an unmistakable girth and an extended
frequency range. It’s not as easy to move
from chord to chord, given the wide string
spacing—and you’re not going to use this
axe to do any lightning-quick pentatonic
runs—but with a little practice I was able
to flatpick arpeggios at a pretty aggressive
tempo and could keep up with a buddy’s
flattop accompaniment.
I got my favorite sounds from the
Eastwood when I toyed with alternate tunings. Ellis has been known to tinker with
amplified bouzouki, so I thought I’d try
some Middle Eastern-tinged tunings with
drones, doubles, and fifths, which really
brought the little Eastwood to life, particularly with a little delay in the signal.
The surprisingly hot single-coil positively
bloomed with the muscular drone of the
thick fourth string and the overtones from
the sympathetically tuned first and third
strings. It’s a potentially massive sound. And
it’s easy to see why Ellis, who often embraces a sort of anti-technique involving clanging chords and single-note lead lines, would
embrace this little guitar’s articulation and
impressive resonance in the low midrange.
The Verdict
Not every player will find a use for the
Eastwood Warren Ellis Tenor. But that
doesn’t mean it doesn’t have a million
potential sounds for imaginative and adventurous players to work with. It’s easy to
imagine this guitar becoming an X factor
in the studio because of its ability to lend
such harmonic richness to say, an ordinary
C chord. It’s also well designed to take
advantage of the intrinsic advantages of
tenor guitar, with a pickup that brilliantly
highlights the huge harmonic and overtone
potential of the heavier fourth and third
strings, and the biting first and second
strings. Despite its no-frills appearance, this
is a guitar of remarkable versatility—one
that can lend thrilling new flavors to roots
music, Americana, and internationally flavored jams, as well as worlds of texture to
the music of boundary-obliterating experimentalists (like its namesake). The tenor
guitar may be an old concept, but this particular take on the form, and the collaboration between Eastwood and Warren Ellis,
are truly inspired.
Buy If...
you’re fearlessly intrigued by new
techniques and styles, or want to
create unusual textures in the studio.
Skip If...
unknowns freak you out or you
prefer sticking to standard 6-string
tones and techniques.
Eastwood Guitars
Street $499
eastwoodguitars.com
or use a mobile device to download
audio clips of the guitar at
CLICKHere…
