This is an Eart TT72, it is a modern-day homage to the 1972 Fender Thinline Telecaster and it comes from Amazon. My 6th from the big A and so far I’m 5 for 6, the one dud was smoothed over by the seller with a BIG discount and is now awaiting a fret job once I get brave enough.
I really don’t understand how they can produce these and still maintain a margin, I just don’t. For less than the price of Squier Classic Vibe, I get:
Perfectly finished hemispherical-end medium jumbo stainless steel frets
Bone nut
21:1 tuning machines(*)
Roasted Maple neck with a compound C to U shape
Indian Rosewood fretboard with a 9.5" to 14" compound radius
Dual action spoke wheel truss rod
Roasted Mahogany body
Wide Range Humbuckers
Tone, Volume, 3-way blade switch
I’ve only had my hand on it for a few hours so far but I am once again thoroughly impressed by the craftsmanship involved in producing these. The fit and finish are first-rate and after looking for any flaws I can only come up with two; the output jack is ever so slightly off-centre and the knobs were not indexed so that the indicator marks pointed in the same direction.
Out of the box, the action was set low and the intonation, while not exact, was very close with just the low E and the B strings needing a little tweaking. The unbranded pots are full-size and very smooth and the wiring is nice and tidy but they did use a PCB switch so that will get changed to an Oak Grigsby style at some point in the future.
EDIT: forgot to add, it weights in at a svelt 6 lbs - 11 ounces
Anyhow, enough blather. . . on with the pictures!
Sorry about the flash, my phone just doesn’t get me. . .
(*)The hardware on this guitar is very nice and appears to be from the Gotoh 510 series but with Eart branding, so they are either OEM or high-fidelity copies. I do know that you can get Gotoh clones out of Korea that are very hard to tell from the originals unless you remove them from the instrument for a closer inspection. They all tend to be cast or stamped with made-in-Korea markings in an area that wouldn’t be visible when installed. The guitar came with D’Addario strings so I didn’t do the obligatory string change immediately after getting it so getting a closer look at the hardware will need to wait for the first string change
Hi Richard,
Happy NGD
I hope you don’t name your guitars either, that would mean you would have to keep an excel sheet and/or name tag them
Have fun with it,
Greetings
Thank you all, I am very happy with my new guitar, which shall remain nameless. I’m not that far gone down the rabbit hole yet (I think) but it does smell a lot like carrots around here.
There is but it is not a large one. From the back of the neck pocket to the front of the heel block, it reduces by about 1/4 of an inch, or 6-7 mm. Not having a neck plate is a far nicer detail for my tastes, at least on this guitar. On my super strat or headless it’s a different story, whittle that thing down as far as it will go, I say!
Happy NGD!! Looks really nice Richard and interesting to read your Amazon experience, always feels a little bit of a lottery for a purchase like this!!
Thanks Richard, I have decided on a solid body EART as I already have a Thin-line Squier, and I am interested in the neck profile, should arrive tomorrow.
I think you’ll be happy with it. I’m very pleased with both of my Eart guitars.
The one thing to keep in mind is that it is a risk-free purchase, it can always be returned. That is a big factor in determining my comfort level when buying a guitar from Amazon.
I don’t know how this will sound, hopefully not bad, but I have yet to play for anyone. For me, learning the guitar has been and still is like keeping a journal, it’s not really intended for anyone else other than myself. It’s hard to explain without going into a lot of detail, suffice it to say that the road up to this point in my life has been a bumpy one and the guitar is my one indulgence on that path.
Hi Richard, the guitar arrived and after a short play on the thing, I have to say, EART guitars are extremely well made instruments. The specs are impressive, and the sound is good. Playing is so easy and I love the neck. This is an impressive instrument regardless of the price paid. Some higher end well know makers should take note methinks.
I’m very pleased to hear that you like it! I’m always a little worried that what I see as being a good purchase could be the polar opposite of how someone else sees it. The last thing I want to do is give someone a bum steer.
The one thing I always try to focus on is the build quality and components. Given that pickup tone is such a subjective thing I try to avoid being overly complimentary about them. In fact, I’ve never considered them to be a deciding factor in choosing a guitar, as long as they don’t sound bad or are mismatched.
I hope you enjoy your new guitar for years to come.
