Washburn CS780

the finish is a satin blue color with golden hardware. 24 frets, locking system and floyd rose (licensed). The features are the same as decribed below for the korean version.

I like the sound, is very bassy and warm. I play metal and this guitar is great for heavy riffs. I wonder how it will sound qith some EMGs or some seymour duncans.

I like the fit and action of the hole guitar except for the floy rose. I can't use it for more than a couple of a times wihtout having to re-adjust it. Is not very sensitive and I can only use it for some wild stunts, but not for adding a small "touch" to solos. I would like to change it for a "real" one.

I'm the second owner of this guitar and it stills looking good.

Very versatil guitar for the money. Nice body, nice sound, decent finish.

La CS780 est? construida en China, no as? teniendo una mala calidad como la mayor?a de guitarras de ?sta f?brica. Tiene un cuerpo de Caoba el cu?l le proporcina un buen sustain. Posee un m?stil r?pido Fabricado en Madera Palorosa. Posee un cuerpo muy similar al de la Ibanez JS (Signature de Joe Satriani). Posee 24 espacios y incrustaciones diente de tibur?n. Tiene la configuraci?n H-S-H la cu?l hace que sea una guitarra muy vers?til. Tiene un tono y un Vol?men para las pastillas.

Es una guitarra que me acomoda mucho al estilo metal el cu?l yo toco. Posee un acople m?nimo por lo cu?l me acomoda mucho el sonido de ?sta guitarra. Sin duda con un cambio de pastillas ser?a un sonido m?s que impecable.

Las c?psulas poseen una ganancia sin duda muy buena pero a la vez producen un acople minimo que es casi imperceptible al o?do (son buenas pero obviamente no las mejores). Posee una raspadura la cu?l le hize con un choque al techo de mi casa, Jajaja, sin duda una peque?a falta de cuidado, es una guitarra muy bien terminada y posee accesorios de buena calidad de mi punto de vista.

La guitarra no la he ocupado en actuaciones en vivo pero no me cabe la duda de que est? constru?da para estas instancias. El Hardware no ha presentado rupturas ni nada por el estilo por lo cu?l no tengo opini?n acerca de si es o no duradero. Los colgadores de la correa parecen resistentes y no he tenido que apretarlos en ninguna ocasi?n

La guitarra es excelente en una relaci?n Precio/Calidad, sin duda tiene comparaci?n con otras de su especie que la superan en precio. Con un peque?o arreglo, ya sea, cambio de c?psulas, cambio de Floyd Rose y Morsa trabacuerdas esta guitarra quedar?a al nivel de una guitarra profesional mucho m?s cara del presupuesto gastado

2003 Korean made 24 fret full 25.5" scale with maple body(purple) and maple neck with rosewood fingerboard and sharkfin inlays. Gold hardware including licensed Floyd Rose copy setup. H/S/H pickup configuration with a pull switch to split humbuckers into single coil configuration on the fly. Solid body front with rear mounted electronics. Body is contoured and slim with the Chicago style cut away that makes the entire neck accessable with little effort.

Compared to my 1978 American Standard Strat this thing is absolutely quiet in the humbucking mode. Using the center single coil pickup by itself introduces a noticeable hum, but still minimal by comparison. The combination positions on the 5 way switch, positions 2 and 4, don't give as much character as the Stratocaster does in the same setting, the only feature I would have added to this guitar would have been phase reversal. As someone else commented, the woods they selected are quite tonal and provide a suprising amount of sustain for a bolt on neck, not only that, but it is appreciably controllable sustain at that. For shredding, this thing rocks and I ended up introducing a knew callous to my middle finger since this baby made scales so fun to play. Gain and sustain for shred, control and subtlety for smooth. A variety of character for sure.

I ended up taking mine to my local luthier to get the action dropped about 1 millimeter, the neck was more bowed from the factory than I like. The Floyd Rose clone bridge seemed to function fine and with a little practice you can find a good angle of attack to rest your hand on the bridge without introducing movement and subsequent pitch change. Interestingly the locking nut doesn't have bolts going through the neck so it's functional and yet maintains a nice appearance. The body's contours are very nicely done, with the body feeling and looking too light, yet the guitar has a true balance to it. The end result being that you have more access to all of the features, so much that you can feel the difference playing.

First off, anyone who does a gig with Floyd Rose without a backup is a fool. One broken string and your guitar is a useless stick of wood. However, this guitar is pretty dependable and seems to withstand some exaggerated stretches without incident. Keeping strings fresh pretty much dispels any unrealibility with this one. Strap buttons have a small feltpad to keep them from boring into the body, a nice touch. While they may be difficult to use strap-locs with, their slightly larger size(diameter) makes standard straps grab ahold better. The satin finish on the neck makes for a drag free surface as opposed to varnished or painted necks.

I've been playing for over 30 years, mostly bass. I bought my 1978 Stratocaster American-made brand new and that has been my guitar ever since. However, I decided to go for a back up guitar while I am getting some custom work done. After buying this Washburn, I might have a hard time splitting duties with the Strat once I get it back. While I had intended to get something less of a Strat style than the CS780, I really enjoy how this guitar is laid out - the design, the weight, the electronics, it's just a damn good guitar that allows you to portray your sound as you seem fit. Personally, I run mine through a brand new Crate GTX1200H head and a 4-12" Crate cab. The combination of that amp's 3 dinstictive channels and the Washburn's H/S/H - S/S/S combinations makes for some really distinctive sounds coming from a single guitar source.

Stolen or lost, not on my watch with my gear. However, should this end up missing, I'd replace it in kind for sure.

What year was it made? Where was is made? (Japan, Mexico, USA, etc...)
- 2000/2001
- Korea

How many frets?
- 24, pretty big frets but they're very nice

Which controls are given
- volume, tone, 5 way selector and a coil splitter

Pickup configuration?
H/S/H with coilsplitter.. so also S/S/S

Body and neck woods?
- Maple body and neck, rosewood fretboard with sharkfin inlays, no binding


Finish
- sprakly black, looks really classy

Body style
- RG, but much nicer, rounder, thinline body!

Bridge style
- floyd

Neck/Scale
25,5"

I play everything.. mostly Metal and shred stuff and some blues

use it with a marshall valvestate, with Boss MT2, GE7, DD3, CH1, FV50H and a cry baby

it is a really quiet guitar, I was stunned to see how quiet it was compared to my other guitars (Ibanez RG and ESP V-350)

listen to Dream Evil - Children of the Night
it is EXACTELY that sound

it is the most variaty guitar available..it has a great metal sound, good blues sound, really sparkly clean

I was also suprised by the sustain.. really good, especially when you hit a note and pull the trem up en down really soft

low action, set-up was done by the store, they did a great job

finish is rock solid, so is the guitar.. the maple body is really hard so it's dent free

it feels like a tank

Will this guitar withstand live playing?
it has been Emppu (nightwish)'s main guitar for years.. so yes.

Are the strap buttons solid?
yes.

Would you use it on a gig without a backup?
with this guitar I can honestly say that I would..

never dealed with them

How long have you been playing?
8 years

What other gear do you own?
Ibanez RG
Fender Strat standard
ESP LTD V-350 with dual EMG81s


If it were stolen or lost, would you buy it again or get something else?
definatley would buy one again.. I'd love a white one, but they aren't made anymore, and in the Netherlands they are quite rare

What do you love about it? What do you hate? What is your favorite feature?
Love the body shape, the gold hardware, the pickups, the coilsplitter
only dislike is the inlay on the 23 fret, looks kinda sloppy

Did you compare it to other guitars? Which ones? Why did you choose this one?
Compared it to loads of guitars.. Ibanez RGs, S series, Jacksons..
This guitar has so much class, and I got it really cheap.. it was originally 800 euro and I got it for 399!


Anything you wish it had?
white color..

Anything else you'd like to share?
if some people from the netherlands or belgium or germany have a white one, in good condition, please contact me..

great value, great guitar, this will last a life time

Mi modelo esta construido en China. Tiene cuerpo de caoba a diferencia del modelo korea/america que es de arce, lo que le da un caracter sonoro muy diferente aparte tambien por que sus mics no son duncan designed. Los accesorios son cromados.

Su sonido es MUY BUENO. Ideal para metal. Probandola junto con una cs780 korea, la china es mucho mas agradable con distorsion , no asi en un seteo limpio.
Mi configuracion es un Marshall VS100R y no soy adepto a los pedales y multifx.

Vino con unas cuerdas terribles de duras 0.10 y con el tremolo muy mal regulado. Tambien estaba mal calibrada.
Pero en si la terminacion del cuerpo como la del mastil es Muy buena.

Es una guitarra para tener, mas aun siendo una serie discontinuada desde hace un par de a?os.

Solo eventualmete en algun foro se encuentra algo de informacion.

Teniendo la posibilidad de comprar guitarras de mayor valor economico no encuentro un digno sustituto de esta gran guitarra.

This is a Korean Guitar, i really don't know the year that it was made. It has 24 frets, with shrkfin inlays, 1 volume and 1 tone controls, beside the pickup selector. The pickups are duncan design, H-SH. The body and the the neck are maple, and the fingerboard is rosewood. The body is very "RG" look alike. It has a floyd rose licensied tremolo.

The sound is great!! I play on a pop/rock band, and it fits perfectly. I also play haeavy metal, and the guitar continues to sound great. I use a WarmMusic 122Gt (120watts, brazilian made) and a Boss Metal Zone. The noise is nearly to inexistance. The sound has a lot of punch, great to the kind of music that i play.

Since i bought the guitar, i haven't see any problems about the pickups nor the bridge. All the hardware is on perfect conditions, just like the rest of the guitar

On live performances, it's great, i dont have any complaints about. I can depend totally on it. With this guitar, i dont have any need to another guitar on my setup.

This seens to be my only complain. When i bought the guitar, i sent an e-mail to the factory to discover things like the year of fabrication, the model of the pickups... I'm waiting for the reply since a week.

I bought this guitar for about two weeks, and i'm very happy with it. I tested several guitars (Jackson, Cort, Tagima, Ibanez) and i dont have any regrets about buyng that one. I recomend it for any person that can afford it

According to the serial, mine was made 2001 in Korea. It has 24 frets, 25 1/2" scale, two volyme and tone controls (Push/pull tone control coil tap), Licensed Floyd Rose, Buzz Feiten tuning system, Grover tuners. H/S/H pickups with passive Washburn (probably stock) pickups. Maple neck and body. Finish is Pearl White, wich is sorta' sparkly white, looks great! Beautiful gold hardware. Sharkfin inlays, and a "Chicago Series" inlay on the 23;rd fret. I didn't buy a case yet, but there's also a Washburn GC42 case for it. With it came the usual tools, a cord and the whammy bar. The guitar really has everything you need!

I was actually very positively suprised over its sound! I have also an Washburn N2 with a Washburn stock pickup in the neck position, and that pickup sucks!! I had already been thinking of diffrent pickups to install in it when I buy it, but I don't think I'll need to do that, atleast not now. It's 99.9% noiseless, exept the single coil, but all single coil's hum, that's why they invented a humbucker :). I'm not that good describing sounds, but this is how I think. A rich and thick sound, but still with enought brightness. Has a lot of balls but still not muddy! Perfect for solos because the pickups are so clear that you can hear every note, but the sound is still very thick and powerful. A lot of guitars (mostly cheaper, "middle class" guitars) have either a thick and warm sound with a lot of balls but no clarity, or a "castrated" thin and cold sound. The sound would fit best into heavy metal or rock, basically music where the guitar has to kick ass! The 5-way switch and the tone control provides flexibility and more control over your tone. I have yet to discover any dislikes about it... :)

I bought it as new, so the action was factory set = crap. But I think the factory guys don't put so mutch time and money to get the action and everything right, because there's no universal standard how the action is to be set. Some like it high, other low. The floyd caused some trouble at the beginning, I had a hard time getting the thing in tune, if the "thicker" E string was tuned, then the "thinner" e went out of tune etc. But after I tinkered with it for a while, I discovered that the floyd has to be adjusted right.... So now it's in tune! The tuners are really great, my Washburn N2 has also Grover tuners and their really great, keeps the guitar in perfect tune! The fretwork is great, no sharp edges or other signs of a poorly done job. The neck finish was a little bit dirty, but you can expect some dirt to come on it when it hangs in the guitar shop and people haven't washed their dirty paws :) But the finish seems to be very durable and could probably take a lot of abuse without cracking up. It's a very smooth finish too so it's easy to clean it. My Washburn N2 has a very light but very beautiful and nice finish, but it gets dirty very easy and it's hard to clean. So the Cs-780 finish is good for gigs, because you probably sweat a lot and the sweat could easily ruin any good finish, but not this one! :)

Overally it looks cool with the color combination of gold, white and black! Very comfortable to play with and looks cool on anybody.

I haven't had the opportunity yet to try it our live, but from what I've played at home with it, I think it's very reliable. But still I wouldn't play without an backup, even if it was stable as a rock, it has a Floyd Rose and your screwed if a string brakes during the gig and there's no backup. So only because of the Floyd I wouldn't play without a backup. The hardware is very sturdy and solid and basically the whole guitar seems to be very reliable. The strap buttons were in a way a little bit of a dissapointment, since the screwes are too big for the straplocks I usually install and rely on all my other guitars, so I have used it now without any straplocks, but it seems to work fine! The strapbuttons seems to be very solid and reliable.

Only dealt with the finnish distributors, then asking for the list price, were very nice people and emailed me an offer wich was much cheaper than the original list price. Seems to be ok fellows!

I have been playing for about 4-5 years, my style is mostly heavy metal, and this guitar fits perfectly in that style. The only thing I don't like about it is that the floyd's settings have to be perfect for it to work properly, but almost all floyds work that way so it's not really the guitars fault then... Also the screw that holds the strapbutton could be a little bit smaller so that my straplocks could fit there... But otherwise it has everything that I want/need. Can't really think of something that's missing from this guitar. It isn't perfect, but it's damn close! The design is simple but beautiful, both the looks and the sound fit well in all kind of music.

In short, this guitar is great for heavy metal and other style that demand powerful guitar tones that kick ass but is still very clear and crisp sound. And for the price, this guitar is way to cheap for it's quality, sound and looks, same goes for the Washburn N2. I have tested and owned some other guitars in the about the same price range by much bigger brands, and they have usually cost more than the Cs-780 and the N2 but had the quality of a 200 dollar beginners guitar!! Looks great, sounds great, feels great. Great guitar!

made in korea, 24 frets, volume, tone and 5-way switch, H/S/H pickup configuration, duncan designed pickups all passive, i have a pearl white finish, classic body and locking nuts.

I play metal and heavy rock, i play through a gt-3 and a peavey bandit 112, and i think you can get some pretty mean riffs outta this guitar, and some pretty nice bright sounds for solos. for the price i think its got more than expected

well i bought this guitar 2nd hand and it had some oxidised parts but nothing serious so i kept them, what i dislike most is the fack that tuning this guitar is nearly impossible as by pulling up one string the tension on the others go down and loose their tuning. but other than that i find it works fine

this guitar is pretty solid, wouldnt smash it against some table to try it but i think it can last a while. i havnt been playin for long so i havnt played in a gig yet but i would probably use this guitar as a back up when ill get a new one

Never dealt with them.

well as i said i aint been playin for long... a year to the most and this was my first guitar, ive tried out some other guitars n have to say this one beats them all.

My CS780 was made in Korea (I think so), it has 24 frets a five way selector, tap, 1 volume and 1 tone control. It has a H/S/H Configuration that can sound with the tap like a S/S/S Configuration (This feature is really cool). The Pickups are Duncan Design. I've tried but I've never been able to find out wich model and year of the pickups and the year of the guitar. It's probably passive electronics.
It's finish is great, it's black on the extremes and gets green on the center, like a sunburst. The bridge is an locking Folyd Rose and it's not very acurrate and the lowest E string on the G fret (3rd fret) makes a noise that here in Brasil we call "Trastejado". The jumbo frets also others me sometimes.
It didn't come with any accessories, just the whammy bar and the screwdriver. I would like to know ,if anybody knows, the specifications of year, model of pickups and the country that it was made cause i've seen in washburn page taht it is made in USA but I can't find the informations about thew cheaper versions that are made in other countries.

The sound is almost good. the pickups have a low output that really bothers me and the sound doe'sn't have any bright. If you don't use with any effects or equalizer the sound is really awful.
I use with a zoom 707 multi-effects pedal and I must put strong distortions or compressions so it can sounds good.If you put the higher distortion with the strogest compression and a lot of delay you can say that it sounds like a solo guitar. I've tried to sound like other musicians from jazz to Nu Metal but it haven't ever sound like a real guitar sound. The sound is not clear when distorted and doesn't have the punch that other cheaper guitars have.

After saying a lot of bad caracteristics of this guitar i must confess that the action is good. My hand fits very weel on it's neck and the exterior finish is great. But inside it's not so good.

I want to trade this guitar as soon as I earn some money. So it must last at least about 2 years. But i don't know.....

I would give 0 for this rating....
I can't find the specifications of my guitar.... It's worthless. Rally.

I think that who wants a solo or other kind of guitar must search another cause it worths only if you pay a little amount of money

Korea made, 24 frets maple neck, 2 layers (Mahogany+Alder(?)) arch-top body. H/S/H(by Washburn), 5way selector, level, tone with push-pull switch. Floyd-rose licensed. My gitar is black metallic with gold furniture.

I play hard blues like Satriani. Good gitar for accuracy and precision work with difficult theme (neck is so ideal for solo!!!). Wide range of sound from light single pickups to hard from humbackers.

Korea - best view but no accuracy inside. It doesn't matter if you never want to demount you gitar. After a little bit of lapping, like a tuning yours tremolo - lift it down, it`s a wery good instrument.

I've been playing for 7 years and this guitar is my best gitar. Prise, I've paid is Ok for this gitar, anf if its were stolen/broken etc I`d bay it again.

1999. Korea made 24 frets. Volume tone controls. HSH pickups-Duncan. passive electronics, violet. Floyd rose locking. Rosewood. Has a great neck, you can play very fast.

It's great for hard rock and heavy metal. It has to bright sound I prefer warm sound but that can be fixed with some effects. I play hard rock and it is cool combination with Marshall JCM-2000 TSL 100.
I like that you can hear the tone that you play and not some kaos like I get on Ibanez JS-1000 (I must sell that guitar).

I don't know 'cause I always when I buy new guitar I also buy new strigs and I fixed gutar like I want.

It is great gutar structur it look great it is heavy (that's something that i like on guitar) and it is very reliable. I can break a guitar and I would play on a gig without a backup.

I'm playing for about 7 years and it is realy great gutar. Some time I will buy a Gibson, when I will have the money. So it is perfect guitar for the money that you pay. I pay for exsample 1600$ for Ibanez JS-1000 but it is a piece of shit (I can't play a rhytm on it- it is guitar only for solo).

I think that it has a great number of features for the money. The grover tuners are great, and the HSH pickup configuration gives one of the best sounds I've ever played on.

I love the sound of this guitar!! It is really full, and when distorted, it has a great crunch, but it also brings out a great treble range too! It fits very well with my bands' other guitar player's Les Paul.

As I've read earlier, it does have a very low action. But i love it that way! I think this is the fastest playing guitar I've ever played! I also believe that it is a great looking guitar. I'm ashamed to say it, but the looks are what got me interested in the first place. When I saw it hanging in one of the local guitar shops, I said to myself, "Damn, thats a pretty guitar!!"

I could beat the hell out of this guitar, and it still stays in tune!! The one problem I had was that one of the knobs fell off... so i had to fix that. But other than that, nothing has gone wrong with it.

I haven't had to deal with this really. I did put a D-Tuna on it, so i had to put a piece of wood under the tremolo to stop the slight variation of heigth when I pulled the dtuna out.

Its a great guitar. I payed an excellent price on it, and I have no regrets. Its the guitar i use the most, and plan on using for a long time!

This guitar is made in korea and it has 24 frets and it has HSH pickups. I'm from Finland and I bought this guitar from Studiotec and this is the best guitar I have ever had. I had some problems with the guitar because it didn't stay in tune but now I have fixed it and my guitar sounds great. I recomend this guitar to everybody because it is the best washburn money can buy.

This guitar sounds best in heavy metal music!

Only problem was that it didn't stay in tune but it was easy to fix and I haven't got any other problems whit it. I've had about half an year now!

This guitar will last forever and I have used on a gig whitout an backup!

It has ne year warranty!

I got this guitar from America, it was made in Chicago and i had it shipped to England were i live in about 4 weeks from a great shop down South of England. The guitar itself has 24-frets, sharkfin fretboard inlays, its a real fast neck if u wanna shred and its got a H,S,H pickup configuration. This guitar is a real sexy looking guitar cause it was made for hard and fast rock music. Its probably the best lookin guitar ive ever seen and i recommend having a stare at it on www.Washburn.com. Oh by the way it has a Licensed Floyd Rose tremolo system on it.

I play real fast and heavy rock music from Steve Vai to Pantera. I play mostly instrumental guitar from Joe Satriani to Django Reinhardt and with the right amp setup at your side u can get some great sound (clean or distorted). I use a Marshall G15RCD amp and an origanal Ibanez Tubescreamer. The thing i like about this guitar is that it sound great clean, jazzy and distorted.

This guitar has a real low action to complament the fast neck. The pickups were made excellent (10 out of 10). But paint work and the fretboard wood were top class. I couldent have asked for a better looking guitar. I have to admit though that i do have a problem and its the action of the guitar. Its so low that when i bend a note say on the high E string at the 14th fret onwards it will only sound the bend a semi-tone and if i want a full tone it will not sound!!

Having droped the guitar a few times and found out it could take shit loads. Ive decided im gonna have this guitar for a long time, if kept off the floor!, and with the pickups being so well made its a guitar that can last.

The shop i bought it from gave me a little demo of it in the back room and showed me all the different sounds u could get from the pickups which was good.

Ive been playing for 2 and a half years now and im turning 18 in December 2001. i have a good range of guitar gear and an ever growing collection of guitars (8 up to date. If it was stolen id buy it again but take better care. I LOVE the sound, HATE the string action (which im gonna deal with) and the SOUND is its best feature.

Thanks from Matt Dixon, Carterton, Oxfordshire