is not entirely smooth/level, but it's good, and it doesn't have any runs. They did a totally clean job on the binding scraping. The frets are quite nice (though not perfect). The nut is tolerable for now, but could be improved by a hand-made replacement (this is true even on many expensive guitars IME). The inlays don't look horribly cheap and cheesy, as I imagined they would. The tuners look nice (though they aren't high quality). They are Imperials, but not Grovers. The fretboard is dark, smooth, and good looking. The neck is true (though it came out of the box with excessive relief). The strings are decent quality (D'Addarios). The hardware isn't the best, but it's not horrible. Haven't played it through an amp yet, but I know I can make it sound fine, even if it doesn't when stock. It plays fairly nicely, even without a setup.
They both could benefit from upgrades, but the D'Angelico is a much more solid instrument right out of the box. It's at or above the level of your typical Epi Dot archtop. And I realized after the fact, once I saw the original retail price, that this makes sense. Most D'Angelico Premiers are in the $700 to $800 range, while most Eastwoods are in the $400 to $600 range. I also think that Eastwoods are probably a bit overpriced compared to their quality level, just because the company offers cool and quirky designs.
I might keep the bass, just because the design is so attractive, and there's no other way to get it without spending a lot on a vintage one. Most of the problems are not fatal flaws, but the workmanship and materials really are crap. And in the end, I didn't spend a ton on it.
Bottom line, I will have my eyes on the D'Angelico Premier line in the future, but I will probably never buy another Eastwood.
Cheap-O number one: Eastwood Black Widow Bass. Very cool looking medium scale (32") bass that is based on old Acoustic brand basses from the '70s. I had been eyeing these for quite some time. Normally retails at $550, but a Reverb seller accepted my offer of $420. I had never played a medium scale bass before, and I love the way these look.
Cheap-O number two: D'Angelico Premier DC, stop tailpiece model without F holes. This was a complete impulse buy based on a targeted online ad on Facebook. I had never even considered a low-end D'Angelico before, or even looked at their lineup. It's a 335-style guitar, without F holes, in a hot looking black, with a tolerable non-Gibson headstock and tolerable non-Gibson 335-ish body shape, priced at $300 (original retail price $750). I had to bite. But I love 335s without F holes, and I have another one that has only one pickup.
Simply put, the Eastwood is craptastic, and overpriced even at the $420 price, while the D'Angelico is very nice...and a total steal at 300 bucks.
The Eastwood has a crappy finish. Not smooth/level at all. Has some runs. Binding is not cleanly scraped. The frets are poorly dressed, and tarnished. The fretboard edges are super sharp. The strings are crap. The tuners are crap. The three-ply binding is sloppy as hell. The screws, bushings (doesn't use a neck plate), and other hardware is cheaply made and cheaply plated. None of the holes/routs are cleanly cut. The pickup is nowhere near being aligned with the strings. It plays like garbage. Haven't played it through an amp yet, but I know I can make any bass sound good with electronics and amp tweaks.
The D'Angelico is very impressive. Finish is not entirely smooth/level, but it's good, and it doesn't have any runs. They did a totally clean job on the binding scraping. The frets are quite nice (though not perfect). The nut is tolerable for now, but could be improved by a hand-made replacement (this is true even on many expensive guitars IME). The inlays don't look horribly cheap and cheesy, as I imagined they would. The tuners look nice (though they aren't high quality). They are Imperials, but not Grovers. The fretboard is dark, smooth, and good looking. The neck is true (though it came out of the box with excessive relief). The strings are decent quality (D'Addarios). The hardware isn't the best, but it's not horrible. Haven't played it through an amp yet, but I know I can make it sound fine, even if it doesn't when stock. It plays fairly nicely, even without a setup.
They both could benefit from upgrades, but the D'Angelico is a much more solid instrument right out of the box. It's at or above the level of your typical Epi Dot archtop. And I realized after the fact, once I saw the original retail price, that this makes sense. Most D'Angelico Premiers are in the $700 to $800 range, while most Eastwoods are in the $400 to $600 range. I also think that Eastwoods are probably a bit overpriced compared to their quality level, just because the company offers cool and quirky designs.
I might keep the bass, just because the design is so attractive, and there's no other way to get it without spending a lot on a vintage one. Most of the problems are not fatal flaws, but the workmanship and materials really are crap. And in the end, I didn't spend a ton on it.
Bottom line, I will have my eyes on the D'Angelico Premier line in the future, but I will probably never buy another Eastwood.
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