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I just got my Eastwood Sidejack on Saturday. It is a great looking guitar – I got it in the greenburst finish. The Sidejack is not for the Mosrite purist - the headstock is wrong, the German carve is wrong, the vibrato tailpiece, the P-90’s, etc. But it does have the correct reverse-strat body shape, and that’s what really mattered to me.

The greenburst finish is really sweet looking, and is one of the things that attracted me to this particular guitar. The body is basswood with a maple neck and rosewood fretboard. The tuning machines are Kluson knockoffs with really cool mint-green buttons. The pick-ups are some off-brand P-90’s. The guitar definitely has a lot of twang, but I can’t say what it’s similar to. It definitely is not Fender-like. I don’t know how it compares to a genuine Mosrite. If I were "Guitar Player", I might describe the tone as “sproingy” on the low end. I think the tone might be a combination of the pick-ups and the funky Burns vibrato tailpiece. The Burns works okay, but the vibrato arm can be a pain to adjust.

I initially had reservations about buying a guitar made in China. We all know Japanese guitars are great, and that the Koreans are making some really nice stuff too. But “made in China” or “made in PRC” causes me to pause(and I’m Chinese-American). Well, this guitar convinces me that the Chinese can make a good guitar. The Eastwood came out of the box requiring no set-up. Much to my surprise the neck was straight and all the frets were good. The action was nice and low. How is this possible? I guess Eastwood has their act together.

I have never played a genuine Mosrite, so I can’t compare the Eastwood to it. But so far it works for me. I don’t mean to slam any Wilson Bros. owners, but the VM’s never appealed to me the way this Eastwood does.

I will try to post pics later and update this after I've gigged with it.
Byron

Byron,
Sounds like you got a good deal. You got the color you wanted, got it at the price you wanted,
and it seems to play the way you want it to, what more could you ask for?? ENJOY!

Congratulations! Play the heck out of it and enjoy that guitar for what it is, and not what it is not. If it is a guitar you like that is all that matters. It would nice for you to post some pictures and keep us posted of your findings as you get more time on it.

I definitely want to post some pics and do some updates. But I am digitally/tech challenged and it may be a while before I get pics here. Our band is playing some kind of tiki-themed event in August, so I'll try to get pics from that gig and give review of how it played on the gig. I'm definitely happy with the guitar - I can't stop posing in front of the mirror with it on!
Byron

64sunburst wrote:I definitely want to post some pics and do some updates. But I am digitally/tech challenged and it may be a while before I get pics here. Our band is playing some kind of tiki-themed event in August, so I'll try to get pics from that gig and give review of how it played on the gig. I'm definitely happy with the guitar - I can't stop posing in front of the mirror with it on!
Byron

You're on!

Just some additional info on the Sidejack as I'm hard at work at my desk(it's Monday-gimme a break). The neck is definitely not a Mosrite neck. It is not thin - I didn't measure the nut but I'd guess it's maybe a 1 11/16 or 1 5/8 nut? Depth-wise it is neither thin nor baseball-bat thick. I'd say it's like a playing a Strat rosewood neck but flatter. Maybe it's a 9.5 radius or slightly more? The neck is a set-neck.
Although it has P-90's, it sounds like no other P-90 guitar I've played. With P-90's played clean I always think of a T-Bone Walker type sound, or maybe a Bloomfield sound, but then it's usually a Gibson-type guitar. No wait, I did play a triple P-90 Reverend and that still sounded Gibsony. This guitar definitlely doesn't sound like that. This guitar has a lot of twang, and that's a good thing.
Okay, I'm back to work.

Seeing you mention Dillion, I was wondering if anybody has played one? I have played a real Mosrite and a GPC clone. Frankly (and I may get killed for this) I really don't see the point of spending an extra 2000 on a Mosrite.

I have my pic down to a dillion or Eastwood. Anybody care to share some insight on these? Thanks!

I've not played a Dillion, but from the pictures the difference would be that Dillion has tried to make a more faithfull Mosrite copy while the Sidejack is more Eastwood's take on a Mosrite - not quite a "copy"(the headstock and German carve are not Mosrite-like). But I can say the Eastwood is a nicely built guitar that plays well, and the no-name P-90's actually sound quite good. The set-up out of the box was very good.
The only issue I have with the Eastwood is the Burns vibrato. The arm sits too high for my liking. The feel of the spring is also a little stiff. And its ugly. I plan to replace it with a Hallmark unit.

Byron

Brendan27 wrote:Seeing you mention Dillion, I was wondering if anybody has played one? I have played a real Mosrite and a GPC clone. Frankly (and I may get killed for this) I really don't see the point of spending an extra 2000 on a Mosrite.

I have my pic down to a dillion or Eastwood. Anybody care to share some insight on these? Thanks!

First of all Brendan, WELCOME to the Forum . You might want to check out the INTRODUCTION SECTION and tell us a little about yourself, where you are from, etc.
Second of all, sorry to disappoint you, but nobody gets killed for not wanting to spend an extra 2000 on a Mosrite. Once you check and scan the many different threads, you will find that there are lots of members here that own Eastwoods, Hallmarks, Japanese Mosrites, Teiscos, etc, etc.
So, if you want to go get 'killed,' Sorry, you'll have to go find another Forum, BUT, if you wanna have some fun with the rest of us Fools that have G.A.S., well then WELCOME