I'm still in a transitional period with this new guitar. But the more I get comfortable with it, the less I play my old one. If there's anything I wish I'd kept in mind before I bought it, it would've been the actual size, because the guitar I'd been playing to this point is much smaller. But the warm, rich tone of the Washburn is what has been keeping the old axe up on the wall. It lends itself very well to vocal accompaniment. I bought this guitar because it's gorgeous. I knew it would sound great, and it fit my budget beautifully.

Sound
After a feeling-out period, the sound of this guitar is excellent. I'd been playing with a shallower, jumbo-style acoustic electric to that point, and the difference in sound was apparent immediately. The bigger body style of this Washburn produces a fat, warm tone, which is what makes the dreadnought style so appealing in the first place.

Features
The on-board tuner is a very nice feature. It allows one to travel "light", which means I don't have to remember to shove a tuner in my pocket whenever I take the guitar with me. The EQ provides a nice array of amplified tones, which of course comes in handy. I could've done without the D'Addario strings that were installed, but only because I prefer and use Elixir. I wouldn't call that a complaint, though. It'd be cool if zzounds offered a choice of strings. I'd pay extra for it if they did.

Ease of Use… read more
It's a well-made acoustic guitar. Doesn't take a lot of effort to get great sound out of it.

Quality
BIG CAVEAT: Middle of the road here, but only because it arrived with a pronounced buzz on both E-strings, third fret. It was very pronounced @ the high E. Fortunately, I have a good friend who moonlights as a guitar tech, and he was able to fix that problem after monkeying around with it for 5 minutes. That aside, this WILL be my acoustic performance guitar for the foreseeable future.

Value
I debated on several guitars in a comparable price range. The value of this Washburn was THE tipping point in the litany of reasons I chose to go ahead and purchase this beauty.

Manufacturer Support
Have not dealt with Washburn directly other than registering the guitar with them for warranty purposes.

The Wow Factor
I polled several friends with pix of the tobacco burst and cherry burst. The choice fell along gender lines. Dudes liked the tobacco. The ladies liked cherry. It made my choice easy: Cherry. Momma didn't raise no fool...

Musical Background:
Been playing for years, trying to start my own band...

Musical Style:
Americana read less