Eastwood Doubleneck……….

[Grog]

I've been somewhat on the lookout for a doubleneck project bass to add Gibson pickups etc too. Even if i could afford a Gibson 6/4 doubleneck, I have never liked having the bass on top. A couple days ago, I pre-ordered this Eastwood doubleneck. It should be here in early October. It has a short scale bass (on the bottom) & weighs less than some of my heavier Les Pauls. Will have to decide whether to go high or low impedance pickups. Maybe a mudbucker on the bass. Good winter project.......

[Rob]

This should be a good read!

[gearHed289]

Should be fun! I also prefer guitar on top. I bought an Eastwood electric mandola last year. Pretty decent stuff for the money.

[Grog]

This maybe should have been posted in "Bill's Shop". If that is the case, sorry Dave please move it..........
Three months gives me more than enough time to toss around possibilities, I'm normally kind of an impulse guy.
Worse case scenario, I might like the stock pickups & the tuners. I am planing on changing them.
On the bass side, I have in stock: Les Paul Triumph pickups
                                                 Les Paul Signature pickup
                                                 Les Paul Standard Oversized Bass pickups
                                                 Jim DeCola pickup from LP DC Tribute Bass
                                                 20/20 pickups
                                                 Mudbucker
                                                 Mini Humbuckers from EB-2D & EB-3
                                                 EB-4L Pickup

On the guitar side, I have:           Les Paul Recording pickups
                                                 Les Paul Recording II (Reissue) High impedance pickup
                                                 Les Paul Signature pickups
                                                 Gibson Maurader bridge pickups
                                                 Seymour Duncan Pearly Gates neck pickups

I have been loosely tossing around the possibility of trying a set of 916 Neo pickups on both sides. They make a mudbucker replacement, a Humbucker & a P-90.

Will have to wait & see what's under the hood for room to see how much modification can be done to the controls.
I plan on running it through a Boss LS-2 Line Selector to switch between bass and guitar amps, at least for now.

[Grog]

Change in plans...... I was offered a black one that is currently in stock, to be shipped soon. Should be easier to touch up if necessary.

[gearHed289]

I like that much better.

[Grog]

The Epiphone HSC I ordered came yesterday already. The guitar was finally shipped at midnight last night. The case should be easily modified to fit the Eastwood. Will have to modify the body pocket. I may have to tip the body a bit to accommodate the different neck angles. My hatred for Gig Bags is being tested.........

[Alanko]

Is one of the necks shimmed, or is the opposite neck leaning forwards?

My gut feel with Eastwood is that they are $180 guitars with $780 pricetags because they copy the outline of obscure 1950s prototype guitars or 1960s catalog guitars. The hardware, fit and finish has felt a bit budget-y on the ones I've tried.

[Grog]

I'm just speculating, going by photos posted on Reverb about the neck position. I have never played an Eastwood but am guessing that the pickups & tuners are likely cheap. Being a cheap guitar, I'm hoping that it will be a good platform to modify with no substantial loss if it doesn't work out. Time will tell.

[gearHed289]

The top neck is probably angled like that so you can see the bottom neck. I was talking to a guy with a Ric 4080, and he complained that you can't see the lower neck very well. I believe the lower neck is the one angled back on the Ric.

[Grog]

That makes good sense! It should show up tomorrow that should clear up a bunch of questions & concerns.

[Grog]

The guitar showed up yesterday, the necks are angled like in the stock pic. Like GearHed289 said, it's likely so you can see the bottom neck. That being said, it is an awkward beast. The control cavity is plenty deep enough for stacked pots. They should be delivered today from Warmoth. The stock pickups seem weak. Oddly enough, the bass was in close to perfect tune right out of the box.

[Grog]

The case has been modified. I had to add 3/4" to the entire body pocket. I used part of the angled styrofoam piece that was on the neck end of the pocket to tip the body enough to get the necks to lay flat. Will try it next Tuesday & try to determine how much more pickup weight my back can handle. Three low impedance pickups might add significant weight.......

[Grog]

Had a chance to play the beast a little more. It is a beast with crappy pickups. I think they were going for a surf sound. I am glad that the necks are offset, much nicer to see what is going on with the bass just like GearHed mentioned. I yanked out the bass pickup to see what will be involved for routing and depth. The entire pickup area is hollow. Tons of room on the bass side, the guitar side is hollowed out just past the pickup rings. I may need to place the guitar pickups a bit closer together. I measured approximately 2" in depth to the bottom of the cavity to the bass strings, more than enough room for any pickup I'd install. Only about 1/2" or less to route out. It looks workable.......

[gearHed289]