Howdy, folks. This sleek looking guitar here is the Washburn D12SCE. This is the revived look as I've brought it back to life recently. Sort of. It's passed to me by a colleague who requested a simple re-string but seeing some things in dire need of attention & replacement, I couldn't just ignore those anomalies. Here are some highlights leading to this manifestation.
This is how the headstock looks like. From just the looks, I could tell that something was amiss. A renowned name like Washburn do not blanket their brand name with a layer of tinted overcoat. We'll get back to this in just a bit. If you are wondering why it's nut-less...
... it was in bad shape & had to go. If you look closely, some slots were chipped & the rust in the B & E slots was permanent. I'm the type who insist that nut slots should be rust-free. Trace amounts of rust could infect fresh strings. Rust also cuts into strings so the chances of new strings snapping at the nut end would be higher than rust-free slots.
The deserving replacement is a Tusq nut. As you can see here, it's an affordable replacement & it's good stuff- I've tried it in another guitar (Yamaha) & it had proven to manifest a tad more clarity. While at it, I also purchased a set of replacement bridge pins as the current ones were terribly chipped & scratched. These Hosco ones are also good, affordable replacements.
The tuners were also removed & cleaned up. Mind you, these are quality Grovers that would salvage some value should this guitar be scrapped one day. There is a ready market for a set of Grovers because they had beed proven to be worthy in terms of reliability & stability. This here is an example of a post-polish condition, a far cry from the initial state it was in.
Folks, there is something about this headstock that screams tragedy. Over at the flip side, I had to fill up the tuners' screw cavities with wood filler (those pale dots you see there) because all screws were loose. At the base of a headstock, I could see a crack running across the width & that pick holder there might have been installed to cover this up.
Compounding the situation would be this revelation, so to speak. As I was polishing the surface, bits of the overcoat came off & it revealed the brighter, livelier Washburn decal. Whatever happened to this instrument, the neck was a major casualty & cover-up took place.
The replacement nut was glued in place & left to set in overnight. That's my standard; a wet application on an instrument must be left to dry adequately before moving on to further rectifications. I like Tusq nuts because they address a lower action profile & the slots were rounded at the factory unlike some replacement units where the incisions are V-profiled. As you can see here, a new nut simply injects life into an instrument's aesthetics. Unlike previous iterations, Tusq now proudly proclaims its presence on the product surface & the brand name really deserves the attention.
Frets were cleaned & polished- just look at the rejuvenated fret (yellow arrow) vs the neglected counterpart (blue arrow).
Not forgetting the fretboard- moisturized (blue arrow) vs the drier bit (yellow arrow).
Finally, a set of Elixir strings & it's ready for action.
This Washburn has some good tones in there; it's down to the solid top & an overall heavy build. With a fresh set of strings & that spanking new nut, notes ring clear & there's a marked loudness coming from this one which makes it likeable, just pity the headstock condition. Judging from the fret wear, this guitar is a chord-intense player; I didn't notice any wear beyond the 8th fret. The neck was surprisingly straight despite what it'd been through & no adjustments were made. By the time you read this, it's on its way back to its owner & getting ready to belch out hundreds more songs before a deserving retirement. This guitar was handed over to me without a bag. I just feel that it deserves some form of protection due to its rather worn condition. This guitar was resident here for about two weeks. I was waiting for the replacement nut to be in stock & wasn't interested in the plastic ones in store. This guitar model had been discontinued. To date, Washburn had re-designed the headstock for this series of guitars.
FYI, D12SCE stands for:
- D = Dreadnought
- 12 = Series reference. The lower tier models feature a single digit & those are the more affordable versions with laminated tops.
- S = Solid top
- C = Cutaway
- E = Electro-acoustic.
When I first saw Nuno's Washburn guitar, I thought it was rather dumb not to feature real upper fret access in reflection of Nuno's fretboard technicalities. The neck joins the body at the 15th fret, making it very restrictive.
It's nothing too different from what Fodera did to their basses except that the Stephens version deals with a bolt-on attachment while Fodera ensures a seamless, set-in feel.
Tried this guitar recently @ Davis GMC; Washburn's HB32. It has a great semi-acoustic voicing much to the delight of players who thrive on very light drive. The finish is one I favour; I'm not a fan of a gloss overcoat especially at the neck. I hear lots of great midrange performance which would complement the excess of bass or treble, depending on our various preferences, of course.
The guitar depicted above is a Washburn Idol, it's the pre-2010 version.
The revised Idol is now a more convincing singlecut model & dare I say, more Les Paul like. Only goes to show that this body outline works & is well liked. For us who do not believe in forking out precious dollars for the real deal, we have something to look forward to with this guitar.
This is one of the latest Washburn offerings, a V-type guitar (WV548), from the manufacturer's HM range. The intriguing feature here is the guitar's carbon glass epoxy composite fretboard, a departure from the others' wooden offerings, so expect something different in terms of feel & tone (if any, note the EMG humbuckers in the guitar). Hope this would make it here soon...
