Idol worship - alt singlecut

I know a lot of folks seek alternatives to the LP, such as the Agile and the Hagstrom Swede, which get a lot of love here, and of course, the dozens of straight up LP clones in the market.

This is the Washburn Idol. There are custom shop variations out there, selling upwards of $1000.00, often WELL upwards. But there are also import variations, the WI-45;64;66;67 most notably.

These can often be found NEW for 300 - 400 bucks and who knows what they'd cost off CL or in a shop on consignment.

I'm most familiar with the WI-66 and WI-67, same guitar, but the -67 has a semi-hollow cut out like a Tele Thinline.

These guitars come STOCK with Seymour Duncans, a '59 in the neck and a TB-11 "custom custom" in the bridge. I have them split on my guitar, and the variety of tones I get is remarkable. Very jazzy neck, like my hollow body, and lots of bite in the bridge.

Mahogany 1 piece set neck(excellent upper fret access, a key feature of this design); mahogany body with a maple cap(3/8" thk! flamed or quilted), Grover 18-1 tuners, tone pros bridge, buzz feiten.

Pre 2008 models in particular, Korean made, are FANTASTIC builds. My -67, seen here, is spotless. every mm of binding is meticulous.

Took this pic this morning while the sun was blasting through the windows, and truth be told, iI was just looking for an excuse to show it off. I love this guitar.

very nice, thank jeebus that i fed the gasmonster this week!

That is gorgeous! While I've always loved LP's, I'm looking at set neck guitars that are more original to fill a spot in my lineup.
Now, you've added a welcome choice in my short list (Agile AD-3000M, Ibanez AR, Reverend Sensei HB).
Thanks for the GAS!

Damn that axe is to hot and the F hole make it even better.
Thanks more GAS brewing.

Very nice guitar :applause :dude

sometimes you can get lucky and find the custom shop versions up for sale. I've seen Pilsens, which are the ULTRA thick US Custom version of this axe go for between 500 & 600. An unreal steal. This from the same hands that make the Parker and Moog hand made guitars.

Derek Trucks recorded an entire album (Soul Serenade) on a custom shop Idol. They are killer guitars.

Here's another showing all of her short scale, MOP inlaid glory

She is a beauty. Very nice!

I can hear it now "MOM Dad bought a new guitar!" Doh!! Sumi

What a beauty!

Hey, Tio, didn't Washburn change the shape on this line to more resemble an LP recently?

Man that is a nice guitar. Thanks for sharing the info with us. :AOK

Very sweet lookin' axe there, TK! :AOK

Katastrophe said:

Hey, Tio, didn't Washburn change the shape on this line to more resemble an LP recently?

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They did. They came up with a VERY generic LP shape. To their credit, a few months before NAMM, they put it up on the forum that they were changing the shape, but didn't show us anything, just wanted to know the feelings of the faithful. There was a tremendous hue and cry, which only got worse when the new design was unveiled a couple weeks before NAMM. As a result, they decided NOT to abandon the shape, but to try another angle, MARKETING! :applause

There is one variation of what they are calling the "Idollite"(i'm not making this up). It's a neckthrough LP clone that will street for 5 -600, I believe. That is actually pretty interesting.

So in the end, it will still be available, supposedly. Washburn has recently changed hands, so what ultimately will go down is anybodies guess. I'm hoping for a decent refund so I can get a Custom build out of the shop before the bodies are gone. We'll see.

I'm sho' glad you brought your WI67 back out, Tio.

Not meanin' to hijack your thread, but since it's title "Idol Worship"...but I just can't resist.

I had an '04 WI66PROG -- the Goldtop with the stacked P-90's; sold it to a friend, and have looked back ruefully, often.

I just scored a (twice) previously owned '07 WI66PRO, in Black this weekend, culminating a drawn-out horse trade ( see this thread ) with my Local GAS Station; I'd returned an Ibanez SZR720 for full credit 4 days after I'd gotten it. Instructions to dealer: "if an Epi LP comes in on trade, call me, leave a message. If an Idol 66 comes in...call the cops to haul me over".

This landed on trade Friday. I got the call.

I'd seen it new 2 years ago, but couldn't pull the trigger, and missed it. The first owner left it stock and had traded it in to get a used Gibson SG. The next owner defeated the VCC so it's 'straight' 2-Vol/2-Tone pots, and replaced the stock cream toggle cap and gold speed knobs with black.
I've already got my dealer/tech ordering DPDT Push-pulls to do the coil-split coup de grace mod on it.

The particular pairing of those 2 Duncans make a great complimentary set.

Solid hog body LP substitute that you can actually access the upper frets with ease with. And it weighs only 7.5 lbs.

I've owned & discarded quite a few LP's, Gibson & Epi, in my life; the gorgeoulsy slim neck (14" radius, what a combo) fret access and weight, loaded with the Duncan 59 & Custom Custom make this guitar a hands-down preferred LP-type for me.

It's not in perfect cosmetic shape; the finish somehow clouded on the headstock between owner 1 & onwer 2. No biggie. I can't see the headstock when I'm behind the wheel. Took a bit of a 'hit' on the body binding edge, chipping off the clearcoat. Again, I could do that myself w/o trying hard.



The setup is quite good; not bad action up here with D'add XL-110's:


Oh...this '07 is made in Indonesia, and like any gloss black axe, loves to attract dust and fingersmudges. As for the Buzz Feiten thing? IDGAFF. It stays in tune if you string it right.:

My guess/theory: Samick Indonesia factory, since Washburn had a long relationship with Samick building for them in Korea til they bailed to Indo in '04. (I have 2 other Samick Korea Washburns -- an M6SW mando and an NV100 A/E nylon) and an Epi Sharaton II).

hardly a hijack, WD.

My intent, other than to beam with pride, was to inform the good people assembled here, that while there is a frenzy surrounding affordable singlecuts, I'd be doing them all a disservice not to shed a light on the Idol as an option.

You just made it shine a bit brighter. Cheers! :beer:

I, too, opted away from the VCC in lieu of CTS tone splits and volume pots, added the black tele knobs.

In fairness, some folks do like the VCC. For the uninitiated, that stands for Voice Contour Control...essentially using a reostat in the tone position to "roll" from humbucking to single coil tones, rather than on/off like a split. The idea is you could be halfway between HB and SC, on both p'ups, as you like. Nice idea, but to my ear the single tone wasn't, which left me wondering how much bucker bite I was missing. I much prefer the coil split approach.

:beer: Backatcha, T. I was gonna get to reviewing mine after the coil-split mod happens...but...well... timing is everything, right?

FWIW: amps I've played 'er with so far: in the store, Peavey VK Royal 8 and Classic 30; at home: Roland Micro Cube (JC Clean, BlackPanel and Brit Combo modes), Tech21 TM60 (both channels, both knee-buckling); Orange Crush 3 Micro Crush; and Scholz R&D Rockman (2 clean and Edge Modes).

Shined every time; just had to find each amp/mode/channel sweet spot with gain and eq.

Just to add to your 'alt singlecut' in the title: it's a single cut that plays like a double cut because of the upper bout's deep indent.

And, true that; the VCC is a cool tool; but I'm one of those who prefers to 'play' the tone pots; it's why I'd passed on the 66 before, and a 67 like yours before that; the 66PROG, because it has stacked P-90's vs. HB's, had (has) 'regular' tone pots that push/pull to defeat the dummy coils and thin the pups a shade instead of the VCC. Looking for a 66 again, I intended to do the defeat/split mod if I found one; this one had the job 1/2-way done going in. 6 pup position options, especially the options in the middle switch/both pup position, with 2 tone pots, is a helluva tonal palette to mess around with. Especially with the articulation and attack-sensitivity of the Custom Custom at the neck.

wingsdad said:

...Tech21 TM60 (both channels, both knee-buckling); ...

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Goes without saying

These Idols are hard to come by in NZ but they're going on my alt-Lester shopping list.

markb said:

Goes without saying

These Idols are hard to come by in NZ but they're going on my alt-Lester shopping list.

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Yah, you fo sho know what I'm talkin' 'bout, fellow T60 fan In the 'Fender' side, with 'Punch' @ 2 0'clock & 'Bite' on, the Duncan Custom Custom reacts like a kitten or a mad dog thru it, just by nudging 'Drive' between 10-12 o'clock & whether I 'feather' or 'stab' with my right hand.

My Local GAS Station has been a Washburn dealer for about 15 years or more. Every year, he gets a batch of Idols in, and every year they go fast. They seldom come back. In all that time, this one was the first I'd seen come back on trade. I don't/will never buy online, and I don't do Guitar Centers. So, I jumped all over this.

If you should happen upon an Idol WI45, it's the same guitar, really. But with Randall (same company) pups stock instead of the 66's Duncans, so naturally, it goes for about $200 (US) less, since this pair of Duncans lists for a bit over that & goes for around $150-$160 new, street. So you could save some coin and opt to upgrade the pups if you felt the need to whichever ones you personally like and end up ahead a few 'quid' (?).

('tho this particular pair, as I said, makes a great complimentary set; kinda surprising, really, because SD markets the Custom Custom as a pup for 'brighter sounding' guitars, like w/ maple boards or ash bods, alledging it 'warms' things. That's surely not the case with this guitar; superb hot & clear mid-treble end in the bridge-only mode, but not 'ice-picky', and nice 'jingle' when paired w/ the 59 (not muddy, that one) Go figure; maybe it's because this guitar is a lightweight hog??)

Best of luck finding one, mark.

Tio Kimo said:

They did. They came up with a VERY generic LP shape. To their credit, a few months before NAMM, they put it up on the forum that they were changing the shape, but didn't show us anything, just wanted to know the feelings of the faithful. There was a tremendous hue and cry, which only got worse when the new design was unveiled a couple weeks before NAMM. As a result, they decided NOT to abandon the shape, but to try another angle, MARKETING! :applause

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I liked the old shape. It was different, without being outlandish. It was also versatile, as Washburn had Idols with a number of different pickup configurations.

Problem is, I can't find anyone that stocks Washburn electrics in my area, and don't want to drive an hour into Houston to look elsewhere. The X series and the Idols look good to me. It's a common problem with all brands, though. Usually when I find a guitar that I want to try out, no one has them in stock.

I did play on a Washburn acoustic the other day, and was pleasantly surprised. Solid buld quality, and a very well balanced tone for the price.

I mentioned I'd had the WI-66PRO-G, stacked 'P-90' type pups in a Gold-top that I sold to a friend...found some pics...'04 MIK...I'm digging the new kid so much I'm considering unloading another guitar to fund snagging one of these again...GAS can be ruthless....