Description
Eastman Uptown AR803ce, premium,
fully hollow jazz archtop guitar
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Tony Elder / Steve Jackson
Black Dot Music
Est 1985
In excellent condition with neck lacquer removal.
The Eastman Uptown AR803CE from 2007 is a premium, fully hollow jazz archtop guitar celebrated for bringing high-end, hand-carved luthier quality to an accessible price point. Part of Eastman’s acclaimed “Uptown Series,” this instrument helped put the company on the map for serious jazz guitarists.
Key Specifications & Design
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- Body Sizes: The AR803CE was famously offered in two distinct body configurations—a 15-inch model (offering a slightly more compact, focused midrange projection) and a standard 16-inch model.
- Tonewoods: It features a hand-carved, solid aged Spruce top coupled with hand-carved flamed Maple back and sides.
- Neck & Fingerboard: A stable 3-piece maple neck with a high-grade solid Ebony fingerboard.
- Hardware & Appointments: Adorned with premium Gotoh tuners featuring ebony buttons, a Venetian cutaway, and solid ebony for the bridge, tailpiece, and pickguard.
- Electronics: Standard configurations feature a single floating Kent Armstrong humbucker pickup equipped with pickguard-mounted volume and tone controls, utilising X-bracing for a highly responsive, acoustic-leaning tone.
Performance Characteristics
The 2007 models typically sport Eastman’s signature thin spirit varnish or antique finishes, which allow the hand-carved woods to vibrate freely for exceptional acoustic resonance, clarity, and richness. Because of their thin coatings, used models from this era commonly exhibit natural finish checking, minor dings, or cosmetic wear while remaining structurally sound and playing brilliantly.
