Washburn CT3

Made in USA.
Pickups are a Seymour Duncan Custom Custom at the bridge and a Seymour Duncan Jazz at the neck.3-way selector.
Buzz Feiten tuning system.
Mahogany bodie, topped with AAA flamed maple.
Tune-o-matic Bridge and Rosewood Fingerboard.
The colour is transparent bordeaux red.
Delux hardcase.

I play mostly modern pop- and rockmusic. It sounds superb. You get a cruel distortion from the Seymour-Duncans at the same time you hear every litte tone in every chord. Cool!
From A full, dark to a bright sparkle dist. The clean sound is also incredible. A lot of nice words but they can never reach up to my guitar.

Had to change the 3-way switch. It broke done at once. The warranty fixt it. No probleimo!

The guitar is buzz feiten adjust and perfect from factory.
THe transparent bordeauxe red looks incredible!

A superb guitar! Used it on tons of gigs without backup. No problem.
It is just a well made US-custom guitar.

FIxed the switch-problem. Smooth!

Use it with a Fender Prosonic AMP. WoW!
If you ever se a Washburn CT3 Transparent bordeauxe red for sale, buy it! But only that colour, because it is the nicest one!

My Washburn CT3 is a 2000 model,in Colbalt Blue.It actually looks quite black,except for in relatively bright light.I bought it as a NOS closeout on eBay from Guitar1auctions.com for $599.00 with case,which makes it a great deal,considering the list price of $1850.00.It has cream binding around the body,dot inlays on a rosewood board,medium jumbo frets and Grover tuners.The set-in neck and body are of Sapale,an exotic African tonewood closely related to Mahogany.There is a carved top,also of made Sapale,with the overall thickness being somewhere between a Les Paul and an SG.The bridge is a Gibson type Tune-O-Matic with a 24.75 scale,with the hardware being nickel.The stock pickups are a black Duncan Custom Custom at the bridge and a zebra Duncan Jazz at the neck.While these pickups sound quite good [especially the neck position Jazz],I put a set of Duncan Custom Shop Antiquity spec humbuckers [fresh nickel covers,double wax potted with four conductor wiring] that,to me,give the guitar a more vintage character and sound.I also put push/pull pots in the master volume/tone controls,to allow the guitar's pickups coils to be run in series or parralel.The gloss finish is of very high quality and the Buzz Fetien Tuning System is a nice bonus.The standard hard shell case is very nice,with a cool padded leather handle to add some comfort and class.I rate the features at 7,since guitar's of a vintage nature are about tone and playabilty,not of ultimate versatilty.

The tone of the guitar with the standard CC/Jazz pickups is very good,with the CC giving some serious push to the mids and a bit of sizzle to the top end.I feel the CC sounds best for harder edged rock/metal stuff.IMHO,it sounds somewhat "whooly",with not enough detail for real clean chord work and solos.The neck Jazz I found to be quite nice,sounding a bit clearer in the mids than a neck Duncan '59,with a cleaner high end.The in between tones are nice and sparkling,very good for chord work and funky rythym comping.I give the stock pickup setup a solid 7,with the bridge CC knocking a couple of points off for it's tones not being to my liking.It is probably a fine pickup for many guitarist needs,but I found it harsh and limited.
The Duncan Custom Shop pickups are another story.With these installed,the tone and vibe of this guitar takes on a vintage Les Paul like personality.The bridge pickup is full,smooth and sweet,with just the right amount of cut and bite.It is difficult to get a harsh or unpleasant sound out of either of these pickups.The neck unit is fat and ballsy,with enough definition to keep the tone from getting muddy.The Duncan CS pickups match up extremely well in this guitar.The in between sounds are also quite happening,with clear,sweet tones easy to come by.The classic B.B King tone is easily nailed in this position.The tones enhance my modern blues/classic rock style to a tee.I like to run either my Hughes & Kettner Edition Tube or Valvetech combo at moderate gain settings with a touch of reverb/delay and a bit of compression.This set-up gives me great touch sensitive dynamics and superb sustain,allowing me to play at my best.Think Matt Smith or Colin James,as far as the tones go.Through my Mesa Boogie MKIIC+,this guitar gets great Gary Moore type tones,staying sweet and articulate under even the heaviest overdrive.I will give the CT3's tone with the Duncan CS pickups a 10,as the tones are amongst the best I've ever played through.So,for my total score,I'll give it an "average" of 8.

Beautiful workmanship,a very nice finish and great playabilty are all evident on my CT3.I only wish I could see the beauty of the Colbalt Blue color in lower light,it really looks quite nice.The neck is fairly thick across the fretboard,but is rather shallow in depth,which fits my somewhat short fingers real well.It feels more Jackson than Gibson.The pickups were aligned correctly and the nut well cut and grooved.I could not find any fit or finish flaws on this sweet guitar.I have to give it a well deserved 10.

I'm sure I will have to keep this baby well pampered to keep it looking sharp.The finish seems to be durable,with everything appearing to be screwed together quite nicely.I replaced the standard strap buttons with Schaller locking units.I always bring a backup when playing a gig.I figure this guitar is quite solid.I give it a 9.

The couple of times I've called Washburn [I have three other USA Washburn guitars],they have been polite and helpful.The warranty is limited lifetime to the original owner.I will give customer support an 8.

I've been playing classic rock,modern blues,"old school" metal and some jazz fussion for over 25 years.If lost or stolen,I would try to find another and do the same pickup modification.Amongst my other gear,I have three USA Hamers;a killer Studio Archtop with a set of the zebra Duncan CS humbuckers,with the same specs as those on the CT3,a P-90 Special and a nice T-51 "Tele".My other USA Washburns include a WMS Studio,a WM200 with Duncan Vintage Lipsticks at the mid/neck,a Duncan Antiquity humbucker at the bridge and a Grover Jackson designed MG-120 "Super Strat" with Duncans.I also have a customized Fender American Standard Strat with a matching colored headstock,Fender CS '54 pickups and a Callaham tremolo block upgrade.My acoustic is a Martin DM with a Fishman pickup,with my bass being a sweet Warwick Streamer Standard.My other amps,besides the ones previously mentioned,are a Fender Prosonic combo,a tiny early '60s Supro and a Hartke B30 bass combo.My guitars [and amps] are often changing,as those that have read my other reviews may have noticed,but I have a good feeling that this Washburn CT3 is going to be around awhile.I will not quite give it a 10,due to me having to do the pickup change to get the tone I really desire.Overall,I give it a strong 9.