Strum's right, I'm now the owner of that phenomenal WD32SW he once owned, and I love the action, the feel of it as it vibrates against my body as I am playing it, and of course the sound. IMHO, it is the best bargain in the Washburn catalog. I also own a WD32S, which is the same guitar as the WD32SW I bought from Strum, just with laminate sides and back instead of solid wood. It has great volume (I attribute that to the Dean Markley Alchemy strings I put on it), but it doesn't have the tonal complexity of the WD32SW.
I have played a WD82SW once and it was the sweetest steel string acoustic I've ever had in these grubby paws. Smoooooooth action, incredible sound, and absolutely the most phenomenal lutherie I have ever seen (most of my exposure to higher end guitars is in the field of classical guitars, though). It has me GASing for one of their WD84SW guitars, which uses Koa wood for the sides and back, but Washburn is being a real PITA regarding some specific requests. It's beyond me why they would care if I supplied the nut and saddle, or why they would not allow their luther to build it with a wider nut width (and the luthier actually says he WANTS to build one with a wider nut/neck, but they won't budge on the issue). The only thing they will allow is for the pick guard to be deleted. BIG WOOOO!!! I guess in their defense they don't refer to their U.S. handmade models as "custom", but that seems to be the perception they would like for others to have, again IMHO. It might very well have cost Washburn a special order--the lesson here is when you deal with a large company, you have to expect them to be buttheads at times.
I've played with others who had the D10 and they had a nice, clear sound--actually, pretty much like you describe the "bowl shaped" frequency response you would like. Clear trebbles, good bass, not too prominent in the midrange. The only thing that might keep me from recommending one is that as I understand it they are built like my WD32S with laminate sides and back. If you go through guitars rather quickly, that might not make much difference to you. If, however, you are like me (I tend to keep my cars and guitars for a long time), you will want an all wood model for the improvement in sound that comes with ageing.
The Cumberland models (actually, all the solid wood models, which will have SW after the model number rather than just S) from Washburn seem to enjoy good receptions. I'm waiting for Washburn to get it right on their new "Bluegrass" model--much lower priced than their WD82SW/WD84SW, but a GOOD LOOKING guitar with some cool gear (open tuners, tortoise pickguard, etc.).
If you like a Dreadnaught or Jumbo, by all means get hold of the new member Toaster. He runs RGG Music and has access to some incredibly low priced Washburn guitars right now, solid wood, some acoustic/electric, some just acoustic, but with righteous prices! I had to quit looking at the photos he posted on the Washburn forum of the Jumbo with spruce top and flame maple sides and back--just too gorgeous--but if you like a guitar with bright highs and a punchy bass, this might just be the guitar for you--maple is known for it's crystaline highs and the jumbo size is pretty good for bass production. OK, I could afford one, but I think I'll save my $$ and consider a true CUSTOM made guitar, like a Breedlove, or perhaps one of the Seagull higher end models. I wish I could feel differently, but Washburn obviously is more interested in the bottom like than they are in customer satisfaction (although, I must say that their webmaster, who is also the customer satisfaction representative for Washburn, did ALMOST perform magic on the issues I mentioned earlier, he was just over-ruled by one of the bigger bean counters).
Shame on you Washburn, but you may still sell me a new guitar, yet--give me some time to get over it :reallymad: .
Dugly
ancake One of the guitars I have played that I really liked is a Guild, built under Fender ownership in the Tacoma factory. That was a nice guitar. Might need to check out one of the Tacoma models. I am not into the funky sound hole ones though. Right now, I have not seen or heard of anything in the solid rosewood/spruce category that beats the Larivee I have tried for bang for the buck. The next runner ups so far are the D-16RGT (Martin) and the Guild bluegrass models. Doesn't sound like the Washburns are what I am looking for. Samick makes a solid Rosewood/Spruce, but I am not going to buy a solid wood acoustic remotely, and Vegas is the closest dealer I know of. Thanks for the info guys. This is all just pie in the sky shopping now. I wanted to hear about your Washburn acoustics though since you guys showed up here en masse! :beer:
