NUGD x2 - Washburn WI64 electric & Yamaha APX600 acoustic

[Mighty Motif Max]

Hey all,

 

New Used Guitar Day x2 this week. I picked up two guitars last week from a local-ish seller on FB Marketplace. For context, my only guitar since I started playing in 2018 had been a Yamaha Pacifica 112V, which, while sounding nice and being made well, did not suit my hands very well…not a fan of the neck shape and very narrow nut width. I had a shattered wrist that affected my thumb some years back, and I’ve since come to the realization that things don’t quite work with guitar the way they should sometimes on account of that. Certain thumb movement/pressure things hurt a bit more than they should because it’s maybe 85% of normal. But I enjoy playing guitar, so I wanted to continue with that without the increasing issues that have started pushing me away. After playing a classical guitar for a bit at college and my mother’s older Yamaha FG-450S acoustic and not feeling as much strain, I started looking for a new electric. I tried a few different used models some time back at a shop (when I bought that Ibanez BTB bass I posted about a while back) and it seemed like either thicker or thinner necks were fine, just not the particular shallow C shape Yamaha used on the 112V.

 

The plan was to stick with the Pacifica until down the road some years I’d get a nice full hollow body with a wider nut and thicker (?) neck and call it a day. But in the last few months I’ve been playing more and the Pacifica was really starting to frustrate me. So I started casually watching used listings for a guitar at the right price and right specs that I would physically enjoy playing more. Nothing fancy needed, but I was just looking for a more comfortable instrument. I figured I’d just wait until there was a really good deal on something that would fill the gap for however many years.

 

Enter the first guitar, a Washburn WI64 in Seared Mahogany Satin with Antique Bronze hardware, for $150. This is one of the earlier (better) Korean models from before production moved to Indonesia, built in 2006 according to the serial number (seller bought it used, thought it was from the late ‘90s). Mahogany body and neck, Rosewood fretboard, set-neck, Buzz Feiten tuning system. Nice low action, plays smoothly, and I get along with the neck shape much better than my Pacifica. Probably only a 7/10 cosmetically since Washburn didn’t install a pick guard on this particular finish and it’s pretty worn/gouged up there, but it plays great, everything works well, and, to my delight, I can get some really nice warm jazz tones out of the neck humbucker. There were pretty mixed reviews online about the VCC coil-split system (controlled with a knob, in lieu of tone knobs), but I like the range of tone and the rather dark pickups a lot. For what I do it easily sounds better than my Pacifica. I originally thought there were stains or something on the body, but from what I can figure out, that’s a special “seared” finish from the factory. So I’ll probably just do a general cleaning, put some flats on it, and call it good.

 

I noticed the guy had a practically-new thinline acoustic-electric listed as well. While I was down checking out the WI64, I asked to try it out as well. It wasn’t a Taylor or anything like that, but I rather liked the thinner sound and it felt nice, if rather light. I’d been casually looking at acoustic/electrics recently as well, but had planned on my next guitar being an electric that I could enjoy more since virtually all my guitar gear is electric-focused. Well, I noticed the next day that the price had dropped further; I then asked if the seller would cut it a bit further, and he did. So I wound up driving back another 1.5 hours each way and picking it up too. It had pretty much just been taken out of the box and played a few times; the seller hadn’t gelled with it and replaced it with a nice Martin, and so it had a few fingerprints and that’s about it.

 

So guitar #2 is a Yamaha APX600 Acoustic-Electric Thinline in a tobacco sunburst finish. Essentially new-in-box, $140.

 

Picture of the two below:

 

So really, I was just looking to find one electric guitar that I would enjoy playing more than my Pacifica and that would inspire me to play more. Instead I found one and a nice acoustic-electric for $290 total, both instruments I will enjoy playing.

[KuruPrionz]

SWEEEEEET!!!!

Those both look like fun to me, glad you are finding them more comfortable. 

I won't warn you about the sick, degenerate disease you appear to have acquired, there's no use. 

You are DOOMED!!!! 😃

You will have a room FULL of guitars before you know it.

 

For me, guitar is compelling because I get to touch the actual tone generator. So many subtle and instant variations of expression right at your fingertips, strings are amazing. 

Looks like you have a fair number of tone altering toys too!!!! 😇

[Larryz]

Congrats on a great find and purchase Motif!  Washburn made some great sounding and paying guitars back then.  Since you are thinking flatwounds, I highly recommend Magma Flats strings for both electric and acoustic guitars.  They are bright and there is no string squeak!  Available at Amazon or Walmart on-line. 😎

[Caevan O’Shite]

Score! Wait, another score!        
 

14 hours ago, KuruPrionz said:

I won't warn you about the sick, degenerate disease you appear to have acquired, there's no use. 

You are DOOMED!!!! 😃

You will have a room FULL of guitars before you know it.

Truly. They multiply... but at what cost?!

 

[KuruPrionz]

37 minutes ago, Caevan O’Shite said:

Score! Wait, another score!        
 

Truly. They multiply... but at what cost?!

 

If you are a savvy shopper like Mighty Max (or myself, or probably y'all), you can purchase a guitar at a reasonable price and consider it to be sort of a "savings account". I am pretty good at finding bargains and that means I should be able to sell them later on down the road for at least as much (and probably a fair chunk more) than I paid for them. 

 

If you lose money on guitars, you are buying them wrong. 😁

[Mighty Motif Max]

Did some rearranging and organizing of the guitar corner. Did some setup work on both, plus my old Pacifica, and I’m a happy camper. It’s nice when you can have an instrument feel the way you want it to. 
 

 

 

It appears I have a thing for natural wood...not that I was planning it that way except for my first guitar, but there you have it.

 

On 6/13/2022 at 11:07 AM, Larryz said:

Congrats on a great find and purchase Motif!  Washburn made some great sounding and paying guitars back then.  Since you are thinking flatwounds, I highly recommend Magma Flats strings for both electric and acoustic guitars.  They are bright and there is no string squeak!  Available at Amazon or Walmart on-line. 😎

Bright is sort of the opposite of what I was going for, actually. I put on some 10-48 Extra Light XL Flatwound Chromes and I’m quite pleased. Good to know about the Magma strings should I want to do more rock or such where I’d want a brighter sound, so thanks for the recommendation!

[Winston Psmith]

The Buzz Feiten tuning system was a very cool idea that somehow never spread around? Craig Anderton described a dual-Guitar recording technique, using one Guitar with a standard nut, and another with a Buzz Feiten system. It produces a sound almost like a natural Chorus/Detuning effect when you heard the two Guitars together.

[KuruPrionz]

11 hours ago, Winston Psmith said:

The Buzz Feiten tuning fsystem was a very cool idea that somehow never spread around? Craig Anderton described a dual-Guitar recording technique, using one Guitar with a standard nut, af guitarnd another with a Buzz Feiten system. It produces a sound almost like a natural Chorus/Detuning effect when you heard the two Guitars together.

Haven't got a Buzz F guitar but I do copy and paste a couple of guitar tracks and put a smidge of Eventide MicroPitch on one, that does more or less the same trick. 

Anytime you have a guitar sound that includes a guitar without a modulation or tuning effect of some kind and one with a mod/detune of some sort, the "air" in between them will seem to shift position. It's pretty cool, if used sparingly. 

 

Works on vocals too. Don't use it on bass unless you roll off all the low end on the track with effects, it will just sound thin otherwise. 

[Kyle Watson]

I'm 100% positive that this is my Washburn WI64 that was stolen from me in 2018. I have everything necessary to prove it, documents, matching serial number, the theif who stole it, ect. I will buy it back for the $150 you paid and I could pick it up in person. 

Should we message on here or do you prefer elsewhere? 

On a tangent... I'm ashamed to say that the finish is not seared from the factory and is every bit of a much younger me, my 3 children and 7 of their cousins who hadn't yet appreciated keeping a nice guitar nice. It was well loved. 

My oldest niece wrote her first song and performed it with this guitar. 

I did the meticulous work on the action myself. I was in the middle of finding a certain tone when it was stolen is why the humbuckers are so high. 

It looks like it still has the same strings maybe by the wind. Urban strap and fender gig bag travel with it as well? Clip on micro tuner? 

 

I experimented a lot with different strings for the tone I wanted. I believe those are elixirs medium light. 

I played it through crate mostly and line six was a nice pair. 

 

I'm thankful it ended up in responsible hands. I'm a collector, and have a natural kink as well.

 

I hope to hear back soon! 

Just message me here or let me know otherwise.  

                        -Kyle

 

 

[Larryz]

Welcome aboard Kyle! Great find, if you found a stolen Washburn guitar on this forum!  I'm sure if one of our members have it, they will contact you. 😎

[Mighty Motif Max]

I’ll PM you.

[surfergirl]

Looks like 2 great finds, sure you'll enjoy. I like the Yamaha thinlines. 

[Caevan O’Shite]

15 hours ago, Kyle Watson said:

I did the meticulous work on the action myself. I was in the middle of finding a certain tone... is why the humbuckers are so high.   I experimented a lot with different strings for the tone I wanted

Hey, you sound a bit like me in some respects! I'm all about finding the right string types, brands, gauges, and set-up adjustments for a given guitar.

I'm glad you've got an opportunity to get your guitar back; I hope you stick around and comment on some other threads occasionally, or even post some new thread-starters of your own.

[Mighty Motif Max]

My PM has not been read yet...hopefully Kyle will come back so we can figure this one out!

[Mighty Motif Max]

Still unread...is there a moderator or someone who would be able to reach out to Kyle using any contact info he provided on registration perhaps?