By: Dr. Matt Warnock
Eastwood Doral Guitar Full View
In the company video below, the Eastwood Doral guitar is described as an “L5 with a few differences.” Now that’s a pretty bold statement for any guitar company to make, especially one who’s comparable guitar comes in at around 1/4 of the price of a low-end L5. What is even more remarkable about that statement is that it’s not far from the truth, at least as far as the size, relative shape, woods used and pickup configurations are concerned.
As someone who’s played L5’s, and used to own an L4 but that had to sell it for a Telecaster because the weight and size of the guitar caused me back problems, I was a bit wary of playing on an archtop again for this review. When I first opened up the case and had my first look at the “Doral” I couldn’t help but think, “Oh man, nice looking guitar but my back isn’t going to enjoy taking it through the paces.” To my surprise, and my chiropractor’s chagrin, this was not really the case at all.
Yes, the guitar is big. Yes it weighs as much as you’d expect from an archtop that size, but once I got it in my hands I never really felt like I had to fight the instrument to feel comfortable with it. The “Doral” sat perfectly balanced on my lap, even without having a strap to hold it in place, and I never felt like I had to steady the guitar while I was playing it. For me, this is a big consideration when buying an archtop guitar.
I’ve played way too many expensive big-box guitars that are either front or back heavy, causing the guitar to tilt one way or the other when sitting down, or in some cases even standing up. In my opinion, the “Doral” passed this test with flying colors, and the luthier’s who designed this instrument should be commended for building a guitar that is so perfectly balanced from front to back.
Now that I was acquainted with the feel of the guitar in my hands, it was time to plug it in and take it for a test drive. I used two amps to test out this guitar. The first was my gigging amp, a Polytone Mini-Brute II, and the other was a Peavey 8-inch practice amp that’s definitely seen better days. I like to use both amps when trying out a new guitar because I don’t always want to practice on my stage rig, but I always want my guitar to sound good in the practice room, fancy amp or not.
Overall I was happy with the tone that I got out of the “Doral,” I was using D’Addario .10 round wounds so it was a little bright for my normal tastes, but I’m sure if I had wanted to bring the guitar out on a gig a new pack of Chromes would have rounded off the tone to a level that I’m used to. Otherwise, I found the tone to be consistent across the neck, which made it easy to play and to let my ears and hands do their thing, without thinking about “where” I had to play in order to make the guitar sound its best.
While my main purpose for playing the guitar was to test it out for this review, I have to admit I had a lot of fun playing it and found myself having a hard time putting it down at the end of the day. This was surprising, because I normally play solid-body guitars, PRS and Teles, and haven’t really been a fan of archtops in recent years. But the “Doral” felt good to play, had a nice tonal quality to it, and seemed to invite me to explore new areas of the guitar and new fingerings that I wouldn’t normally play on my solid-bodies, which was something I hadn’t expected from the instrument when I first picked it up.
Eastwood Doral Guitar With Case
For those who like to practice acoustically, or even perform acoustically on an archtop while running it through a mic, the “Doral” is loud enough, and has enough acoustic tone, that one could do this no problem. I’m not recommending that it’s better than when the guitar is plugged in, just that if someone wanted to grab the guitar off its stand quickly and play through a tune, they wouldn’t cringe from the tone or strain to hear their lines and chords.
If you’re looking for a well built and affordable archtop to add to your collection then check out the Eastwood “Doral.” It’s a well-built instrument. It’s easy to play, sounds good and runs for less than two grand, which in this economy is an important consideration for many guitar buyers.
Is it really an “L5 with a few differences?” Probably not, but it does have a similar build, solid tone and sleek look, all it’s missing is the Gibson logo, which these days is the most expensive part of any Gibson guitar. If you’re looking for an archtop that can stand up to the big boys, but doesn’t cost an arm and a leg, this just might be the guitar you’ve been looking for.
Eastwood Doral Guitar Body Close-Up in Case
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Eastwood Signature Headstock and Logo
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Eastwood Doral Full Shot
Tweets that mention Eastwood Guitars “Doral” Review | Guitar International Magazine -- Topsy.com (14 years ago)
[…] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Matthew Warnock, Jon Eddie and Chris Guerra, Guitar International. Guitar International said: Eastwood Guitars “Doral” Review http://bit.ly/bnSEct […]
Daniel Gaughan (9 years ago)
Thanks for the review. Someone is selling a different kind of Eastwood on the craigslist and this gives me a good idea as to the care and quality that I might expect from this other guitar. I’ll try and check it out.
Thanks again.
-Daniel gaughan