The Buzz Bin: Eastwood Airline ’59 Town & Country DLX

With their wild, asymmetric shapes and loudly colored bodies, vintage Mosrite and Airline guitars look undeniably cool.

And, in the hands of a guitarist like Jack White, they can sound awesome, too. But these are hardly concert-level instruments.

Many were built without truss rods, and sport low-end fiberglass bodies, bridges and tremolo bars. Michael Robinson, the founder of Eastwood Guitars, has long been a collector of these and other models, documenting his extensive acquisitions by decade at myrareguitars.com.

“The more knobs and switches,” he says of the instruments, “the better.”

Despite his affinity for these guitars, Robinson has always been cognizant of their shortcomings. So, in 2002, he launched Eastwood, a company that builds replicas of the striking originals — but with improved materials.

For instance, all Eastwood models, which are designed in Canada and made in Korea and China, boast truss rods and wood bodies.

To read the rest of this story, check out the August edition of The Buzz Bin, a new digital monthly magazine dedicated to gear, right here.

The debut issue also includes reviews of the Toadworks Vermilion Superdrive pedal and the Port City Pearl amp, plus features on the Solomon Abraxas guitar, the Lollar P90 pickup and the Sonic Edge Tumbleweed, a two-in-one vintage compressor and boost pedal.

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