Washburn BT2

Think it's Japanese, it has 22 frets, it's not solid wood.
Two humbuckers, that are pretty muddy.
Black paint job - nothing special.
The body style is in between a super strat and a Peavey Wolfgang - this is what attracted me to the guitar. It's light and very very well balanced, and I like it.
Tuners are Grover, frets are standard.

It just doesn't cut with those pickups, they're really poverty spec.
You can't get decent harmonics, as the sustain isn't good enough - it tends to get muddy when you play runs.
Also it doesn't really have a lot of variety.

Terrible set-up.
The bridge has been randomly slotted in too far up as I cannot set the intonation. There is no hope to get it right at all.
After a couple of months of playing, it liked going out of tune - a lot.
You can't bend a string without it going out. It's a budget guitar, and it's nice looking, but I relied on this for a few years, and it's really pissed me off at times.
I can't progress anymore with it, it's just not that great a guitar, which saddens me as it's been with me for 5 years.
I will never part with it, but it's quality, especially the bodged bridge fitment, let's it down.

Going out of tune - I used this for around 100 gigs, we used to go ballistic on stage, and used to have to tune up between every song - yeah, how professional.
Pickups are plasticky. My paint has chipped, but to be honest, it has been through hell and back with me playing it - it is lived in, and I have a love/hate thing with it.
Strap buttons came out. I put two three inch ones in the base, and they came out due to the plywood laminate construction.
I haven't joined another band because I know this won't cut it anymore - it's lasted a long time, and I think it's time to retire it.

Nevr dealt with them.

Playing since 1993
Two Marshall heads, two Marshall vintage cabs
I'm glad in a way I bought this guitar, it's taught me the hard way of playing
I love the shape; tiny body with a fat neck - I hate the playibility, the out of tune-ness, and the intonation - the pickups are useless.
I wouldn't compare it to other guitars.
I wish it had a Floyd Rose, but I've come to like the simplicity.

i wrote a previous review & ive noticed a few moans about this low priced beginers guitar. Well ive still got this BT2 & apart from having bought it a 2nd set of strings (only to brighten it up) im still impessed with with this baby. I did once own a ST Savage Hohner
guitar with a floyd rose system .. & it was terrible. I sold it soon after.It would not stay in tune. It had one of those spiky heads which made the strings bend exccesivly thru the nut.
The BT2 is about 6 years old now .. & it still stays in tune (maybee i was lucky ) but if u just look at the way things are laid out its easy to see why. The strings dont bend sharply on the head .. everythings pretty straight.Theres NO trem system so why should it go out?
Anyhow .. 6 yrs down the line its still the same as when i bought it. I know its made in korea .. but it dont sound bad with a fx pedal.

it dont sound bad with a fx pedal.

as before .. adequate for home use & practice

live playing ??? its pretty solid .. apart from the thin neck ..
the frets havnt gone skew yet.

ni idea

XP30 / electribe-R / boss660 / NS5R / BR532 for fx only / zoom 1201 / zoom 505 .. mixers & minidisk
wish id had the gear as a gift .. HI !

Made in Korea. Rosewood fretboard, bridge humbucker, 2 single coils with a five way switch (all passive, all stock). Tone and volume. I don't need any more features than that.

The whammy bridge is a bit shitty.. I rarely use mine as a result.

I play mostly pop/rock/folk (Counting Crows, Elliot Smith, Nada Surf style) but have also used it for 70's style rock. You can hear it all over my recordings: www.mikekuehn.ca
Voodoo Lab Sparkle Drive - Radial ToneBone Hot British - Danelectro Delay - MusicMan 210HD (130 watt tube combo w/trem+verb) or Fender Hot Rod Deluxe
Sound is actually VERY useable for a guitar of this price. For comparisons sake, I also play a Godin LGXT with Seymour humbuckers. The bridge pickup on the Washburn is NOT noisy at all - and has a very agressive sound (hyped high mids). It can be kind of thin, but also can serve as a nice focused sound depending on how you set up your amp and overdrives. I really like the middle single coil, but it is kind of scooped sounding, and quite susceptible to hum from r/f, power supplies (magnetic fields), pretty much anything. I found the five position switch quite useless, as pos. 2+4 sound quite bad. The neck pickup is WAY too scooped sounding, and is virtually useless for what I'm doing.
I will probably swap out all the pickups to get a more balanced sound (more bass on the humbucker, more mids on the single coils).
It does sound excellent through a variety of different overdrives/amps, but you will usually have to futz around with the eq on the amp. Not a lot of sustain or "fullness" compared to the Godin w/Seymours.

I am extremely impressed with the action and playability of the guitar. It is just great.. I love the feel. Quite low... many people (especially acoustic players) may actually like it higher. Small neck. No fret buzz whatsoever. The bridge can buzz a bit, but the pickups don't hear that.
I don't give it a 9 because the pickups required a bit of adjustment.
The guitar also looks more expensive than it is.. my finish was flawless. The only things I don't like the look of are (a) the pickups (esp. the bridge, ugh) and the bridge (too shiny, given the rest of the guitar).

No problems at all. I've had it for at least 5 years now.

I'd definately recommend this to both beginner guitarists, and experienced guitarists looking for a backup/extra for alternate tunings, whatever. It does have a reasonable sound, not good for EVERYTHING, but it usually works for light rock/pop/folk/country. Great playability too.

Not much to say really, your basic cheapo beginners guitar. I've had it for about 6 years now, ever since i started playing and i use it live happliy enough..though i guess its kinda embarrassing coz it looks like a piece of crap. woot!
Original pickups are terrible so i fitted some emg 81's in the mofo. The pure simplicity of the guitar is a major good point. The guitars best features are that its weighs basically nothing and the neck is really thin and notes are easy to reach...

i play rythem/lead in a punk/metal/emo..eyy band and its fine. the emg's sound great in it and played through my hughes and kettner amp the sound is floorless. I don't use any effects on the bitch purely because i hate effects, it degrades a real players ability especially in the style of music i play...in my oppinion..which probably doesn't mean shit! The sound i get suits a rythem guitarist perfectly and the lead parts still sound sweet. If i'm palm muting chords it like being kicked in the balls..in a good way.

ummm...the factory settinsg on mine went a long long time ago, and i'd say thats probably because they were pretty terrible! but still would be good enough for a beginner on some kind of 3watt amp the size of a mathbox like all beginners play.

hahahahahahahaa!!!! i've bascially murdered this thing and its still alive. check this too, i play with light guage strings drop d sometimes drop c and thrash the hell out of it, even live, and it'll go slightly out of tune after maybe..5/6 songs!! But anyway yeh mine has been through hell and back..its been thrown onto the cieling then back down onto the floor...and dropped on concrete from small heights to like 6ft. drops and its still alive and fine! Put it this way..if my house was under attack from an big heshan tank i'd probly cover the house with them and they wouldn't even flinch under the wrath of the shell!!! I did manage to break a tuning peg off and one of the strap button came out but thats no biggy.

never needed any!!*ding*

this guitar is awesome for beginners and i still love it after all these years. it sounds good and is more reliable then...time?!!? Bomb shelters should be built out of these!!

This guitar has an unusual shape, double-cut. It has a mahogany body with a bolt-on maple neck, 2 humbuckers, a tune-o-matic bridge, and grover tuners.

I use this guitar with a cheap Drive 30W amp that I bought for a sale price from Musiciansfriend about nine months later. It sounds ok for practice, but not that good when jamming along with other guitarists and a drumset. My main dislike is the poor sustain of the guitar, which might be a like for some. Power chords and bar chords sound fairly good, but if you want to solo, you should use a different guitar.

The factory set-up was very good, although this was my first electric guitar. The action was set-up low and the pick-ups were fine. The finish was also fine.

This is a very durable, heavy-duty guitar. I have had this BT2 for about a year and a half and it is still in very good condition.

N/A
This guitar is so solidly built that I can't imagine what someone would do to this guitar that would require any servicing or repairs.

I have been playing for two years, but only a year and a half of electric. This is the only electric guitar i own, and it is much better in many, many ways than those Squier Stratocaster starter packs. It is much cheaper and also an overall better guitar. This is truly a beginner's guitar, and I don't think they are still being made. This is one of the best beginner's guitar I have seen and heard, as well as a price that is very affordable.

three way switch two knobs volume and tone.
double cut black and orange burst. tune-o-matic bridge i personally think it looks cool.

I play strait into my marshall. Pick-ups a little muddy but im gunna replace um with seymour duncans. rarely give feed back pick-ups make little or no noise. great for price

set up for nines. guitar contained no flaws

indestructable. never goes out of tune. would gig without backup never had any problems cept with the part where u plug the guitar into the amp but tht was probly my fault. completely solid

never had deal with them for the resons mentioned above.

amazing for the price. i personally think its an awsome looking guitar thts why im putting better pickups in it so i can use it more.

This is a washburn BT-2. It's one of the recent lowered end models. It's is an ugly orange and red finish with a light maple neck. It has a tune-0-matic(only bridge i will play on) and has 2 humbuckers and a 3 way selector switch. It looks sorta a les paul turned upside down with a exaggerated cut. Again this guitar has a very ugly body but that's the least important thing in a guitar anyways.

My bands musical style is indie/modern rock and it suits that style alright. I'm using a fender 130 watt ultra chorus amp and it sounds okay. It has a rich and full sound when the pickup selector switch is all the way to the left and has a nice twang over to the right. I like the clean sound a lot on this guitar. This could just be because the fender amp gives such a nice clean but either way it sounds great. Once you get to distortion it's a little bit on the messy side. Not that it makes too much noise it's just that theres not enough distinction coming through with power chords. It sounds pretty nice for leads though if you do it right.

Well I didn't purchase this guitar from a factory i bought it on half.com from someone who got and didn't touch it for two years. Anyways, when i got my hands on it the action was perfect for the 9's on it. And it was simple to adjust for my standard ernie ball 10's. Overall the guitar was pretty well together. Another thing I love about this guitar is that it adapts to different thickness of strings very well. For example i recently started using it for open e tuning and it didn't really fight that and stayed in that tuning very nicely

The real reason I bought this guitar is because my friend had one, and time after time i saw him drop it, smash it into stuff, and once even dropping it as he was carrying it over his 6,4 head right into cement and then stepping on it. After all this the guitar consistently stayed in tune. Gave strings long life, and maintained it's sound. This guitar is indestructable from what i have seen and experienced.

never dealt with them and will never half to since this guitar is ridicously solid

I have been playing in a serious band for 2 years now. This is my backup guitar to a Epiphone SG Standard with emg 81's i put on myself, and i also have an epiphon aj15e acoustic electric. If this was stolen i'd get another because this is the perfect backup guitar. I say this because it's simple, always dependeble, doesn't sound terrible, and indestructable. The one thing i wish is that it wasn't orange and red because that looks like crap. I also wish they'd make a double cut model too. Overall this guitar is awesome for the price you can get it for.

already been said by everyone under the sun...i ripped the bridge pickup out, though, and put a PAF Pro in it..the stock shit was ok.. much better with the pickup switch. very solid, reliable, quiet. if you're looking for bells and whistles, get another guitar, or get this one and trick it out with the money you save.

i play all styles.. metal, rock, a little funky shit.. moody melodic.. whatever gives off a vibe i can run with. the factory pickups were about as good as you can get for stock shit.. save for ibanez.the pickup switch is very effective and the pickup contrast is really astounding.

i got mine from mars music (haha) back in 95 or so for about 200-250 new with a deep blue/green finish. i fucked with it after i got home, my settings aren't at all like factory settings.

i beat the hell out of it for almost 4 years before i got a second guitar and it's still sounding/playing great. i have and still would gig without concern.

none.. i was too cheap to get a warrenty haha..

i've been playing for around 5 years now.. understand when i say 5 years i don't mean 5 years every once in a while. i walk around with guitars attatched to my hip everywhere i go with the exception of work. i live guitar, nothing else. i play almost constantly, and i'm more dedicated than you could imagine. i know my shit despite my age. if i lost this, quite honestly, i'd be pretty pissed off. they don't make them anymore and i'd have to bag someone else's. you WILL NOT find a better value for this price. Everyone has ragged this gutiar until they heard it, played it, so forth. i saw a review in particular here where a guy said you can't do a pinch harmonic with it, which is total shit. i play pantera/ killswitch engage on a regular basis (usually to warm up) and i can rip pinch harmonics all over the neck. my suggestion to you, pal, would be to check your technique. you can do a pince harmonic on a shity squier if you know your shit ;)

Plain, simple, and beautiful. Red finish, volume, tone, 2 humbuckers, etc. The guy I bought it from had made a very unwise move and replaced the factory tuning pegs with some random unnamed brand of "locking tuners" which do anything but lock and tune. I have to get them replaced.

That aside, I have a serious soft spot for washburns. This style of washburn neck is the most perfect fit my hand has ever felt, and I usually compare other guitars to the way a washburn feels in my hand. The only thing I don't like is the loose bridge... I lost it once when I was giving it a good clean and had to take all the strings off at once. This is obviously one of Washburn's "lower-end" guitars and so the hardware leaves more to be desired than the more expensive models, but hey... it is what it is.

I play loud blues with some twang and some crunch and this thing has really never let me down, except when I joined a jazz combo at school a couple years back (with my old BT). The BT doesn't do jazz. I played in another group at one point, a rock outfit, and the guys were complaining about the twangy tone, but I liked it. But I have a ProCo Rat pedal, harmonic overdrive, and it sounds great with that.

The action is great, but the problem I've had with both of my BT's is that the neck is extremely bendy and reacts strongly to temperature and humidity changes, as well as pressure changes. I use a vibrato technique on open strings sometimes (you might have seen/heard bill frisell do it) which requires me to bend the neck down towards the headstock, and it's good for this (although not very good for the guitar), but it's a pain when I just want the thing to stay in tune. So I have to set it up regularly.

But the action is great, the tension is perfect, the weight is perfect, and I can really do whatever I want on it physically.

This thing will never die. My first one was starting to give, but I'd had it and been playing it almost exclusively for not quite 4 years (it was my first guitar). The neck pickup was falling out, but I wanted to replace them anyway, and I'd dropped the thing several times, so there were some good sized chunks out of it, NONE of which effected the tone, negatively or otherwise. The new one I bought used, and it's had no problems other than those stupid "locking tuners," which really have to go.

I've been playing for 5 years, and I play primarily blues and funk but dabble in jazz and bluegrass. I also own a Steinberger GU and a Peavey EXP ltd, and a Cort 5 string bass. The washburn is the "cheapest" but by far my favorite (the bass doesn't count). Since it's the one I'm not afraid to thrash, it's the one I get the most results out of. The lower tension allows me to make the huge bends that I want to make (as opposed to the peavey) and it isn't expensive (as opposed to the steinberger), and it sounds just fine, despite what my bandmates though. A BT was my first guitar and it's turned me into a serious washburn pusher.

I bought this guitar because I wanted to go without a tremelo system . There's really nothing to it. Perfectly simple, perfectly easy. I wish that the neck felt a little faster and thinner, the frets seem great and the tuners are awesome. I never have to tune this guitar. (Be sure to tighten the Grovers when you buy it.) The features are exactly what Washburn promised me. A comfortable, cool looking, easy to use, easy to play guitar.

For a $150 guitar this has great sound. I keep reading the reviews of the weiners who bought this guitar thinking that it would out preform their dream vintage strat or Les Paul; these guys are dreaming. The reality is that the sound is really full, I had to brighten it up with some highs using my amp. But I think that it sounds great. Power chords sound great, the pickups growl really well. It's not particularly noisy which is why I bought it. The sustain is pretty dead (great for hard chunky riffs.) I can imagine that it would sound a bit funny playing screaming lead solos unless you had some great modeling effects. But anyone who can play a singing solo should have bought the Les Paul's that Epiphone makes for $300-$500. When I play my friend's Les Paul Custom through a good set up I actually think that it the Les Paul sounds worse. I'm just not good enough to pull a great solo out of a Les Paul. Through a great amp, this guitar sounds great. I use the Line 6 Spider 212 and Line 6 POD at home and this guitar sounds great. I can do anything that I want to do.

Came out of the box well set up. I personally think that this guitar looks really cool. Cheap strat copies look like junk. This guitar has some personality and looks pretty serous. Definately set for 9 gauge strings. I had to mess around with it a little to make the Hybrid Ernie Balls that I am using work. My action is pretty darn low and no buzzing. It sets a lot like the Ibanez that I have been using a lot. The finish was really nice. Much nicer than any cheapo guitar. Some guys said that they found glue spots on theirs, but mine looks great.

This guitar seems really solid. I bought it to bang around with at home and with the church band. So far so good.

n/a
I bought it at Music 123.com and they are awesome!

I've been playing for aobut 10 years. I'm not a great guitarist. I love this guitar because of the short neck and the lack of ringing sustain which seems to exaggerate my amateur playing. I'd buy another for the same amount of money. I really like it. In my opinion, you can't find a $150 guitar anywhere near this high of quality. I just haven't had one complaint about this guitar. I have an Ibanez JS600 Satriani and an Ibanez RG550 as well as a really cool Takamine Acou/Elec, when I am fooling around with my home recording equipment, I grab my washburn because it is ready to go, in tune, ready to play in alternate tunings and sounds great through my Line 6 modeling POD. I have lots of fun with this guitar. If I get a lot better, I'd love to maybe upgrade the pickups to some Duncan JB's or Buckshots or something. There just is not another better value out there. I do have to write a postscript here though too, I just get sick of the retards who feel that they have to buy this guitar and then give it a poor review. There's not a better value on any guitar. They knew it was inexpensive. Washburn never said that this is a Les Paul in disguise. I feel that I got a ton more than I paid for, I couldn't be happier.

Enough has already been said about the features on this thing. Easy-to-use knobs switch. Some folks have complained about this thing being noisy - mine makes nary a sound I don't want. Silent, no hum, no buzz, nothing.

Again, no noise at all, even with volume & tone all the way up. Pretty good selections of sound with the selector - from really heavy & bassy to lighter & trebly. Good variety of sound. Good for blues, rock, experimental, "alternative," etc.

Pretty good factory setup on mine. Tuned it once and didn't have a problem afterwards. With a little adjusting, I think I'll be set for a while.

Played it live the day I bought it (actually within 3 hours). Sounded good. Everything feels solid enough - I had no backup guitar & encountered no problems at all.

Don't know yet. Lifetime warranty.

I've been playing seriously (in a band) for about six years now (total playing time = about 13 years, but most of those were very VERY amateurish). The reason I bought this guitar was because I had a show that night & didn't feel like monkeying with my Yamaha SE603MA (needed new strings, locking nut tremolo - great guitar, but I didn't wanna go through the whole process to get it ready), and my 60's Kawai need all kindsa adjusting. I just wanted a cheap, easy to use, decent-sounding guitar I could set up and use in a hurry. I got it with this one. I like this thing a HELL of a lot better than other cheap guitars (Squires, Harmony strat copies) that I own and have played. If it were lost/stolen, no big deal. I'd buy another one (or wait a bit and buy something nicer & more expensive).

made in 2001, china
22 frets, quilted bodi (bt2q)
etc...................

perfect for my music style (experimental, alternative music)
it has no noise at all
ritch/full/warm sound
i like to set up the tuners high- so i get wery powerfull sound out of this baby
i like everything in the sound
i play trough korg ax1000g signal processor

everything is nice,
factory setup sucked- i did mine own
i love the low end playing so i put 11" strings on and it has almoust no fret buzz with 9" it has a litle bret buzz, but if it doesn't go trough my amp then it doesnt disturb me

i haven't played live on it yet, but i think i would do without any backup

no idea
but the local dealer is wery helpfull

i, ve been palaying for about 6years now
it's my 4th guitar
if ith were stolet or lost i would buy something more expensive but definately Washburn
I love it.:)

You've read about all the features...Dual humbuckers, short & fast neck, tune-o-matic bridge, etc. GREAT finish. I have the BT-2QT (vintage sunburst, quilt top). Grover tuners. Tighten them when you get it and they are just fine. Change strings and LOCK the strings as you wind (in other words, change the strings properly...) Sounds best to me with 10's.

Evaluate more than one BT-2 for fit and finish being careful to note the frets and neck and hardware and pick the best one just as you should do with ANY guitar you are considering. Even the best have their flaws. Just check out a few Les Pauls and pick out the quality control differences!

The wood is good.
Neck pickup is passable. Bridge should be replaced with Seymour Duncan JB. In fact, to do it all correct change the neck to a Seymour Duncan '59 or Jazz and you wont be able to put the guitar down!!!

Like any other guitar, some things are Great, others need a little help. People still pay a couple of grand for a Les Paul only to swap pickups to their taste!!!

After my pickup mods, I wont be letting go of this guitar for a long,long time. My other guitar is a '98 American Deluxe Strat and between the two, I have all the tone I could ever imagine. I cant believe that a $199 guitar with an extra $140 in pickups can keep up with guitars costing thousands.

All guitars need to be set up to the individual players taste. The components with this guitar are plenty good enough to allow all of the appropriate adjustments.
No flaws on mine but I looked over six different BT-2's carefully before choosing mine. BTW, the vintage sunburst quilt is pretty attractive (if you like that kind of thing). Makes a very unique guitar even more unique.
Had to tighten the GROVER tuners but that was no big deal. No out of tune problems once I changed strings and locked them properly. The factory setup does not wind the strings correctly which is probably why other reviewers had issues with going out of tune.

This guitar can withstand abuse. You might need to replace the strap buttons if you are hard on them but you knew that and probably would be using StrapLocks if you cared anyway.

With the pickup mods I made, I definitely would use this on a gig without a backup.

N/A. Havent used them yet...

Playing 35 years. All styles. I own 2 electrics and 3 acoustics and with two major superstores in my area have access to pretty much all of the good stuff. This is a GREAT little guitar to learn with as sold stock. With pickup mods, it is awesome for the money invested.

http://artists.mp3s.com/artists/379/bulldogsoundtracks.html

2001 model, made in China. 21 frets. Beautiful midnight blue satin finished alder body, with tight fitting neck joint. H/H, passive. Tune-O-matic bridge. No tremolo. Grover tuners. Body shaped halfway between a Strat and a Peavey Wolfgang Special. Neck is medium, radius probably greater than 10, so it's good for chords but if you're into high notes, it will take some practice. Plastic tone and sound knobs. Neck is not rosewood. It's some sort of composite urethane. To be honest, it's obvious not much thought went into the manufacture of this instrument. You can tell it was stamped out on the assembly line, sprayed, and assembled. That's why it's so inexpensive. You Fender lovers (I'm included)should realize nearly all guitars are manufactured the same way now, by regular foreign workers trained on the assembly line, not by "luthiers." Get used to it. That's business. Unless you consider the 18 year old girl next door in Xinxiang province or Baja "luthiers".

I'm relearning after a 20 year hiatus from guitar playing, blues and rock. Being a hockey parent didn't give me any time. Used to play in a band in '70s, had tons of equipment, traded and rebuilt plenty of axes. Nest is empty now, so this is a starter guitar to get me back into it. I'll get a LP Custom again or a LP 5 when I'm sick of this one. Used a practice amp temporarily from a friend, to test pickups, until my new amp comes in. One chord on the Sinshang stock pickups on this Washburn and I immediately made up my mind to get rid of them. They were loose, weak, dead, with non-adjustable poles. Replaced them with Seymour Duncans, JB bridge, Jazz on Neck. Now it sounds damn good, loud, even response, and sustains well. Still not as good as a LP, obviously.
Some people say "this guitar is good for rock" and "this guitar is good for metal." The fact is, ANY guitar is good for ANY music, if you know how to play well enough, and know how to set it up properly.

Excellent fretwork. Intonation off a bit. I didn't like the feel of the rod while adjusting it, though, like turning the rod was torquing too much pressure on the neck. I think this was because of the urethane fretboard not allowing it to relax. So I backed it off an eigth of a turn and left it there. The action is satisfactory, though not exactly what I'd prefer, but it's still very close to the standard and very easily playable. Fit and finish, as I said, are outstanding. Tune-O-Matic, no problems there. I also changed the cheap plastic knobs with chrome ones to dress it up.

Strap buttons, finish are durable. Finish is gorgeous compared to some of the more expensive guitars I checked out at music stores. My guitar(s) then and now don't get scratches on them, or even the slightest dent marks. Banging around a musical instrument is detrimental to its sound. You don't see violinists banging around their Stradivarius', do you?
This seems like it would be a reliable little instrument, because it's solid and stays in tune well. No backup would be necessary, based on my past experiences. It has a basic fixed bridge and H/H, a three way, a sound and tone pot. If it had a tremolo, then I'd be concerned. I didn't have the patience, or thought it was worth the effort considering its value, to split the coils on the new H/H and install a second switch. So this does limit tonal possiblities.

Had a lifetime warranty until I changed the pickups. Now, zilch.

If it was lost or stolen, I wouldn't care. I'd just go out and buy something more expensive, next time, like everyone does.
There is one thing about this guitar that amazes me. When the college kids are home, they seem to love the damn thing and strum away on it when I'm not using it. I think it's because it's easy to play and easy to learn on. Anything that can stimulate interest gets a high rating in my book, regardless of the inherent shortcomings.

Lets be straight with it, this guitar is a really basic guitar for a low price...so pro guitarists should stay away from it. This guitar is only for kids who like to hold an electric guitar in their hands and dream of their Favourite GGuitar God's(And it sure looks good in their hands). There are absolutely no features on this guitar...heck it dosent even have a tremelo arm. My guitar has a green finish n must say thet the finish of the body is really god. And it has undergone some really rough use by me and it still looks ok to me. The knobs and pickup selector(only looks classy) are classy too. But the same cannot be said for the neck.The pickup selector is very frail and just a few days of use made it come loose. It has a small hole(very small, almost like a dot)in the wood above the 2nd fret and at places the wood has grooves in it, which means that the wood has not been even polished prorerly. The chrome on the steel parts is ok.

But all in all in the feature segment there are really no features in this guitar and the only + is the body finish, but we don't buy guitars to keep them in glass cases n watch them...do we.

I am primarily a Rock Blues player(Gary Moore type) but I freak of in many directions. That mean's I play From Metal to Funk n everything in between...just depends on the feel of the day. Haveing said that this guitar is suitable only for the bluesy kinda stuff. Actually if u turn the volume know all the way up(Richie Blackmore style) than this Guitar makes a very warm tone n it has real feel to it, but thats only in the middle frets...if u go higher than all the feel just disappears. So if u wanna play some plain old blues just jack is a Marshall amp and U have a Means to express yourself. But thats wherer the range of this guitar ends. U can't eally do anything else with it. Thats coz the pickups are so noisy. They constantly make a zzzzzzzzz sound, just like someone's snoreing. And if u really put it in overdrive the pickups become too sensitive. The slightest touch and your guitar is makeing all sorts of noises.

So I suggest if u have this guitar than don't add any effects to it n just play it straight with a good Brit Stack.

Sustain is ok... altough mush better at lower frets than higher. U cant really make pinch harmonics with this Guitar.

But the worse part is the tuneability(or nontunability) of this guitar. This guitar just dosen't stay in tune no matter what u do. So if u happen to have bought it before u read this, make sure u buy a good Guitar Chromatograph(Korg makes some good ones) or else u'll go nuts tuning this thing.

The Guitar came with a very basic manufacturing defect in the neck section. The neck has a much more pronounced curve at the higher strings and a much lesser curve at the lower strings. So if u set it up for ast action than the bass atrings buzz like a chain saw, n if u chech that the higher(G,B and e) strings rise up too mush. So i've adjusted it somewhwre in between these two evils. Additionally I filed the bridge at the higher strings end a bit so that the strings sit a bit low and the action was somewhat ok.

The alignment of the neck was also not proper and I had to unbolt it all n fix it again.

This guitar seems fairely reliagle to me...i.e if someone plans to keep it that long n use it for live gigs. I don't plan to do that. If u do than this guitar won't atleast crash in midflight. Only thing I can write here is that the neck is bolted very weakly to the body. That scares me a lot sometimes and it also must have a bad impact on the sustain of the guitar

Never delt with this part.

I've had this guitar for 5 years now and I'm stuck with if only coz my dad bought it for me(Its my first electric). Otherwise I would happily give it away for anything. And since I dont like things to be stolen fron me(IN PRINCIPLE), so lets just leave that part. Nor am I a Philonthropist so as to give it away for free. But if I happen to loose it I would never buy this same Guitar again.

Features as listed in the other reviews. My, "coffe table," is black. I do like the simplicity of the design. I do love the neck, and I am going to remove it and put it on another body.

I play experimental music, and this guitar is definately "experimental". It is an experiment in terror. Plan on playing a lot of microtonal music, because that's what you get with a guitar that is virtually impossible to keep tuned. I have a fender deville, but I only play this guitar through a kmc stereo. It is noisy and wholly unreliable. This is the sound you ca get the guitar to make, ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ. In all fairness though, it does have a nice dark tone.

Fit????, It's fit for firewood. After purchasing this "marvel", I found it impossible to tune. Inspection resulted in the realization that the bridge is located in the wrong place!!!!!! This results in the intonation NEVER being correct. Also, the fret job must of been done by a drunkard. Even the grover tuners on this beast suck, no kidding.

Yes, it will withstand live playing, it is just designed improperly. I do like the finish;It really is a good looking guitar. It will make some young butt-rocker a nice stage to play his/her solos on.

N/A

I've been playing and performing for ten years. I do like the aesthetics of the instrument, and the neck really is nice to play on. If it were stolen I would laugh, because, what better punishment for a thief? Don't buy this guitar unless you do the math, literally. There is an equation that you can utilize to decide where the optimal location of the bridge should be in relation to scale length.

great guitar, although made in indonesia.i think it was made in 99 but im not sure. has volume knob and tone knob with a three way selector switch, which is on the top of the guitar that makes it easier i think to change while playing. it has two humbuckers which are stock for now, but i plan on purchasing some DiMarzio screamin deamon pick ups. but the stocks are doin just fine for now, i actually like them. plus it has a rosewood fingerboard which i like a lot, i guess i just have some thing for dark colored fingerboards. the color is very cool as well, i dont really like plain solid colored guitars so this one kinda gave me a change between the rest of my guitars. it has a tune-o-matic bridge which is alright i prefer floyd rose locking tremalo's but i couldnt get that option on this guitar. it has stock grover tuners which i like better than anything else that i have owned. one thing is that the guitar seems really really small. it has 22 frets compared to my others 24, but still it seems really small just cause of two frets. but i am getting used to it. actually i think it is more comfortable to play now that i am used to it. i got it with a gigbag and i added on a jim dunlop strap lock system. so over all i like this guitar its just it seems kinda small right now, but i am sure i'll get used to it.

this guitar suits my music style quite well. lately i have been into playin like deftones and cold. bands of that nature and this guitar works pretty good. i play it through a fender princeton chorus amp with two tens in it. the overdrive on the amp is all right but this guitar sounds even better with distortion through a dod supra distortion pedal. and i love the way it sounds with my jim dunlop cry baby wah. so this guitar pretty much handles the sounds that i prefer.

this gutiar is set up well i think, havent had any problems yet. but key word is yet. i have heard many things about this guitar, good and bad. but it is holding up still pretty well for me. another thing i like about this guitar is when you are not playin it when its plugged in it doesnt give a noisy feedback humming noise. that was a big plus. and the finish is really cool its a type of sunburst finish on it but i actually got the guitar for cheaper because there is a little spec on the darker finish that touched the lighter part of the guitar. i didnt really care but it got me the guitar for cheaper.

i think this guitar would withstand live playing pretty well but i always have a couple back ups on hand no matter what. the finish is pretty good i think too, its holding up better than my friends ibanez rg which has all kinds of nick marks on it. the strap buttons i changed right away just cause they were the standard kind of strap buttons so i put some strap locks on them just cause i had them. and like i said earlier when i find a good deal the pick ups are goin but for now these ones are fine.

i have been playing for about 4 years now and have owned a ephiphone strat fake (which i still own) an ibanez rx, and a bc rich bronze warlock, plus a washburn acoustic which i still have and love. so i think i have finally found a brand i can rely on, i think washburn might be my new guitar choice from now on. if this gutiar was stolen or something i wouldnt really care i would just be pissed that i lost out on some money. but i would still buy another washburn of some kind. i wish it had some new pick ups though and a different bridge but the bridge is too much of a pain to change so the pick ups will be gettin changed. all around though i like this guitar and i think i will play it till it breaks or i become so unbelievably sick of it and have to buy a new one. but i do wish it were a little bigger, so if you are a pretty big guy i wouldnt recomend this one unless you are like me and kinda like the smaller style for comfortability. it just kinda looks funny

Made in good old Indonesia! It has 22 frets and a volume knob and tone knob. I have no idea what kind of pickups it has but the ones that came with are always messing up and breaking. It has a maple neck and i think a rosewood body or vise versa. The finish is a fireburst color. Mine came with a Washburn amp, a tuner, and a crappy cord.

I play all types of music and it works pretty well for me. It has a pretty standard tone but I plug it into my Zoom 505 II and then into an amp for pretty much any sound you want. I do have trouble with the rythym pickup.

Perfect. I've had mine for about a year and love it more everyday. The action has never had to be adjusted. The strings are just in the right place to be easy to play but not buzz on the frets.

I think it would be okay live. Once again I'll mentioon the pickups but I don't know if that is just mine or if they all do. Mine's been treating me well. I've never had to replace anything but I have had to repair some bad wiring.

Never used it.

I've been playing for 4 years and consider myself pretty well educated in guitars. If it were stolen I would hunt down the theif and kill them then reclaim my guitar. I think it plays better than most thousand dollar guitars and for the price it is a spectacular deal.

This is my first guitar, I got it at a local guitar store. I think my BT2 is a 2000 model, since I got it in late 2000. It was made in Indonesia, thought it really doesn't matter to me, but some people say the ones made in the US are made better, which may be true. There are 22 frets. It's got nice Grover tuners, I like them a lot. I also like where the volume and tone controls are, the selector isn't as easily changed while playing though. The strap buttons have held up thus far, although the button at the base is slightly loose. For some reason one of the pickups sinks every once and a while and I have to use a screwdriver, though this really doesn't bother me. As a first guitar I think it was a good choice and it seems pretty tough. Like other people said, I think the scratches can give it character...though mine is still in good condition, like it should be.

The guitar suits my style, though I am trying to be as versatile as possible and learn as many techniques as I can I use it with a small peavey amp, and that can make some cool sounds if you use it right. It's got a good sound quality and I am pretty satisfied with this category.

Although some of the other reviews had bad experiences with the quality of the guitar, and had to use their warranty, my guitar was pretty well built from the start. Like I said before though, the base strap button is loose, which looks like is from it being poorly screwed in. I tried to fix it, but without much success. Everything else was and still is in good shape. The finish was flawless when I got the guitar.

I seem to be repeating myself here but these categories suck, at least the prompt questions do. Like I said, this guitar is quite durable. I think it will last me a long time, if i take care of it, these people that bought there guitar used and are complaining about its quality are completely off base. I do think that it would withsatnd live playing, and i think that if you had to use it alone it could easily be relied on.

The warranty is life time, and I haven't had to deal with the company at all, the guitar was in great shape.

I've been playing for a year and have been taking regular lessons. Althought some beginners don't take lessons and think they don't need them, they're wrong. Having a teacher could help you avoid mistakes that will be hard to correct as time goes on. Just because you have a teacher doesn't mean you can't develop your own style,though. I would definitely recommend beginners to take lessons, it gives you direction, and I have learned quite solid rhythm guitar. I'm kinda attached to the guitar now, so I'd would be really ticked if it were stolen (i wouldn't lose it). I love this guitar, but if it were stolen, I might save money for a better guitar rather than the same one. But if it doesnt get stolen i would get an acoustic guitar before ever replacing my electric. I do wish ther were more controls on the guitar. I also wish that I could add a wammy for more versatility. I have a case, and I would recommend a metronome for those looking to improve their rhythm, and electric tuners help too, though doing it by ear improves your ear.

black, maple neck, fixed bridge, 2 humbucker

the sound is decent. it's good for moderately fast paced music, but wouldnt work well for metal. i play alot of punk and this is the best sound for that type of music. clean, it isnt very bright, it's actually kinda dull.

it's scratched up alot, i dunno how it was when it was new. the finish kinda sucks but it doesnt hurt the sound quality or the feel in anyway.

this guitar can take alot of abuse, i used to play it all the time at practices and shows for my old band, it has never let me down. the finish obviously wont stand up for lots of playing and abuse but that shouldnt really matter unless you care about appearance. i would feel perfectly fine using this guitar without a backup.

i've been playing for several years, this was the first guitar i ever bought. i own a standard fender telecaster, and a bc rich acrylic mockingbird, both are new, and i use the washburn as my main guitar for everything. if it were ever stolen or lost i would try my best to find another one. the reason i bought the guitar was for the price, it was the cheapest at the pawn shop. i didnt expect to use it very long, i figured i could get something cheap to learn on and upgrade to something better once i learned guitar, but i was wrong, i love the way this guitar feels, there isnt anything i dislike about it, but some people that have played it dislike it because it's slightly smaller than a standard guitar.

the story 1:
ive had it about 3 years now.its a std BT2.the one u can see in the ads onlne.
Its funny i was out going to buy a rack mount for my home set up.
Unable to find a rack i wanted ..
we were on our way home & we noticed this small shop with guitars.
Having lots of spare cash to hand i thought id at least tempt the shop
keeper to let me demo a few.Anyhow i strolled round the shop & there were a few nice fenders
.Then at the back of the shop there were 3 guitars.The Washburn was quite stunning
.It was finished in a silver with a small amount of glitter .. but u have to get the light right to see this
.Anyhow i took the thing off the peg & it just felt right.It had been in a accident ..
there was a nasty dent/crack in the bottom where it obviously had been dropped.
The rest of the guitar was pristine.i looked around the back & there were a couple
of small cracks where the plate bolts the kneck on. Well reading this u probably think
" Forget it ! " ... but like me .. i could see a good deal coming. I haggled just for a short time ..
as the shop keeper realized it was to plain to see .. not to disagree with. So i got some cash off.

the story 2: getting it home i was pretty pleased with the action.The sound was quite surprising.
Its not a very expensive model .. in fact its about one of the cheapest ones u can buy thats fitted
out half decent.Anyhow i compared it to my old Rossetti that ive had for years .. & it was much cleaner.
Considering the pick-ups are just cheapo,s .. they aint bad. Most in fact all of my music i do at home for
fun thru a zoom 505 & then a zoom 1201 for room ambience only.I mix it down with my sequencer to mini-disk
.The results are amazing.I read that the 505 zoom is rubish live on stage but it works ok in a home set up.The sound .
. i always end up playing power chords or bad lead with the guitar using the zoom set with an overdrive / sustain & the
EQ pushed in the mid band .. & i get a sound which works .. but again its down to the fx box & the sound from the
pick-ups.Ive read that someone had a bt2 & fitted it out with Seymore duncans & it was fab !! Ive no idea ..
mine sounds ok as it is.Id probably go & buy another guitar if i wanted a fender sound .. why bother to change the
pick-ups to make a Gibson sound like a Fender ?

the story 3: The action was very nice .. in fact a short while after .. i changed the slightly heavy strings to ultra-light ones ..
ugh .. much to my surprise .. i always used to use light guauge .. but this was awfall ..
it was like playing with elastic bands .. quik chord changing was teribble !!! my fingers were going between the strings.
So i threw them off & got another pack of lights.They wernt much better so i ended up using regulars. It plays fine.
Stays in tune & sounds much more tunefall.The pickup adjustment was ok.The kneck is very thin ..
& is also nice n smoothe.(must have been a good day).After the string change i noticed a buzz / resonance around
the bottom end of the fret.It got anoying that i thought i had always had this problem & was about to sell it & buy another ..
then just out of the blue i happened to have my son round & he just happened to put his grubby hands on the machines while
i demonstrated this anoying buzz .. & presto .. it stopped ! so further examination revealed that
some of the locking nuts on top of the machines were loose!Yes i also had a dodgey selector switch from day one
.But i took it apart & greased it & its not too bad now .. it just gets in the way up here.

story 4: well i dont gig with it so ice no idea .. although that kneck is a little fragile looking.
The hardware / switches look simular to every other in the mags.I liked this guitar so much i went out & got hold of a
2nd hand Washburn Falcon .. This is really nicely put together .. thru kneck & weighs a ton.The bloke who sold it to
me said he got fed up taking it on gigs .. i cant blame him.But said all this i still prefer to play those bum notes on my BT2! ..
i dont know .. it just feels nice.

no idea

Ive been practising for some 20 years on n off.I have other instuments in a midi set up.My 1st introduction to drums on a cheap Casio keyboard gave me the inspiration to take it all up again.& wot fun it all is.!!!! .... something else i wish i had .. yeah .. dont we all .. loads of spare cash to try everything out & a room i could let rip at 4am with nobody complaining !

1999, Sunburst mahogany body, maple neck with 22-fret rosewood board,
made in Indonesia, passive dual-humbuckers, 1 vol, 1 tone. Tunomatic
bridge with stop tailpiece and Grover tuners; 24.75" scale. Has its
own unique double-cutaway style; sort of retro, yet modern at the same
time! I like the body style because it's different; sort of Les Paul
Special meets Mosrite, yet not! Basically a simple yet effective setup with the 2 humbuckers, more than versatile enough, especially in
the price range

Nice little guitar! I play mostly hard rock/metal, but also SRV-type
blues and a little of everything, and it's surprisingly good for any
time when I want to play without a trem (most of my guitars have Floyd
or Kahler or Wonderbar trems - I'm a trem nut!). I use Carvin X-60B heads and 412 cabs with a plethora of effects, and it's a ballsy axe!
The pickups are pretty quiet, and I get a nice Gibsonish sound out of it - between an SG and a Les Paul sound (I own both of those models so
I can compare directly!). For the money and compared to its peers it's astoundingly good-sounding!

Contrary to others' reviews, my guitar came out of the box set up nicely, playing and sounding great, and stays in tune! Just lucky, I
guess! I actually bought it from JC Penney's catalog for $119.99 as a closeout! At that price I figured it'd be a camping/beach beater if nothing else, and I do use it for that! It's really extremely nice though; I think the Indonesians are getting the hang of this guitar making thing! Personally, I've played some American-made Les Pauls and Strats that were dogs, and have a Chinese Squier that plays
like a good American Standard Strat, so I go with the individual guitar. This BT-2 is a good guitar out of the box, and I like it!

I see no problem with using this guitar live! The hardware is adequate, if you're not flogging the guitar! I'm too old for that so
it'll last indefinitely, as I treat my instruments with respect. The
finish is very nice, strap buttons solid; a workhorse guitar! I'd use it without a backup if I had to, but I have several other guitars
so I always have backups for the broken string scenario! There's not
much to go wrong with this baby!

N/A

I've been playing for 29 years and own many other guitars, as well as
several amps and lots of effects. This was another impulse buy from the JC Penney website's closeout section. If it were lost or stolen I
would probably grab another one, as they're dirt-cheap used because they have a bad rep (at least from some reviewers here!). I guess that there are some lemons out there, like any other make and model, and I know a lot of players don't like to work on their guitars at all
and might not want to pay a tech $65 to set up their brand-new guitar!
I'm no tech myself, but I learned how to set up and intonate my own guitars long ago, out of cheapskatedness! If you own a guitar tuner and a screwdriver you can set up your own guitar! (Okay, you may need
Allen wrenches too!) Worst-case is, you have to take it to the tech anyway! Best-case, you tighten this, loosen that and the guitar does
your bidding! This is a nice guitar for goofing around with, that will do as a main guitar if it has to, and if some drunk spills his beer on it you won't want to break it over his head! Even if you DO break it over his head, it's $120, not a $1200 Les Paul! Win-win!

model: washburn bt-2, sunburst, 2 hums, tune o matic, rosewood fretboard.

Controls (elec.): 3 way selector, with 200 series washburn open humbuckers. (passive)

Woods: mahogany, and rosewood

Hardware: grover tuners

Neck: thin and fast, w/ good low action

I play blues, texas swing, and heavy metal/hard rock, and to my suprise the guitar has been extremely versatile and playable.
The humbuckers are crisp and clean, with a good high gain. They do not hum or fuzz when "resting". The bridge pickup is a little bassy but it can be solved with amp adjustment and a little wah-wah.
Any good guitarist can play this guitar and be satisfied.

The tuners were a little loose, but a little patience and the problem can quickly be solved. The action was low and tight, as well as the thin neck allows for good fast playing. I own thirteen electric guitars, ranging from 2 ernie ball music mans (axis, and axis sport),
a les paul standard and studio, 72 tele, photoflame strat,and many others (mostly all high end guitars) and all have needed minor adjustments to fit my taste, so theres no reason to complain when you need to tweek a guitar to your standards.

Plays great , i have had no problems. Its basically my "back and forth" guitar that i use to avoid dragging thousand dollar guitars back and forth to rehersals, so it takes some abuse and has yet to fail me, so i would play it live any time. the guitar is solid and will probably last as long as i take care of it, just the same with any other guitar.

Havent had to deal with them.

Ive been playing for over 10 years and have owned and played many guitars. The bt 2 is tough, attractive, and sounds great. Alot of guitarists blame the guitar, but im sure hendrix or srv would have sounded good on any piece of junk you would have put in their hands.
I like the guitars just as well as any that i own, and i would like to have another, if i found another color i really liked. i would like to see it in a wine red with gold hardware, and covered humbuckers, with maybe locking tuners, but hell its fine the way it is.

1999 or 2000 - made in Indonesia. 22-fret, one vol, one tone, 3-way toggle on upper left horn. Pickups are Hum/Hum - basic passive stock p/u's (Washburn 200 series). Body is alder; neck is maple. Finish is a standard glossy finish. Neck has a matte / natural finish. Body style is somewhat of a cross between a Peavey Wolfgang and a Strat. Bridge is Tune-o-matic w/ stop tailpiece. Grover tuners. Neck has a Sonokelin fingerboard (rosewood, basically) with a 24 and 3/4 " scale. Standard fretwire.

I play just about anything - rock, hard rock, blues, metal. With the right amp and FX, this guitar can do them all. It's not a speed/thrash guitar but it can do some decent hard riffs. Hums give a fairly full sound. Bridge p/u with the lows down gives a bright enough sound.

Overall, for the price paid, this is an extremely versatile guitar. With a little tinkering with an EQ and the tone/vol controls, you can get a lot of different sounds out of it.

Neck p/u is somewhat muddy on high gain with full lows. It is fine for clean rhythm work though.

One thing that bothered me is that the neck pickup will cut in/out sometimes when playing or switching p/u's. However, after removing the toggle switch cover, I found that the wires were touching the metal connector to the neck pickup position - which was causing the sound to stop and start sometimes. A little tape held them out of the way and fixed the problem.

Overall, there was not a whole lot that needed to be done. The action was pretty much perfect for me (fairly low but not too low). The neck pickup needed to be lowered and the bridge p/u needed to be hightened, but that's about it. The bridge and tailpiece were perfect.

This is my 2nd BT2 - the first i received was generally poorly done. There were some cracks at the neck joint, the nut was poorly cut, and one of the tuning machines was actually different than the rest. I took it back and receieved a much better guitar. The fingerboard was actually darker with the 2nd guitar - looks much better. The 2nd guitar has a beautiful nut and generally much better fretwork as well.

**These are mass-built guitars. Obviously, there will be some bad ones and some better ones. I got a bad one, but I didn't accept it and got a better one. I would suggest not buying one of these online, because you can't inspect it before you pay for it. If you can find a store with more than one, take a look at them all and find the best one.**

P/u selector is fairly quiet after the problem mentioned above was fixed.

This guitar would definitely withstand live playing. I haven't had any real problems with it staying in tune (don't listen to these people complaining about it never staying in tune -- it's called CHANGING your strings when they're no longer staying in tune). I change my strings every 4 weeks so generally it's always in tune. As long as you don't throw the guitar around into walls and jump on it, it will last. I've had this guitar for a year and I've played the hell out of it and it's barely scratched. I'm very careful about my gear, I guess. I've scratched the metal neck plate (where it bolts on) with my belt, and there's a few scratches and dents in it- but that just gives it character. The strap buttons are very solid- my strap has not fallen off yet. I've played this as my main axe for a year - recently I've upgraded to a Cort Viva Gold. I've depended on it and it's never let me down.

It wouldn't be smart to gig without a backup, but if i had to, i wouldn't be nervous. This guitar is dependable and rough. My main axe is now my Viva Gold, so this guitar is now my backup :P

Limited lifetime warranty

I emailed the company with my first BT2 when i noticed the cracks etc. They replied within 2 days and were very courteous. They gave me some good advice and I took my guitar back and got another one, no questions asked (although that isn't really the company but oh well).

I've been playing for 4 years, but some of my friends have said i sound like i've been playing for longer :)
I own a Cort Viva Gold, a Korg Toneworks AX100G and I play through a Crate GX-65 (1998 model). I also did have an old Fender 30 watt Vibro Champ which sounded great with this guitar. The pickups are fairly high output and on max volume they overdrove the tubes just enough to give you that nice overdriven bluesy/rock tone. I had to give the amp back though, since i only borrowed it :(

If it were stolen, i would get a better guitar - only because i'm not on such a tight budget anymore. I'm now saving up for either a nice Gibson or a high-end Jackson - i haven't decided. If i was on the exact same budget (ie. no money!!) i would definitely get this guitar again - but not the same color (light blue- ugh. black for me :)

I like the placement of the toggle switch- very Les Paul like. It's good that it's away from the other controls - but also it makes long pick slides harder, because your arm will hit the toggle swtich and change p/u's! I like the simplicity of the design as well.

I compared this guitar to some other ones (squiers (ewww), some low-end ibanez's (eww, also) and this one came out on top. For the price, i doubt you could get better (except maybe on a 1/2 price sale or something :)

The guitar is made in Indonesia, which is where most cheaper guitars are assembled anyway. Unless you guy the "American" series or something. It comes loaded with 2 above-average humbucking pickups, rosewood fretboard, and Grover tuners (very, very nice). It's got a stop tailpiece, which I like because it keeps the guitar more in tune than something with a tremolo. The neck is pretty thin, and allows for quick moving from one end to the other. Finish is pretty nice, could be more solid, but definately looks great for something as inexpensive as this!

The sound out of this thing is amazing! (As soon as you replace the factory installed strings and adjust the action.) It's extremely clean. I had problems with a cheap Lotus strat-copy sounding muddy, so I got rid of it and bought this baby. I think I've died and gone to Heaven! It's got a pretty rich and full sound for an electric, and sounds closer to a vintage Les Paul than many other models I've played of similar guitars. The sound is not muddy at all, and sounds great and full in both clean an distorted channels!

The action setup at the factory sucks! BUT IT'S FIXABLE! At first most of the strings buzz against for frets, but all you need to do is raise the bridge and possibly play with the truss rod a little bit. After a few minutes of dinking around, I got all the buzzing out! Now it plays great! You also may have to adjust the pickup height, as they come set fairly low. However, this is a very simple fix and should take no more than a few seconds to set.

Are you kidding? You could drop this thing down the stairs at a Rage concert, bash people over the head with it, and set it under your anvil... and it would still play! The tuners on this thing are amazing. Probably the best factory sent tuners I've ever seen. The only problem is that they're loose upon arrival. You should tighten them as soon as you can, because they'll rattle if you don't. After that though, the guitar stays in tune pretty well, even after a lot of bending and stuff.

I've never had to deal with the company, thankfully.

I've been playing for about 4 years now, and I love this guitar! It's my main axe, I don't even use a backup with it (although I probably should anyway). It's extremely reliable, very versatile, and plays and sounds like a dream come true! If you're looking for a very nice guitar for the money, check out the Washburn BT-2!