Mini quiz

[Dynamic Mike]

Apparently I'm being (temporarily) evicted from my normal practice space to make room for a seasonal tree. Needed a guitar which was acoustically quiet to practise on in the next room to a sleeping wife, so my usual semi-acoustics were out of the question.

So I've resurrected an old friend (from 1987/88) & thought maybe I'd add post a little quiz for the forum nightowls.

Can you identify;
a) The make
b) The model
c) The colour

No tricks, it's totally stock apart from the hex bolts in the locking nut.

[zenguitar]

I'm not really a guitar 'train-spotter', but I'll start off with a stab at a Jackson because of the shark fin fret markers. Possibly a Dinky.

But the trem is annoying me, can't quite pin it down.

Andy

[Dynamic Mike]

Nope but I think the trem is quite unique so you're onto something there.

[Wonks]

Charvel model 6. Kahler trem.

I almost bought one.at the time.

[Dynamic Mike]

It's not a Charvel, nor is it a Kahler. The trem and the guitar are the same make!

[zenguitar]

Hmmm Washburn Wonderbar?

No clue to the guitar model or colour.

Andy

[BJG145]

I was going to suggest Jackson/Charvel in ivory.

[Dynamic Mike]

Washburn G15V. Actually a Washburn 2001 trem. Very quickly discontinued as it was too expensive to make. A bugger to set up but amazing when it is, you can divebomb chords in tune if that's your sort of thing. The entire guitar is beautifully made and still plays like new. Scarf jointed Canadian rock maple neck (not sure why you need a pitched neck with a locking nut?), alder body, rosewood bound fingerboard. Active coil tapped HSS with mid range boost.

Warren DiMartini played one for a bit when he was in Ratt, but pretty sure nobody else of note used one. Internet searches return pretty much nothing!

The colour is brilliant white (& still is underneath if you remove the trem) but it's polyester so it's just aged in the light like an old fridge. I like it & at least I avoided the 'crackel' finish that blights the Stephens Washburns of that era.

[ManFromGlass]

Very similar headstock to my Charvette.
Yours looks like a honey to play!

[Dynamic Mike]

Very similar headstock to my Charvette.
Yours looks like a honey to play!

It's odd. Plugged in it sounds amazing with a huge range of tones. But acoustically it's as dead as a dodo, really quiet. I suspect it's the thick polyester finish that does it.

What I love is you can set all the tuning pegs in a straight line and then use the fine tuners to get it to pitch. Just me? OCD? Thought so

[Murray B]

It's a Washburn, not sure of the model G-23v perhaps? and in Pearl Off White / Pearl White?

[Murray B]

Replied to an un-refreshed page after the reveal

[ManFromGlass]

.

What I love is you can set all the tuning pegs in a straight line and then use the fine tuners to get it to pitch. Just me? OCD? Thought so

That’s what I liked about the Charvette so I’m in that club too sometimes

[Luke W]

What I love is you can set all the tuning pegs in a straight line and then use the fine tuners to get it to pitch. Just me? OCD? Thought so

Love it

My guess would have been a Jackson of some sort as well.

[Dynamic Mike]

What I love is you can set all the tuning pegs in a straight line and then use the fine tuners to get it to pitch. Just me? OCD? Thought so

Love it

My guess would have been a Jackson of some sort as well.

It probably would have been a Jackson if I'd had that kind of money to spend

[Wonks]

Scarf jointed Canadian rock maple neck (not sure why you need a pitched neck with a locking nut?)

If the pitch is correct, then it saves having to use a string retaining bar that is definitely required on a non-angled headstock in order to pull the strings down onto the headstock-end of the locking nut. This bar allows you to a) set the tuning up without the string clamps pulling the strings out of tune and b) for the clamps not to have to pull the strings down on to the nut in the first place, so all the clamp effort goes into holding the string in place and makes the clamp much more effective.

On non-angled headstock guitars where they've omitted the bar, or the user hasn't screwed it down far enough, I do know that there have been problems (especially n the cheaper FR copies) with the strings not staying in tune, which the fitting and/or correct positioning of the bar has cured.

You'd certainly have a problem fitting a retaining bar on that headstock shape (if it were flat) without using a much smaller truss rod cover. So maybe Washburn's aesthetics department beat the bean counters on this, as it must cost a lot more to fit a scarf-jointed headstock on, than fit a simple bar and two screws that cost a few pence.

However, on that Washburn, the locking part isn't acting as a nut, just as a string lock, but from the photo it looks like the strings rise up slightly from the nut end of the lock to reach the nut proper, negating a lot of the benefit of the angled headstock. Oh well, you can't win them all!

[Wonks]

It is heavily influenced by the earlier Charvels, which in turn were based on the Jackson Soloist models. The Charvels changed over from using Kahler to Floyd Rose trems sometime during 1987.

Charvel Model 6:


Jackson Pro Soloist:

[Dynamic Mike]

So maybe Washburn's aesthetics department beat the bean counters on this, as it must cost a lot more to fit a scarf-jointed headstock on, than fit a simple bar and two screws that cost a few pence.

However, on that Washburn, the locking part isn't acting as a nut, just as a string lock, but from the photo it looks like the strings rise up slightly from the nut end of the lock to reach the nut proper, negating a lot of the benefit of the angled headstock. Oh well, you can't win them all!

The nut slots are cut at the angle of neck pitch. The strings don't deviate passing through the lock because even the sandwich bits (I'm sure there's a proper term) that clamp the strings are at the correct pitch for the string travel. And the nut is graphite!!! So by my reckoning that's at least one belt & two pairs of braces. The scarf joint starts at around the third fret so its not visible on this pic.

I've always suspected maybe the original design brief was a pitched headstock & graphite nut and the locking part was an afterthought.



Incidentally I have one other fairly oddball guitar if anyone wants Mini Quiz 2?

[zenguitar]

Go for it

Andy

[Wonks]

Looks from the photo like some strings pass straight through and some do rise up a bit to their nut slot. So technically it could benefit from a very thin shim under the locking mechanism (or maybe the rear of the nut slots being cut at a touch more angle. But practically, if it holds the tuning, then its doing its job.

[Sam Spoons]

Not sure but is the locking mech flat so the outer strings rise up and the D & G are level due to the camber?

[Wonks]

Probably. Though I'd imagine that angling the rear of the nut slot a bit more would mitigate matters.

[Sam Spoons]

[Wonks]

IIRC, my Chandler custom had a behind the nut lock rather like that, though the central clamp was raised slightly above the outer two to compensate for the camber. It had a Kahler trem, so presumably had a Kahler string lock fitted.

[MOF]

Apparently I'm being (temporarily) evicted from my normal practice space to make room for a seasonal tree. Needed a guitar which was acoustically quiet to practise on in the next room to a sleeping wife, so my usual semi-acoustics were out of the question.

Most unreasonable, I presume she knew that you played guitar before you were married.