player opinions
Washburn EA20SDL
Name: abymc
Band: Kofein Studio
Model Year: 2006
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Price Paid: $480 US
Performance
I got brand new Chinese-made Washburn (solid spruce top, maple back and sides, B-Band pick) for studio work. Now, still not much time passed, I can say this is a pretty cool thing (as for money paid). Though the performance is not perfect — strings are a bit high and you can get problems playing fast licks if it is.
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Performance Rating: 8
Sound Quality
EA20 reminds the Ovation sound if you record just a pick (especially near the bridge.) This is really awesome for playing single-note or for adding good attack to chord changes. EA20 will not be lost in your tune anyway and you shouldn’t rape it with EQ to get the guitar part out. The sound is not so “show-up” if you’re not using the pick or do not like nails on your right hand. Still the sound reminds solid. It’s reasonable to record a pick and a mic at once to add some acoustics. But if you want a big sound — get a dreadnaught.)
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Sound Quality Rating: 10
Construction
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I need a couple more years with this guitar... As for the first sight, the neck is not perfect, my luck it doesn’t affect the tuning (for now.) But it is a beautiful guitar, really.
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Construction Rating: 8
Name: Ivan Scanlon-Carling
Band: -----
Model Year: Don't know
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Price Paid: £40 UK used!
Performance
Bought this (at the price I should say I stole it!) used after trying Ibanez and Yamaha's offerings at the time. Easiest playing E-A guitar I have ever tried. Sounds a little thin on the bass side compared to my full bodied acoustic but the tone is balanced and even.
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Performance Rating: 10
Sound Quality
This one is old enough to have the pre-Equis preamp system which I gather is not as good as the more recent system, which is also NOT retrofittable. Through a decent P.A. the sound is good, if on the jangly side like most every E/A I have ever heard including Taylors costing way more than this beast.
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Sound Quality Rating: 8
Construction
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I have beaten the crap out of this guitar playing three or four gigs a week on it since I got it. In all that time it has only needed the occasional battery change and one of the covers came off a tuning gear, but since the local Washburn distributor sent me a whole machine head for free when I enquired about a replacement cap, I can hardly complain! Only other problems in five years of ownership was a problem early on with the preamp, which I have recently found out was my own fault! I had a problem with intermittent cutout of signal right before leaving to do a short tour and so I bought a new preamp unit and only recently got the old one out when the battery clip rivets broke on the new one (again my ham fisted fault!) only to find that the problem had been caused by me not pushing the mini jack fully into the preamp. So now I have a spare preamp for if and when I do get a problem! Other than that and the heavy wear on the frets due to the hours of flatpicking I have done on this guitar it is great.
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Construction Rating: 9
Name: Tom
Band: -----
Model Year: -----
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Price Paid: $698
Performance
I bought this guitar to use live. I love playing acoustic, but needed something a little thinner and more comfortable for the stage. So, I took a long hard look at the EA-20. The neck's great, a little thinner than your average acoustic. The set up was great and the action's tip top (a little high, but this is an acoustic guitar, remember), and it's a very comfortable guitar to play; standing or sitting. The Equis Gold preamp is great with a lot of flexibility. It also has a notch filter switch to negate feedback in a live setting. Nice.
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Performance Rating: 10
Sound Quality
Great sounding, great playing, guitar for not a big price tag.
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Sound Quality Rating: 10
Construction
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The neck's a little thinner than your average acoustic.
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Construction Rating: 8
links
Average Ratings
- Performance: 9.3
- Sound Quality: 9.3
- Construction: 8
Ratings Key
- 10: Excellent
- 0: Useless
Company
- Washburn