2010s Eastman DGM2 David Grisman Bacon-Style Mandolin

This beaut is a painfully well-made interpretation of the old Bacon Artist mandolins from the '20s. I say interpretation because in many ways it's an improved version of the design. Eastman made several David Grisman ("Dawg") mandolin-family instruments based on ones from his collection, each with nods to modern convenience and modern tone-chasing.

To my ears, this sounds essentially like a really good, woody, punchy, Gibson round-hole A-model from the '20s. It's a little poppier and midsier, though, with a bit of a "grassy" cut to it, even with the flatwound strings that are on it at the moment. I imagine with roundwound basses this would be much more of a screamer, but the mellow clunk of the flats sounds nice on it, so I left them as-found when this came in.

Aesthetics-wise, this has "all the stuff" -- oversized "violin edge" ivoroid binding, ebony in the board and bridge and pickguard, fancy flamed maple for the back and sides, veneers on either side of the headstock, and quality hardware throughout. It's built to a high spec and everything is fit and finished nicely.

I just gave it a "glorified setup" and it's playing spot-on an ready to go, with adjustment room up/down available at the bridge.

Repairs included: a fret level/dress and setup.

Top wood: solid spruce

Back & sides wood: solid flamed maple

Bracing type: ladder

Bridge: ebony

Fretboard: ebony

Neck wood: maple

Action height at 12th fret: hair-under 1/16" (fast)
String gauges: 36w-10 or similar

Neck shape: medium soft V

Board radius: flat

Truss rod: adjustable

Neck relief: straight

Fret style: medium

Scale length: 13 7/8"

Nut width: 1 1/8"

Body width: 10 1/2"

Body depth: 1 7/8" + arching

Weight: 2 lbs 6 oz

Condition notes: it's very clean save for a small ding to the treble side of the tailpiece on the top and a little bit of handling wear on the body (super light scratches) and pickwear on the pickguard. It looks like it's "slightly shopworn new" rather than "used." That said, someone put some hours into it -- enough to wear the frets enough for me to need to do a very light level/dress before considering it ready for sale myself. So, it's been played-in a bit, for sure.

It comes with: its original, violin-style, flight case.