Washburn Ressurrection Thread

[The Dali]

Hello everyone... I was trying to sell a Washburn Wi66v for a while and never got anything CLOSE to a hit for it... the Wi66v was the first guitar made in the Idol series by Washburn. I guess they started in the early 2000's. The guitars were originally made in Korea and were kind of the bastard-child of a Les Paul and a SG.

I had tried one in 2003 when i first got into guitars and loved it, but didn't buy one. Since then, I'd always wanted to get one even though I had much nicer gear by this point. During a night of drunken Ebay bidding I ended up winning one for a GREAT price... because it had a big crack near the heel on the back of the neck. Not sure what i was thinking, but it was a great looking guitar and had the tremolo, which I wanted.

So... I got the guitar and it plays REALLY well. The guitar is almost MINT, well, except for the giant crack on the back. As many of you know, I was going through a divorce (totally final now) and was moving a bunch of unneeded guitar stuff and tried to sell the Washburn since I had 4 other humbucker-equipped guitars already.

I couldn't GIVE the guitar away. I was trying to get $180 SHIPPED and no one would take it, not here, not on ebay, not on Harmony Central, not on MyLesPaul, nowhere.

So... you know how it goes... if you can't sell it, why not pump more money into it??

With that said, I am going to try to ressurrect the guitar and bring her into her full glory. Here she is now:

Here is a photo of the crack:

After inspecting the crack I'm 97.65426% sure that it is ONLY in the poly and not in the actual wood. The crack is about 1/2 an inch higher on the neck than the heel scarf-joint, so I don't think the wood would (ha!) have split above the joint. I believe the joint would have fractured, not the wood 1/2 of an inch above it. With that said, I've decided to take the finish off the neck. If my guess is correct, and the crack was only in the finish, then I'll strip the back of the neck from the heel to the headstock and finish it in tung-oil.

On top of this... if the neck is really fine and not cracked, I am going to remove the pickups and electronics and re-wire. I'll add in some Gibson and Bourne pots and re-wire in some CREAM DiMarzio pickups to match the rest of the plastic on the guitar.

More photos to come this week as I explore the neck crack.

 

[Funkfingers]

Re: Washburn Ressurrection Thread

If the tuning stability is good, the crack is probably only in the finish.

For my tastes (or the lack thereof), those cream coloured control knobs detract from the look of the guitar. Golden Gibson-style ones would be preferable. The ones with the metal Vol/Tone inserts would be my choice.

 

[frankfalbo]

Re: Washburn Ressurrection Thread

I believe it's not possible that the crack is in the finish only. There is no reason the poly would crack unless the wood has split. The wood is not more likely to split at the joint. The joint is reinforced, and stonger than the wood itself. If it were my guitar I would soak thin superglue into the crack and apply pressure to close it, either with clamps or physical man-handling until the superglue dried.

 

[The Dali]

Re: Washburn Ressurrection Thread

Thanks Frank - it is possible that you are correct. Visual inspection doesn't show any indication of the wood being cracked, but I obviously can't see direectly underneath the poly crack.

Since the guitar is literally worth nothing at this point, there is little harm in removing the finish from the neck and taking a look. At the very least it will let me repair the crack with glue and then re-finish the neck.

 

[littlebadboy]

Re: Washburn Ressurrection Thread

I'll be picking up a used WI-66V tomorrow as a trade for my 2 guitars, a Washburn Billy T and a Peavey Predator Plus TR7. I know this is an old thread but may I ask if you know what are the specs for the tremolo bar for the WI-66V? They seem not to have it at Guitar Center. I might have luck at ebay if I have the correct specs.

What happened to this guitar?

Thanks!

 

[Masta' C]

Re: Washburn Ressurrection Thread

I'll be picking up a used WI-66V tomorrow as a trade for my 2 guitars, a Washburn Billy T and a Peavey Predator Plus TR7. I know this is an old thread but may I ask if you know what are the specs for the tremolo bar for the WI-66V? They seem not to have it at Guitar Center. I might have luck at ebay if I have the correct specs.

What happened to this guitar?

Thanks!

Email Washburn. They are usually very good at giving that type of information out and may even have a replacement arm available for purchase.