NGD - Washburn P3 edition

[jubal81]

I never expected to own a Washburn but I saw this P3 on Craigslist and had to jump at it. The pictures don't do it justice.

There's hardly any information about there about it. The guy I bought it from said the Washburn factory burned down at some point and they just moved on. /shrug

What I could find out is that it was made in the custom shop in Chicago with the Buzz Feiten system and it's made from Sapale.

The quality is out of this world - as fine as any top shelf Gibson - and it plays like a dream. Being unusual as it is made it really affordable - paid $600. That's just insane for the quality. Of course the catch with these types of things is that it'd be a pain if I ever wanted to resell it.

Sapele must be pretty dense because the thing has some serious heft to it despite the body being relatively small. It's well-balanced and has a great feel when you're wearing it.

The only 'meh' is the pickups. They're not awful, but not all that great. Pretty sure I'm going to toss some PAF clones in there.

[pickdropper]

A buddy of mine has one and it's a fantastic guitar.  It's one of his cheaper guitars (by far actually) but gets a ton of studio use.  FWIW, he changed the pickups, too.

If I ever find one for the right price, I am going to grab it.

[stecykmi]

wow that's pretty slick, never heard of these guitars. the white body binding looks boss. whatever pickups you throw in there definitely needs the same pickup colour configuration.

i like guitars that are "sleeper hits" - relatively cheap instruments with insane build quality. i have a peavey T-60 that I got for $500, that's a great guitar. I got a T-40 (the bass version) for super cheap a while after, but it's mostly just collecting dust because it's so poorly set up and i haven't gotten around to (read: can't afford to) taking it to the shop. It's a shame because it sounds amazing, even with the crappy setup.

[jubal81]

OK, much, much better now. <3 Mojotone pickups

When I rewired it, I used some concentric pots for independent Vol/tone.

[pickdropper]

That should be a great guitar.  If you ever get sick of it, let me know.

[atreidesheir]

That looks totally boss!

washburns tend to be bargains.  Only their low end acoustics are not good ones.  I owned one of those.  avoid them unless for a beginner.  good enough for that.

[slimtriggers]

I really like the look of this guitar.  Unusual, but not too unusual.  Sounds like you got a pretty good deal, too.  Some guy has one on Ebay right now for $2250 

[pickdropper]

I really like the look of this guitar.  Unusual, but not too unusual.  Sounds like you got a pretty good deal, too.  Some guy has one on Ebay right now for $2250 

Well, that guy is on crack.  These sold for less than that new.

A buddy of mine bought one off the rack for $1100.  The used ones generally sell for way less than that.  But make no mistake, they are great guitars and *usually* a bargain for the price.