Washburn M6SW

The Washburn M 6SW is a mandolin with a Florentine cutaway design. It's made out of a few different woods, with the top being solid spruce, a maple neck, and an ebony fingerboard. It's got no electronics in it as it's strictly an acoustic, but this is going to be the case with most higher quality mandolins anyway. It's a very sleek mandolin both in terms of look and feel.

UTILIZATION

The overall playability of the Washburn M 6SW is very high. It's a very fun instrument to play regardless of the model you're playing, and this one really jumps it up a notch as it's very easy on the fingers. The shape is slender, even for a mandolin, and has a really cool look with a single cutaway. Getting a nice sound isn't hard if you know how to play, as it's all in the fingers with this one since it's only acoustic.

SOUNDS

The sound of the Washburn M 6SW is really nice overall, as it's got a crisp sound to it which transfer well for recording. I recently did some tracks with this mandolin when a client at the studio where I work brought it in. I got to play with it a little bit on the side, but wasn't the one playing it when we were recording. We tried out a Coles 4038 ribbon mic on it just to get creative, and the results were actually quite good. The dark quality of the Coles blended nicely with the higher end based Mandolin and was especially good due to this nice Mando. It's vibrant to say the least...

OVERALL OPINION

The Washburn M 6SW is a great mandolin from an unlikely source, as I would never have thought Washburn to make a fine instrument like this. While not the cheapest mandolin on the market, in general you're going to have to pay a little bit for quality and that's what you're going to get with the M 6SW mandolin. I'd only recommend checking it out if you're an experienced player, as there are plenty of cheaper options out there for those just getting started.