Eastman PCH1-GACE Cutaway Grand Auditorium Guitar w/Electronics #1610

The Eastman PCH1-GACE pairs a solid Sitka spruce top with laminated sapele back and sides on a cutaway grand auditorium body — a smaller, more waist-forward shape than a dreadnought that balances output with comfort in the lap, and the cutaway opens up access to the upper frets for lead playing.

Sitka spruce keeps the top responsive and even across the dynamic range, while the sapele back and sides add focus and a touch of brightness on top of that familiar mahogany-like warmth, similar to mahogany but with slightly added punch. The grand auditorium shape favors fingerpicking and singer-songwriter strumming over dreadnought boom, staying articulate when you're playing behind a vocal instead of trying to fill a room on its own.

An Ovangkol fingerboard and bridge stand in for rosewood with a similarly tight grain and clear note definition, and the built-in Eastman pickup by Fishman means the PCH1-GACE plugs straight into a PA or amp without an added soundhole pickup. Abalone rosette detailing, pearl dot inlays, and a satin-finished top and back keep the look clean, and it ships with D'Addario strings and a padded Eastman gig bag — a natural choice for a performing singer-songwriter who needs an acoustic-electric that sounds like itself through a PA.