Washburn D11TR Reviews 
4 / 5 based on 1 reviewsI got it from http://www.Music123.com for $185. That was after I found another one advertised on http://www.gbase.com at $190. Music123 had advertised that they'd beat any legitimate advertised price. (List is about $390 for this guitar, and while others offer good prices on it this is the best I found by far.)
What can I say? I'm a sucker for a pretty face, and I LOVE red! The whole body including the top of this guitar is made of hard ash, and the bookmatched grain is very attractive. The sound is good, and this guitar has better treble than many dreadnoughts (which often have boomy bass but are very flat on the top end.) I think this may be a result of the ash top. This one is well put together, has no major flaws, and its tuners work very well.
The guitar having a glossy finish and a large flat top, when the light glares on the top it's obvious that it was hand-sanded without using a block; there are shallow dimples all over the surface of the top. The pickguard scratches easily; I let a friend play it one day and he scratched it up pretty badly.
On a more serious note, I suspect the quality control on these guitars is poor. I've only closely examined 3 of this model, but I noticed a lot of variation in detail. One that was shipped to me before this one (which was the wrong color!) was shipped with the strings at full tension in cold winter weather and had the bridge badly raised when it got to me! The action was far too high for anything but slide playing. The top under the bridge had warped up into a bubble that was instantly obvious at a glance. (There was also an unsightly small knothole in the top of that one.) This was a problem from the factory, not from Music123, as it was shipped directly to me from Washburn. To Music123's credit, they had me another one shipped out from Washburn's warehouse and I returned the other one. While I ended up with a good player, I think it would be a good idea to inspect and play a Washburn in person before buying it, based on my very limited experience. Or at least buy it from someone with a good return policy!
I sort of did this above. But that was just describing the problems. This is a basic dreadnought guitar, with scalloped Martin-style bracing. It has a binder all around the body which is attractively done. The transparent red finish is smooth and unblemished. The neck is straight and properly set up for the light strings it came with. The tuners are of good quality, working smoothly with little backlash and holding their adjusments well. The nut and bridge are of plastic. Replacing them with bone would probably improve the volume and sustain a bit. This is a good sounding guitar as is, though.
A nice beginner's guitar, a step up from the really basic entry level, but very affordable. Nice tone, and a bit different from the usual with the top made of ash, not spruce. Chinese made with questionable quality control. I'm happy with mine, but check 'em out carefully!
John Culp rated this unit
on
2001-12-01.
