Washburn Orleans Acoustic Jazz Guitar

Absolutley SUPERB 17" blonde arched-top jazz guitar with gold-colored mini-humbucker pickup mounted at the end of the fingerboard. Volume control is mounted on the wooden pickguard. Some models, I see, have both a Volume Control Knob and a Tone Control Knob mounted on the pick guard. I always set my tone at the amplifier, so I would never use a Tone Control Knob on the guitar anyway. In my opinion, no other acoustic/electric jazz guitar of its calibre exists under $1,000 anywhere in the world. Beautiful gold hardware throughout, including Grover Imperial tuners, brass truss-rod cover, Spruce top,, maple or Sycamore back and sides, solid wood pickguard and elegant large Abalone "crown" fingerboard position markers that sparkle like opals under stage lights. LOUD acoustic sound can be amplified by plugging it into your favorite guitar amp. Add a little reverb and you are in tonal heaven!

As stated above, the volume, tone and projection of this beast is quite phenomenal acoustically. Bright, delicate and clear...she roars like a lion...yet is so delicate to hold.

Time-consumning Korean production techniques give this guitar fine detailing and flawless finish. The abalone fingerboard inlays are some of the most colorful and beautiful you will find anywhere. Fingerboard plays like butter...so fast, responsive and comfortable to play for long hours on the bandstand.

I use my blonde Washnurn J-10 Orleans guitar for playing dates coupled with my Roland Jazz Chorus amplifier for beautiful sounds that sound like no other guitarist. Mid-range Reverb plus Chorus added enhance my full-chord melody playing of old standards and romantic ballads. What a Babe Magnet that sounds is...there is no tone that can match this combination! So lush and velvety! mmmmmm A tone to die for!

Never needed Washburn Customer Support...that's why I LOVE Washburn guitars!

These Washburn J-10 Orleans guitars were made only for a short period of time in the mid-1990s and had a list price of about $1,295....with a street price of around $895. Some had Grover Imperial tuners, others has standard enclosed oval Grover tuners...some had a single Volume Control mounted on the pickguard...others had both Volume and Tone Control mounted on the wooden pickguard. Since then, these guitars have aged to maturity and, in my opinion, are far more valuable today than when they were new, because their woods have settled and matured...and will only get better with age. The Washburn J-10 is becoming increasingly hard to find...with prices for them going up steadily as new-found demand outstrips the very limited supply iof these guitars that were produced only for a short period of time. Those who own them love them...and owners usually usually won't sell them. So if you are ever lucky enough to find one of these great guitars, I suggest you buy it.

From the Grover Imperial tuners to the Beautiful fluer-de-lis inlay on the neck....this is one beautiful axe. From an original '96 Washburn catalog, I read the body is flamed sycamore with a (tuned) spruce top. I bought mine used with an original Washburn case. It is,without a doubt , THE most beatiful instrument I have ever owned. The floating mini-humbucking pick-up sounds fabulous! The neck is like butter...fast and solid.

I have been playing for close to 40 years and do mostly solo acoustic work. Living rooms and porches have been my favorite venues for the last
15 years or so. I don't,as a rule, plug into an amp and my J10 is plenty loud enough. She has a distinctive sound...(wonderfully)different from all my dreadnaughts.

As earlier noted, I puchased her used..in near mint condition. Every facet of this guitar's fit and finish is flawless!

I have only had her for a few months...but in that time I have found her to be rock solid in the "stay in tune" category. The spruce top is just a tad thinner than I am used to...but I don't hammer my guitars so I think she'll be fine for the rest of my "career".

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I have always wanted an arch-top "jazz" style guitar. I have some old photos of my Father with one in Korea (circa early 50s). I am fairly modest in means...but like the sound of a nice guitar. I own a Washburn D20S, a Samick D7CE, An Epi "Dot", and an early 40s Wahoo resonator, a few others ..and a banjo!. I have barely touched any of the others since I purchased "Jazzmine". She sounds great, plays great, looks spectacular, and plugged into a Fender Super Reverb she is near perfect. I LOVE this guitar. Buy one...if you can!!!

I'm unsure of when this guitar was made. I picked it up second hand for ?300 in beautiful condition. The guy that owned it before me is a luthier/guitar designer for one of the biggest names in acoustic guitars. He obviously kept it very well as I would have to admit that it was in pristine condition when I picked it up.
It's a copy of an L5, nicely made, cleanly put together, with nicely figured woods. The top is spruce (laminated I gather) and the back, sides and neck are maple. The finish is good, even, high gloss, with no surface checking.
There is a single-coil pick-up screwed to the neck, which gives a smoothish sound, but admittedly it does need some tweaking with a pre-amp.
There is one volume control on the maple pick-guard, which is also well finished.
The only modification is that the original tuners aren't on it. The gold-plated grovers have been replaced by Kluson. I assume the previous owner did this himself, and unsurprisingly he made a perfect job of it.

The first thing that strikes you about this guitar, is it's rich acoustic sound. Strung with 11s, it is pronounced in the mid-range and clean at the treble. The bass is not as boomy as my Martin, but hey, this is a jazz guitar. If I want boomy bass, I'll use the Martin.
The tone is unbelievable. As this guitar seems to have come from the Samick factory-line, this is even more astounding. Picked, it is tight and punchy and using fingertips and thumb it is velvety, but never muddy.
Even though this is a jazzer, I've tried slide, fingerstyle and even some straight-forward strummy Neil Young-esque stuff. It holds up well all the time.
I'm mainly an acoustic player and bought this guitar based on its acoustic sound. The electric pick-up is adequate for my purposes, but it could see where electric players might opt for a humbucker. That said I haven't experienced any major freedback problems with the single-coil, even at high volumes.

The finish is prefect. I have seen top-range guitars with glue blobs, something I cannot abide. This guitar is clean and was obviously put together with a great deal of attention and care.
The action is good - fast if you want if, but never 5too loose. The woods (laminated or otherwise) have been perfectly matched and the binding is attractive and solid. The fret-wire is also well finished.
Infact apart from two slight fletches on the paint work (wear and tear) and slightly cracked finish at the jack (understandable) I can find no flaw with this instrument.

A lot has been made ofthe fact that the top is very thin. I haven't noticed it too thin or in any case, noticably flimsy. That said, I wouldn't expect this guitar to take the batterings of a well-built dreadnought , and retain its sweet souns.
But so far durability isn't an issue.
Reliablity: when tuned stays in tune.

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I'm in my (early, early) 20s and have been playing for 10 years. I've graduated from battered finger-breakers, through mid-range stuff and into decent top-range and hand-crafted instruments. But I'm no guitar snob. The playability, feel and overall enjoyment I get from an instrument is most important to me.
I could have gone for a pricey archtop, but this was a superb bargain and I expect it's value to rise now that they great guitars aren't being made any longer.
If it were stolen or lost, I'd be raging because I know I couldn't replace the quality of this giutar for the same money.
Without having to spent thousands on a vintage Gibson or epiphone, I managed to get a lovely playing archtop guitar.

As others have noted, this is a full depth hollowbody jazz guitar with a very thin laminate top, which makes it "live", light, but also somewhat delicate. From the factory it came with a floating single coil (non-adjustable pole pieces) pickup and a single volume control. This guitar was only made in the 1990's, apparently the cost of manufacturing was too high for the anticipated return. After several years, I replaced the single coil with a floating humbucker and added a tone control. The original bridge was not compensated (I replaced it with a compensated bridge).

This is a jazz guitar so it wouldn't make sense to compare it to instruments designed for other styles. Unamplified it is surprisingly loud, and because it is an archtop, projects much better than a flattop. It has fairly even volume across the strings. It is fairly mid-rangy with acceptable tone and would do a good job fitting in the guitar slot when played with other acoustic instruments. However, the tone is not rich enough to use as a solo instrument. Amplified, of course, things can be quite different. I found the single coil clear, "woody sounding", but thin, and the bass strings sounded "boingy", certainly not a rich jazz sound. This is not surprising, considering it is a single coil pickup. Replacement with a floating humbucker (I used a Kent Armstrong) made a big difference (and improvement, to my ears). Since the top is so live, feedback at even moderate volumes can be problematic (this is always the tradeoff when using a hollowbody guitar but it is more obvious the more active the top is). There should be no problem at club volumes with proper placement in relation to the amp and fiddling with the amp settings. After trying various sets of strings, I found that half-rounds were the best. The acoustic sound was still good and the amplified sound was pretty close to what I wanted (traditional jazz sound). Considering the price of these guitars, I would rate the acoustic sound a 10 and the amplified sound (with the single coil pickup) a 5. With the floating humbucker, I would rate it an 8 (still doesn't sound as good amplified as jazz boxes with mounted in humbuckers).

I bought it second hand. It was set up perfectly when I bought it (and I am pretty picky about these things). I found the workmanship very good, no obvious flaws, and it has held up well over the eight years I have owned it. The binding is starting to yellow a bit. All joints are still solid, tuners are smooth, no cracks appearing anywhere. I think the neck is great, I have the action low with 12's on it and there is no buzzing. The frets are just the right height. It is one of the best playing guitars I have.

I think this is a good guitar for playing gigs; reasonably good sound (once the pickup is replaced), light, and plays very easily so you can play it a long time without getting tired. I have found it reliable over the years, it stays in tune well and doesn't need the bridge adjusted with weather changes (as do carved tops). It used to be (for seven or so years) the guitar I played the most at home (I have since bought a carved top archtop which I prefer). I have tended not to use it at gigs because, in part, I was worried about feedback, so in those cases used a jazz guitar with mounted pickups (and, therefore, a less active top), and, in part, because the style of music required an acoustic-electric rather than an archtop. I think it is versatile in the sense that it is acceptable for many styles of jazz and is even OK without amplification, for practicing or playing with other unamplified string instruments (not horns, though!).

I've never dealt with the company.

I've played for about 30 years. I own about 7 guitars at the moment, mostly archtops, but also an acoustic-electric, a solid body, and a Martin D-35. Since I don't use the Washburn much now, I probably wouldn't replace it if lost or stolen. I have tried many similar (laminated top) archtops and this has, by far, the best acoustic sound, even better than some carved top archtops I've tried. The feature I liked least was the single coil pickup (wish I had known that in advance!) but, at least, that is easy to rectify (it's hard to believe it took me so long before I got around to it). Even adding in $100 for a better pickup, I think it is a much better guitar for the money than the other laminated top, floating pickup models since the acoustic sound is so much better. The newer guitars made in China that seem to have become available recently have, from what I can see, all followed the thicker top designs, so I would not expect them to have as good an acoustic sound. Since they are no longer made, they can only be had on the second-hand market.

I was so impressed with my sunburst Washburn J-10 Orleans 17" arched-top jazz guitar that I purchased from Litz Music Center in Gaithersburg, Maryland, in 1998...that I bought a SECOND one of these in the NATURAL BLONDE finish in 2003! As usual, this guitar features a spruce top and deep full body witha Johnny-Smith-style floating pickup at the end of the fingerboard with a single volume control knob mounted onto the natural WOOD pickguard. This guitar features gold hardware, including big Grover Imperial tuning keys. As I understand it, these Washburn J-10 arched top jazz guitars were only made for about a year during the mid-1990's and are no longer available from the manufacturer. Rumor has it that Washburn stopped making these guitars simply because of the high cost of producing these guitars. These guitars simply cost more to make than Washburn could get for them! These guitars are now ONLY available on the aftermarket (used) and the demand is greater than the current supply...so prices for these guitars are rising fast...and for good reason...no other manufacturer can come close to the J-10 Orleans' quality workmanship and awesome tone!

As other reviewers here have indicated, when played un-amplified, these Washburn Orleans models have power, projection and tone that comes close to the power, projection and tone of high-end flattop guitars. When hooked up to a guitar amplifier, the Washburn Orleans speaks with authority and -- depending on your amplifier controls -- can create just about any tone a guitarist might need...from funky Rockabilly to mellow jazz to soft Big Band rhythm guitar. I use my Washburn Orleans guitar with my Fender Power Chorus amplifier. This guitar/amp combination offers a virtually unlimited variety of tones...including chorus, reverb and distortion (ugh!)...so simple amp adjustments allow me a full spectrum of amplified tones for any style of music. Always rich, full sounds with great sustain, booming bass tones and singing trebles.

My two Washburn Orleans guitars will go head-to-head with such monster guitars, such as the Gibson L-5C when it comes to fit and finish, tone, action and "feel." I know...because I have owned two Gibson L-5's. The Washburn Orleans guitar seems much lighter than the L-5 and appears to have a much thinner spruce top that the L-5. I believe the top on the Orleans guitar may be laminated...not solid spruce...and, of course, the L-5 features a "hand carved" top, whereas, the Orleans guitar top, I would imagine, is "machined." The woods on both of my Orleans guitars are beautiful...with close-grained spruce tops and nicely figured maple backs and sides. Stunning to see. A joy to play. Beautiful to hear. As I undersand it, these guitars are made in Korea.

I have had my first Washburn Orleans guitar for five years and have had no problems with it. No splits. No finish checkering. No warpage. Even the gold hardware continues to sparkle with no oxidation or pitting. Always kept in the matching Washburn hardshell case. Polished and re-strung twice a year to keep it fresh and "loved."

I am a big fan of Washburn guitars. I consider Washburn instruments to be one of the finest values on the fretted instrument market today. I also own a Washburn D200SWG dreadnaught flattop guitar with solid rosewood back and sides and solid spruce top that is another awesome guitar for the money...and I have never needed customer support from Washburn. I do not expect that I will ever need customer support to correct a problem with their instruments. When it's built right the first time, you should never need customer support.

Like most jazz guitarists, I dream of owning a handmade archedtop jazz guitar, such as a Benedeeto, 1940's Epiphone Emperor, a Stromberg or similar "work of art." But in the meantime, I am so contented with this value-packed Washburn J-10 Orleans guitar that offers value above and beyond its relatively low cost. My advice to you...if you love the feel and tone of big-bodied arched top jazz guitars, grab one of these Washurn J-10 Orleans guitars whenever you have the chance. They are not making these any more and those of us who own one are very reluctant to part with them! I predict that these Washurn Orleans guitars will become one of the hottest collectible guitars in the years ahead simply because so few were made and more guitarists are now finding out about the awesome value that these rare "sleeper" guitars offer to players and collectors alike.

For what you normally expect in a archtop (in this price range), this guitar is loaded. Deep 3" body, 17" lower bout, beautiful flamed maple back and sides. The top is solid spruce, and is very thin. I was told that this is 'pressed' into the arched shape, as opposed to the hand carved top found on more expensive guitars. Full 25.5" scale and nut width of 1 11/16" (43mm). I own two J10's, a blond and an iced tea sunburst. Grover tuners, floating humbucking pickup, volume knob mounted on beautiful wood pickgaurd. Crown pattern abalone inlay on the neck, and binding on every edge on the instrument.

The sound of this guitar is outstanding! Unplugged, it has a deep rich tone that is loud enough to compete with most flat top guitars. Plugged in the sound is equally fantastic, although somewhat different than the prototypical "ES-175" dark tone found on laminated top archtops.

Due to personal preference, I changed the nut on both J10s to a bigger one, giving me wider spacing between the strings. I play mostly solo jazz, and some classical, the wider spacing makes this style easier (for my fat, stubby fingers). The neck is perfect, not too fat or too thin. As expected I had to adjust the truss rod after putting the .013 - .056 flatwound strings on, the adjustment seems to be holding up fine.

I use this guitar on all my gigs now, and never had a problem. THE GUITAR STAYS IN TUNE! This might seem to be a wierd thing to mention, but many other guitars I have played seem to be very fussy and require constant tweeking of the tuning pegs, and it would always drive me crazy.

In contrast to some of the other reports on Washburn, I have had pretty good luck with Washburn support, the guy I have been talking with on the support line has always been very friendly and taken the time to anwser my questions. Washburn did say thay are unable to get parts or service the guitar as it is no longer sold. These guitars were made by Samick in Korea.

I have been playing for 30+ years, Jazz for the last 20 or so. I play 2-3 nights a week, mostly solo at resturants in the Seattle area. After buying the first J10 back in March, I loved this guitar so much I decided to get a second one to fill the role of backup. My ES-175 is a great guitar, but I was having a hard time adjusting to the short 24.5" scale of the Gibson, so I will now play only the Washburns. As I mentioned above, one of the best attributes of this guitar is its ability to go all night with very little adjustment of the tuning pegs, it seems like with most of the other guitars I play I spend half the gig tuning the darn thing! With the J10 I can just play. One other point worth mentioning to J10 fans, the guitar talked about in these reviews is actually the J10E, a Johnny Smith copy with a single floating pickup, the original J10 had 2 humbucking pickups, and was more like a ES-175. I don't know what year the switch was made, but they stopped making the J10 altogether around 97 or 98. Also, I found that by removing the pickguard the instruments acoustic volume increased by 20-30%. If I can figure out a way to rig up the volume pot, I might make this modification on one of the instruments.

There are several reviews available that describe the materials and construction features of this guitar. Suffice to say, it has a very thin laminated spruce top that contributes to a fine sound quality.

The sound of this guitar is of very good quality. I currently use half-wounds and plan, on my next change, to use George Benson round wounds, since I play with my thumb. Compare the sound of this guitar with any production guitar you like and you'll be impressed.

The action, fit and finish leave a good deal to be desired. I have spent over half price I paid for it (used) to bring it up to a high standard of playability. In the course of doing this, I realized just how sloppily this guitar was assembled. Work has had to be done to: reposition the pickup, replace the nut, modify the bridge and tailpiece, etcetera. Having said and done all this, I would have done better buying an Aria FA 71 (which I've done recently). Also a Korean made guitar, there is absolutely no comparison in quality of manufacture, fit and finish, and factory setup.

I find this to be a delicate guitar. While it sounds well and looks fine, the neck seems in need of frequent tweaking. I have played it on gigs but do so no longer. I plan to leave it as a practice instrument at my son's home, which I frequently visit for long periods of time.

I find this to be virtually non-existant. Repeated attempts to find out about the manufacture and other details of this guitar have been unproductive. In the comparison to the Aria FA 71 I made above, there is a similar difference in customer support. See for yourself by checking the company web sites.

Overall, I would rate this guitar a 6 or 7. Sound-wise, 8 or 9.

Whether you call it the Orleans, J-10 or Johnny Smith it's an attractive and inexpensive jazz box. Beautiful laminated sides and back, and a pressed bookmatched top of spruce. Ornate abalone inlays in the neck and headstock, gold floating pickup, big gold W tailpiece, gold Grover tuners and pickguard mounted volume control rounds out this elegant guitar. Crafted in Korea with a nod to L-5C's and Johnny Smith models this is a guitar with a sweet mellow sound and great looks at a price that won't wreck your budget. You can leave your $10,000 L-5 at home and take this gigging and sound great. Made at the Samick factory Washburn didn't scrimp on anything here. I like the instrument so much I bought a 2nd one, both are blondes. I plan on modifying the 2nd one with an ebony tailpiece and top mounted Benedetto humbucking pickup.

I play all type of music but this really is my jazz or solo instrument for quiet ballads or when I play old Church Hymns. Plugged in it's dead quiet, no noise or hum even at loud volume settings. Unplugged it booms like a good flat top and could be heard over other acoustics easily. A real cannon with a deep voice. I use it with a Blackface Fender Deluxe Reverb and a Mesa Boogie Maverick 2x12. This is no rock or blues guitar - it's a high class jazzer for sure.

I bought both of my Orleans used. I found the setup and finish of both guitars exemplary. The top and back look to be bookmatched well, the ebony bridge rests fully across the top. The frets are dressed well enough I don't feel them anywhere on the neck when I wrap my thumb around it. The crown shaped abalone inlays are done with gorgeous material, better than most abalone I've seen - there's a small about of black filler here and there to makeup for a tiny miscut but you really have to look hard to see it. It came with sealed Grover tuners and the volume pot is mounted on a maple pickguard that matches the top nicely. The pickup has a sweet and clear tone, not too muddy or too tinny.

I think these are strongly built player's guitars - not meant to be locked in a vault. I'm not concerned with any aspect of the build of the instrument or it's hardware. Everything seems built to last. It's like Washburn execs said, Ok we're gonna build this in Korea but lets do a good job. It's impressed many of my vintage collector friends that have 50's era Gibsons and Epiphone archtop collections. I only take one guitar to gigs and I think the Orleans will do just fine. Even if the pickup or electronics failed mid-gig it's got enough power I could keep up with my piano player unplugged.

The guitars are made at the Samick factory in Korea, and I bought them both second hand, so Washburn is not legally obligated to do any warranteed repairs. I don't see that being a problem though - they both seem solid and I'd get better response from my guitar tech Mr. Dave anyway should I need it. I hear Washburn isn't that responsive these days.

I've given almost all 9's. I think most people overrate their new purchases, but this is a solid player's guitar that will last a long time. I think they're good buys for the money. You could spend more, but if you're looking for a great playing and looking guitar and not worried about the "vintage snob appeal" then it's a GREAT instrument. I've been playing 40 years. I own an 1870 Bay State parlor guitar, a 1960 Gretsch Anniversary and a couple of nice amps. I looked around on the internet a long time and tried out a many other archtops before buying these - I feel my homework paid off. If it were stolen or lost I'd kill the sucker if I caught him. But again I didn't put that much into either instrument so I could afford to replace it easily (if I could find another blonde). I think it's value to me is it's a a really classic looking archtop with gorgeous inlays and a top thick enough that it won't feedback too easily on me if I play louder - yet it's acoustic enough to play unplugged at home. AND it didn't cost me $5,000.00. It's no Gibson or handmade boutique archtop but it's the best import archtop out there. Beats the hell out of the new DeArmond or Epiphone Joe Pass models for sure. And looks a lot nicer. And it's elegant looks and tone do just fine for my ability as a musician and the places I play out at. I used to have an early 50's Gibson L-7C I spent $4000.00 on - and I play at convalescent homes - one day one of the older residents backed into the L-7 with his wheelchair - I thought I was gonna be the one wheeled out of there. I think the Washburn could take some bumps and hold up just fine.

This Washburn J-10 "Orleans" 17" arched-top jazz guitar features elaborate headstock and fingerboard inlays, a single, thin "floating" pick-up attached by two prongs that slide up the base of the fingerboard and are attached by a single small screw on each prong to hold the pick-up in place. The f-hles are noticeably wider than the L-5C that this instrument was most-likely copies from. But it is my opiion that these wider f-holes contribute to the WONDERFUL acoustic sound of this instrument...almost as bright as a high-end flattop! A single wire attaches the pick-up to the single volume control know mounted at the bottom of the shaed NATURAL SOLID WOOD pickguard. The tuning keys and the trademark Washburn "W" tailpece are gold plated. The close-grained spruce top seems to be "Book-matched" but it may be a single sheet of spruce, I have always been curious whether the top on these instruments is "hand-carved", machine carved, single piece or book-matched pieces of spruce. If anyone knows I'd like to hear.

As mentioned, the acoutic tone of the "Orleans" is phenomenal. When I hear its tone, I visualize Freddie Green strumming that huge 18" Gretch acountic arched-top, driving the Count Basie Orchestra rhythm section! I string my Orleans with standard light-gauge steel strings...and even then it sounds fine acoustically. I can only imagine how booming it would sound if it were strung with those huge BRONZE strings! Again, I believe that those wider f-holes contribute to its louder sound. I purchased this insutrument at Litz Music in Gaitthersburg, Maryland, in March 1997. At the time of purchase, I had the opportunity to compate the Orleans guitar side-by-side with two different Epiphone "Regency" arched-top guitars (one sunburst; the other natural finish). The Epiphone -- both of them -- sounded like logs next to the Orleans! Thick, unsustained sounds from the Regencys...deightful, loud, balanced, bright tones from the Orleans! And all three instruments were priced within $100 or each other! No comparison! In fact, I would put the Orleans tone up againist any L-5C at thousands of dollars more!

I continued to be impressed with Washburn's attention to detai on their thin-body and arched-top full-body guitars. Beautiful fit and finish throughout! Unlike th L-5, which has a dovetail at the ed of the fingerboard, the Orleans' fingerboard end is straight across. The top seems almost paper thin, with a soft chamois-like texture to the raw wood that you can feel as you stick your finger inside the f-hole and rub across the bottom of the spruce top. The finish throughout is flawless...no wavey finish, no dimples, all high-gloss and magnificent. I do worry about the long-term life of this thin spruce top...will it crack in the years ahead? One other point of interest: the end of the tailpiece that holds the string-ends is so low that it actually touches the top of the guitar. Is this "hampering" the action of the top? Or adding to its wonderful tone? Sometimes, I am tempted to reposition the tailpiece and remount it so that it does not touch the top...but then I think, if it an't broke, don't fix it! That one change may upset the entire "balance" of this fine instrument, so I leave well enough alone!

I love each of my guitars...and as a result, I treat them with extreme care. I am not hard on my instrument, never spill drinks on them, never get beer bottles thrown at me, never put them in positions where they would be likely to fall over etc. So I have never had a "Reliability/Durability" problem with eve "no name" guitars. I don't expect to have a problem with this Orleans model...but,as I said, I am curious to see if that thin spruce top will go without cracking over the long term.

I have never dealt direct with the company. I understand that Washburn Guitars are all built in the Samick factories in Korea...the world's largest manufacturer of guitars under dozens of brand names. If so, I am even more amazed that such a fine looking, fine sounding guitars as the Orleans could come out of a "mass production aseembly-line factory! The Orleans reflects superior attention to detail!

As most of you guitarists know, you can play half a dozen guitars of the same model...and one of those will stand out with superior tone, superior handling, superior feel. Even though I had no other Orleans models to compare, I still eel I got "the pick of the litter"...such a beautiful sound and look! ine is serial nukmber 95060013. Does this mean that it was the 13th Orleans guitar made? And that it was perhaps made in June (06) or a995 (95)? I am curious to know how many Orleans models were ever made, when they ere made and why they are no longer shown in Washburn catalogs/price lists. Can anyone help me on those questions? I'd like to hear from others who own these Orleans models. Was it avaiable in natural finish or cherr finish also?

This guitar was modeled on the classic Gibson L-5 design. It is an acoustic cutaway 17" archtop jazz guitar with a laminated curly maple body and spruce top. The neck is also maple. It has all the gold plating, fancy binding, and ornate inlay of a classic jazz guitar. The finish is a high gloss polyester sunburst, and the guitar features a piezo pickup imbedded in the bridge. The guitar comes with a deluxe hardshell case and carrying strap.
This guitar was a prototype built for the NAMM show and differs somewhat from the production model which came out later and has since been discontinued.

I bought this guitar because even though its a Washburn, it had a wonderful acoustic tone, even better than my Heritage Golden Eagle. It was rich and full, suitable for a wide variety of applications, even where one would usually use a flat-top. Although the bass is not as prominent as a dreadnought, the overall tone, especially the midrange, is very pleasing. I have used the guitar very successfully for fingerpicking and flatpicking both in a solo and band context.
Electrically, when plugged straight into an amp, the tone was tinny and thin. However, running the line through an old Passaq equalizer restored the full acoustic tone as if by magic.

The guitar appears to have a poorly fit neck joint, because some cracking of the finish occurred in the neck joint, indicating some movement in that area. Sighting down the fretboard, one sees the tell tale dip in area of the 14th fret, also indicating a slipped neck joint. The nut was poorly cut and the slots were irregular, necessitating a new bone nut.
About a year after purchase, the white binding on the neck began to crack crosswise all up and down the neck. We'll talk about that later.

I'm paranoid about bad neck-sets, so I am dubious concerning the long time straightness of the neck. I am also concerned about the binding cracks. Since this guitar is a prototype, I have a lot of other doubts concerning its durability of this instrument long term. Was it built simply to last for the NAMM show?

When the guitar started to develop problems, the dealer called Washburn for me. At first, Washburn said they wouldn't fix it because I hadn't sent in a warranty card (none came with it). After more prodding on my part, they responded that binding cracking was normal, as anyone could see from vintage Gibsons. I wouldn't accept that crap either. Finally, they offered to return the guitar to Korea (Washburn doesn't really know anything about building guitars themselves, apparently) if I would pay the shipping! At that point I decided that working with them in an adult way was a waste of time, and I determined to trade the guitar off, just so I wouldn't have anything with the name "Washburn" hanging around my house

I have been playing for 40 years (mostly high-end flattops). I currently own a Larrivee OM-9, a Bourgeois JR-A, and a custom OM with Brazilian rosewood. I have owned several archtops by Heritage and Gibson. I learned how to play on an old Gibson L-7, so I still have a love affair for classic archtops. That's one reason I bought the Washburn. It was a beautiful jazz box with exceptional sound.
I really am disgusted with Washburn. Although they have marketed some nice guitars in the last 15 years, most of their stuff is just imported Korean junk made by Samick. Although they link themselves to the revered past of Lyon and Healy, there really is no connection between the present company and the old Washburn. It's all hype.