Washburn EA16 Electro Acoustic Guitar
Washburn guitars have a dynamic 120 year history that began in Chicago 1883. Washburn continues to be a consistent leader in combining design, innovation, and technology to deliver the rich, bold sounds for a vast musical landscape.
In the following review we will see about the Washburn EA16 Electro Acoustic guitar that has been created with a performing musician in mind.
A serious beauty:
The EA16 guitar is an absolute beauty. It is just perfect for those who wish to be the style icons. The body and top of this electro acoustic is maple and is covered in black lacquer finish that has a very slight hint of fine gold sparkle. Its round sound hole has a thin rosette decor with colours that reflect a very stylish Art Nouveau sensibility. The substantial cutaway design assists access to the upper frets. The overall finish is excellent.
Features:
The headstock is a Dutch gable top and a flare paddle with 3 a side. The rosewood fretboard has a dry look and the solution is that, it can be softened with an application of the specialist lemon oil which is quite popular now-a-days. The white pearloid dot marker ornaments the fascia and it has been given a very nice finish with white binding. The white plastic nuts next to the fretboard have been cut cleanly. Its rosewood bridge is designed to be a very attractive butterfly with the plastic saddle compensated at the second string. Note that the strings are secured by the traditional bridge pins. A final touch has been given to this beauty with the Washburn logo offers a very nice traditional script.
Neck:
Coming to the neck of EA16 Electro Acoustic, it was a pleasant surprise. It is simply beautiful and sleek from front to back with a fine and liberal fretboard width. This gives the player a comfy flat feeling against palm while reaching around the thumb to damp the sixth string. The guitar almost gives a les paul feeling with an almost parallel profile from top to bottom. The heel is flat, rounded and feels extremely comfy to play with when you go for the twelfth fret. The frets of the guitar are medium thin and nicely polished.
Control Panel:
The all-important control panel sits on the top edge of the body. Though it seemed to be a bit crowded at the very first glance, it is actually intuitively placed and easy to use. In terms of controls offered, the panel has a slider for Volume and individual slides to control Treble, Middle, Bass and Presence. And yet another special extra on the EA16 is the onboard chorus which has an on/off button along with two small control knobs for Rate and Depth. All the controls run plus or minus 12 dB. In the bottom of the guitar, you will find a single strap button and two outputs; one is an XLR marked Low-Z Balanced for direct inject into a mixer, the other is a standard jack marked Hi-Z. The battery partition mechanism adopted by Washburn must be appreciated; it has a frame into which the nine volt battery slides and the cradle is constructed in such a way that the battery can be inserted only in correct orientation. Once the battery is inserted, the cradle slides into a hole in the control panel, which again fits only in one way. Beneath the receiving chamber, you will find two big springs that dock in securely with the battery’s terminals.
The aboard Chorus is a plus for occasional use, but there is always the danger that you will get hooked, in which case an off-board unit in your effects loop would be a sensible upgrade.
Tuners:
The Washburn EA16 Electro Acoustic electric guitar offers just more than pretty looks. The 18:1 ratio Grover tuners will keep you in tune and they have large kidney knobs. When the guitar comes from the warehouse, it is wildly out of tune, but the groovers smoothly bought them back into tune at the first time of asking.
Sound and Action:
When it comes to the acoustics, the first thing that you would notice about it is its bright and zingy tone which is dedicated by the maple construction. The tone shows good range of differentiation, depending on where you will be striking the strings. The tone was nothing less than breath taking. The amplification is good and you will certainly appreciate the extra scope available on the eq in a band situation. Straight out of the box, the guitar has good low action which makes it an immediate pleasure to play. The EA16 now comes standard with the B-Band A3 preamp. The B-Band technology is certainly a modern marvel.
Warranty:
The Washburn EA16 Electro Acoustic Guitar comes with one year warranty for parts and labour.
Verdict:
If you are looking for an electro acoustic guitar in your armoury, the Washburn EA16 Electro Acoustic certainly deserves your attention. It is very much a Hybrid and is a compromised solution between an amplified environment and an acoustic instrument. The tone is bright and enthusiastic to sculpt it to your needs and venue. The XLR out is a complete boon and a huge bonny for the live musician. Overall the Washburn EA16 is an excellent, flexible instrument for the price asked.
Washburn EA16 Guitar – Technical Specification Table
| Manufacturer | Washburn |
| Series | EA |
| Model Name | Washburn EA16 Electro Acoustic |
| Guitar Type | Electro Acoustic Guitar |
| Finish | Buffed Gloss body |
| Colours available | Natural, Tobacco Sunburst, Black Pearl |
| Body | Maple body and top |
| Binding | White binding |
| Sides and Back | Mahogany |
| Finger board | Rosewood fingerboard |
| Tuning Machine | Chrome die cast Grover style tuning machine 18:1 gear ratio tuners |
| Bridge | Rosewood butterfly bridge |
| Neck | Stained mahogany/buffed gloss neck Mahogany neck with trussrod |
| Inlay | Pearloid |
| Frets | 20 |
| Preamp/ Tuner | WT-92 Preamp/Tuner |
| Case | GB70 Included |
| Hardware | Chrome |
| Special Features | Headstock painted to match body Flat top construction BBand under saddle tape microphone and preamp Buzz Feiten Tuning System |
| Warranty | One year |
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