Washburn

From USA, built in China. Hardtail, Floating bridge, one volume, one tone, 20 frets. The feeling is great, the string height is as good on a electric guitar (Godin, fender, etc...) The instrument seems build solid but not with a great second pass on finish. I mean the esthetic is good but there are MANY rough cut. It still look pretty awesome, the finish is overall good. But visually there are mistakes ... There are some very nice details, inlay in the fret board, nice C shaped neck, very thight neck too, easy to play ... You want to try with a brand new string set, I tried only a Jazz String Set 12-52 and it unveil a deepness that was missing before with the former string UTILIZATION The access to the entire fretboard is nice, I raise the bass strings only few millimeters to eliminate buzz effect and there you go. The fretboard is missing a bit of polish, if you like to bend strings a lot you gonna notice it right away. Its rough and gave a scratching effect. Maybe a little polish on the fret too. I wanna try flat wound strings before I could tell more. Its also very easy to get a nice rich sound. The response is good. Don't be afraid the acoustic is still pretty good. SOUNDS The Tone control is almost ineffective, though the sound is warm and deep. I would change it for a linear pot, i believe it's a very bad logarithmic one. (the area between the level 0 through about 2 is the most range of the pot, the rest of the graduation changes only 10% in comparison to the 90% between 0-2). The acoustic sound is very good, though I would enjoy a little warmer sound. But again a string set would make A HUGE difference there. Bass strings are very responsive through the pickup, some of the depth of the two last string are lost through the pickup, but for a rythmic and folk sound it's pretty nice. Some of you high pitch finess might be lost through the bass notes (but there I don't get the best amplifier to tell) Its warm, a lot of natural harmonics, the wood will sings along. I'll blend here sound with A LOT of effect to know really the pickup is responsive... I bought it to get more pounding and deep to my sound, the acoustic of this instrument will help me a lot. I expect a Jack Whiteish sound, tom morello, Led Zeppelin, Yes, Yardbirds, etc... out of this. I would believe i'll get nearer from what I could obtain with my Godin LGT. OVERALL OPINION There are still many adjustement I wanna make on this beauty (she's still pretty good looking you know). But in general I think you got a nice piece of instrument that needs a bit (or a lot, depends on your skills) of tuning. The fretboard, the keys, string replacements, bridge positioning, even the saddles could use a bit of sanding. I would say for a first Jazz Electro-Acoustic it's pretty awesome what you got here ! But for a professionnal High End gear, I might say it's not suitable. I guess this instrument is good for recording, praticing (and it's good looking on stage). But don't expect to build a career around it. For 700-800$ its a deal, but honestly I would hope for that kind of finish on a 500$ instrument more than what I paid. Find it used or in rebate. It still worth a try. Maybe I should try few others before to get this one. But I was charmed by its good looking ... try it with new strings ... ask the retailer, for a 800$ guitar they can make some effort for your bucks :)

I owned a Cobalt Blue BB5 for a few years and I was the bass player for a indie Christian band led by my friend Brian "Matt" Vanoy! This thing was set up pretty nicely out of the box and has an amazing sound! The EMG designed active pickups delivered a great punch and really great tone. Although it is a 5 string bass, I find that it is about middle of the road weight wise and not very demanding on the shoulder. The contour of the neck made playability very nice easily managed as I have a P bass from Fender and that neck is much wider which is why I prefer the BB5 neck. Over all this is a very versatile bass guitar and will work great in all settings as I used it on the road and in the studio. I had to part with mine because times got tough but I sure would love to get my hands on another Cobalt Blue BB5 one day! Thanks for a great instrument Washburn!

(Originally written by pulvonium/translated from Audiofanzine FR) The model I own is one of the first versions and it was made in Korea. Note that current models (March 2008) are made in China and I've heard they don't stay in tune. 23 frets but the neck heel starts at the 16th fret. Strange bridge with a guitar nut (to compensate the G string of a guitar...) The neck nut is well manufactured. Very effective Grover machine heads. Original rosette. My model has a wonderful finish (see picture). Current versions don't have this nice top. The back looks like the top with a plastic plate covering the battery compartment and the preamp (with screws, which I personally don't find that convenient). The manufacturing quality is very good regarding the wood, but not the electronics. The guitar has a piezo assigned to three controls mounted on the top (not on the side like on most models). Controls: volume, high, low. 1/4" jack output. That's it. The current bass guitars provide an XLR output, battery indicator, tuner and an EQ with 3 or 4 bands. My model is much more basic and it's a pity because its original sound was very bad (see sound). UTILIZATION Very pleasant 7-piece neck. Good quality varnish, the hand slides perfectly. The neck profile is pleasant and not straining. The instrument is comfortable: It's light (of course...) and well balanced. Since it's a 3/4 size bass guitar, it's much easier to play it with a strap than a standard electro-acoustic. The bass is well-balanced, which i consider a very important point. Once again, the lutherie is the main asset of this instrument. I used to play it like an acoustic guitarist (with the palm pressed against the bridge) but I changed the position of my hand because I'm an electric bassist. I mounted a thumb rest next to the rosette and I feel much more comfortable. SOUNDS Sound: As I got this instrument (I couldn't try it before I bought it), its E and A strings sounded three time as loud as the D and G strings. Moreover, the highs were so loud that I had to set the high control to the minimum. I tried to modify the cheap plastic nut to balance the frequency response but it didn't work. In October 2008, I brought the bass to my luthier who modified the nut and adjusted the position of the piezo (as far as it was possible, considering its quality). The sound of all strings is now homogeneous and the high-frequency is not so shrilling anymore. It's not the most beautiful bass sound but the instrument is now playable. I will bring it again to my luthier and ask him to install a better piezo and a "real" preamp because the wood quality is worth it. I only need to get the money to do it... OVERALL OPINION I've owned it since March 2008 (I bought it secondhand)! Pro: Wood and craftsmanship (fabulous) Cons: Original electronics (awful) Would I buy it again? - No. I bought this quite expensive bass guitar to play unplugged gigs with a singer. But I had to wait several months until it was modified and I could play it normally... It would have been better to buy an Ibanez AEV10 which is less prestigious and comfortable but cheaper and immediately playable. - Yes. Since I brought it to the luthier, I now have a bass guitar with great looks, excellent wood and craftsmanship, and an average sound. - If I have enough money, I will ask my luthier to install a good-quality piezo and preamp (maybe with internal pickup, tuner, etc.) and perhaps then I'll have the instrument I was dreaming about!

The Washburn HB-15 is an inexpensive version of the classic hollow-body archtop jazz guitar. While Washburn claims a MSRP of over $500, street price new for an HB-15 with case is around $350, with used models as low as $200. Manufactured in Indonesia, the HB-15 features a laminated mahogany top, back and sides with multi-layer body (WBWBW) binding and single-layer (W) bound F-holes. This body is mated to a set mahogany neck with a rosewood fingerboard and 20 medium-jumbo frets. Strings run from a trapeze tailpiece across a compensated adjustable bridge through a plastic nut to Grover sealed chrome tuners. Standard electronics could not be simpler: a single floating mini humbucker with a single volume and single tone control mounted on the pickguard. The fit and finish of the HB-15 are superior quality and rival instruments costing many times as much. The only noticeable problem with the test instrument involves the F-hole binding: it runs just a little sloppy (showing variations in thickness and application) around the tight curves. Otherwise, if you cover the "Washburn" logo on the headstock, this could easily pass as a Loar, Gibson or Eastman instrument. UTILIZATION But the two aspects that matter most are playability and sound. In the former case, the HB-15 shines. The neck is comfortable, and the action is excellent. SOUNDS As far as sound quality, well, adequate is about the best characterization I can come up with. Acoustically, the HB-15 is actualy quite pleasant, and can contribute admirably to an acoustic ensemble. Unfortunately, the same thing cannot be said about the HB-15 plugged in. If you use a lot of effects, the thin quality of the floating humbucker's output probably won't matter that much: it produces a signal pretty much like any other pickup that can be processed to your heart's delight, even to the point of making it actually sound acceptable. If, on the other hand, you were hoping for that warm, tone-rich jazz sound straight out of the guitar into your JC-120 or Deluxe Reverb, you will be disappointed. This is the one area where the HB-15 falls down on the job. The addition of a signal "enlivener" such as a Fulltone Fat Boost or Voodoo Lab Sparkle Drive definitely bring this instrument to life. OVERALL OPINION But if you don't mind having to play through some kind of preamp to fatten up the sound, youll be hard-pressed to find a better value in an inexpensive jazz box than the Washburn HB-15.

Made in Japan faite à la main dans les règles de l'art dans l'atelier Matsumoko. deux micros, un genre de jazzbass en position chevalet et un genre de precision en position manche. electronique passive, sillet os et chevalet laiton il me semble. Qualité des bois et des assemblages irreprochables (ça a 30 ans et pas bougé d'un poil). Aujourd'hui pour trouver une qualité identique faut aller chez le luthier et encore les acajous d'aujourd'hui ne sont pas les mêmes !! UTILIZATION very rare si vs en choppez une foncez c'est de la tuerie ! SOUNDS Le son est doux et rappelle le vieux son de basse d'un melody nelson de gainsbourg par ex. huge mite ! On choppe a peu pres tout le spectre passif avec, entre une gibson basse une jazz et une precision avec un je ne sais quoi de different ! perfect ! Les sensations sont vraiment cool côté manche, ça rappelle un peu ma vieille gibson the ripper ! OVERALL OPINION Super basse avec une lutherie irreprochable et un vrai son qui rivalise avec les meilleures references passives du genre. Encore faut il en trouver une !

I feel that Washburn have been a little underrated as far as quality and user appeal. sure they don't have the name of a Fender, Gibson, Suhr, or Dean but they have good quality guitar that sometimes look a little goofy but other have a great feel and tone. This guitars features a nice sunburst paint job on an alder body. You get three single coil pickups and a tremelo arm bar for squeals. The headstock is a unusual but anything other than the normal Fender headstocks look unusual to me. I am so used to seeing the standard Fender headstock which makes anything else seems abnormal. Not that the Washburn headstock is below the Fedner Strats but just different to my eyes. UTILIZATION A singe coil classic! The carved top X33 is a solid performer and is perfectly at home performing country, rock & blues. FEATURES Solid carved top alder bodyBolt on neckRosewood fingerboardGloss finish5-way switch Washburn designed fulcrum tremelo Washburn Shaman single coil pickups Exclusive Grover® 18:1 gear ratio tunersBuzz Feiten Tuning System™ It comes with a Washburn Hard Case and a cord. SOUNDS I do really appreciate the tuning system that Washburn has on their guitars. It seems that the Feiten tuning system keep their guitars in check for a long period of time and certainly for a hole gig or concert. Just watching Nuno Bettencourt play on stage with the same Washburn N4 and not need a tune is remarkable. This guitar sounds basically what you have heard from any Fender Stratocaster guitar. The body shape is basically the same. The horns are a little more pointy and sharper than a Strat but the over all body is pretty much the same. This means that the tone is going to be extremely similar to the Strat tone. So when you switch up to the neck pickup you will get that unmistakeably Start blues tone. OVERALL OPINION I think these guitars were going new when they were issued for around $600. I have seen them in the used section of classifieds for under $400. Not a bad pickup for the alternative to a Fender Starocatser. If you can't afford a Strat this is the next best thing for the price.

Washburn is an American guitar company but more and more of their lineup is made overseas now. They were pretty popular about 10 year ago but nowadays you do not see many people playing them. They had some designs that I liked very much back in the day. They also had many big name signature models for big name artists for a period of time. This is my kind of shred guitar. The specs are a bit different than what you would get on most shred guitars. The guitar has a mahogany body and neck opposed to alder and maple like you would find on normal shred guitars. The neck construction is a set neck with a very smooth heel so playability is great all the way up and down the neck. There are no inlays apart from an X on the 12th fret so that gives the fretboard a very clean look. It has an EMG 81 in the bridge and an 85 in the neck a classic combination which I think is better than the 81 and 60 combination. The guitar is a hardtail bridge. A shred guitar with a hardtail bridge is pretty rare nowadays. It has a master volume and master tone with a 3 way pickup selector. UTILIZATION The neck on this guitar is not super thin. The neck has a nice size to it so it can really fit your hand. The fretboard has a nice and flat radius with the jumbo frets. This combination means you can really get a slammed action on the guitar. The neck joint is beveled very nicely and is close to what you would get with a neck through guitar. The controls are kind of in an odd place. They are very far out of the way so it may be difficult for you do to volume swells on this guitar. The hardtail bridge means you can have the ultimate in tuning stability and you can change tunings easily without having to break out every allen wrench in your tool box. SOUNDS This guitar has a real beefy sound with the EMG pickups mixed with the mahogany body. The EMG's sound great too. I like to put the 85 in the bridge. The 85 gives a bit thicker sound then the 81 so when it is in the bridge position on a guitar like this the tone is crushing. The 81 is not great in the neck position though. With the 81 in the bridge you get your traditional high end 81 sound. It gives nice clarity and bite although it does not sound as huge at the 85 in the bridge. If you want even more crushing tone you can do the 18v mod to the EMG's. With the 18v mod you run the EMG pickups on two 9v batteries instead of just one. This gives you more headroom over all and more clarity. It will make your clean tones sound better too by giving them a more natural organic quality. This guitar is also available with passive Seymour Duncan pickups. OVERALL OPINION This is a great mid level shred guitar. With the EMG pickups you get all the high end tone you would expect from a guitar twice as expensive. You can get these guitars for less than 300 dollars now a days and that is great bang for the buck. With EMG pickups thats 200 dollars of hardware right there from the factory. If you see one of these guitars for sale you should really check it out. These guitars play and sound great for the price.

(Originally written by Endrix/translated from Audiofanzine FR) I bought this guitar in a store because the shop assistant convinced me to buy it. I had already heard positive comments about it. I'm a Bettencourt fan and I already had a Padouk. UTILIZATION The very pleasant neck with perfect fretting is the guitar's main asset. It's perfect for modern techniques (tapping). Access to the upper frets is just fantastic. The guitar is perfectly ergonomic, it's a super Stratocaster. The neck pickup sounds very interesting for clean sounds and you can almost get jazzy sounds, but that's not the main purpose of this guitar though. The middle position is also ok but you'll get the best sound with the powerful bridge pickup alone. Its only weakness is the lack of versatility. Either you want to play heavy metal or you'll have to buy a second guitar for other music styles. SOUNDS This guitar is perfect for heavy metal and allows you to play some other things like Hendrix licks (don't forget that Bettencourt is a Hendrix fan... the inverted head is actually a homage to Jimi Hendrix). I play it with an all-tube Marshall JCM and a Soldano and it works fine. Every sound of this guitar is useful. OVERALL OPINION I've been using it for one year. I like most of all its playability. I also own other guitars: ESP, Ibanez, Fender, Gibson. I find the value for money is average. Based on my experience, I wouldn't buy this guitar again (my Padouk is much better) although it does have undeniable qualities. It's not a bad guitar but its value for money isn't fair. I think Washburn (and maybe Bettencourt?) makes a lot of money with this guitar.

Purchased from Robbie's Music in Wayne, NJ. Paid $659 including hardshell case The J6 is a lot of guitar for the money. The fit and finish is excellent, the construction detail is on par with any guitar costing considerably more. I have been shopping for the past year and have played many different brands and models, some a bit less expensive, most, considerably more expensive and chose the J6 as it met all of what I expected in a jazz bodied guitar. There are several that I had the pleasure to play that were better, but their cost was prohibitive and I could not in my wildest imagination come up with the justification to spend several thousand dollars more. I have owned the J6 for 1 week and it has met all of my expectations. I have no complaints so far. I purchased the natural finish and it is quite beautiful. The application of the finishing material is flawless. Everything from the Grover tuners to the quality of the binding on the body and f-holes is equal to many guitars I have sampled costing several times more. Intonnation is excellent. I don't know how the Buzz Feiten system works, but it does. No matter where I play on the neck, I am perfectly in tune. At this point in my life, product quality is my primary concern and the J6 has proven to meet all of my requirements. It is a beautiful instrument to look at, the sound is exactly what I have been looking for and the price was affordable. I enjoy playing all types of music but jazz is my personal preference. I play the J6 through a Fender Hot Rod Deluxe and the combination works wery well. Very glad my wife and kids pooled their resources and purchased this for me for Christmas. Sure beats the ususal shirts and socks! This review was originally published on http://www.musicgearreview.com

I bought it from mars music because it had an awsome tone when i tried it out (cuz im a huge fan of dimebag darrel) i Payed $700 for it (but according to the website its a regular $1100) This guitar is probably he most faithful guitar anyone will ever own. Obviously this idiot (Keith Aufman) doesnt know that he probably bought the worst model cuz hes cheap or know how to treat his guitar considering he dropped it and broke it. it has an awesome look (chicks dig it). very comfortable, when on stage. has the most kick ass sound. and its the dimebag darrel's signature guitar so of course it kicks ass. honestly, i love this thing i love the body style. the quality is awesome, not to heavy but has weight so that you know its there. ive had mine for a year and its still in awesome shape (considering i take care of it unlike that jack ass i mentioned earlier). this is all around the best guitar ive ever own (even though i would like to check out the zakk wylde custom les paul) This review was originally published on http://www.musicgearreview.com

I BOUGHT THIS GUITAR ON EBAY FOR 150 BUCK$. THIS GUITAR IS A FAST CRUNCHY SOUND OF A GUITAR UNDER $500. I DONT LIKE THE CHROME LES PAUL TYPE BRIDGE ON IT.THE GUITAR IS A LITTLE SHORTER THAN SOME BUT THAT HELPS SPEED PLAYERS IT IS LESS MOVEMENT TO PLAY. THE BODY HAS A COOL DESIGN OF ITS OWN,IT DOESN'T COPY OTHER DESIGNS.ITS NECK IS OK BUT THE FRETS ARE A LITTLE ROUGH. IF YOU PLAY ROCK/METAL AND WANT A DEAL ON A GUITAR THAT SOUNDS LIKE A HIGH DOLLAR AXE AND YOU CAN PLAY AND HAVE MONEY TO BUY YOUR AMPS AND PEDALS.THIS IS THE GUITAR FOR YOU! I WOULD PUT IT AGAINST ANY GUITAR AND MATCH IT CRUNCH FOR CRUNCH. This review was originally published on http://www.musicgearreview.com

The HB35 is a take on the classic Gibson style semi-hollow guitar. In the late 50s Jazz players were getting more into amplification, but they found out that if you put a pickup on your hollowbody guitar you get a lot of feedback if you try to play with any volume or gain. Gibson helped them out by making the semi hollow guitar. There is a block of wood running down the middle of the inside of the guitar and this helps eliminate the feedback you would get with a fully hollow guitar. The Washburn HB35 has a maple body and a maple neck. The neck has 22 frets on a rosewood fretboard. The radius on the fretboard feels to be around 12 inches, the neck has a bit of a v shape going on and is nicely wide. It has two Washburn humbuckers with dual tone and volume controls. It has a 3 way pickup selector on the upper horn. UTILIZATION This guitar comes set up for Jazz. This came from the factory with 11s and a wound G. I do not see many guitars coming stock setup with a wound G string. This may make it hard for some people to play. With the heavy strings you wont be getting all the rock bends you are use to. This guitar is setup for jazzy chord progressions. The Buzz Feiten tuning system Washburn uses means the guitar intonates better than most guitars. This is good when you plan on playing complex jazz chords. If the intonation is off a little bit your chords will sound off. If you are use to jazz guitars the heavy strings will be no problem for you. The strap peg is right behind the heel joint as it is on most guitars like this. This might get in your way if you are playing up above the 20th fret. SOUNDS The pickups are ultra jazzy. They are pretty dark and may be too dark for some people. When looking at jazz guitars it is important you find one that comes with pickups you like from the factory. Because of their construction it is very difficult to change the pickups and electronics out on these guitars. The neck pickup has a very dark sound and can get muddy in the low end. The bridge pick up is not as dark as the neck. You can get some good twang in the bridge position. This guitar gives a nice woody sound in all the positions due to its design. OVERALL OPINION These guitars are pretty good value for semi-hollow guitars. These guitars are only around 500 dollars. It has the classic look of a Gibson 335 without the price. If you are looking for a nice and dark jazz guitar the pickups are perfect for you. If you are not looking for a sound this dark you may have to do some EQ'ing or look at another guitar. Or maybe you can find a good luthier. If you want a nice guitar that is setup for straight jazz this is a good option.