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What's Up With Washburn Lately?


fiveoclockhero

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I read somewhere that Washburn is under new ownership and I'm wondering if it's a good thing or not. A handful of their endorsers left (Scott Ian is playing Jackson again and Dan Donegan is playing Schecter) and, even stranger, their Idol line has been kind of gutted. The number of models offered in the unique, and in my opinion excellent, Idol shape has dropped and most of the guitars now labeled "Idol" are LP clones. I know they are in a competitive market and have to appeal to people with that LP body shape but it doesn't really say "faith in the brand" when that happens.

 

Is the company doing well? Has anyone played a new Washburn from this year? How are they in terms of quality?

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About a year ago, I bought a guitar from a guy who claimed to have been their VP of Marketing. He lived near where I was working and dropped the guitar off and asked if we needed marketing people since he just got let go. He seemed pretty convincing saying the company was headed in a different direction, moving exclusively to Asian and Indonesian assembly, changing their line of guitars, dropping the Idol models, etc.

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About a year ago, I bought a guitar from a guy who claimed to have been their VP of Marketing. He lived near where I was working and dropped the guitar off and asked if we needed marketing people since he just got let go. He seemed pretty convincing saying the company was headed in a different direction, moving exclusively to Asian and Indonesian assembly, changing their line of guitars, dropping the Idol models, etc.

 

 

Asian and Indonesian assembly EXCLUSIVELY? That's strange... maybe the whole company will become one giant budget line? Now I'm really curious...

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They used to be a top of the line instrument like a PRS back in the 70's 80s. Those didnt sell all that big and werent profitable to build. I think they began to follow the ibanez model too closely late 90s and 2000 and just lost quality control in the budget market selling nothing but the name pasted on fancy looking junk. Too bad because they did have some high quality guitars in they're time.

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Another casualty of a guitar company that just couldn't compete, either upper-end or lower end; they just never caught on.

 

Even as relatively successful as the Idol series was, I really can't think of one Washburn model, going back to the '70s, that was a huge hit, or would be considered as "iconic" or even "classic".

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someone I know has an HM superstrat type from last year, very good all around, I would like to try the new idol shape type, but it almost seems too cheap for the features (set neck and so on). The old idol shape probably had a lack of demand, I didn't go for the look. Also I hear the Nuno series is still good, the 2 comes with a Bill Lawrence USA pu and it's not even a high end model.

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From Wikipedia:

 

U.S Music Corporation is a company based in Mundelein, Illinois. US Music Corp is an international musical instrument company that manufactures and distributes products worldwide under the Washburn Guitars, Parker Guitars, Randall Amplifiers, Eden Electronics, Oscar Schmidt, Hagstrom, Jay Turser, Jay J, Ministar, Phonic, Mano Percussion, Quik Lok, and Profile brand names. US Music is a subsidiary of Jam Industries, Ltd.

 

 

Washburns's website is sure enough down. They introduced a crapload of new models at NAMM last month, though. Weird.

 

US Music's HQ in Mundelein is the old Washburn HQ/factory. I think they still recently made stuff there, like the Parkers.

 

I used to live in Mundelein and went to a Washburn anniversary party there circa 2003(?) featuring George Clinton and his P-Funk/Guitar Army circus. It was mucho fun. US Music acquired them a couple years after that, and moved Washburn production offshore, as I recall.

 

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They used to be a top of the line instrument like a PRS back in the 70's 80s. Those didnt sell all that big and werent profitable to build. I think they began to follow the ibanez model too closely late 90s and 2000 and just lost quality control in the budget market selling nothing but the name pasted on fancy looking junk. Too bad because they did have some high quality guitars in they're time.

 

 

 

This. A shame. Some really great guitars in their day. GREAT proprietary pickups.

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Washburn is owned by US Music Corp which owns Randall, Parker, Eden, Jay Turser and a few others. Regarding Washburn, their US shop has only been around since the late 80s I believe with Japanese builders making their better lines prior to that. Not surprised if they are downsizing in this economy and perhaps eliminating their US and Custom Shop lines.

 

The US shop was a very good shop IMO. I have a US made WM3 and Laredo that are just flawless instruments in every way. I had a P4 which I sold to finance my Gibson Studio Lite which was also a very fine instrument. My Washburns are every bit as nice as my Gibson, my US Hamers or my Custom Fender.

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I don't know anything about their electrics, but I started a thread in the acoustic forum singing the praises of the Washburn D10S. Without exception, everyone agreed that it's an awesome value and a great sounding guitar. If I didn't already have a Takamine acoustic that I love, I'd be all over the Washburn D10S.

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Washburns, from what I've seen, have been solid guitars for the money. They haven't lit the world on fire, so to speak, but I happen to really like the Idol. It was, in my opinion, a stylish update on a classic, modern without being faddish or overly geared to one audience and still respectful of tradition. Plus, Buzz Feiten for good intonation and VCC for tonal options. Not a terrible instrument. I always like to see unique but tasteful variations on the standards. I guess they're still being produced but scaled way back in favor of straight-up LP clones, which is a shame but understandable.

 

Yes, the D10S sold like gangbusters and was pretty well-known for its bang-for-buck factor. Not a bad acoustic by any stretch of the imagination.

 

And I would hope they do still have at least a couple models MIA. In this economy, though, you do what you can. If anyone knows about their custom shop or what's going on in Mundelein, post it.

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Wasburn is sort of at the same point as Peavey. You can still get guitar from Peavey's custom shop but they are not easy to get on the phone. I think Peavey is going all import on their Peavey electric line with the exception of their Custom Shop. There's a reason Joe Satriani left. My point is I think at some point you have to compete and right now alot of company's import business are doing better than the american made business because of the economy. And if I'm not mistaking I heard that US Music Corp were now the Distributor of Marshall.

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Things are pretty unstable in lots of different guitar companies. It's usually a case of bigger eating smaller. Like Fender ate Guild (and ruined it, IMHO). I don't own any Washburns currently, but they do/did have some nice acoustics. Never had/played any of their electrics, though.

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I would probably sell my Les Paul before giving up my 1988 MIJ Washburn HB-35. That guitar is a keeper.

 

Having said that, Washburn has been through some rough patches in the past. In the early 90s, they were switching to different factories for their production and the quality was inconsistent. They seem to have settled down, but as we all know, it's a rough market out there.

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It's my understanding that the only thing their custom shop is doing is N4's and Paul Stanley's. They sold off almost everything in regards to parts last year from the custom shop. They've been making some really weird decisions since the new ownership. I've got two N4's, a Washburn acoustic (made in China) and my Randall NBKING. Great stuff. I've had other Washburns and the fit and finish has always been great and better than a lot of other products from other manufacturers. I really hope they get their {censored} together. I live in a decent sized market and there are no stores out of over half a dozen that carry any kind of Washburn product. Even Sam Ash only has some used Randall items or stuff that's been sitting their for years.

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My second guitar was a Washburn KC-something or other. Not a bad guitar for the piece of plywood that it was back in the early 90's. I wore it out. I always wished they'd re-release the P2 and P4 guitars from the mid nineties again. I never got one and they always go for a decent amount of cash on ebay. I thought the Idol geetars looked horrible and could never bring myself to buy a Nuno model.

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