WI14 Review

The Washburn lifetime warranty covers this quality electric guitar that has a hardwood body, and Maple neck (scale 24") with 22 fret rosewood fingerboard and chrome 18:1 Grover tuners.

Features:	8.3
Sound:	7.5
Action:	7.8
Reliability:	9.3
Impression:	8.3
Overall rating:	8.2
Users rating:	8.2
Comments:	18

overall: 9.2

Featured review by: IzzySnakes, on october 15, 2005

Purchased from: Music123.com

Features: This guitar was handmade in USA. 22 frets on a rosewood fretboard and circle inlays. Laminated black top with mohogany body (I'm not sure of the neck). It has a Les Paul style body and a Tune-O-Matic bridge with a tremelo. Treble and rhythm pickups (humbuckers), volume knobs and tone knobs with a 3-way Switch. Came with a pedal to amp cable and a very nice case. // 9

Sound: When I bought it I was expecting a Squire-quality starter guitar but I got a guitar that I still use three years after I bought it. I play music like Guns N' Roses, Motley Crue, Led Zeppelin and Aerosmith and it works suprisinly well. I use it with a Marshall MG30 with Dunlop Wah, and Danelectro distortion and flanger pedals. It is noisy on all settings but it has a full sound. You can do almost any techniques on this guitar and it will morph to any style. // 10

Action, Fit & Finish: The guitar was well set-up but it is subject to malfunctions (the electronics are having problems with the saudering, which I have already re-saudered multiple times). I did not play the guitar with it's original pickup adjustments but they are very easy to adjust. // 7

Reliability & Durability: Other than the electronic problems I mentioned before I've never had a problem. I'm not sure if this guitar will withstand live playing because I only played a few gigs with it. The strap buttons are solid and have not come off yet. The finish has lasted very very well but it needs alot of polishing because of the black mirror finish. // 10

Impression: This was the guitar I learned everything I know on and it was an absolutely incredible beginner guitar (many of my friends started at the same time with squiers or old guitars handed down to them and all of them looked up to my guitar). I've been playing for 3 years but I would consider myself an advanced guitarist. If it were lost or stolen I would be hurt but I wouldn't buy another as it's only value is sentimental. Compared to my Gibson it is mediocre, but what isn't when compared to a Gibson. The only thing I wish it had was a floyd rose bridge, if it did I would still use it alot. In conclusion, this guitar is a great starter guitar, although it is hard to find nowadays. I would recomend it to any beginner or intermediate guitarist looking for a good low-priced guitar. // 10

overall: 7.8

Reviewed by: Xenn99, on may 15, 2006

Features: This guitar was made in China, in I believe 2004. It has 22 frets, on a rosewood fretboard. It's body is basswood and the bolt on neck is maple. Mine is a transparent dark red finish and looks really nice. It has a single cutaway shape, but is quite different from the traditional Les Paul shape. It has a string through bridge, two humbucker pickups, 2 volume controls and 2 tone controls. All the hardware is stock and I haven't had a problem with it yet. The starter pack I bought included a gigbag, strap, Washburn Bad Dog practice amp, and a cable. // 8

Sound: I play pretty much anything, but mainly alternative and punk stuff. This guitar is fine for just about anything, but the pickups are a bit weak. They are also very noisy on mid to high distortion. The volume controls basically have two setting; on and off. Turning the knob to any number besides 0 or 10 makes little difference. The tone controls take the guitar from crisp, to dull and muddy. There is a bit of variation in between, but not a huge amount. Even with those issues, the guitar can still have various sounds. The neck pickup is warm and rich, while the bridge pickup is nice and bright. They could be a bit hotter and give less feedback, but they're decent for stock pickups. I use this guitar through a Marshall MG50DFX and it sounds pretty good. It's got great sound for a beginner guitar, or even an intermediate guitar. // 7

Action, Fit & Finish: The guitar was set up well when I bought it. Action and pickup height was fine. The finish is good on the guitar, but there a re a few spots where the buffer missed. They're not really noticeable though. When I bought it one of the saddles had an edge on it that kept snapping the D string. I broke 3 in two days time. I took it back to the store where I bought it and a quick sanding fixed the problem. // 7

Reliability & Durability: I probably wouldn't use this guitar live. It's nice and everything, but it's really just a beginner guitar. It would be fine as a back-up guitar though. The hardware is fine. I haven't had any problems with it yet and I don't think I will any time soon. The strap buttons are really solid. I haven't needed to buy a straplock or anything, as they're holding just fine. The finish will last, but there are a few paint chips on the headstock. If I would use it live, I wouldn't need a back-up for it. It may be a beginner guitar, but it's solid and really reliable. // 9

Impression: This is a great guitar to learn on. I've had it for a year, and aside from the problem with the saddle when I first got it, I haven't had any problems. If it were stolen, I would buy a higher end version of the same guitar. I like the style a lot and it's a good instrument. I love the shape and ultra fast neck, but I really don't like the pickups. I'd also prefer a better body wood, but it has a decent sound anyway. When I bought it I compared it to other starter packages like the Fender Squire. This one is definetly much, much better. Overall it's a great beginner to intermediate guitar. I'd recommend it to people Who are just getting into guitar or are looking to upgrade from their Squire, but have a limited budget. // 8

overall: 8.6

Reviewed by: MetalGuitarest, on july 02, 2009

Price paid: $ 430.00

Purchased from: Bobs Music

Features: Made in USA. Stock Vintage style fixed bridge. Two Washburn humbuckers, three way toggle switch. Metallic blue finish. Dual Volume & Tone Control. A Ebony fret board with 22 jumbo frets & Dot inlays. Washburn non- Locking Tuners. The body is shaped like a les paul except the top is cut out a bit. This guitar does come with a bag. Just you will need to fork out an extra $34.00 for it. // 8

Sound: This guitar has great sound for any musician(Experianced/Beginner) I play metal and to my suprise this is a great guitar for it. I play through a Line 6 Spider III 75 watt. I am using.11 gauge strings. If this was the only guitar I was ever going to buy in life I would change one thing and that would be the pickups. Currently on it are factory Washburn humbuckers. I would change them to EMG's or Seymour Duncan blackouts. This guitar will also suite any clean tone. Definetly a reccomendation for any music style. // 9

Action, Fit & Finish: I purchased this guitar @ Bobs music in pembroke\ontario\canada. It came in from the factory the day before I bought it and they had just put it up on the shelf a few minutes before I bought it. The action came in a perfect from the factory. Not adjusting was required other then to tune it a bit. The pickups were perfectly adjusted. The guitar was perfectly clean, it didn't have any left over factory dust on it and was nice and shiny. If I was keeping this guitar I would change the strap buttons due to the fact they are good.. But if you turn the wrong way, the strap will fall off and it gets anoying. // 8

Reliability & Durability: This guitar would definetly withstand Live playing after you changed those strap buttons. The only reason I would bring a backup is because I'm always paranoid that this guitar would fail but it has yet to fail. I've played a few live shows and practiced in my garage with my band and this thing rocks. I've tossed this thing on my bed before and nothing has ever happened. It has a strong finish. I played this guitar for two weeks (a few hours a night) and only had to tune it at the end of those two weeks and even then it was only a small bit out of tune. // 10

Impression: I am a metal head and this guitar is great for it. This is only my first guitar and I think it was a reasonable price that I payed. I've been playing for about a year and plan on upgrading soon due to the fact I want to explore different guitar brands. But I will definetly be keeping this guitar for good. This guitar is a great guitar. The one thing it is not good for is reaching high frets (18-22) because it is not cut out far enough. My favorite feature would have to be the neck. It is perfect for sliding and playing those crazy solo's. // 8

overall: 7.2

Reviewed by: ralpy, on january 11, 2008

Features: This guitar is the lowest end of Washburn's Idol series. It was manufactured in China and is crafted from a light basswood stock. It has 22 frets that are fairly easy to play. It has a laminated, transparent finish and the body style is most reminiscent of a Les Paul, though the cheaper wood makes it much lighter. It has a string-through bridge and two stock humbuckers. Each pickup has it's own volume and tone controls. All the hardware is chrome. // 8

Sound: The sound of this guitar is what disappointed me the most. Yeah, it's a beginners guitar but the pick-ups were especially weak. Especially the bridge. I play blues/rock so I replaced my bridge pickup with a P-90 and now it sounds a lot better. The flimsy wood still makes me long for better guitar, however. // 4

Action, Fit & Finish: The plus side of this guitar is its playability. The fret radius is small and my hands glide up and down the neck. This is easily the best feature of this guitar. The action was a little too low when I bought it and there was some buzzing. This was easily fixed though. // 9

Reliability & Durability: For a cheaper guitar it seems fairly durable. I'm a pretty clumsy guy bu t it still sounds as sturdy as the day I bought it. The tuners do well with even thicker strings (I play 11s). I can't imagine playing live with this guitar unless some serious adjustments were made to the sound, but if one were to I think it would last throughout at least one gig. // 8

Impression: I have been playing on this guitar for about 9 months. It's my first guitar so it's OK. For a cheaper model, this is a great option and like many people have pointed out on here, it's better than the Squires. However, I think the Epiphone packages might be a little tighter than this product, so that's up to you. After playing for a little but now, I have come to understand what makes a decent guitar and what doesn't On the one hand, the neck, machine heads and other hardware are all pretty decent. The guitar is easy to play and usually stays in tune. I have the dark red one and the finish looks nice. So again, for a beginner guitar this one serves it's purposes. However, I don't care for the wood stock. Though the lightness of it makes it easy to play, it feels flimsy and cheap sometimes. Also the stock pickups are pretty crappy. I replaced my bridge with a P-90 recently and now I appreciate this a guitar a lot more. I strongly recommend replacing one or both if you ever plan on plugging this thing in. The headstock looks really cheap too. Why do manufactures make cheap guitars look cheap? In terms of features, I give this guitar a 7. It's great to learn on and totally affordable. IT should hold any beginner over until they're ready to play out. When that time comes it's time to upgrade to. // 7

Comments

[ChangTurkey]

Argh, I have the WI24, which is basically the same as the WI14, but made in Indonesia, not to mention the paint chips PRETTY easily. Watch out.

[ibanez916]

this guitar is probably one of the top ten guitars from the manufacturer of washburn the body gives off the beautiful sharp gothic look

i think its beautiful

[Xenn99]

^It is a great guitar, but the higher end ones (WI64, WI66PRO, WI68) are much, much better. It's by far the best guitar I've tried for under $300.

[groundskeeper]

From what ive heared, its alot like the wi24. my wi24 plays great. i have to agree with ChangTurkey, the only BAD thing about these models is the body dosent hold paint easily.

[RJMan]

Nobody but me seems to have bought the WI16. from what i hear about the 14, the 16 is way better. mine has a skull on it and never hisses or anything. also, easily outplays a 1500 dollar strat at the guitar store my friend owns. very cheap too

[tyler1285]

Guess what I found In My Laundry room this morning, ONE OF THESE, I cant wait till christmas

[ignacia_11]

I found this guitar in my laundry room too
cant wait for xmas either

[xskater74055x]

I have owned this guitar for two years now... it has been dropped thousands of times, but it still has a great tone, and feel, the only things I have had to change are the strings... but, even after all the damage that could have been done, there are a few scratchs on jthe back of the body and none on the front... so, I would recomend this guitar to anyone who wants to get a good guitar at a cheap price

[I'm NOT Okay!]

this is the best guitar ever )
of course it isn't the best ever, but it's my 1st guitar and i will always love him

[akabutterz]

yeah its a good guitar...but i also had the electronics in mine mess up, and it needs to be saudered

[boreddumb86]

i have the guitar and its cool for what i play. i dont really like washburns but i like this one. i like epiphones and fenders better if you have an extra $150. trust me save up. get a crappy guitar and then when you can play get maybe a $500 or $600 one. this one has got a nice crunchy sound to it

[washburn4metal]

I got the 14 a year ago, and I have to say, for the price, its an awesome guitar. I do agree that the pickups are a little noisy, and changing the tone doesn't really do anything, but it has an exceptionally good crunch. I think it's a great beginner to intermediate guitar

[skrellington]

I Love This Guitar, Of course i have had only one other guitar, Jules, which was an esteban,,,,not much of a guitar. but my Washburn WI14, which i named Angel is awesome to play, easy to play, has great sound, and the pickups are awesome, no white noise whatsoever. i'd give this guitar a 10

[DasiusPsycho]

I really like this guitar. It was the first guitar I ever got, and I still play it to this day. It has a really good sound, and is very easy to play, I definatly recomend to anybody looking to buy a starter guitar.

[emaadwi14]

im gettin mine on my bday
its coming in a pack
wi14 plus tuner, strap, piks, amp, chords and a dvd

[Rocker613]

ok i have this guitar and first the neck pickup would work on and off now it doesnt work at all then that happened to the bridge pickup so how do i sauder it or whatever???

[Jonesie110]

i have this guitar and it is by far the best one i own... the only problem i have with it is the frets are a little rough, and hard to hold down, you get used to it in time althought the frets seem to feel like an acoustic.... great starter, good for advanced players also

[XEmo_GuitaristX]

my friend's WI14 has a cherry red maple finish. i like to play it.