Electric Guitars

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 flared paddle with three a side and Dutch gable top. 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 rendered in a very nice old fashioned 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 nice and generous fretboard width. This gives the player a comfy flat feeling against palm while reaching around the thumb to damp the 6th string. The guitar almost gives a les paul feeling with the near parallel profile from head to heel. The heel is flat, rounded and feels extremely comfortable to play around when you go for the twelfth fret. The frets of the guitar are medium thin and nicely polished.

Control Panel:

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 a standard jack marked Hi-Z, the other is an XLR marked Low-Z Balanced for direct inject into a mixer. The battery compartment mechanism adopted by Washburn must be appreciated; it has a cradle into which the 9 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 firmly with the battery’s terminals.

Tuners:

The Washburn EA16  Acoustic electric guitar offers just more than good looks.  The 18:1 ratio Grover tuners will keep you in tune throughout your wildest performance 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. The Chorus goes all the way up to throaty wobble, a sound that most guitarists will not use. But when set down in the lower 25% of Rate and Depth the effect adds a lovely, lush layering to the sound, especially on strummed chord progressions.

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 acoustic instrument and an amplified environment. The tone is bright and enthusiastic to sculpt it to your needs and venue. The XLR out is an absolute boon and a big bonny for the live musician. The onboard Chorus is a bonus 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. Overall the Washburn EA16 is an excellent, versatile instrument for the price asked.

Washburn EA16 Guitar - Technical Specification Table

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