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Are Washburn basses worth it?
- Thread starter TySlapsBass01
- Start date
EdwardofHuncote
I Still Dream of Jeannie
- Aug 21, 2013
- 6,645
- 2
- 16,408
- Disclosures
- I privately own and operate a local musical instument repair shop.
Is there a particular model you're interested in?
I did a setup on a neck-through Washburn some time back for a local music store I do repair work for. I remember thinking it was okay at the time. It was on par with say an import Tobias "Toby Pro" or Peavey Grind. Little heavy, but balanced okay. Electronics worked fine, but nothing special. Probably a sub-$500 instrument. Would have been a good platform for upgrades imo.
I did a setup on a neck-through Washburn some time back for a local music store I do repair work for. I remember thinking it was okay at the time. It was on par with say an import Tobias "Toby Pro" or Peavey Grind. Little heavy, but balanced okay. Electronics worked fine, but nothing special. Probably a sub-$500 instrument. Would have been a good platform for upgrades imo.
I owned/played an XB925 for a couple of years. Made in USA and sported Bartolini pickups. Played and sounded great. And yes, in the spirit of TB, I totally regret selling it.
Washburn makes many different levels at many different price points. Is there a particular model you're looking at?
Washburn makes many different levels at many different price points. Is there a particular model you're looking at?
I was just looking at their website and it looks like they only have one 4-string acoustic bass guitar now. They don't have any solid body basses anymore?
I like the design of the Taurus. The few I’ve tried were incredibly heavy and in dire need of a setup.
I don’t know a lot about Washburn basses, but you might have to provide a little more detail to get useful information about them, such as a model of Washburn bass & price, or the characteristics of the bass you would like to have.
You usually get fairly worthless info when you ask if a variety of basses by one company are worth “it”. You kinda need to assign something to “it”, like a dollar amount or another bass to compare to a Washburn. A quick internet search shows (used) Washburn basses priced from $169 to almost $1000. At which end of that range are you looking?
At least identify what style, pickup type, price range, weight, or something you are after in a bass.
The have been making guitars for over a hundred years, so there isn't an easy answer..
Many were made at the Matsumoku Japan factory a few decades ago. I had a neck through from that era and it was great.
Global changes keep changing everything.
I believe like most makers with entry level models, they are made by whatever factory can do it at an ok price.
There must be a Washburn club to take a deep dive into.
edit, here is part three. thousands of Washburn posts talking about Washburns. https://www.talkbass.com/threads/the-official-washburn-club-part-3.1060572/
Many were made at the Matsumoku Japan factory a few decades ago. I had a neck through from that era and it was great.
Global changes keep changing everything.
I believe like most makers with entry level models, they are made by whatever factory can do it at an ok price.
There must be a Washburn club to take a deep dive into.
edit, here is part three. thousands of Washburn posts talking about Washburns. https://www.talkbass.com/threads/the-official-washburn-club-part-3.1060572/
trey le parc
Someday...
I just got an XB925 and it's well worth the $700 I paid for it. Ash body with a bubinga top and what I think is a walnut sandwich, quarter-sawn maple neck, nice rosewood board, Grover tuners and what looks like a Wilkinson bridge, not to mention the Bartolini electronics...it's a lot of bass for not a lot of money.
They have not been making guitars for over a hundred years; they have been making them for less than fifty. Back in the Gilded Age Washburn was the flagship brand named after George Washburn Lyon, one of the top guns of the Lyon and Healy company, and Lyon and Healy were heavy hitters in their day. But sometime in the twentieth century they stopped. Just went away.
Then in the 1970s the rights to the name were purchased by a completely different outfit, who are the source of the instruments we see today. I suspect you base your comment on the fact that a lot of these Washburn print ads had wording something like "Washburn: since 1879." I saw those ads as well, and I pointed out to my college freshman composition students how bogus and misleading those ads were.
The weasel word is "since," which can mean both "began at this date in the past and continues right on through 'til today," which is the inference the ad wants people to make. Or "since" can mean "after," which in this instance is the factual meaning but also is misleading.
I will say that I have owned two modern Washburn AB-32s (one defretted), and both were fine instruments.
I'm 99.9% sure my old Washburn ABT actually came from the Samick factory in Korea. Was that worth the $CDN400 I paid in 1990? I can't deny, I did have quite a bit of fun jamming, practicing and playing my very first gigs with it. (I even recouped a few bucks at the end.)
That said, I got a much better deal a few years later, buying something used with the actual Samick name on the headstock. (I could tell close up – the construction was almost identical.)
I've got to say, I'm really not a fan of that thing where folks buy a once-great brand then use it to overcharge for a mass-produced entry-level import. Unfortunately, there's a lot of that going around – Washburn is far from being the only name one needs to be careful with.
If I could try one of their more genuinely ambitious & innovative offerings (like the Bantam, or one of those ABGs) in person and the feel & price were right, there is a chance I could own another Washburn.
I probably won't get another ABT though; there was no "Advanced Bass Technology" that I could discern. (And I did a lot of tinkering on that thing, later on!)
That said, I got a much better deal a few years later, buying something used with the actual Samick name on the headstock. (I could tell close up – the construction was almost identical.)
I've got to say, I'm really not a fan of that thing where folks buy a once-great brand then use it to overcharge for a mass-produced entry-level import. Unfortunately, there's a lot of that going around – Washburn is far from being the only name one needs to be careful with.
If I could try one of their more genuinely ambitious & innovative offerings (like the Bantam, or one of those ABGs) in person and the feel & price were right, there is a chance I could own another Washburn.
I probably won't get another ABT though; there was no "Advanced Bass Technology" that I could discern. (And I did a lot of tinkering on that thing, later on!)
