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Where are all those Washburn basses?


adriansmith247

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I’ve still got my Washburn force 4, it’s a great bass, extremely low action and a fairly flat fingerboard, and it rarely goes out of tune, I really should play it more, it’s got some punch especially on the bass control , I might have to have a play tomorrow now you’ve reminded me about it 🙂

159FF029-007A-4242-BF29-4A1BAC210090.jpeg

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Still got my Washburn AB20 Electro acoustic bass. One of the best available IMO at the time, (although to be fair there wasn’t that much competition). Had it over 25 years now, never adjusted the neck once. It’s done thousands of gigs with me in that time, and is one of the basses I hopefully will never need to sell. Also owned  a six string from the matching Woodstock range which I stupidly moved on. 

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I had an MB4 from new in the sparkle black finish, bought it in '93 IIRC, the first new bass I'd ever bought. Good to look at, good to play, shame it only sounded OK. It was significantly lighter than the Westone Thunder 1A I had, so it became the main bass. The guitarist in the band I was in at the time also had a Washburn Mercury guitar (bought from the same shop).

Haven't seen any of the 90's Washburns in a long time.

Must admit, I much preferred their 80's basses.

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14 hours ago, TheGreek said:

I had one (two actually, the nut on the first broke so the bass was replaced) - ABT Force B20 - more 80s than 90s. I thought it was a good bass - definite improvement on the Hohner B2 I sold to buy it.

80S WASHBURN FORCE ABT- B20 Active Electric Bass Guitar. Crackle Finish  Gree - £149.99 | PicClick UK

I had a B20 like that but in a metallic burgundy finish. It sounded very good. However the neck had a slight twist, so I bought a new neck, which developed exactly the same issue once set up. I sold it soon after. 

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My only bass through the 90's was this one, an MB5. This has seen some serious hours of playing/gigging. Massive sound, very tight and focused too. It was active but years ago a problem occurred ( can't remember what!!) and it was repaired, badly as it turned out, so I stripped out all the electronics and wired it direct to the volume /jack so its passive now. Still sounds huge!!!!

The neck is sublime, if heavy, with very dark rosewood and super jumbo frets. The one bad thing is it neck dives, not so much of a problem when younger, but now....no. This bass means so much to me. I remember playing it in Monkey Business music Southend, 1992, went in to try another 5 string butbthe guy in the shop said, try one of these, they just come in, and this blew away the others I'd tried. Ahhh, memories..!!!

F34EE284-3C26-452E-8AAD-4AFBA7D500EB.thumb.jpeg.c3e504d18a0acc64bbc1718c5489fd4d.jpegBE22ABBF-83D8-430D-B85C-820FF7C56F05.thumb.jpeg.e11476b3e87db7aa924e1ed1fbb45593.jpeg9F7B5F98-70CF-451D-806F-8B43D6F0AF33.thumb.jpeg.683a3273ededcd096bb431a1dc08cd42.jpeg

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I think Washburn just lost their market position, at least in the UK.

Back in the 90s they were in direct competition with Ibanez and Jackson in the super strat rock and metal market and their bass product lines reflected that.

These days for whatever reason the only Washburn lines that you seem to see on sale in the UK are acoustics and archtop semi acoustic. electrics.

Bass wise they seem to be down to 3 models, 2 entry level precisions and a lower mid range Taurus reissue.

https://www.washburn.com/instrument-style/electric-bass/

Edited by Cato
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15 hours ago, TheGreek said:

That's a Washburn B-200. I fell in love the moment I saw it among all the other bland looking basses in the music shop. I think it was around 93/94.  It was in the same finish and was my first gigging bass. Loved it but can't remember what happened to it. 

I have always had a thing for Washburn's and owned a handful over the years including a Hammerhead, B-10, 2 x WB-66 Idol basses, and an acoustic AB-10. The older models gave a lot of bass for the money. 

 

edit: ...And 2 Scavengers!

Edited by Bleat
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7 minutes ago, Reggaebass said:

That’s really nice Cato, do you want to sell....the stickers 😁

About 25 years ago I started thinking that maybe I was too grown up for such things, but I never got round to doing anything about them.

At this point it sort of feels like they're part of the instrument.

And I suspect if I tried to scrape them off I'd find that they actually are.

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My Washburn is the same as Cato , but with a twist. 
Back in the mid '90s I got carried away at band rehearsals . I punched the body. This gave me a couple of years of grief. One repair after another via Denmark street. 
Then one day , graham Noden in Denmark street suggested taking the active circuitry out ( if the pickups were strong enough ). Job done.  Bass has always been my go to bass. Most bands I was in ( rock covers / blues) preferred the new sound . 
If I got another one as I'm no longer gigging , I'd keep those and offload the rest . If I eventually get one , I'd get it defretted....

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1 minute ago, Reggaebass said:

I’ve never had a headless bass , but Cato’s status has definitely got me looking 🙂

It's the nuts ! 😼
so many people liked the look of it . They have some cool colours too . Shame not yellow though 😼

Edited by RAY AGAINST THE MACHINE
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6 hours ago, sykilz said:

My only bass through the 90's was this one, an MB5. This has seen some serious hours of playing/gigging. Massive sound, very tight and focused too. It was active but years ago a problem occurred ( can't remember what!!) and it was repaired, badly as it turned out, so I stripped out all the electronics and wired it direct to the volume /jack so its passive now. Still sounds huge!!!!

The neck is sublime, if heavy, with very dark rosewood and super jumbo frets. The one bad thing is it neck dives, not so much of a problem when younger, but now....no. This bass means so much to me. I remember playing it in Monkey Business music Southend, 1992, went in to try another 5 string butbthe guy in the shop said, try one of these, they just come in, and this blew away the others I'd tried. Ahhh, memories..!!!

F34EE284-3C26-452E-8AAD-4AFBA7D500EB.thumb.jpeg.c3e504d18a0acc64bbc1718c5489fd4d.jpegBE22ABBF-83D8-430D-B85C-820FF7C56F05.thumb.jpeg.e11476b3e87db7aa924e1ed1fbb45593.jpeg9F7B5F98-70CF-451D-806F-8B43D6F0AF33.thumb.jpeg.683a3273ededcd096bb431a1dc08cd42.jpeg

 

A pal of mine had one of those, in a fancy wine red finish. Weighed a ton and I hated the preamp but it was built to withstand some serious abuse. They were Samicks I think.

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