‘83 Washburn Force 40

[jay-syncro]

I recently picked up this Japanese gem, and wonder if I can pick the brains of any Washburn aficionados out there. 

Preamp - What’s going on there? The large toggle is a pickup selector, the knob nearest the bridge pickup is master volume and the knob nearest the bridge itself I believe is some kind of tone control, but the other two knobs and three position mini switch have me stumped. The knobs almost seem to be a kind of Wal-like filter but I’m really not sure. 

Bridge - The action is currently quite high at the bridge (the strings at the nut are nice and low without buzz and the neck is true), even with the saddles at their lowest setting. The bridge looks a bit like the original Badass and is seriously hefty. Would it make sense to get the saddles professionally filed down, or would a replacement bridge be less sacrilegious considering the bass is original and in amazing condition? 

It’s an awesome bass that reminds me a lot of my Yamaha BB2000 in terms of the solidity of the construction, the high quality materials and the attention to detail, but unlike the BB, it doesn’t weigh as much as the moon. Which is nice. 

 

 

Edited May 26, 2018 by jay-syncro

[Old Man Riva]

I had one of those (in black) in the 80s - wanted an active bass and they were a great buy at the time vs. other options.

It’s a long time ago but I seem to recall that the small silver switch was an active/passive switch. With regards to the knobs, there were volume and tone and then one (I think) that panned through various EQs (not all of them usable). If you were dexterous (daft) enough you could almost get a wah-wah effect by panning the knob whilst messing around with your fretting hand - again, not really very usable, and I imagine not what Mr Washburn had in mind when he put in the hard hours designing it.

The prototypes/first runs had the tuners either side of a squarer headstock, a la Wal. 

[Bassassin]

I have a Washburn SB 40 (which is probably what Old Man Riva's referring to) which is identical apart from having a 2x2 headstock and (unfortunately) being passive.

When I got mine, maybe 8 or 9 years ago it had the same string height issue as yours. I found it very straightforward to file the string slots in the saddles a few mm each, and the bass is now one of the most playable instruments I own. I'd definitely recommend filing them rather than replacing the bridge.

Can't help (beyond guessing) with the functionality of the electronics, as mine is passive with a standard v/v/t/t & selector layout - however I've seen a lot of these, and yours is curious. Every Force 40 I've seen previously has a 3 pot, 2 switch layout, which to have been the standard layout for Washburn actives throughout the Force 40's lifespan. I have read about basses with the control layout yours has though - apparently they are rare & may be prototypes - I've certainly never encountered one before.

Anyway, from what I understand, the 3-pot EQ seems to consist of volume and 2-band parametric EQ, with the mini toggle being a high frequency boost. I'd assume that yours is similar, maybe with the addition of a second volume.

Don't know how much of an anorak you are about old basses like this (I'm tragically incurable) but there's a lot of interest & discussion about MIJ Washburns on this FB group:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/1066707010017715/

MIJ Washburns were initially produced by Yamaki Gakki and share a lot of similarities with Yamaki's own Daion range, and there's a lot of knowledge here about both Yamaki & the later Chushin Gakki Washburns.

 

[jay-syncro]

13 hours ago, Old Man Riva said:

I had one of those (in black) in the 80s - wanted an active bass and they were a great buy at the time vs. other options.

It’s a long time ago but I seem to recall that the small silver switch was an active/passive switch. With regards to the knobs, there were volume and tone and then one (I think) that panned through various EQs (not all of them usable). If you were dexterous (daft) enough you could almost get a wah-wah effect by panning the knob whilst messing around with your fretting hand - again, not really very usable, and I imagine not what Mr Washburn had in mind when he put in the hard hours designing it.

The prototypes/first runs had the tuners either side of a squarer headstock, a la Wal. 

Thanks for the info. I think the mini toggle is indeed a passive switch in the middle position (as it works without the battery in this position), but then it has a further TWO options to select. I guess it offers preamp boost at different frequencies potentially? Ah yes, I've been able to get the wah type affect. So yours was a three knob variation? I think mine may be an expanded variant with two frequency sweep-able controls then potentially? 

[jay-syncro]

11 hours ago, Bassassin said:

I have a Washburn SB 40 (which is probably what Old Man Riva's referring to) which is identical apart from having a 2x2 headstock and (unfortunately) being passive.

When I got mine, maybe 8 or 9 years ago it had the same string height issue as yours. I found it very straightforward to file the string slots in the saddles a few mm each, and the bass is now one of the most playable instruments I own. I'd definitely recommend filing them rather than replacing the bridge.

Can't help (beyond guessing) with the functionality of the electronics, as mine is passive with a standard v/v/t/t & selector layout - however I've seen a lot of these, and yours is curious. Every Force 40 I've seen previously has a 3 pot, 2 switch layout, which to have been the standard layout for Washburn actives throughout the Force 40's lifespan. I have read about basses with the control layout yours has though - apparently they are rare & may be prototypes - I've certainly never encountered one before.

Anyway, from what I understand, the 3-pot EQ seems to consist of volume and 2-band parametric EQ, with the mini toggle being a high frequency boost. I'd assume that yours is similar, maybe with the addition of a second volume.

Don't know how much of an anorak you are about old basses like this (I'm tragically incurable) but there's a lot of interest & discussion about MIJ Washburns on this FB group:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/1066707010017715/

MIJ Washburns were initially produced by Yamaki Gakki and share a lot of similarities with Yamaki's own Daion range, and there's a lot of knowledge here about both Yamaki & the later Chushin Gakki Washburns.

 

Great, thanks for that. I'll look into filing the saddles down. 

That's interesting about it potentially being a prototype. The control cavity (which is immaculately put together) has what looks like a hand-wired circuit board wrapped in a spongy material to protect it. All looks untouched and original. An early preamp prototype potentially? It definitely only has one volume control, one tone (of sorts) and then the two adjustable frequency (??) controls. 

I am a bit of a bass geek in general but now realise I know very little about Japanese Washburns, so will join the Facebook group and have a nose around. Thanks for the link.

[Old Man Riva]

1 hour ago, jay-syncro said:

Thanks for the info. I think the mini toggle is indeed a passive switch in the middle position (as it works without the battery in this position), but then it has a further TWO options to select. I guess it offers preamp boost at different frequencies potentially? Ah yes, I've been able to get the wah type affect. So yours was a three knob variation? I think mine may be an expanded variant with two frequency sweep-able controls then potentially? 

Yes, it was the three-knob version I had. I'm fairly sure that the mini toggle switch was only two-way on the one I had (active/passive), but can't be certain. I can now also remember that I had to send the first one back (a really lovely purple-y/red finish) due to the electrics being really noisy/buzzy.

The pic that Bassassin has provided is the one I was referring to with the Wal/Aria style headstock.

As I say, it was a really nice bass and, whilst not massively cheap, was an excellent value-for-money active bass at the time - the black finish ran all through the bass from body to headstock and looked lovely.

And don't get lost doing that wah type thing..!

[Bass code blue]

I own the bass and have played it in the past. 
as near as I can tell the small toggle switch has 3 positions. Up or down toggle engages the effects knob, lowest  rotary knob. Middle position toggle , the effects knob has no effect. 
It is possible to get a wah wah effects and weird stuff while rotating the knob but I suspect it was meant to be built in effects and you could pre set 2 different effects (up or down toggle) 

I took mine into a repair shop years ago and the technician thought the set up was weird

Now if I could just get some nice tones going. 
Bill 

Austin, TX

[SurroundedByManatees]

That wah-wah effects potmeter is actually a mid frequency selector. While turning you swipe through various frequencies which causes that wah-like effect. It's how it works on these basses (owned two of them).

Edited May 2, 2022 by SurroundedByManatees