Washburn A-20V Stage Series

Ialways thought it was an AV-20 but I may be wrong and it is the A 20-V...ANyhow I bought mine in 1985, used, from the music store with a Kahler Wammy bar...I just loved it. It is american made axe and sweet as honey. I recently gave it to my 8 yr old son for xmas and I bought a Sheraton II (absolutely a tremendous guitat) and I always loved it. A beautiful neck and touch to this axe. Very fast! My only complaint would be the stock pickups area little muddy for rhythm but the guitar just swells. Has sustain like my Les Paul but different. A very heavy guitar but that's what gives it it's distinct sound. This guitar is a winner and no wonder why Carlos Cavazo loved it so much. I rate this guitar a 9 out of 10. If you ever see one pick it up....My son loves it too! I may want it back in the future (only kidding). I love the neck thru body design and I did a lot of gigging with this bad boy. It was tops in my axe line up. I own 3 Gibsons, (Flying V, Explorer, and a Les Paul) and this guitar has a unique sound in comparison. I used it on many recordings and was always pleased with the sound and integrity of the guitar. This guitqar is a sleeper and a fine chunk of wood. Love it!

Beautiful sound...a little muddy for rhythm but sweet on leads. This guitar is sweet. All pots are as nice as the day I bought it. Never had any problems with the hardware. Setup is sweet. Very fast and I like the wide neck. Great for doing digs and harmics. Sustain is amazing. It is a very heqavy guitar like a Les Paul...actually heavier than my Gibson Les Paul.

What can I say. Fit and finish are on par with Gibson custom shop. Everything on this girl is perfect. Loved the Wham bar, but I would prefer a Floyd Rose vs the Kahler, althought the Kahler is a little smoother and easier to do dives with. Sweet!

I have owned mine for 24 yrs without any interventions. It rocks dude. That says it all. I plyed it for yewrs live and it still stands the test of time!

I wish there wqas more info on this axe....It's very confusing to get info on this Washburn.

I love this guitar. I have been offered Strats for trade and I have never taken the offers. This guitar is a sweetheart and real bulldog. It's hardcore and I would recommend it to anybody...you won't regret it. Rock On Brothers!

Neck-thru explorer(ish), dual humbuckers with with independent tone and volume with push/pull coil splits, three-piece 22 fret v-shaped maple neck, ash wings with flamed two-piece maple top, ebony fretboard with brass washer-shaped inlays, strat-style tremelo with string-thru-body, sealed tuners, brass nut, full binding. Made at Matsumoku around 1984.

I play classic hard rock and metal through an older Marshall Valvestate 4x12, no effects. It sounds very professional. It has it's own character and a ton of range. It can scream, sing, howl, quack, pop, crunch, whatever you're after. You would be one picky guitar player if you couldn't find a sound that works. The sustain and harmonics are as good as anything I've played, and I've played all the usual $2,000-$5,000 guitars. If you're into speed picking and trills, you'll be very pleased. I also like the coil splits for playing clean - makes a strat sound like a toy IMO.

The neck is almost perfect. It's faster and more comfortable for my big hands than a USA Rhoads. The shape helps place your fingers in the right spot, and the fretboard is slightly tapered. My fingers don't have to go out of their way until about the 19th fret. The frets are the perfect height to me; you can feel where you're at, but they don't tangle you up. I'm still working out the action, (the factory set-up is long gone, of course) I can't get it exactly where I want and keep all the buzzes out lower down, but it's close enough. I might replace the nut in the near future. Locking tuners are also in order, as a couple of these are showing their age. It's a little neck-heavy, but you don't notice so much the way your arm rests on the body. My only other dislike is the upper protrusion that jabs me in the stomach sometimes. A 'V' version of this would be perfect for me.

It feels tight and solid after 23 years and it lives up to Matsumoku's reputation. The finish looks like it's taken some shots, but held it's own, all the binding is still intact, and the electronics work perfectly and look unmodified. It could definitely withstand live playing, and probably has.

Been playing for 14 years (half my life). I also have a '78 Aria Pro II LPC copy, a '58 Dano/Silvertone U1, and a cheap Alvarez accoustic. I might get into collecting Japanese guitars, as the Aria is no slouch either. But this is definitely my main guitar if I ever get back into a band, and I would sefind myself another one if it were stolen.

Ich habe die Gitarre seit 1980. Neupreis 600 Euro
Finish: Riegelahornfunier, cherry red sunburst
Body style: ??hnlich Explorer
Bridge style: Feste Br??cke. Seiten werden durch den Korpus gef??hrt
Korpus aus Esche
Durchgehender Hals aus Mahagoni, Ebenholzgriffbrett, 21 B??nde
Messingsattel, Messingeinlagen im Griffbrett
Gute Mechaniken
2 Humbucker, 2 Push-Volume Potis, 2 Ton Potis, 3-Wege Schalter
Brigde: SD SH4, Neck: SD Alnico Pro II
Eine wundersch??ne Gitarre!

Ich spiele haupts??chlich klassische Rockmusik. Dies Gitarre ist sehr vielseitig und klingt einfach klasse. Es sind verschiedenste Sounds m??glich.

Die Gitarre kam bestens eingestellt aus dem Laden. Die Bespielbarkeit ist wunderbar. Habe viele verschiedene Gitarren ausprobiert. Es ist mir diesbez??glich noch nichts besseres unter die Finger gekommen.

Die Gitarre ist sehr solide und sauber gebaut. Die Gurtpins sind f??r einen richtigen Einsatz zu klein und sollten in gr????ere oder Lockmodelle ausgetaucht werden.

Habe noch keinerlei Erfahrungen diesbez??glich da die Gitarre immer einwandfrei funktionierte.

Ich spiele seit 25 jahren Gitarre und habe das Gl??ck diese Traumgitarre zu besitzen. Allerdings sollten kleine Ver??nderungen (Pickups, Gurtkn??pfe) durchgef??hrt werden. Ist aber glaube ich bei allen Instrumenten diese Preisklasse nichts ungew??hnliches. Die Originalpickups waren gut aber insbesondere am Steg zu brav.

I bought my Washburn A-20V guitar used in 1987 for $500.00. I don't know what year it was made or where it was made. It is a neck-through, red-orange sunburst, cream outlining, brass circle inlays, rosewood fretboard, with a Floyd Rose Tremolo and locking nut. It has 24 frets. I put a EMG 81 active pickup in the bridge position and a trembucker in the neck position.

I used it for metal, I play through a Randall RM4 now, but it sound good through any amp I've had over the years. Great tone and feel.

It is the best playing guitar I own. The action is perfect. It stays in tune and takes a beating.

It is a tank, I can through down all night and it will take it. The wood is solid, I use strap locks and never had any problems with the wood giving out like some of my other guitars. Very dependable.

Never had any tech problem with this guitar.

I've been playing since 1983. I have another 1984 Washburn, a Schecter C-7 7 string, a Ibanez 7 string, a Italia Modulo, and an Alvarez Acoustic. If my Washburn A-20V got stolen my life would never be the same.

my guitar has 22frets two humbuckers brigde humbucker is a seymour dncan jeff beck the color is silver sparkle its an explorerstyle solid body

the sound is ideal for rock and heay metal i use a behringer v-amp a dunlop cry baby and a national amp

i'm 12 years old. I play one year guitar i would buy if it's lost a epiphone sg in cherry red

Push pull controls give a huge variety of sounds.

Mine has a tiger maple top over a mahogany body so the classic les paul sound can be achieved easily. Toggle to the neck pick-up and pull up on the coil spilt and you get classic texas blues sound, a la Stevie Ray!! Ultra versitile.

I've owned the guitar for over 20 years, having purchased it from the original owner, Jon Butcher. The guitar was brought on tour with him in the early eighties and stood up well. Nothing about this guitar has gone wrong. EVER !!

This guitar is bulletproof. See my comments regarding action, fit and finish.

Never had to contact customer service.

I've been playing for over 20 years. In 1984 I sold a Guild S-250 to a friend and promtly looked in the local ads for a Washburn A20. It was THE coolest guitar at the time, and I was able to locate one near Boston. As luck would have it, the seller was Jon Butcher. Jon would go on to become a fairly successful national act. He had received the guitar from Washburn as a perk, with hopes he would sign on as an endorser. For those who are familiar with him, he was a Strat guy, so this guitar was about as far from his personal preferences as you can find. The guitar was modified by Jon as the original Wonderbar tremelo was replaced by a VERY Early Kahler (so early it states that the Patent is Pending- there is no number on it). The locking tremelo combined with the overall solid feel made this my main guitar for years. It could use a good going over as the pots are starting to crackle a bit, but all in all a fantastic guitar. If you can find an original buy it.

Way back in '81 I bought a blonde flame maple coloured A20-v from Chris Kinman Guitar Craft in Brisbane (now he makes amazing pickups) Neck through body, 2 humbuckers, coil tapping, vintage style tremelo, brass nut and fret marker perfect binding and that beautiful compact explorer style. It had everything a boy could want and played soooo well. I was a student at the time though and sold it to a friend six months later to pay some bills...he said he'd sell it back to me when I had the cash but once he owned it, he wouldn't sell it back....so in '82 I bought another one from Chris, this one in metallic sky blue which was just as perfect...it was stolen a couple of years back, and I'm still trying to get over it.

You could play anything on this guitar....jazz, country, thrash...whatever, the pickups were just that good. single coil got you a nice tele or strat sound...but push the pots back in and it would kick like a mule. It looked cool too and so you lost no credibility weather you played with the jazz boys or in your local goth pub.
Will admit not to everyones taste though.

I've owned 2 and both were faultless...no, really!
Someone actually designed a guitar that sounded like anything, designed it to sustain like anything...with all the features you could want, in a tasefull way (remember all of those guitars of the time with millions of nobs and switches...Yuck) and the neck profile was a very comfortable vee shape

I used one regularly for nearly 20 years and it always sounded and played great. It only ever had 1 fret job and the 3 way switch replaced once...and in that time I had 2 wives that weren't that reliable... yes, whoever has it now is very lucky to have it to play...but if I ever catch them that will not be so lucky....

in all those years I never needed it...if building something so well is part of customer service then I have to give top marks...

If it were stolen or lost?.....well I can tell you first hand I want to replace it...if only I could find a good one....hardtail or vintage style trem (not the floyd rose style "quiet riot" one) any colour (preferably cherry or tobacco sunburst) needs to be a good one and I'll pay accordingly...if you have one or know someone that has a good one...

I bought this second hand about 20 years ago. It is made in Japan. Two volume, two tone and coil splitting. Twin Washburn humbuckers. It has a neck through body design. It is cherry sunburst with a heavy gloss laquer finish, very durable and in excellent condition considering its age. It has a brass nut which seems quite rare by todays standards.

I am an ordinary guitarist. When I bought this I was still taking lessons. My teacher saw it and wanted to buy it from me. I had a Tempo strat copy which was a toy. I could not beleive the acton of this and how easy it was to play. The bridge pick up has a great rich humbucker sond and up until now (I am buting a Marshall Valvestate 2000 50 watt head which will run through a home made twin cab with a Vintage thirty and a Greenback. However up until now I have had a Peavey Bandit which was a thrash box and currently a Marshall MG50DFX. Despite the modest amplification this guitar will always give a good crunchy driving sound. The neck pick up is not as great. It sound weak for rythym but sounds quite nice for overdriven lead al la Santana smooth. I am looking forward to playing through my new set up. The neck through body gives excellent sustain and te cut away gives access to the highest frets. I have not found much else that allows such ease in this area. I love Les Pauls but after trying some in shops I dont think could do what I do so high up with their bulky neck heels.

The action is flawless. I played with a PRS a while back and the action of my A20 gave nothing away. Considering I paid $260 Australian dollars it is a bargain. It is beautifully built, service guys in shops and anyone who knows guitars always comment when they see it. The machine heads hold tune quite well. Some of the harware, the bridge particulary has oxidized (over twenty years).

I have not been a performing player but have recently started jamming and playing a few parties. The guitar has therefore not seen a particularyl had life and I look after it well. Having said that it is built like a brick shithouse and would stand up to life on the road. Even so I could not see the point in treating it roughly. I have had no problems with any hardware or electrics or switches etc. It works as perfectly as the day I bought it.

Never had to trouble them. My local guitar shop sets it up once a year.

I started playing over twenty years ago. I stopped for about 15, just fiddling around every now and then. I have resumed with a vengeance and am playing with a group of friends in a band. currently run through a Boss super overdrive, Boss Equalizer, Digitech Rp200 and a Marshall MG50DFX. I cannot bear to imagine life without this and despite the fact I will probably but an Epiphone Explorer for D tuning, I cant imagine using anything else as my primary guitar. In fact if I could get a good one of these I would buy another. A freind of mine who owns about 8 Les Pauls used to have an A20 but sold it. He then had a copy custom made. I love its playabiltiy and sond . I also love the look of it. Some people like the vintage look. I like this. I have often thought of getting a whammy bar fitted but am too scared of stuffing up the action. Whammy bars are for guitar heros anyway and Im not one of those. It is heavy but thats about the only down side. If you ever get a chance to get your hands on a good one of these grab it.

Early 80's Explorer style, in blue with off-white banding.
Twin humbuckers & trem. Coil tapped controls.
High quality fixtures and fittings.

Zero noise, very clean sound. With the coil taps you can get a superior strat sound or with full on huckers a real crunch.

No setup done since purchase from House of Guitars who were selling the geetar on behalf of a private collector.
Low action, no string buzz, fast, and wonderful harmonics, nevr goes out of tune even when excessive trem used.
A couple of nasty chips, that probably happened when an over excited metal merchant dropped it on stage.

It's over 20 years old, and looks set for another 20. I would not hesitate in gigging it, and don't mind lending it out to mates!

n/a

Been twanging years, mainly for own amusement.I'm looking for an Ibanez Artist, Yamahan SG200 and a 61 SG, and and ES335. I have no intention os selling my A20-V, don't be fooled by 80's heavy metal poser looks - this a seriously good axe.

I purchased my 1980's Washburn A20-V Stage Series new in 2000 from a reputable dealer and old friend. He had two of them identical that had been hanging in his shop for close to 20 years. It was immaculate, mint condition and still is as I only play it on special occasions. When not in use it remains in it's case. I believe it has a set neck and that the neck and body are either maple or mahogany with an ebony fretboard and jumbo frets. The body is similar to a Gibson Explorer or Firebird, possibly a cross between them both. It's antique white with black binding and hardware. The push / pull pots, three way toggle and stock washburn pickups allow for a vast selection of tones. Unlike any other trem system on the planet, the Washburn 2001 or Wonderbar and string lock above the nut are absolute genius. I can dive down low, Pull it up high or play straight without any of the distortion or garble that you get with other trem systems that tend to move while you're playing chords.

I can get jazzy, funky, hard rock and bluesy tones with this guitar and some relatively inexpensive equipment. I'm still a big fan of stomp boxes, I use a Danelectro Daddy-O, Cool Cat, Corned Beef and Tuna Melt, and also a DOD Hard rock distortion with digital delay. I play through a Washburn SX60C amp or my homemade Homegrown Tone which is a 1970's Univox 50 watt amp head made by T. Gianinni in Brazil lnked up to a 1960's Jensen Alnico5 50 watt Speaker with bell housing and both mounted into an old leather suitcase. The blues doesn't get any better than that!

The guitar had absolutely no flaws, a glass finish! When I bought it it had been hanging around for roughly 20 years so, yes I had to have it professionally set up for myself. A task that was easily conducted and proved this instruments worthiness among the big dawgs of guitars.

I could depend on this guitar to play straight through the fires of hell and back. It's rock solid!

Washburn is generally very good to deal with. The warrantees that they extend they do honor no matter how long you've owned the instrument, It's a limited Lifetime Warrantee against manufacturing defects. The only problem that I have with Washburn is that they cannot seem to accurately date this guitar because my serial number does not fit the standard process. They could have kept better records.

I have been playing for 30 years. My other equipment are a 1990 Washburn KC40-V, 1990's Lyon by Washburn Strat, 1999 Washburn D42SCE, 2003 Oscar Schmidt by Washburn OE3, 1950's Kay Accoustic, 1975 Gibson L6-S and a 1989 Squire II by Fender Strat. My A20-V is definetly my favorite. For the condition that it's in and at the price I paid, I could never afford replace it as much as I would want to.

AS A 14 YEAR OLD KID I WOULD DROOL AT THIS GUITAR. AT THE TIME IT WAS BEING WORN BY ONE MICKEY MOODY OF THE EARLY AND BEST WHITESNAKE LINE UP.22 YEARS LATER AND A LOT OF SEARCHING I NOW OWN MY VERY OWN.SHE'S A DREAM TO HOLD,SOLID AND WIEGHTY AS A GIBSON BUT SMALLER AND EASIER TO MOVE AROUND WITH THAN MY HAMER STANDARD. THE GUY LISTED BELOW GIVES YOU ALL THE DETAILS BUT I'D LIKE TO ADD THAT THE FLAMED TOP IS SECOND TO NONE I'VE SEEN ON ANY GIBSON LES PAUL. I PROUDLY OWN 5 AND THE WASHBURN LEAVES THEM STANDING IN THE SHADOWS (OF LOVE!)

THE CLEVER COIL TAP PULL-UP VOLUME KNOBS ON BOTH THE NECK AND BRIDGE PICK UPS GIVE YOU A CHOICE BETWEEN A LIGHTER ALMOST TELE TONE AND A FULL FAT HUMBUCKING DELIVERY.

THE NECK IS A JOY, CHUNKY ENOUGH TO HOLD YOU DOWN, BUT FLAT AND FAST FOR RUNING AWAY WITH.THE WHOLE VIDE IS A LES PAUL THATS BEEN HEATED UP,RE-SHAPED,AND THEN COOLED BACK DOWN AGAIN....FOR ME IT'S A WONDERFUL CHANGE WITHOUT LOOSING THE GIBSON LES PAUL FEEL.

MY GIRL IS OVER 20 YEARS OLD AND LOOKS LIKE A NEW GUITAR,GO FIGURE!THE BINDING HAS MELLOWED A LITTLE BUT I CANT REALLY FAULT ANYTHING.

WITH THESE? N/A

LIKE I SAID I'M A TRUE GIBSON LES PAUL MAN,THERES ONLY A FEW OTHERS THAT HAVE BEEN KEPT IN MY OWN COLLECTION, BELIEVE ME THIS GUITAR WILL STAY FOR THE LONG RIDE!IF YOU CAN FIND ONE - DON'T BREATH UNTIL YOU OWN IT!

Bought the guitar new back in 1985 ... I'm thinking it was made in the U.S. (but who knows). There is a serial number stamped (and now faded) on the back of the neck. Full 24 fret neck ... The neck has always impressed me most - as it's wide and relatively flat. Perfect for big fingers (like mine). The neck starts out smaller towards the head and widens slightly toward the pickups. The strings (likewise) are closer together at the top and wider towards the pickups. When I buy my next guitar, it will be a custom made JET / Rick Gledura / or Jaros ... I will make sure the neck is very close in design to my Washburn A-20V because I love it. Just for the record, playing other guitars always sucks because I'm so in love with my washburn wide, flat neck. So what else, it's a white color that's faded to ivory. But extremely durable !!! It's got a Washburn 2001 tremelo and it works wonderfully. I'm not a tremelo freak and the next guitar won't even have one. But I can say the thing stays in tune very well.

I was never satisfied with the stock sound ... It always sounded dead somehow. I purchased a Marshall 25/50 Watt amplifier and speaker cabinet (this helped). But in the end, I replaced the pickups with DiMarzio Super Distortion humbuckers. Therein, I finally get that fat sound and tone I like. Sounds ... Well, this guitar rocks !!! I play heavy strings and man-o-man sometimes when I hit a note I can feel it vibrating in the neck and body. I really love this. I'm thinking it's the neck-through-body design that also supports this lovely resonation.

I mentioned how wonderful the neck is designed (wide and flat). This makes for beautiful action. Quite honestly, I've yet to find another guitar that is so easy and silky smooth to play. But I've heard stories and I know there are some out there somewhere. Since the action is wonderful, it makes for speedy work running the board. I just run up and down the thing like a (use your own expression here). I love playing lead work on it ... It's a pleasure and suites my style.

Could a guitar be more durable ... It's 2003 and my Washburn A-20V has been around for 18 years (that's a long time). It's travelled with me all over the world (literally). It was my first guitar and I will NEVER sell it. It's design has made my style of playing what it is. I play a chord progression (or not) and solo around (up-and-down) the neck where it suites me before jumping back into the chord(s). Again, the neck is a DREAM. Durable ... Yeah, very !! Maybe it's got a small ding (barely to see) - but after 18 years, it's still my MAIN SQUEEZE.

What can I say, never had to call Washburn ... Never needed support. Never had to fix anything. Even the intonation is still in place via the wonderful Washburn 2001 tremelo system. Besides, I'm one of those people who think that the individualism in music comes from being less than perfect (both me and the instrument). In other words, I'm not sure I want something that's perfect.

I've been playing for 18 years. My Washburn A-20V was my first guitar. I'll never sell it ... It's a part of me. If it were stolen or lost, I would cry. It would be like loosing someone close to me. This guitar is my baby, my son, my wife, my love. My soul is inside it in so many ways. I mentioned (over-and-over again) that I really love the neck because it's wide and relatively flat. I love the neck through body design and the resonation I get sometimes on certain notes on the low E string (I can feel the body vibrate with the note). I really love that feeling. The only thing I hate is the guitar is pretty one dimensional. I get one sound, it's really nice though - it's a heavy rock sound ... If I need a different sound I switch to another guitar, but I don't like playing them like I do the Washburn. The other thing I dislike is the guitar is HEAVY. I'm getting old and wearing the guitar for a few hours on stage can make me sore in the back ... Nobody can argue there. It's a TANK which is also what gives it the durability and heavy tone.

This is the Washburn Explorer commonly reffered to as the Howard Leese(Heart) model Washburn.
I'm not too sure of the year, late 70's or early 80's I believe.
I have the stunning flametop in a cherrysunburst finish.
It came with some OK washburn humbuckers with push/pull pots for a nice wide variety of tones.
I am a simple player so I swapped the bridge pickup for a 70's Dimarzio Super Distortion and got rid of the gimikky push/pull pots.
I disconected the neck pup so I could used my toggle switch for a rotary vibe effect ala Randy Rhoads with his Les Paul.(Suicide Solution live off the Tribute disc)
I'm not really sure what wood it is. The grain and weight suggest mahogony.
This is a true neckthrough guitar. The sustain is great! THis axe originally came with a string through hardtail bridge that was swapped for a Washburn "Wonderbar" tremolo (GREAT TREM!)
Great neck. HARD V profile to say the least.

This guitar ROCKS! I can play everything from GIlmour to RHoads and everything in between. Best suited for HARD ROCK/Metal.

GOT the guitar used but played great.
Swapped electronice to suit my own taste.
The flametop is gorgeous! THe back is just as pretty with real wood cavity covers to match the grain of the body..Nice touch!

THis guitar could withstand a third world war. It is built like a tank. VERY sturdy guitar.
The finsih is in excellent shape. No checking or chipping what-so-ever.
I would never usa a guitar without a backup.. that's just plain stupid.

Talked wih Washburn about the history of this model. Very friendly guy I spoke to. He prmised me a brochure which i Never recieved though.

My A-20 was made in Japan in dezember 1985 (stamp in the neck pickup routing).
There are 22 medium frets in the ebony fretboard (25 3/8 " scale), with nice brass ring inlays in the normal positions and black sidedots in the creme binding.
The thru-neck is made of maple with a walnut center stripe, the body is made of light ash, with a nice flamed maple veneer and a creme binding - just as the headstock. Shapewise this guitar reminds you of a Gibson Explorer distantly (There's a pic on my webpage: http://people.freenet.de/smooth_smurf/index.htm ).
The two stock passive humbucking pickups are slightly hotter than a PAF and can be split by the push/pull tonepots; Gibson-style threeway toggle and two volume controls complete the electrics.
The dark cherry sunburst finish is still looking great.
The massive cast bridge bridge with brass saddles and through-body-stringing, the brass nut and the capsuled Washburn tuners (still smooth) are still original but I replaced the strap buttons by Schaller security locks last year.

I played hardrock, funk, blues and jazz on this guitar and it seems to fit all styles - great allrounder, you wouldn't expect when looking at the shape.
Acoustically there's a well defined, but punchy bass, clear midrange and brilliant, but not too sharp highs, so you can get nice clean sounds especially with the pickups split; something like a good Telecaster but with much more sustain.
In full humbucking mode, there is a lot of midrange and fat bass added and you're ready to rock; all beef, no tofu (though it doesn't sing in the high notes as my Les Paul, but near by).

Great craftsmanship. Did I mention the cavity covers on the back are made of the same piece of ash, for example?
The wide fretboard with its pefectly rounded fret ends offers real good playability.
Though the necks extreme V-shape won't be everybodys darling...
Only an 8 because of this.

This is one of my main guitars for gigging since late 1994 and never made any troubles. The hardware and finish are lasting for a 17 years by now though previous owners didn't treat this guitar carefull at all - what more can you expect?

Never needed any.

This one is way more versatile than my Les Pauls, while more substantial than my Strats or Jacksons, allowing me not to have to change the guitar every second song.
My Patrick Eggle Berlin Pro (something like a PRS handmade in England) is the only other of my Guitars that offers me this while not looking that cool.
But when it comes to dirty bottleneck work, the A-20 is still my favourite :-)

I have an original wahhburn A-20V stage series guitar. I found it several years ago in a pawn shop. However, it was sold before I could buy it. A few months later it turned up in a music store in the same town. I traded a floor moniter and a small amplifier for it. It is now the primary guiter I play. The guitar has a white finish, which with age, has turned ivory or antique in color. It has blood red binding, an ebony fret board, and a locking tremelo system with black hardware. Never, have I found another tremelo system like this one. It is completely unique, and probably the sturdiest tremelo system I have ever used. The mechanics are difficult to describe. No musician I have met has any recollection of this type of tremelo system. It has dual humbuckers, three way toggle switch, two way tone and volume, as well as built in compression. This is probably the most versital guitar I have ever owned.

Sound wise, I have been able to achieve almost any sound I want, from light and beautiful, to heavy and screaming. This guitar has a very dynamic sound in all aspects, mainly due to the built in compression and two way tone and volume. The distorted sound is very rich and thick. The overall sound varies with different effects processors. I have made sounds which do not seem natural for an electric guitar. It is really the type of guitar that requires experimentation. As far as quality, it is really a matter of opinion. I have never found the PERFECT sound.

The action and set up was ok. After adjusting the tremelo, neck alignment, and intonation myself, it now has the best action of any guitar I have ever owned.

This is a very sturdy guitar, but the neck doesen't stand up to heat very well. For the action setting, I have, I keep a certain amount of tension on the neck at all times. This allows the neck to give in only one direction, should extreme temperatures on stage effect the guitar. Should temperatures effect the guitar it will bow slightly backward, rather than warp forward. As low as the action is set, it prevents my notes from ringing out as the strings reach further down to the frets. As a result, I know when the neck is shifting before an actual bow occurs. I let it out a milimeter and keep going. It's not a bad neck. It just reqiures a knoledge of different types of maintence, and proper maintence. It is however, the most comfortable neck I have played . I feel possibly, an adjustable, bolt on neck of the same make, would better suit this guitar,rather than a solid fixed neck, as this would allow for adjustment of neck angle to action; makeing tension manipulation less necessary.

I have never purchased anything from the company directly. I did however, sometime ago, E-mail an inquiry on my guitar asking about the make, model, value, and especially, the unusual tremelo system. I recieved no help at all, and the person e-mailing me back, said that the company did not answer those type of questions.

If this guitar was ever lost I would definitely make my strongest attempt in acquiring a new one. I can't really compare it to any other guitar. The only thing I would really like to have on this guitar would be more freedom to adjust the neck angle, and less necessity of manipulating the tension.

My A20-V I purchased new in 1984. It has Cream binding on the body, neck, & headstock. came with 2 humbuckers and standard bridge.

Original pickups were OK but I replaced them with Seymore Duncan Super Distortions. Now this guitar is a sceamer!

This guitar is the easiest to play of any that I have picked up in my life. I recently bought a Gibson Les Paul Custon Flametop and it doesn't hold a candle to the A20-V in action. Both fretboards are very similar but the Washburn is much smoother.

I added a Floyd Rose locking tremolo.

The finish is beautiful and flawless, the back has a cherry color that you can see the woodgrain through.

Never had a problem, dropped it several times and it also made it through a house fire and it still plays like new even though it was soaked in water fo 3 days from the fire department.

Never had a problem.

Don't know when this was made and also don't know what wood it is made of except to say that it is a very light colour where the dings have revealed it. It is a typicall Stage series shape i.e. similar to an explorer but more compact and very nice. Two tone and volume controls with pot-pull coil taps and two washburn cream humbuckers. Passive electrics. Fingerboard is rosewood with brass ring inlays and brass nut. Strat bridge with trem. Nice smooth Washburn sealed machine heads. Neck is a rounded V-profile graduating to a normal rounded profile near the body and is very nice to play. Colour is pink all over(!) with none of the wood revealed except, of course, the fingerboard and the dings.

Sounds good but you don't get a lot of variety. Has a lovely clean sound with a 'chimey' quality and a nice overdrive sound, not as thick as a Les Paul and not with as much bite. Sustain good. I've brightened it up with the introduction of two new pickups. A Duncan Distortion in the bridge and a Dimarzio FRED in the neck. I use a Marshall 2x12 combo and Pod.v2 This guitar is very quiet in terms of electrical noise. I rewired the coil tap switches for series/parallel operation to maintain hum cancellation.

Action is ok but it needs setting up properly. Frets are excellent, well finished and the neck is much easier to play than my Les Paul. Electrics are quiet. I looked around for ages for one of these guitars and could only find one is candy pink, ugh. Actually it's not all that bad but I would have preferred one of the flame top varieties which are stunning. There is a white binding around the body, neck and headstock of the guitar. The finish is not perfect as you can see vertical lines running down the length of the body from the wood underneath.

Guitar should withstand live playing. The finish seems durable but the strap buttons are just the usual type. So if you sling it around a lot (poser!) then you ought to fit locking strap buttons.

Never dealt with them.

Been playing about 12 yrs. If lost I would like another one as only the Stage series comes in this nice shape and it has a great neck. I would try not to find a pink one however! Worst thing about the guitar is the balance. It does a nose dive for the floor when you're wearing a strap and let go of it. I wish it had a locking nut as the trem is almost useless without one. I don't know why they bothered really as it would have been better with a tune-o-matic style bridge and stop tailpiece combination.