The UPS Stork delivered a Washburn today

[Tig]

After mulling over the many excellent choices for a mahogany 24.5" scale double humbucker Les Paul-ish guitar, this Washburn WI-66PROF won me over. It is an almost new show room guitar in great condition from a little shop in Statesboro, GA called Pladd Dot Music. They had it and a sister up on eBay, and GAS overtook me in the worst/best way. :drool:

I've been considering this guitar for a while now, and with the Buzz Feiten Tuning System, the Seymour Duncan 59 neck, Custom-Custom bridge pickups, Tune-o-matic bridge, Grover 18:1 tuners, and the gorgeous carved flamed maple top, easy upper fret/neck access, plus the unique body shape, this was a no-brainer choice. The Agile AL-3x00's were very tempting, but to get this level of components and features would run well over $600.

I played the Washburn for about 2 hours today instead of sleeping (working nights), and I'm very pleased with the sound and playability. The neck is thinner than I'm used to, but it fits me better than any other guitar I've owned or demo'ed. The nut is 1 mm wider than the Reverend's, which is perfect. The action is low enough to be very quick, but not buzzy. The neck is glossy, but it sure didn't slow down chord progressions.

The hardware is all high quality and the electronics feel and sound clean. It is too early to judge the VCC (Voice Contour Control) yet, but it didn't pose any problems. The SD pickups sound exactly like I've been wanting. The neck pickup isn't too muddy for me, dishing out sweet, woody blues tones. The bridge pickup rips some gutsy, rich rock tones. It sounds great directly plugged into the amp, but takes pedals well.

I could go on, but most of you know what it means to play a nice quality guitar. In this case, it didn't cost me much. There are just a few very minor pick marks and micro-scratches, but otherwise in new condition. The shop put on new .10 strings, de-tensioned them, and double-boxed it around the soft case for shipping. Even UPS couldn't damage it! I'd buy from them again.

And now the money shots...

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4092/5085545310_71ecf11084_b.jpg
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4127/5085545300_efc6c5141f_b.jpg
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4149/5085545294_5b7ce820ec_b.jpg
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4105/5085545316_df1fbbfd80_b.jpg
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4144/5085545314_24fa9023fc_b.jpg

:thumbsup

[Jx2]

very very nice :applause

[kidsmoke]

welcome aboard Tig. :dude

congrats!

[Ch0jin]

Thats one sexy guitar! And as a fellow LP Style guitar owner with a '59 in the neck, I know what you mean about those sweet blues tones.

Congrats~!

[FrankenFretter]

Really beautiful, Doug! Happy NGD! What's the weight on that one, btw?

[Tig]

Really beautiful, Doug! Happy NGD! What's the weight on that one, btw?

I haven't weighed it yet, but it feels a good bit less than a Les Paul. That was another factor in my choice since I'm having some disc issues in my back.

[Katastrophe]

Congrats, Tig!

She sure is a beauty!

[oldguy]

That's a mighty pretty axe, Tig. I love that top, and the back's a beaut, too.
Congrats on a fine looking instrument, and a bargain to boot, the way it sounds.
:thumbsup

[otaypanky]

Nice one Doug.
Or as my friend Ron would say, "purdy as a hot tub fulla' Hooter Girls"
Enjoy :)

Now for a horticultural question ~
What's the tall green plant in the background?

[Spudman]

Wow! That's a pretty sweet guitar.
Derek Trucks let me play 2 of his Washburns a long time ago and I really liked them. I just never figured out which models were the really good ones so I never tried to acquire one. Congratulations.:rockya

[duhvoodooman]

Sweet lookin' git there, Tig! :dude :thumbsup

[kidsmoke]

Wow! That's a pretty sweet guitar.
Derek Trucks let me play 2 of his Washburns a long time ago and I really liked them. I just never figured out which models were the really good ones so I never tried to acquire one. Congratulations.:rockya

Look Familiar? E300

http://i93.photobucket.com/albums/l58/tiokimo/DSC05478.jpg

Or this, WI-68, the custom shop version of Tig's new toy. Trucks recorded "Joyful Noise" on this guitar.

http://i93.photobucket.com/albums/l58/tiokimo/Idol%20worship/Washburn_Idol_WI68.jpg

[Mr Pants]

What a beauty - well done mate!

[sunvalleylaw]

Cool! Congrats!

[Tig]

Now for a horticultural question ~
What's the tall green plant in the background?

Those are cannas. They stop flowering this time of year, but the 12' tall ones had red flowers, and the shorter ones had white, which I'm told are as rare as an honest politician!

[MAXIFUNK]

That Is Sexy For Sure!!!! Congrats! Enjoy!!!

[kidsmoke]

so Tig, it's been a few weeks....the luster wearing off? Or is it still keeping you awake, er.....days?

[Kazz]

That is a beautiful Washie.....Love the one Derek has in that picture too. Course I am a bit biased.

[Tig]

so Tig, it's been a few weeks....the luster wearing off? Or is it still keeping you awake, er.....days?

You know how it is. Your other guitars keep looking at you, pleading to be played again and bad-mouthing the new kid.

I'm loving it! I've glad I went with the Washburn, no doubt. I've had LP copies and other double humbucker guitars before, but this one sounds so nice and plays easier than every other guitar I've ever owned. The Seymour Duncan pickups are delivering all the various tones I'm looking for.

While I have no problem with the VCC system, I don't use it much. I keep them at full humbucker settings most of the time. I can see setting it up with tone pots in the future. I wish they did it the same as Reverend, where you have a similar knob but also have standard tone pots.

[wingsdad]

...While I have no problem with the VCC system, I don't use it much. I keep them at full humbucker settings most of the time. I can see setting it up with tone pots in the future. ...
I'm about 99% sure Tio's got his Idol's VCC pots rewired not only as standard tone pots, but for coil tap/split. I got my WI66PRO pre-owned a few months ago with the VCC already undone and wired with tone pots, but I may go the same route as Tio. (Unless I come across one as gorgeous as yours or Tio's to trade my funky dinged up black one for; I grabbed this while I could.) I have other guitars I can do single coil with, though. I got this to feed the ol' 'LP Jones'.

[Perfect Stranger]

Beautiful Washburn....congrats! :thumbsup

[bcdon]

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4092/5085545310_71ecf11084_b.jpg


Beautiful!! I bet those Duncan pups sound like a dream. Congrats!!

[kidsmoke]

I'm about 99% sure Tio's got his Idol's VCC pots rewired not only as standard tone pots, but for coil tap/split.

Right you are. I did away with the VCC, went with cts 500k volume and tone/split. Not only do I find the that the split is a truer single coil sound, but the bucker is better. Really opened it up and gave it some meat. Also gave me an excuse to change the knobs. Love the look of the black and "aged" hardware on this thing
http://i93.photobucket.com/albums/l58/tiokimo/Idol%20worship/P1070251.jpg

I'm actually looking at picking up a solid body this weekend, a WI66ProQ. Always wanted to test if the chamber really makes much of a difference, but with VCC in one, and "standard" wiring in the other, dunno if it's a fair test.

That's great to hear someone with no bias make those statements. I don't have a broad a frame of reference as you, but feel the same way about my Idol.
Curious Tig, is yours Korean or Indonesian built

[Jimi75]

Very beautiful Washburns in those pics. I bet they sound great and play great. Unfortunatley we have no Washburn dealer around here, I'd love to check these guitars.

:applause

[Tig]

Curious Tig, is yours Korean or Indonesian built

I wish it was Korean, but the quality of the Indonesians are exceptional, so I'm happy.

I'll have to keep digging around the Washburn forum to find a how-to guide on wiring for tone pots like yours.

[wingsdad]

Mine's an '07 Indonesian. I've not confirmed it, but guessed it to be Samick/Indonesia, given Washburn's history with Samick as a jobber for a number of models, including Idols, going back to when the factory was in Korea. If you look at a Samick Gregg Bennett Avion, you can see a similarity in the cutaway and heel design, too.

Used to be their s/n's had a factory letter code. I had a Samick/Korea '04 WI66PRO-G (goldtop, stacked P-90's, stock V/T w/ coilsplit instead of VCC) that I bought for an awesome price as a an '05 Winter NAMM display model that I foolishly sold to a friend.

You might try an email to Washburn customer service about the factory origin off the s/n. I did this with 2 other '04 Wash's I bought at the same time, same deal, as that PRO-G that I still own - an NV100C nylon string A/E and an M6SW mando. These, too, are Samick/Korea pieces. They might even help with the wiring diagram on defeating the VCC. I don't know how, cuz mine was already re-wired with new pots, toggle and knobs by the previous owner, but my dealer's tech looked, uttered some Einsteinian mumbo-jumbo ("ahhhh...so that's it") as to how it was done.

[kidsmoke]

I've not gotten my hands on an Indonesian build, so I have no reason to make a judgement of inferiority. It's been suggested, and I was curious about yours.

Wingsdad - I'm under the impression the letter prefix on the serial number indicates plant, and of course they plainly state the country of origin. My '03 WI67 (pictured above, one of only 305 QTS made) is Korea, ser.no. N 03....... Also the '05 WI66ProQ I'm looking at is Korea, ser.no. N 05.......

I've seen it stated what the N represents, but at the moment I can't recall.

Regardless, the spec sheet on these is perfect, and if the plant can follow it, you end up with a kick a** guitar at a great price, regardless the country of origin. Even better if you can find one used. I know the guy that travels overseas on behalf of Washburn to inspect the plants and assure compliance, quality, new design development etc, and he rides them pretty hard. With so many Asian manufacturers, they can pull and move production pretty easily, so shops have got to be on their game.

Really glad for you, Tig! :dance

[kidsmoke]

@ Tig

Here is a wiring solution without changing any hardware or pots, just some creative wiring.

This allows you to continue to have the VCC, while converting one of your volume knobs to a tone knob.

reprinted here with permission.

http://i93.photobucket.com/albums/l58/tiokimo/Idol%20worship/Washburn-VCC-matt.jpg

you can find lots of standard LP style wiring diagrams at Duncans site, as well as elsewhere.

[Tig]

@ Tig
Here is a wiring solution without changing any hardware or pots, just some creative wiring.

This allows you to continue to have the VCC, while converting one of your volume knobs to a tone knob.


Perfect! I'll give it a shot. I can always buy some pots later to upgrade from there if I feel the need.
Thx!!!

[60's guy]

I had a Samick/Korea '04 WI66PRO-G (goldtop, stacked P-90's, stock V/T w/ coilsplit instead of VCC) that I bought for an awesome price as a an '05 Winter NAMM display model that I foolishly sold to a friend.
I'm NOT about to sell it to anyone or back to you at any price.

Hey there wingsdad :poke

It's been far too long since I caught up with you.

By the way, I'm going to see This Guy (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jMXXnLSRdBE) tonight at Springfield Symphony Hall. :dude

[bigoldron]

Wow, Doug, from one 'Burn fan to another, that is one BEAUTIFUL axe! I've got 3 Washburns and have lusted heavily after the 66's and 68's. I have a red 64 that is my favorite, but I've been letting her hang on the wall too much lately and I'm putting her back into my main playing.

Washburns are really good guitars for the price. I know I've enjoyed mine.

[kidsmoke]

Agreed, a 68 is my Holy Grail. The day I land one of those, I'm done.
No, really! :)