In 1992, Qian Ni, who had come to the United States from China to study music, founded Eastman Strings. Mr. Ni identified the need for hand crafted arch top guitars at an affordable price. Following the same good practices established by Eastman's award winning violin shop, a studied approach was applied to the arch top guitar. Numerous vintage models were studied and the first guitars were built by the most gifted staff of the shop. The results exceeded expectations and became an immediate hit among players of all levels. Rapidly Eastman was established as an extremely high quality- high value, affordable archtop guitar manufacturer.

Eastman guitars offer the student Jazz guitarist an option for a fully carved instrument with excellent build quality, at more modest price range than what is normally available.