Washburn BT2
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Product: Washburn BT2
Price Paid: 149 (Pounds Sterling) used
Submitted 02/11/2006
at 05:40pm
by Anonymous
Features
:
6
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.
Sound
:
5
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.
Action, Fit, & Finish
:
4
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.
Reliability/Durability
:
4
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.
Customer Support
:
No Opinion
Nevr dealt with them.
Overall Rating
:
5
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.
Product: Washburn BT2
Price Paid: (pounds)
Submitted 04/17/2005
at 08:29am
by russ
Features
:
8
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.
Sound
:
8
it dont sound bad with a fx pedal.
Action, Fit, & Finish
:
8
as before .. adequate for home use & practice
Reliability/Durability
:
8
live playing ??? its pretty solid .. apart from the thin neck ..
the frets havnt gone skew yet.
Customer Support
:
No Opinion
ni idea
Overall Rating
:
No Opinion
XP30 / electribe-R / boss660 / NS5R / BR532 for fx only / zoom 1201 / zoom 505 .. mixers & minidisk
wish id had the gear as a gift .. HI !
Product: Washburn BT2
Price Paid: N/A
Submitted 03/16/2005
at 01:35pm
by Mike Kuehn
Features
:
7
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.
Sound
:
8
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.
Action, Fit, & Finish
:
9
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).
Reliability/Durability
:
10
No problems at all. I've had it for at least 5 years now.
Customer Support
:
No Opinion
Overall Rating
:
8
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.
Product: Washburn BT2
Price Paid: US $250
Submitted 10/03/2004
at 01:17am
by Ash
Email: none
Features
:
6
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...
Sound
:
8
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.
Action, Fit, & Finish
:
5
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.
Reliability/Durability
:
10
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.
Customer Support
:
No Opinion
never needed any!!*ding*
Overall Rating
:
9
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!!
Product: Washburn BT2
Price Paid: US $119
Submitted 07/08/2004
at 11:33am
by Jimmy
Features
:
7
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.
Sound
:
7
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.
Action, Fit, & Finish
:
8
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.
Reliability/Durability
:
10
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.
Customer Support
:
No Opinion
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.
Overall Rating
:
7
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.
Product: Washburn BT2
Price Paid: US $65$
Submitted 04/04/2004
at 09:29pm
by Anonymous
Features
:
7
three way switch two knobs volume and tone.
double cut black and orange burst. tune-o-matic bridge i personally think it looks cool.
Sound
:
8
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
Action, Fit, & Finish
:
9
set up for nines. guitar contained no flaws
Reliability/Durability
:
10
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
Customer Support
:
No Opinion
never had deal with them for the resons mentioned above.
Overall Rating
:
9
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.
Product: Washburn BT2
Price Paid: US $85
Submitted 12/16/2003
at 07:24pm
by Brian Ross
Email: Smalltownmind8907 at yahoo<dot>com
Features
:
7
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.
Sound
:
7
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.
Action, Fit, & Finish
:
10
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
Reliability/Durability
:
10
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.
Customer Support
:
No Opinion
never dealt with them and will never half to since this guitar is ridicously solid
Overall Rating
:
9
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.
Product: Washburn BT2
Price Paid: US $200
Submitted 11/13/2003
at 09:39pm
by Jayson
Email: Lucidity_in_darkness<at>Hotmail dot com
Features
:
7
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.
Sound
:
8
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.
Action, Fit, & Finish
:
7
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.
Reliability/Durability
:
10
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.
Customer Support
:
No Opinion
none.. i was too cheap to get a warrenty haha..
Overall Rating
:
10
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 ;)
Product: Washburn BT2
Price Paid: US $120
Submitted 07/09/2003
at 05:15pm
by Catherine
Email: ctaft at berklee<dot>net
Features
:
8
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.
Sound
:
8
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.
Action, Fit, & Finish
:
8
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.
Reliability/Durability
:
10
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.
Customer Support
:
No Opinion
Overall Rating
:
9
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.
Product: Washburn BT2
Price Paid: US $140
Submitted 11/06/2002
at 12:02pm
by Mike
Email: mike at faithadventure<dot>com
Features
:
9
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.
Sound
:
8
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.
Action, Fit, & Finish
:
9
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.
Reliability/Durability
:
9
This guitar seems really solid. I bought it to bang around with at home and with the church band. So far so good.
Customer Support
:
No Opinion
n/a
I bought it at Music 123.com and they are awesome!
Overall Rating
:
10
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.
Product: Washburn BT2
Price Paid: US $156.00
Submitted 06/07/2002
at 11:01am
by Anonymous
Features
:
8
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.
Sound
:
8
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.
Action, Fit, & Finish
:
7
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.
Reliability/Durability
:
8
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.
Customer Support
:
No Opinion
Don't know yet. Lifetime warranty.
Overall Rating
:
8
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).
Product: Washburn BT2
Price Paid: 169 (LVL)
Submitted 05/17/2002
at 06:00am
by Martins Lee.........
Features
:
8
made in 2001, china
22 frets, quilted bodi (bt2q)
etc...................
Sound
:
9
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
Action, Fit, & Finish
:
8
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
Reliability/Durability
:
8
i haven't played live on it yet, but i think i would do without any backup
Customer Support
:
4
no idea
but the local dealer is wery helpfull
Overall Rating
:
8
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.:)
Product: Washburn BT2
Price Paid: US $199.00
Submitted 05/06/2002
at 07:48am
by bulldogsoundtracks
Features
:
9
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!
Sound
:
7
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.
Action, Fit, & Finish
:
9
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.
Reliability/Durability
:
9
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.
Customer Support
:
No Opinion
N/A. Havent used them yet...
Overall Rating
:
8
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
Product: Washburn BT2
Price Paid: US $200
Submitted 03/17/2002
at 01:29am
by northslide
Features
:
7
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".
Sound
:
8
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.
Action, Fit, & Finish
:
8
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.
Reliability/Durability
:
8
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.
Customer Support
:
No Opinion
Had a lifetime warranty until I changed the pickups. Now, zilch.
Overall Rating
:
10
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.
Product: Washburn BT2
Price Paid: 120 (Pound Sterling) used
Submitted 02/19/2002
at 07:53am
by Satyajit Sharma
Features
:
1
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.
Sound
:
6
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.
Action, Fit, & Finish
:
3
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.
Reliability/Durability
:
7
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
Customer Support
:
No Opinion
Never delt with this part.
Overall Rating
:
5
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.
Product: Washburn BT2
Price Paid: US $149
Submitted 01/16/2002
at 01:02pm
by Anonymous
Features
:
7
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.
Sound
:
4
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.
Action, Fit, & Finish
:
1
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.
Reliability/Durability
:
3
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.
Customer Support
:
No Opinion
N/A
Overall Rating
:
2
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.
Product: Washburn BT2
Price Paid: US $150 used
Submitted 11/14/2001
at 12:09pm
by joel
Features
:
8
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.
Sound
:
8
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.
Action, Fit, & Finish
:
7
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.
Reliability/Durability
:
7
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.
Customer Support
:
No Opinion
Overall Rating
:
8
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
Product: Washburn BT2
Price Paid: US about $160 on sale
Submitted 11/08/2001
at 07:46am
by Anonymous
Features
:
9
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.
Sound
:
8
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.
Action, Fit, & Finish
:
10
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.
Reliability/Durability
:
9
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.
Customer Support
:
No Opinion
Never used it.
Overall Rating
:
10
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.
Product: Washburn BT2
Price Paid: US list price: $339
Submitted 11/02/2001
at 08:40pm
by Anonymous
Features
:
8
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.
Sound
:
9
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.
Action, Fit, & Finish
:
9
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.
Reliability/Durability
:
9
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.
Customer Support
:
No Opinion
The warranty is life time, and I haven't had to deal with the company at all, the guitar was in great shape.
Overall Rating
:
9
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.
Product: Washburn BT2
Price Paid: US $125 used
Submitted 10/19/2001
at 10:03am
by Jon H
Features
:
6
black, maple neck, fixed bridge, 2 humbucker
Sound
:
6
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.
Action, Fit, & Finish
:
4
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.
Reliability/Durability
:
9
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.
Customer Support
:
No Opinion
Overall Rating
:
10
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.
Product: Washburn BT2
Price Paid: sale (# pounds)
Submitted 10/07/2001
at 11:14am
by Russ Zero Studio
Features
:
7
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.
Sound
:
7
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 ?
Action, Fit, & Finish
:
8
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.
Reliability/Durability
:
No Opinion
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.
Customer Support
:
No Opinion
no idea
Overall Rating
:
No Opinion
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 !
Product: Washburn BT2
Price Paid: US $119.99
Submitted 08/20/2001
at 03:59pm
by Richard Scott
Features
:
8
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
Sound
:
8
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!
Action, Fit, & Finish
:
8
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!
Reliability/Durability
:
9
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!
Customer Support
:
No Opinion
N/A
Overall Rating
:
8
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!
Product: Washburn BT2
Price Paid: US $250-300
Submitted 07/13/2001
at 09:14pm
by mike
Features
:
10
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
Sound
:
10
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.
Action, Fit, & Finish
:
9
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.
Reliability/Durability
:
10
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.
Customer Support
:
No Opinion
Havent had to deal with them.
Overall Rating
:
10
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.
Product: Washburn BT2
Price Paid: $400 Cdn
Submitted 06/22/2001
at 12:23pm
by Anonymous
Features
:
7
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.
Sound
:
8
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.
Action, Fit, & Finish
:
8
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.
Reliability/Durability
:
10
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
Customer Support
:
9
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).
Overall Rating
:
9
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 :)
Product: Washburn BT2
Price Paid: US $169.99
Submitted 05/11/2001
at 01:55pm
by Anonymous
Features
:
7
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!
Sound
:
9
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!
Action, Fit, & Finish
:
4
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.
Reliability/Durability
:
9
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.
Customer Support
:
No Opinion
I've never had to deal with the company, thankfully.
Overall Rating
:
10
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!
Product: Washburn BT2
Price Paid: N/A
Submitted 04/25/2001
at 07:52am
by Travis McClure
Features
:
8
It has 22 frets, H/H pickups, 3-way toggle switch, passive electronics, tune-o-matic bridge, Grover tuners, and a beautiful cherry sunburst finish.
Sound
:
8
This guitar is very nice for the price. I am into alternative, hard rock, and blues, and it suits me very nicely. I have heard it through several amps, and it always sounds great. There is no hum to it. It is a little bassy on the top setting and really twangy on the bottom, but very versitile. It has a very rich sound to it. It is awesome.
Action, Fit, & Finish
:
5
Honestly, the guitar was set up very poorly at the factory. Like all the others, the tuners were extremely loose and it went out of tune if you looked at it wrong. The strings were horrible, and the neck and bridge needed adjusted. However, with about 15 minutes of work, this guitar is great. The finish has a few bubbles in it under the bridge but it still looks great.
Reliability/Durability
:
10
This guitar is will not break. I dropped it on its neck and it didn't even go out of tune. The finish seem like it will last just as long as the rest of it. Everything is solid. As for playing a gig without a backup, I wouldn't do it ever. Something is bound to go wrong, broken string, things like that.
Customer Support
:
8
I have dealt with customer support and they were very reliable. They were very willing to help in any way that they were permitted.
Overall Rating
:
9
I haven't been playing long but I love this guitar. Of everything I have played, I would take it over almost anything, other than a Gibson Les Paul. If it were stolen I would defenitely buy another one. It was well worth what I paid for it!
Product: Washburn BT2
Price Paid: N/A
Submitted 04/11/2001
at 03:54pm
by Anonymous
Features
:
No Opinion
Same BT as everyone else's here. Just wish I could've gotten the cherry sunburst finish instead of the flat black.
Sound
:
8
I'm using a crate gfx-15 right now. The sound is fairly bassy and I keep the tone set to 10 on the guitar most of the time. If you use this guitar with a decent amp and effect pedals it can sound pretty nice. I don't have any buzzing or the like either. The sound could be a bit fuller though.
Action, Fit, & Finish
:
6
The guitar had some problems when I first got it three years ago, but they were easily fixed. I tightened up the tuners, threw on some ernie ball super slinkys, tightened the nut around the pickup switch, and had to move the bridge pickup to the left so their wasn't a gap to the side of it. I got lucky and didn't have anything major wrong with it. Some complain about the guitar seeming to fight you while you play. If you VERY carefully sand the polyurethane off the neck with a very fine grit paper you can drastically increase the speed of play along the neck. Just be VERY careful not to take off more than needed.
Reliability/Durability
:
8
Guitar is pretty tough, the finish is thick, and it feels pretty solid except for that damn toggle switch. The black screws have oxidized a bit too.
Customer Support
:
No Opinion
Never had to deal with them.
Overall Rating
:
8
I have been playing about four years now and recommend this as a good guitar for beginners, but beware as the BT2 you get may not be as problem free as mine is.
Product: Washburn BT2
Price Paid: US $180
Submitted 04/08/2001
at 11:45am
by Anonymous
Features
:
4
22 fret, thin neck, 1 tone, 1 volume, maverick series, rosewood fingerboard, grover tuners, stop tailpiece, H/H config., 3-way toggle.
I really wish they would have put audio taper pots on here instead of the linear. I have no idea when this was made... got it about 2 years ago (which would be 1998).
Sound
:
2
This guitar does not suit my style. The humbuckers seem to be adjusted to be versatile, but end up making everything sound horrible. Try as I might, I cannot get a decent sound out of them. I adjust the height, EQ, and everything you can think of, but to no avail. I am also puzzled by the fact that you pick it up from the stand and put it into playing position and it goes out of tune. This is amazing - I've never seen anything like this. I favor playing 80's rock and roll, hard rock, and stuff in the syle that the band Live plays. This thing just tries to make too many different sounds.
Action, Fit, & Finish
:
4
The action was actually set up fairly well. The tuners, which seems to be the case with these, were loose and went out of tune every time I touched a string. I tightened them up and so far tuning problems have decreased, but it still requires occasional tightening. Other than this the only things I found wrong were a loosened nut around the toggle, and glue on the fretboard.
Reliability/Durability
:
10
This monstrosity will last forever.
Customer Support
:
No Opinion
never dealt with em
Overall Rating
:
2
I've been playing for 6 years. I don't know why I still have this guitar. Maybe keep it for one of those on-stage smashings. If it were stolen I'd laugh at the effort spent by the person that stole it. I simply do not like this guitar... the sound, the tuning problems, the sharp frets, everything. This is not worth your time or money.
Product: Washburn BT2
Price Paid: US $199.99
Submitted 04/03/2001
at 08:16am
by Carlton
Features
:
8
Features were good although the pickups could be changed and the strings were of poor qualilty. the grover tuners were of most part,not tightened at the factory. I had to do some work on it myself and get it to where I wanted it. But for a first time guitarist, these features might end up overlooked.
Sound
:
8
The sound I got from it after the work was as close as a gibson epiphone. I let some first time guitar players hear it and they say that they don't get the sound from other guitars like this one. I play the jazz/blues style and with a wah pedal, there's nothing smoother sounding. I play it through a Peavey Bandit 112, and the sound is clear and I still get that high-end crunch.
Action, Fit, & Finish
:
9
I loved it at first site. The cherry sunburst finish was an eye-catcher. The contour of the body was sleek and it keeps you off the mind of all those other fender look-alikes. The many different colors offer you your preference but all of them look good. I ahve to say............ " UNIQUE IN IT"S OWN CLASS"
Reliability/Durability
:
8
I have had it for Two years and the only thing wrong with it is the button broke at the top of the guitar, but that was because it was mishandled. Yet I haven't figured out a good use for it.I have no gig bag and the transportation from home to wherever I am goin, doesn't put it out of tune or scratch it up. As all guitars, it needs a little polishing every now and then.
Customer Support
:
8
I got the button replacement and the people were very friendly but not quite sure of why I wanted it so bad. It is just that the guitar is original so it needs it's original components.
Overall Rating
:
8
I have been playin for two years and from beginning until the end, this guitar was by my side. I considered it the best around. I have another Fender, and I haven't played that one since. Only for home practice. This guitar is great for anyone who wants to try a quality guitar with great sound, features, looks, and an unbeatable price.
Product: Washburn BT2
Price Paid: US $159 used
Submitted 03/22/2001
at 09:00am
by Anonymous
Features
:
8
H/H pickups, 3-way selector switch, 1 volume, 1 tone, passive electronics, tune-o-matic bridge, nice tuners although they were all loose, thin neck, beautiful sunburst finish. Made in Indonesia, possibly 1999 or 2000. 22 frets. 24-3/4 scale neck.
Sound
:
5
The sound of this guitar is decent, but only average. Nothing to write home about. I own a Washburn BT-4Q/CS, which blows this guitar away...better sound, playability, etc. I picked this one up because it was cheap ($159 used) hoping to pick up something nice at a ridiculously low price...boy was I disappointed. I got a lemon.
Action, Fit, & Finish
:
1
The action is typical of Washburns - TOUGH. The nut slots are cut too high, and there is something about the way they make their necks that just guarantees a stiff, unpleasant feel. It's like you have to fight against the guitar to play it. It came with 10s on, I changed to 9s right away...and I got a nasty surprise. The neck had a little too much relief for my taste, so I proceeded to adjust it. The truss rod was almost virtually immovable. As soon as I put the allen wrench into it and tried to turn it, I felt a sort of spongy resistance, and I heard - I kid you not - a sort of sucking, slurping sound, something like the Elephant Man would have made just before he tried to speak. I have owned more than 15 guitars, cheap and expensive, and I have never heard one make that kind of sick sound in my life. All it would do was move about 2 millimeters in either direction. Needless to say, I didn't make any further attempt to adjust the truss rod after that.
So...I slapped the 9s on, and proceeded to tune the guitar. That is, I ATTEMPTED to tune it. The darn thing wouldn't stay in tune, no matter what I tried. The intonation was fairly decent, and yet, even an open D chord at the 2nd fret sounded horribly out of tune. I have never seen anything like it. Tune the strings so the D chord sounds right, then open G or open E chords sound way out. I was thoroughly disgusted, and returned this miserable excuse for an axe back to the music store the next day.
Reliability/Durability
:
1
Hah! I would quit playing out before I ever used this guitar as my main axe. It's a joke. It looks good, sure - but it plays terrible. And watch those sharp frets when you move quickly up the neck! Ouch! And why is it that merely moving the guitar from the guitar stand to playing position causes it to go out of tune?? I play in churches, gospel groups, praise and worship teams, etc. I think this is "the guitar from hell".
Customer Support
:
No Opinion
Wouldn't even consider keeping it long enough to need it. My other Washburn sounds great, but I had to do some nut filing, truss rod adjustment, bridge work, etc. At least it paid off in that case, but this is a lost case.
Overall Rating
:
1
If it were stolen or lost, I would rejoice for me, grieve for the unlucky victim. May it find repose in the hands of some novice who doesn't know any better. Once I was 5 years old too.
Product: Washburn BT2
Price Paid: US $150
Submitted 02/14/2001
at 10:22pm
by James Hollis
Email: batman14 at home<dot>com
Features
:
No Opinion
Standard H/H configuration. Rosewood fingerboard, tune-o-matic bridge and a three position toggle switch. Pretty good quality materials from Indonesia!
Sound
:
9
The double humbuckers give a surprising range of sound but it seems a little bassy clear-tone. The top position on the switch is useless for anything without distortion. I love the punchy distortion I get when I play our heavier songs through my DOD FX86B pedal (I play alternative rock) On the center position the sound is bright on clear-tone but you need to turn the volume down to keep it from getting too bassy. Perfect for those good angry songs though
Action, Fit, & Finish
:
10
tha action is awsome!! it plays like a Les Paul if you adjust oit right. It needed some tweaking when I got it but it was all minor I had to adjust the intonation and the pickups but it was mostly preferential stuff. It as a beautiful red sunburst finish and a really cool headstock, just the kind of guitar that stands out against all the Strats and Les Pauls out there.
Reliability/Durability
:
10
Some may say otherwise but if it wasn't so light I would say it was made out of iron. I have put this guitar through hell for over a year (I only had a gig-bag for the first nine months)It has been beat up in gigs and practices and shows little damage. Only the little button on the end of the switch broke. The guitar stays in tune remarkably well with the thin neck it has and the only real hardware problem I had was having to keep re tightning the plug.
Customer Support
:
No Opinion
Overall Rating
:
10
It is an inexpensive guitar that sounds great and can take a beating it is comfortable to wear for long sets and it's cost manufacturers a lot of money. (I don't want another electric guitar) In my six years of playing it is the finest guitar I've owned. My band's guitar player is notoriously picky (he used to sell guitars) even replaced his guitar with the S/S/H model. If your on a budget GO GET ONE!!! You won't be dissappointed, it plays a lot better than other $150 guitars.
Product: Washburn BT2
Price Paid: Dutch (FL 125,-)
Submitted 12/28/2000
at 11:15am
by froggaman
Email: ffwdzign at skim<dot>com
Features
:
7
Year: 1999 Made in Indonesia
1 Volume, 1 Tone
The body is very attractive, it's smooth like a women. I t doesn't have pointy things sticking out like the strat, or Ibanez.
Sound
:
8
I play Rap/Rock in my band with lotsa crossovers, so I need a brute sound that can change over to a full warm sound without much noise. This guitar can't only do this, but it has a funky sound also, and that's waht I was looking for when I bought it. Cause rock isn't the only music I make, I play Jazz-Funk too.
In the beginning I had a little problem with the "Rhythm" tuning, it sounded too hard, so I replaced the elements a little bit. But anyone can do this.
Action, Fit, & Finish
:
5
The bridge wasn't properly adjusted to the strings, so I had to do that myself, aswell for the neck, I had to adjust that myself too.
Fret nr. 7 is pulling back at the moment, it causes my string to vibrate against the other frets. [dunno how to call this in english]
I also bought the guiter because it has a very slim neck, I don't like thick necks. But because the neck is so thin, it is bound to go out of tune when you grab the guitar by it's neck.
Reliability/Durability
:
6
I look at my guitar like it's very very very fragile. I really don't want to break it, and each time I pick it up, I'm scared that the neck might break. The weight of the guitar is in fact really OK. It's light so you can easily "Jump around". :) And the strap buttons are solid too. But you can play it on a gig without having a backup, that should be no problem, but I always use backups for different tuned guitars.
Customer Support
:
No Opinion
Overall Rating
:
7
I have been playing in my band for a half year now, but I'm playing my gutar for about 4 months. This guitar will not last longer than 3 years i think. it's not a guitar you buy to use it for your life like a strat or a gibson. but it definitely has a better funky sound than a strat. [let's not talk about the les paul]
It is a tarrific guitar, but not for longer terms.
Product: Washburn BT2
Price Paid: US $179
Submitted 12/15/2000
at 02:04pm
by Anonymous
Email: vxrabbitxv<at>yahoo dot com
Features
:
8
Made in Indonesia. Has a volume and a tone. Has a three way toggle switch (which a bit flimsy). Sensetive H/H pickup configuration (bridge/neck). Mahogony body, and a 22-fret maple neck with a rosewood top. The body resmebles a strat in a way. Has a unique Tune-O-Matic bridge, that could shred your strings because for the saddles. Comes with Grover tuners (very nice). I chose a the Cherry Sunburst finish (pretty). Tone and volume are very nice looking.
Sound
:
10
I play very heavy rap/rock metal. I use a Cry Baby->DOD Big Pig Fat Dristortion->DOD TEC4X->Peavy 60 watt. Palm muting is great on this thing. Is has a lot of bass in it and the Pig adds even more. Keeps the Washburn sound. The pickups can give you a variety of different soundsby toggling them to bridge, bridge/neck, or just neck. Good full clean sounds. No hum at all when pluged in. One thing I like is the placement of the toggle switch.
Washburn, I like the sound of it distorted much better then an Ibanez. Has all that I ever wanted in a guitar.
Action, Fit, & Finish
:
9
The strings that come with it suck. Throw them away and put new ones on immediatley. The pickups were good. Not a scratch on it when it came. The action was a bit low for my taste. Perfect condition.
Reliability/Durability
:
9
I have gigged with it yet, I plan to though. It will definatly last without a back-up. Strap buttons are solid,, and they lock in the strap. Just the switch is flimsy.
Customer Support
:
No Opinion
Never had to deal with them.
I will say however, THE CUSTOMER SUPPORT FROM MUSIC123.COM SUCKS!!! NEVER EVER BUY FROM THEM!!! EVER!!! THEY WILL LEAD YOU AROUND IN CIRCLES!!! AND TELL YOU A BUNCH OF LIES!!!
IF YOU BUY FROM A COMPANY GO WITH MUSICIANS FRIEND!!!
Overall Rating
:
10
Overall, I love this guitar emensly. I wouldn't ever give it up. I have been playing for about a year and a hlaf, and this is the best guitar I have owned (have owned about 6). If it were stolen, I would replace it. I love the clean and distorted sounds from it. The neck is very fast, and very nice. Many versital sounds for different styles. And for the price, it is a great sounding guitar.
There is one thing, if you get close enough to the pickups, you can pick up you voice on them. I think that this is due to the sensitivity of them. It is really strange. It effects it none while playing live.
Product: Washburn BT2
Price Paid: 249 (Canadian)
Submitted 12/10/2000
at 03:22pm
by Devon Gardner
Email: none
Features
:
4
Just straight out bad.
This was my first guitar, and I guess for the money It was good, but I don't think I'd buy it again.
There's Nothing special here, and I play punk music, and for punk, it sucks. I recently bought a Godin, and I don't think my BT2 is staying around very much longer.
Sound
:
5
Not fantstic. I've run it through everything from a Marshall JCM 900, JCM 2000 TSL, Peavey Rage 112, and frankly, it still sounds bad.
Then again, I'm very biased in this section due to the fact that it's no good for punk. I'm sure it's good for something, but the only thing for me that comes to mind is paperweight.
Action, Fit, & Finish
:
8
Pretty basic shape, though I liked the contour of it, and the colours it comes in were good, but in my opinion it wasn't that aesthetically pleasing, in fact, it was downright bad looking.
It could profit from a pick guard. Though nowadays I can't complain about the looks since I put a full body covering of stamped sheet metal in black. It looks bitchin. But this guitar is definitely a fixer upper
Reliability/Durability
:
7
Super reliable. Had it for a year of solid heavy playing and still only a few scratches.
Customer Support
:
No Opinion
Never had to deal with 'em.
Overall Rating
:
7
I've only been playing the guitar for a little while, but I think you could do a lot better than this. I don't think it's terrible for a first time player, but if you're looking for something good, look into a nice Godin, or higher end Washburn, The company has some other great products
Product: Washburn BT2
Price Paid: US $149.00
Submitted 12/09/2000
at 06:49pm
by dick guzinya
Email: mungastrunz<at>aol dot com
Features
:
8
2 humbuckers, grover tuners, gibson style bridge, green, made in indonesia probally by some kids moonlighting from Kathy lee Gifford's factory
Sound
:
9
I play blues, old rock, new rock covers, and a little jazz. I play thru a Fender Hot Rod with a TS-9 and a big muff when I need it. The stock neck pickup sounded okay thruout and the bridge was seriously lacking oomph and could of passed for a single coil. I installed Seymour Duncan '59 Humbuckers in both positions and it made all the difference in the world! I highly reccomend this mod. I could of lived with the stock neck pickup, as it was very versatile but you WILL have the tone of a high dollar Les Paul with this mod. Other than that, It has always stayed in tune(I had to tighten the tuners up on the first string change) I am very happy with this axe. I highly reccomend it stock for beginners or even gigging with the '59s.
Action, Fit, & Finish
:
8
as stated above, the only problem was the loose tuners. I snugged them up and its always in tune.
Reliability/Durability
:
10
Had it for 2.5 years now, no problems. its my main humbucker axe.Had a drunk knock it off the stand, good to go.
Customer Support
:
No Opinion
so far so good
Overall Rating
:
10
I've been playing a little over 5 years. For the money, it has good tuners, the bridge is solid, good quality pots, and has a great playing neck. I compared it to the yamaha, epiphone special, and squier. My decision was based on good sound and quality hardware. the only place they skimped was on the pickups. the neck p/u sounds good but the bridge is thin. The mod makes my fender hot rod sing beautifully clean and driven. Great choice for an axe under 200.00
Product: Washburn BT2
Price Paid: US $185
Submitted 09/19/2000
at 08:05pm
by OTTO
Email: otto<at>arcadiacomputers dot com
Features
:
8
I just want to update my previous review, since I totally destroyed the guitar there.
I wanted to tell you that I got so angry because the response to the tuning problem I got from Washburn was "Try Changing the tuners" I bought the guitar NEW and it came directly from the factory, so why should I change tuners In a new Guitar.
After I decided to put new Strings (D'addario 0.9's) The problem was solved a 90%, Now it goees out of tune only after some playing and a lot of bendings, which is OK for any guitar.
With this problem solved the guitar sounds a lot better, Replacement pickups would be fine if you want a better sound. Maybe washburn should pay atenttion to this and put better strings on the guitar.
Sound
:
8
Action, Fit, & Finish
:
1
Reliability/Durability
:
6
Customer Support
:
1
Overall Rating
:
8
Product: Washburn BT2
Price Paid: US $180
Submitted 08/06/2000
at 12:25am
by Ed Kraft
Email: ekraft<at>spectrum-color dot com
Features
:
No Opinion
pretty straight-forward stuff here. 2 humbuckers, tune-o-matic stop, grovers. nothing out of the ordinary
Sound
:
7
sound is OK.
the humbucker in the neck position is very true & clean - and sounds much better than most stock neck position pickups... not much hum or excess noise, and relative position to the strings & neck is real good.
the Bridge humbucker is flat out horrible. it's weak, and pretty much everything sounds flat with it.
i play mainly hard rock/metal, and blues.
this guitar works great for the bluesier stuff, because the neck pickup can be exploited for some pretty good tones.
however, if you're looking for high-gain type sound for metal and the likes, you might want to think twice... forget about squealing with pinch harmonics - even with tons of distortion/gain, i don't get nearly what i want for those "extra nuances" you hear in metal.
sustain is decent, and pretty true.
i have 2 other electrics - a BC Rich ST, and a cheap Les Paul copy.
the BC Rich kick this thing's ass for metal.
i play through occassional various effects and mainly a Crate 20w stereo chorus.
Action, Fit, & Finish
:
9
action/playability - this baby's a 10!
i love the way it plays. frets, fingerboard, neck & neck radius, all are prime.
this guitar plays easy and comfortably.
finish - all is OK. a few minor (and i mean MINOR) flaws.
Reliability/Durability
:
4
here's where i have a few small problems.
this guitar is fine, but i'm not 100% confident i could play this without a backup.
the nut is questionable, and the tuners (Grovers - which are usually decent and reliable) are questionable.
staying in tune long-term is problem!
Customer Support
:
No Opinion
Overall Rating
:
7
been playing it for 8 months, now.
and for a second (or third) guitar, this is not bad at all for the price. but like i mentioned before, i can't imagine playing this as my primary guitar for (if for no other reason) it's "tuning" problems/concerns.
Product: Washburn BT2
Price Paid: US $320
Submitted 06/09/2000
at 11:17am
by Anonymous
Features
:
7
I't pretty basic. It's got a laminated top. It alos has 2 humbuckers. Seems designed for lots of crunch.
Sound
:
6
The sound is pretty bad through my amp but great through my friend's half-stack. I think that's because my amp just sucks. The sound is a little dead no matter where I play it though.
Action, Fit, & Finish
:
7
I had to get the action lowered as soon as I got it. One of the pickups had gotten loose and was shaking around. That was after a couple of weeks. They could've rounded the edges of the fret board. I must say though that I really like the look of my guitar a lot.
Reliability/Durability
:
6
It has been ok live so far. I always have a backup. It'll last for a while, but the main disadvantage is that the strings break a lot.
Customer Support
:
7
I talked to them once and they were ok.
Overall Rating
:
7
It's been a good guitar to me. If I could do it again, I would have bought a better amp to go with it, but it's too late now. I'll have to do that later. It's sounds really good with effects on it.
Product: Washburn BT2
Price Paid: 525,-
Submitted 06/02/2000
at 04:48pm
by Anonymous
Features
:
8
I think you've seen a lot of this item from the users before me. So YES it's a guitar, small and handy, not very heavy and has a nice finish. The rose-wood on the neck is almost a must for me because it's the only right material for it I believe.
Sound
:
9
I play in 2 different bands a easy country and 70's rock band, and the other one with a lot of top 100 songs like Queen, Simple Minds and of course in our country so called NederPop. The BT-2 holds up very good for both styles and I think it sounds more special than the 'ordenary' Fender Strat's (And a lot cheaper). I use it on a marshall Combo 100Watt amp, and sometimes on my Dynacord emiment II tube amp with the origenal Super 76 tape echo. We'll I can really say it's a sound that I've never had before so I'm very happy I found (the cheap Les Paul) the BT-2.
Action, Fit, & Finish
:
7
The finish is a cherry (sunburst-like) colour, and I specially like the knobs on it very well done Washburn! The tuner work good although I believe they are a bit sensitive.
Reliability/Durability
:
9
I also have a XB400 bantham bass for a few years and never had any problems with my to Washburn's. It's fine quality stuff.
Customer Support
:
No Opinion
Overall Rating
:
No Opinion
Product: Washburn BT2
Price Paid: US $185
Submitted 06/01/2000
at 11:33pm
by OTTO
Email: otto<at>arcadiacomputers dot com
Features
:
No Opinion
Year: 2000, Made in Indonesia, 22 Frets, Laminated top, 1 Volume, 1 Tone, 3 way Selector, 2 Washburn Eliminator passive Humbuckers, Laminated Mahogany Body, Black finish, Kind of Peavey Wolfgang Body shape, Les paul type bridge, Grover Tuners.
Includes a cable
Sound
:
1
I'm using this guitar through a MESA/BOOGIE Tri-Axis Preamp, A MESA/BOOGIE 20/20 Power amp, Alesis Quadraverb, MARSHALL Cabinet.
The Guitar isn't noisy (humbucker guitars aren't supposed to be) The pickups are too loud. (Distortion should come from your preamp, amp, or pedal, but not from your pickup)
I play Blues/Funk/Metal/Rock/Alternative/Jazz/Pop. I just wanted a guitar without a floyd rose, for alternate tunings.
Please read next part.
Action, Fit, & Finish
:
1
Let me start by saying that this guitar has been my worst nightmare. It simply CAN'T stay in tune. No, no.. not after playing for an hour, half hour, not after bending like crazy... NO, You just tune it, play a chord and it's completely out of tune. I thought the problem was th new strings, maybe the change of temperature. NO, this is simply the worst instrument I've ever had in my hands. When I checked it with a digital tuner, I found out that if you tune an open string and then press any fret and check the tuner, it would never be in tune, it would never play the note it's supposed to! Now try making a simple Chord like a 5th. No way, Out of tune. Imagine what happens when you add more notes or when you play them up the fretboard. My ears still hurt ! The Guitar was setup up terribly from the factory. Well, anyway there's nothing a guy can do to set up this Toy-Guitar. At First I hoped an earthquake would destroy Indonesia, specially the part where Washburn makes these guitars, but then I realised that not even the God helped by Jimi Hendrix could set up this guitar well.
The D string sounds as if it had a Flanger effect for itself. (Maybe a guy line Tom Morello could find a use for it, but not me).
The guitar came directly from the factory (the store I bought it from did't have it at the time) It came with dents, the nut holes are very open, I don't thik the joint of the neck and the peghead will last more than a month. The frets are GLUED to the fretboard and are not well aligned. There's something very interesting which I had never seen in the 12 years I've been playing guitar: you tune the guitar, which rests on your leg, then you move it and hear how the tuning changes, it goes down. this is incredible, I check the bolt on neck an it was well screwed. I don't understand this at all.
Also the frets are uneven. You can see drops of the protecting material on the fretboard. there's also a dent on the fretboard.
Reliability/Durability
:
1
I would NEVER play live with this guitar. I would get killed by a bottle or something they throw at me. If I can't return it I will definitely pay homage to Hendrix BURNING it, and then breaking it. Or I might use it in my car as a weapon. You never know ! Also for practicing my golf swing.
Customer Support
:
No Opinion
I don't Know. Don't wanna know. Don't want this guitar
Overall Rating
:
1
I have been playing for 12 years. So believe me I know what I'm talking about. I own 2 Fenders, 2 Ibanez, an Ovation and a Yamaha.
I have MARSHALLS, MESA BOOGIES, A lot of different pedals from Boss, Dunlop Wah, Fender Jazz Bass, Ensoniq keyboards, Computer recording hardware and software.
I know this is a +-200$ guitar, so I didn't expect it to sound as a P.R.S or a Les Paul, but at least to have the name: GUITAR, it has to be able to get in tune. Don't you think ? Otherwise it's a toy. (And even the toy guitars I had as a child, could get in tune!)
If it were stolen I would be sorry if the guy who did it got caught, since it's not worth the trouble, Better steal a pack of beer or something you can enjoy.
The worst thing is that the guitar design is so beautiful. I had seen this guitar for years, and always liked its shape. It's a shame that such a beautiful instrument is such a piece of shit !
I blame all of you, people who wrote reviews about this guitar for having me throw my money away. The Worst of all is that I live in South America. It cost me about 200$ to get the guitar here (more than it cost) and now I don't know how much it's going to cost me to send it back, and to receive another one).
I think that the ones who wrote the nice reviews are the people from the manufacturer. SHAME on YOU !!
Product: Washburn BT2
Price Paid: US $199
Submitted 05/23/2000
at 04:10pm
by Ryan Poe
Email: menaceatl<at>hotmail dot com
Features
:
9
Unique body shope. 22 Frets. Solid Top. Two very nice humbucking pickups. Tune-o-matic floating bridge. Grover tuning pegs. Neck is rosewood medium spaced frets. Piece of monkey crap gig bage... it fell apart at it's first show.
Sound
:
9
Well, I am a punk rocker. The BT-2 is awsome for newschool, as well as old school punk. In a sense... an afordable Les Paul in my opinion. I play it through a big muff, and it is the sweetest sound I have ever been able to make. Is can be very thick or bery rich... versitility is the right word for it. I get really great pick scrapes with it and the palm mutes are bad ass. I think it sounds awsome... you can't beat it for the money.
Action, Fit, & Finish
:
9
Whole guitar is really well put together. Action is perfect. I never once had to mess with the pickups. For the most part it is just a well put together guitar... I can't complain.
Reliability/Durability
:
No Opinion
It has never failed me. The hardware WILL last. I accidently chip the paint in a band/fan fight. But I never messed up the finish without being stupid with it. Strap buttons need to be tightened occasionaly
Customer Support
:
No Opinion
N/A
Overall Rating
:
9
AWSOME... I recomend it... trust me.
Product: Washburn BT2
Price Paid: US $220
Submitted 04/28/2000
at 09:49pm
by Dave
Email: pumakings at aol<dot>com
Features
:
8
Bought in 1998. Laminated Top. Volume/ 3 Way selector controls. 2 humbuckers (Washburn Elimators). Tune-O-Matic Bridge. Grover Tuners.
Sound
:
8
Sounds great for any music style, although I recommend some thick strings. I am using a Fender Princeton amp with no effects and it still sounds pretty good. Sound is not as rich as I'd like and not as bright as I'd like. The real high notes do not sound all too great, although the lows sound good.
Action, Fit, & Finish
:
9
Low action and pickups can be adjusted accordingly. Very well setup. Tuning pegs are very good.
Reliability/Durability
:
10
Very reliable; have had no problems. Very durable; I must have dropped it fifty times. Finish is excellent. Very dependable; no backup needed.
Customer Support
:
No Opinion
Never had to deal with it.
Overall Rating
:
10
Been playing for 5 years and (not to toot my own horn) but I think I know my stuff and this is a good guitar. If it was stolen, I'd try to find another b/c it is within my budget. I like the way the headstock looks.
Product: Washburn BT2
Price Paid: US $199
Submitted 03/05/2000
at 12:05pm
by casey drummond
Email: chessking21<at>hotmail dot com
Features
:
No Opinion
This is just a follow-up on my review made on 2/11/00.
Customer Support
:
8
Well, after one of washburn's customer service people read my review on customer support, he contacted me and answered all of my questions. So I will bump this rating up to an 8 from a 4.
Overall Rating
:
No Opinion
below
Product: Washburn BT2
Price Paid: US $199
Submitted 02/11/2000
at 10:39pm
by casey drummond
Email: chessking21<at>hotmail dot com
Features
:
8
This guitar was made in Indonesia, I think in 1998 or 1999. It has 22 frets, a laminated top, 1 volume and 1 tone control, H/H pickup config., grover tuners, and a nice cherry sunburst finish. Came with a verrrrrrrryyyyy cheap gig bag.
Sound
:
7
The sound is of this guitar is great for a beginner. The stock pickups are not all that great, but for the price of the guitar, I wasn't expecting much. I changed the bridge pickup with a Seymour Duncan Distortion and the guitar sounds much better. When using the Bridge pickup alone, the sound is very bright (when using the Seymour Duncan Pickups) I have a zoom 1010 multi-effects processor and it gives the guitar very good sounds. If your just using an inexpensive amp with little or no effects, the guitar will sound like a piece of crap. The only thing I don't like about the sound is that the stock neck pickup is very quiet.
Action, Fit, & Finish
:
9
When I bought the guitar I didn't know too much about action or fit, and still don't (been playing for 4 or 5 years). I haven't had any major problems with the action. The grover tuners work really well, especially for a $200 dollar guitar. There is a little fret buzz with the high E string but I can live with it. The finish looks really nice on this guitar! Overall, the guitar holds up well.
Reliability/Durability
:
8
I've never gigged in my life but if I did I'm pretty sure this guitar will hold up. I play sitting down most of the time, but when standing , the strap buttons do there job. Never had a problem with them. I would definately use a backup with this guitar or with a $2000 guitar. Always have a backup. The finish last, but I've traveled with it without a case and now it has a few minor scrathes.
Customer Support
:
4
I've e-mailed washburn several times and I never received a reply so.. my rating speaks for itself!
Overall Rating
:
8
I've been playing for about 4-5years. I've been playing well only for about 1 1/2 years. I wish I knew more about guitars before I purchased this one. But like I said earlier, this is a great beginner guitar. I also have a Lotus (don't know what kind, anitique), Abilene strat(generic brand. The washburn sounds better than the abilene but the Lotus blows this thing away. Since I'm an intermediate guitar player now, I'm going to trade this guitar in for a hamer sunburst archtop($499) and buy a fender princeton 65. One more thing, this guitar came with a very cheap gig bag from M.F., the zipper was broke before it arrived, just kidding, but it is very cheap. The guitar also came with a cable and a washburn t-shirt.
Product: Washburn BT2
Price Paid: US $300
Submitted 01/10/2000
at 02:10pm
by Sum Yung Goy
Features
:
7
This guitar was made in Indonesia, has 22 frets, and is made out of laminated Mahoginy. It has one volume and one tone control and two humbucking pickups (which suck).
Sound
:
5
This guitar is fine for a beginning guitar but it really sucks clean and the distorted sounds are ok. It almost always needs to be tuned though.
Action, Fit, & Finish
:
6
There are no flaws in the body except the strings are alittle too hard to press down than other guitars that I have played.
Reliability/Durability
:
2
I probably wouldn't use this guitar live if you do alot of playing clean stuff cause you would probably get booed off the stage for it sounding so sh*tty.
Customer Support
:
No Opinion
Never Delt with them!
Overall Rating
:
4
I have been playing for a year now and I just have a Zoom 3030 muli-effects console and the boss metal zone into a Peavy express 112 65 watt amp. If this guitar were stolen or lost I wouldn't care, I'd pay someone to steal this thing. I hope to get rid of it sometime this year and get a nice 7-string.
Product: Washburn BT2
Price Paid: US $229.99
Submitted 12/30/1999
at 10:31pm
by BRB
Email: brockley at napanet<dot>net
Features
:
10
Made in 1999 in Idonesia. 22 frets, maple neck with rosewood fretboard. Laminated body of multiple layers of wood. Not sure which kind. One volume and one tone control with two passive humbucking pickups. Cherry sunburst finish which absolutely beautiful. Crop between Strat and Les Paul body. Tune-O-Matic bridge with Grover tuners. Included amp, gigbag, guitar, strap, picks, extra strings, hex wrench, cord, lesson book, and an electric tuner. These features are great for the price for the beginner or experienced player.
Sound
:
8
I am just a beginner and it sounds fine to me but I don't really know what sound I want to play. I am hoping to play metal or rock and it sounds like it will do that just fine. Using it with the included amp(15 watt washburn w/ overdrive). Full sound on neck and bright sound from bridge or vice versa. Not sure what the capabilities of this guitar are because I am only a beginner.
Action, Fit, & Finish
:
8
It was set up fine except the neck tuner was a little lower than I wanted but otherwise it was perfect. The string action is good but since I am only a beginner, I dont really know what I am looking for in action. Everythig looks fine but I have only had it for a few days.
Reliability/Durability
:
No Opinion
As I have only had this for a few days I do not know this yetbut it seems very durable.
Customer Support
:
No Opinion
Haven't had to deal with them.
Overall Rating
:
9
I would definitely buy this again if mine was lost or stolen. I hope it turns out to be my only guitar and will last forever. It is a great value for $230 including all the features listed above.
Product: Washburn BT2
Price Paid: US $189
Submitted 11/30/1999
at 09:34am
by U . 4 . E . A .
Features
:
8
T'was made in Indonesia in '99. Mahogany solid-top cherry sunburst body. 22 fret maple neck (rosewood fretboard) with truss rod. Volume and tone knobs with a three-way pickup selector. Two Washburn stock humbuckers with passive electronics. Locking Grover machineheads. Stop tailpiece. Came with a strap, cable and tools to adjust the bridge and truss-rod.
Sound
:
9
I play it through a 15W practice amp and can easily say: its amazing for metal. You can get lots of chunky rhythm tones using the bridge humbucker alone. The neck pickup muddies with too much gain and its a good idea to keep the tone knob above 7 (treble). The neck pickup really adds warmth to leads. The clean tones are also pretty good: the in-between setting and even the neck pickup alone sounds rich and full which makes strumming open-chords a whole lot fun. It does thin out a bit on the high E (clean and distorted).
Action, Fit, & Finish
:
9
It was beautifully set straight out of the box. The neck is slim and not very wide (excellent for small hands) and plays real fast. Amazing fret job and the action was heavenly. Low enough to make fretting easy and best of all: no buzzes! The pickups were perfectly adjusted (the neck pickup was a bit lower - just the way I like it). Probably the most amazing finish I have even seen (cherry sunburst) and the laquer was perfect. One flaw: the straplocks sucked. I had one come straight out while I had the axe strapped on. That problem is easily fixed though (you may contact me for an easy solution). Rock solid after I fixed 'em up (my bassist tried pulling one out as hard as he could .. all he managed to do was loosen it after about half a minutes straining). The strings it came with were too light ... am gonna get a thicker gauge soon.
Reliability/Durability
:
10
This axe is solid. It will withstand live playing without a hitch .. the only thing you need to worry about is breaking a string. The finish is thick and will withstand many a gig .. hardware seems solid as well. After you fix up the straplocks, they wont pose a problem either. I've only had it a week and have already gigged without a backup. Seems dependable enough.
Customer Support
:
No Opinion
Limited life-time warranty.
Overall Rating
:
10
I have been playing guitar for about a year now, though I only got this axe a week ago. This guitar is definately worth every penny spent on it, and I would buy it again. Its perfect in almost every role: from acting as a backup for a pro to a beginners first guitar. Coil taps would have been nice but you can still pull through a lot of convincing tones out of this beast. Plus they would only serve to confuse beginners. I love it for its versatility and the fact that you can get a quality axe for not a whole lotta money. Comparable to the Epi LP Standard and the Ibanez GAX. Waaaaaay better than Squiers, LP Special's and Ibanez GRX's. All hail the Indonesians (I'm not Indonesian BTW).
Product: Washburn BT2
Price Paid: US $189
Submitted 10/16/1999
at 10:03am
by Greg
Email: gnv<at>uswest dot net
Features
:
9
Indonesian made, two humbuckers, mahogany body, maple neck, rosewood fretboard, bolt on neck, Washburn 200 series pickups, grover tuners, and a standard bridge.
Sound
:
3
Well, in a nutshell the BT2 I got was a lemon and thankfully I no longer own it. Fretbuzz would only go away after I raised the strings to a painful height and it overdrove the clean channel on my amp (100 watt Marshal Valvestate) for just a split second. The latter problem wasn't really noticable until after a year of owning. At first I thought it was my amp but luckily it wasn't, just the cheap guitar. I play a lot of metal and it worked fine for that but for the clean channel...forget it. Also, the sound lacked a lot of character (cheap pickups) and sustain (bolt on neck) even on distortion and even more on clean---I just couldn't get a great sound out of it. It took it in to the dealer and he offered to trade me for another guitar. Not wanting another BT2 I asked if I could upgrade. He said yes and I walked away with a Washburn WI64 Icon. My new axe has a warmer, fuller sound with much more sustain. Also, it feels like a "real guitar".
Action, Fit, & Finish
:
4
Everything seemed sound except for the fretboard which looked a little lumpy and uneven. I missed this observation 'cause I was new at buying and setting up guitars. It took me almost a year to realize what was wrong. One of the guys at Appleway said that Indonesian necks are poorly made and that they have had some problems because of "less experience". Another thing, the neck is fairly narrow so if you have big hands like me you won't like how it feels.
Reliability/Durability
:
No Opinion
As sturdy as can be expected, just had a bad neck and overly hot pickups.
Customer Support
:
No Opinion
Dealer was great. Didn't deal with Washburn, though.
Overall Rating
:
4
I've been playing for ten years and I bought this 'cause I wanted a guitar with a humbucker. I had a strat (Martin Stinger) with single coils for about nine years and it was a much better guitar. Owning one guitar for so long really didn't help my skills at shopping for a new axe. I must stress that the problems I had are probably not the norm for all BT2s. It has terrific features at a very reasonable price and would probably make a great first guitar. However, if you've been playing for awhile, you might wanna look on.
Product: Washburn BT2
Price Paid: US $169
Submitted 09/29/1999
at 02:31pm
by MIke
Email: Crescentfresh81 at hotmail<dot>com
Features
:
9
This guitar was made in 1998 in Indoneasia I think.. It has 22 frets and it has a laminated mahogany body. It has two Washburn "Eliminator" humbuckers and a Tune-O-Matic bridge. The electronics are passive. It is finished in a beautiful cherry sunburst. The tuners are Grovers and they lock. The controls are a tone control and a volume control with knobs similar to a les paul. I'm not sure of the body style of this guitar but it looks like a cross between a srat body and a double cut away les paul. The neck is made out of maple and the fingerboard is rosewood. The only accessories it came with was a cord, hex wrench, and a pick.
Sound
:
9
The sound of this guitar is great. I play everything from blues to metal. I use it with a Fender M-80 chorus and a Fender Princeton 112 Plus. For effects, I use a Zoom 505 and the chorus on my M-80 which sounds really nice with this guitar. It is not noisy at all. There is no hum. The sound is semi-bright but on clean it is a little bassy, even with the tone all the way up and the bridge pickup active. The bassy sound is good for playing haevy music and rock though. The guitar can make from mellow and sweet to raunchy death sounds. I personally like the sound of this guitar very much, but I wish it was just a little less bassy.
Action, Fit, & Finish
:
8
The set-up that Washburn gave it I don't personally like too much. The strings sit a little high on the board. The rest is fine. The cherry sunburst laminate is very attractive and pretty and I have recieved numerous compliments on the looks of this guitar. It had no flaws. The harware is in tip top shape and the electronics work absolutely perfectly. The knob on one of the Grovers comes loose sometimes and the jack comes loose easily.
Reliability/Durability
:
10
This guitar has stood up to everything I have ever given to it. I beat on this guitar and it looks brand new. The hardware will last and I know this because not only is it high quality, but it has also proven itself worthy through my constant abuse. I thrash with this guitar if that makes it a little bit clearer to you about the quality. The thing has no dents, just a small nick on the bottom. There are a few pick scratches, but this happens to every guitar. The finish is fine. It has not worn at all yet and I don't think it ever will. The strap buttons are fairly solid, but should just be a little wider to prevent the strap from falling off. I depend on this guitar all the time. It is my main axe. I would use it at a gig without a backup and I have before. Basically, this axe is built like a tank.
Customer Support
:
No Opinion
I've never had to deal with anyone about this guitar. All repairs I do myself, and they've only been tightening the loose Grover and the jack.
Overall Rating
:
10
This guitar was obviously built to last. It is in new condition. It looks like I bought it today. I have used it at every gig which tells me it is very dependable. If it were stolen or lost, I'd definately buy another one. I love the looks, the sound, everything. I lovge the looks the most. I did compare it to other guitars. I compared it to some Epiphones and I don't remember the rest. I got this guitar mainly because of the looks, but the sound is great too. One thing I wish it had is a center single coil pickup for getting that more mellow, less bassy tone. I just want to say if you come across this guitar, get it. It's well worth your money and it comes with some top of the line features.
Product: Washburn BT2
Price Paid: US $189
Submitted 03/30/1999
at 05:57pm
by Nat Pike
Email: bugfish at earthlink<dot>net
Features
:
8
This is a pretty basic 2 humbucker, 22 fret electric guitar. It was made in Indonmesia; not sure what year it was made but I bought it new in 1998. It has one volume and one tone control, and a three postition pickup switch in roughly the same position on the body as a Les Paul. It has a solid body, sloid black finish, grover tuners, and a tune-o-matic bridge. The neck is maple with a rosewood fretboard. It didn't come with any accesories, but shop where I bought it also deals used stuff and they threw in a case. I didn't care much for the set of strings that was on it when I bought it, and I immediately replaced them with Fender 10s. Prety basic stuff, but then again, that's what I was looking for. I use it primarily for recording at home, so looks were not all that important to me, but it is not an unatractive piece. I would have liked a whammy bar, but I was willing to sacrifice it for getting something that plays nicely in the preice range I was shopping.
Sound
:
8
Pretty much the seeling point of this guitar for me was it's ability to sound sort of like a Les Paul in the neck pickup- nice and rich- and sort of like a Strat in the bridge pickup. The center position sounds kind of flat and dull to me and I almost never use it. I also almost never use the tone control, because if you back it to far off of the trebble position, it seems to lose some gain.
Overall, however, it sounds fine for my pourposes. I use it almost exclusively for recording at home, and I almost always run it through my Pandora's Box effects unit, and I have usually been able to tayler the tone I want with that or with the mixer on my recorder. I record a variety of styles, and it sounds good both through distortion, especially for rhythm, and clean. I do not cincider myself a lead guitarist, but I do play solos when I record, and it could have a it more sustain than it does for that purpose. A couple of the units I tried when shopping had some fret buzz, but this one is basically clean. I also tend to fingerpick most of the time, and unlike some other guitars I tried out, the actual sound of my fingers picking the strings doesn't dominate the sound.
Action, Fit, & Finish
:
9
About the only problem I had with the way this guitar was set up when I got it was the strings, which may just be a metter of taste. Action is decent- I don't have to killmy fingers to hold down a fret. It doesn't go out of tune very much, even with all the string bending I like to do. String bending isn't such a good idea after about fret 15 or so though, as it looses some sustain in the proccess. Otherwise it's a comfortable guitar and easy to play.
Reliability/Durability
:
10
I have lost count how many times I have dropped this thing. I have a tendancy to lean it against the wall or table, a turn around, and hear it slide and crash to the ground. I have also inadvertantly short-corded myself yanked the jack pretty well a couple of times without any damage. If it can survive me, it must be pretty solid. I don't have to baby this guitar.
Overall Rating
:
10
I have been playing since my mid teens, and I am 31 now. Most of that time a guitar was just a tool for songwriting, and my seriousness as a musician has been as a bass guitarist. Only in the last few years have I needed better guitars for recording. I also own a Fender JazzBass and a Fender Acoustic bass, as well as an $8 yard sale acoustic classical which I love. If it were stolen, lost, or I finally dropped it one too many times, I would be very likely to get another. It's all about price range, really. If I had more to spend on a guitar, I might get something different. But nothing else in this pricerange had the feel and sounds I wanted. Overall I would recommend this guitar (and have done so) to anyone on a budget that wanted a decent electric guitar.
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