Washburn A-5 Reissue

A-5 Stage Series Reissue, it says on the headstock. Grover tuners on a headstock that's angled so you can't see which tuner you're twisting; nice touch.
Nice finish, really, - jet black with cream binding, nuthin' fancy.
Maple bolt on neck with rosewood fretboard.
Pair of Washburn double hums; 421 neck, 423 bridge, three knobs, three pos. toggle switch.
Body style seems to be some sort of radical Explorer spinoff, rather unbalanced when resting on your leg in sitdown playing position - body style and weight distribution tend to make it fall on it's head-awkward to hold. Strapped on, standing - pretty good.
String thru design.

Sounds are rather limited, yet just different enough from my old Tele to work. I use it with an old Fender Twin and comp. pedal. Pretty quiet anywhere, sound suits me for basic rockabilly, blues, light country.

Was set up for heavy strings when I got it. I put Fender 150s on it and had to do an afternoon's adjusting on the bridge saddles (six), but they all came in fine and intonation is, to my surprise, very true. Open and twelfth are dead on now.
I really didn't see any glaring problems with finish, setup, controls, etc, but I don't know what it was like from factory to original owner.

Seems pretty rugged, solid fit everywhere. Finish seems durable, buttons solid. I don't gig much anymore, but yeah, I'd use it with no back up, 'course I never had a back up for thirty five years of weekend warrior pickin' and never had a problem, so...

Never dealt with Washburn, dunno.

I've been playing since 1957. I presently own an old beat up, ugly, worn out, rewired, reworked Fender Tele. It even has the face dug out on it by the bridge where I had an analog/digital pickup on it which is part of a Gibson Labs Widget set up for playing through a Korg M1 keyboard on my demos so I could get sax, piano or whatever. I bought it used back in the seventies. I play it through Twin, vintage Vibro Champ or Bullet Reverb amp. Pretty stock red neck bar - back porch Indiana stuff.
Worst feature is the damn tuners bein' out of sight. Other than that it's cool in a mellow bluesy sort of way.If it were stolen I'd probably get something else, (I think I'm gonna order a Schecter C-1 Classic this afternoon.) but it's not eatin' any hay, so I'll keep it around to bang on.

features just like everybody says.
It's not ugly though, it's well nice. Good for playing Punk Rock,
I never changed it a bit, in fact it probably needs a set-up soon...

Play through a Marshall Valve Stack, no effects. Sound is kinda heavy, treble gets kinda harsh on the treble pick-up.
I suppose it's not too great in terms of variety,, but hey, what is?
Alls I know is it's good for punk rock.

Well, I got mine from a great little shop and they had it set-up real nice. The neck is three piece, and the joins are pretty obvious, but silky smooth, even after 3 years or so. I look after my guitar, so no knocks or nothing(You know, punk rockers don't HAVE to treat their stuff like crap).Now it's about 75% stickered over anyways.

It's always been great live, I think people think it's a far more expensive guitar. I like the strap buttons, It's never fallen off once. I used to play an old epiphone LP standard, and I had a ton of duct tape to keep the strap on. I use this guitar as my back-up now to a Gibson Gothic SG, but I often play with it in smaller or support gigs - never afraid it;ll break.

Love this guitar.
I've played loads, and never really wet myself over the brilliance of one guitar. Still haven't. But this one has served me great. I'll be using it on my first MTV video that's for sure!

Don't know when or where it was made, probably Korean. 22 frets, Rosewood fretboard, not sure what wood the body is. Alder maybe? I don't know. 2 stock Washburn open-coil humbuckers, Grover tuners, String thru body bridge, 1 volume, 2 tone, 3 way switch.
The body on this thing is a wierd shape, everybody says toned down Explorer, I say a little more like a toned down Jackson Kelly. All black, with a wierd trim, almost a cream color. Jumbo frets(I think),
neck is pretty thin. It's a pretty basic setup.

I play everything, mostly metal, but a lot of blues too. I've got a Strat copy that gives me some blues tones, so I decided to turn this sucker into a shred machine. Ripped out the stock pickups and put in two EMG 81's, replaced the neck tone knob with an extra volume, so each pickup has its own volume, with one tone left. Here's my setup:
Boss FZ-2 Hyperfuzz -- Boss MT-2 Metal Zone -- Zoom 3030(processor) --
Marshall VS102R(100watt valvestate 2x12 combo) -- Boss GE-7 EQ(in the loop). With this axe, my tone is based around the lead overdrive channel of the Marshall. I keep the bass and treble around 4, the mids around 2, the gain about half way, and the contour(mid shift) all the way up. I compensate for the low settings with the EQ pedal in the loop, using the basic V shape. The extra punch is provided by the Hyperfuzz pedal. In all honesty, the fuzz on this pedal is shit. The only feature on it that makes it worth owning is the "gain boost", which is exactly what it says. Turn this on with the overdrive and the EQ, combined with the active pickups, and you've got a MONSTER of a sound. Ear bleeding solos, palm mutes that'll rattle your balls. My only complaint is that the neck EMG gets a little muddy with this rig, but thats where the Metal Zone comes in. It delivers the trebly crunch needed to mix with the neck pickup's bass. Damn near perfect.

A friend of mine bought this thing used quite a while ago. I just recently traded my drum set for his guitar and some cash(the drumming thing was just short affair, I'm definitely a guitarist). I used the cash for the modifications. The action is still perfect, I'm not sure if he adjusted it or not. It sits on your shoulder kind of funny because the upper strap button on the back of the guitar. I'm used to it now, so I don't really notice. The finish is solid, it'll take a lot to scratch this thing.

I can't understand how this thing normally runs people about $200-$250. I guess its just because of the basic setup. My strat copy was about the same amount new, and the A-5 is definitely a much better guitar. Then again, its been modified. I've used this guitar live once, and it held up fine with no backup. Now that I have the Boss Metal Zone, my strat copy has become a decent backup, but still no match for this beast. Everything seems pretty solid. I really like the string thru body bridge, it makes string changes a breeze. I think eventually I'd like to get something with a Floyd-Rose double locking tremolo, probably something in the Ibanez RG series, and make the A-5 my backup.

I haven't a clue. Probably won't need them.

I've been playing for about 6 years, I listen to everything under the sun except for those goddamn boy bands. Recently I've been playing more metal than anything else(I'm talkin' Slayer, not Limp Bizshit).
If it was lost or stolen, I'm not sure if I'd hunt this particular model down again or not. I definitely like the ease of the string thru body bridge, considering I've got a Strat copy(basic tremelo bridge) and in the future a guitar with a Floyd-Rose. Its nice to have this thing around to tune up in a few seconds so you can get to jammin'. Overall, I think this was a great deal, considering the fact that it isn't exactly stock anymore. Its a very comfortable guitar for the money. If you're looking for a decent metal guitar for $200, give this one a shot(if you can find it). Also, if you're looking for an inexpensive guitar that you can modify to make a decent backup, this thing will serve you well. Its no Ibanez or Jackson, but its damn close.

I have no idea when mine was made, but it was made in Korea.
It has 1 volume and 2 tone knobs, a (not so versatile) 3-way switch. The pickups are 2 stock Humbuckers, which are not great. Passive electronics. I don't know the woods used, but it's pretty heavy.
Mine's got a black finish with a cream binding. The body style is Explorer, but a little different. You have to see it. I's got a weird string-thru body, which is pretty sucky compared to a Les Paul-like stop tailpiece. The tuners are grover, and they are pretty good. The neck is thin, but not too thin. The frets are jumbo I believe, and are a little too long (you can feel them if you slide across with your thumb).

I play gothic/blackmetal, and the sound is decent enough to do the job. The stock pick-ups have a pretty thin sound, and are way too trebly. There is almost no noise, the sound is not full at all.
Also, there is almost no variety. The neck pick-up is almost useless.
But, as I said, it can do the job.

The action was pretty good, but I lowered it a little. No problems
with the fit and finish. The only problem is the position of the upper strapbutton. It's on the back of the guitar, so it tends to unbalance the damn thing (the neck keeps on falling down, you have to hold it with your left had while playing).

This guitar will surely withstand live playing, allthoug I always bring a backup (in case of string-breaking). Strapbuttons solid enough. But, due to the lousy balance, you will have mayor muscle-akes in your arm.

Never dealth with Washburn. The warrenty from the shop was one year, and that's enough. Once, I unscrewed the bridge humbucker, and the srew broke. Luckily, my dealer was nice enough to fix it for free.

I now have it for half a year, and I'm selling it. It's a pretty good guitar for the money, but I need something more veratile and better.
I also own a Yamaha SG-400, and that one's way better in every aspect (it also is more expensive). This is a beginners guitar, and good for some small gigging. I do not recommend it to advanced players.

I have a customized Washburn A-5. It has a fat maple neck with a veed back. It has (of course) the freaky shape(like a toned down Explorer), but needs repainting. I paid $200 for it used. It has George Washburn Locking tuners with a string thur body(?) bridge. It has raised single coil pickups. they are like half of a humbucker each.I belive it is a 1982. It has a volume, tone and a 3 way switch(tele-style).

It has rather full sound with very different sounding pickups. it is noisy on the two pickup setting. good for soloing because I have A customized neck.

ther action is good with easy bending. my guitar is too customised to tell otherwise.

it has survived in good condition

Essentially this is the same guitar as the A-10 reissue reviewed else where. It has 22 frets, rosewood fingerboard (which I prefer), gorgeous black laquered finish on the solid body, in this case.It also has an ivory/cream binding on the body that makes it look about $500 more guitar than it is.
It has single volume, and two tones, and two pretty efficient humbucking Washburn branded pickups. As for woods it's hard to say under all that black - the neck is maple, with rosewwod board, as I said. The frets are fat and rounded, and feel great. As stated elsewhere, the body is Explorer like, but somehow more restrained and contemporary, despite the design being around twenty years old.
There's no vibrato/temolo arm, no gold plating, no active electronics or wacky options.
This is a solid workmanlike machine which feels and sounds good.

I use this guiter for home recording - I don't even have an amplifier suitable for gigging! As such, it delivers just what I need. Smooth classic humbucking guitarishness, decent sustain for a sub $1000 guitar.
It suits my style 100% because I play all styles (main influences are Lifeson, Gilmour, Francis Dunnery), and this guy adapts itself with a little encouragement from my effects processors, and especially my SansAmp. I have made some awesome sounds with my setup and this guitar. People refuse to believe that the guitar is DI boxed and not miked via a good speaker.
The bridge pickup gives me great ear splitting sharp treble. The neck pickup combined with the SansAmp on US amp setting and plenty of drive produces that smooth sustained thick lead sound, almost sounding like a woodwind instrument at times.
I use this guitar mostly with SansAmp 2, Zoom multi effects, Alesis Nano Compressor, Alesis Nanoverb, and Cakewalk Pro Audio 6.0 ActiveMovie effects.
I dislike the lack of vibrato/tremolo arm, and wish sometimes for more sustain.

I have never adjusted anything on this guitar. It sounds just fine as it is, feels great, and I wouldn't want to change a thing. The nut is not the best (keep meaning to buy an after market graphite nut). I may also replace the neck pickup at some stage for something a little more powerful. Thing is, this machine cost $200 from Guitar Centre, so upgrading it seems like a waste of money!
The rosewood on the neck is not the finest grain, and frets are rough around the edges in some cases.
It cost 200 bucks, what can I say?!?

This is the kind of guitar that you can treat fairly roughly and it will still want to be friends with you. It is a working instrument, and I would expect it to be able to stand up to the rigours of regular gigging as long as you supply it with stings and polish.
I would never depend on just one guitar for any gig, as strings can break and straplocks can fail and so on, although I have to admit that this guitar doesn't like to let go of its strap without a fight!

I haven't really had to consider customer support for this guitar, but I have visited their website on occasion.

I saw the same guitar , in fly yellow, and an identical one to mine (black with ivory binding) on sale for $175 a while after I bought mine. I was tempted to buy the both of them (original MRRP was around $550) but was actually lured away to a Strat instead.
Even so, I still consider that $175 for a guitar like this is the bargain of the century, assuming that I didn't get a one in a million good one.