When he moved to Arizona to attend Arizona State University in Tempe, the demands of his schedule did not permit participation in a musical group. For a time he considered musical performance a pursuit he'd have to give up as he accepted the responsibilities of adulthood. His considerable intensity was devoted to academics and athletics, areas in which he excelled. His guitar was tucked under his bed, only to come out when he needed a break from the efforts which earned him the ASU pole vaulting record and the title "Outstanding Graduate" of the Business College. But another factor was beginning to influence Eaton at this time - the surrounding country was working a spell on him.

The voice of the desert, that dry and brittle presence behind all the activity around college life captivated this young Nebraskan. Here was another solitude, another silence, another infinity beyond society; a place of origin. Opening to desert life permitted Eaton to see Tempe's local characters in a different light.
A chance meeting with a luthier student led Eaton to visit the Juan Roberto Guitar Works, a sweltering Quonset hut established when ex-pilot and luthier John Roberts returned from years in Nicaragua,
flying for a lumber company, bringing with him a lifetime supply of exotic tropical hardwoods. Here in 1971, Eaton built his first guitar and his 26 year association with Roberts began.