Any Washburn N4 fans here?

[neilli]

They've been on my wishlist for years, but I've never quite got around to grabbing one. I know there is some serious love for the very early ones, but how do the later ones fair?

 

[mooncobra]

I had a later model, around 2007, and it was easily one of the best guitars I have ever played. it was a white one in a series of 7 from some music store. it was a stock n4, and was bad ass. but, the same friend who had that n4, bought another new one a year later and it was awful. so they are hot or miss, but when you get a good one, watch out because they are amazing. It sounded absolutely amazing, and played very easily. it was heavy for alder, but it was a great guitar. I tried to get it off of my friend for 4 or 5 years until he moved away. I loved that guitar. I liked the stock pickup also, that Lawrence. just make sure to play it before you buy it. the one he got that was bad, was really bad. I bought one also, and it had a slight problem with the neck. so 1 out of 3 was amazing, but the other two, not so much.

 

[bobbyd]

they can be GREAT guitars. it seems like the earlier ones were more consistent. i also had a white one, from a series of 20 made for Boogie Street Music. Love the ebony board, love the big frets, love the Floyd Rose. It's a really great "take" on the superstrat riff, and the au naturale look of the N4 (in the plain finish) is a really subdued guitar that you could gig with at a casino or a death metal show or a reggae band - i like that kind of versatility, as opposed to a guitar that was painted by Mike Learn with zombies, blood, gore, and so on.......you really don't wanna show up to play that $1,000 per man corporate gig with a death metal axe

 

[Emperor Guillotine]

Later production model N4s are crap from what I've seen and heard. (Seems like the price and quality have a positive correlation amidst the N4 models; and I'm usually not one to harp about price.) Only the N4s from the first few runs, along with the super high-dollar Washburn/Parker Custom Shop made ones, are the real good players. Shame that the Washburn/Parker Custom Shop shut down recently. Some excellently crafted models such as the WM526 and the X-81 Face Eraser came out of that shop.

 

[neilli]

So is there a way to 'remotely' tell a good one apart from one from a dodgy era ? I remember reading something about the 'curve' to the fingerboard on the stephens cutaway is different between the very early and later guitars, but is there a serial number rule of thumb or anything?

 

[cecilbag]

I believe the original ones were built by Davies himself, I only know that Nuno has been buying old ones himself at meet and greets etc. There must be something special about the originals. Like most things I suppose

 

[Vede]

Yup, definitely a fan here. I own this one. I believe it's a 2011, and it's fantastic. It is, however, a custom shop, and I don't know how they differ from standard USA models.

 

[neilli]

So how do I tell a custom shop model? Some of them I've seen don't seem to even have an obvious serial..

Apart from not being the only silver one, any idea what this one might be?

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Washburn-Nuno-B ... SwdWBXOgyR

 

[zewango]

When Washburn redid the N4 to 2.0 specs they are killer guitars. I still cant stand the USA Lawrence pickups.

 

[Emperor Guillotine]

Yup, definitely a fan here. I own this one. I believe it's a 2011, and it's fantastic. It is, however, a custom shop, and I don't know how they differ from standard USA models.

Well.....that definitely blows the Koa-topped ones that I've seen out of the water.

So how do I tell a custom shop model? Some of them I've seen don't seem to even have an obvious serial..

Apart from not being the only silver one, any idea what this one might be?

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Washburn-Nuno-B ... SwdWBXOgyR

I've seen some custom shop guitars that have a "Washburn USA Custom Shop" decal/stamp on the back of the headstock. But I've also seen some custom shop guitars without said decal/stamp. Why couldn't Washburn just have been consistent?

 

[nevusofota]

All USA N4's were built in the custom shop. Washburn closed the Chicago shop last summer. Apparently they are currently being made by a smaller US builder now.

 

[nevusofota]

I have probably played most guitar brands and own many (currently own Charvel CS, J. custom, CS Strat, LP's, etc) I can honestly say my personal favorite to play is the Davies N4. I have 2 of them along with a 94 Paduak. I don't like the 94 nearly as much as the Davies. Everything you need to know about the history of the N4 is here, so I won't get into it. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Washburn_N4

It's going to be tough to find a Davies N4 now. Only a hand full come up for sale each year. Two have come up for sale on the N4 Facebook page within the past 2 weeks. This is where all the long time N4 players now hangout since the Funky Munky Forum closed down years ago. I have spoken directly to Stephen Davies, the designer and builder of the N4, a few times over the years. I recently was going to purchase one of the rare black Davies N4's that came up for sale recently (wound up being not original). Richard Wiekum, luthier at Davies shop in the 80's and 90's, called me recently after I reached out to him for some info. We wound up talking about the N4 for about an hour. Great guy. He purchased all of the N4 parts that were left over after Washburn pulled the plug on Davies shop building tbe N4, which was in early 92.

If you can't find a Davies, definitely get an Authentic as it has the Davies 2.0 neck which I feel is the closest if not just as comfortable as the Davies necks from 91.

Here's a pic of my 2 Davies N4's with a Davies Tele from 92. The Tele is bad ass too as it also has the Stephens Extened Cutaway neck joint.




Here is my 94 Padauk.

 

[neilli]

Thanks for the input guys! So do we have a 'feeling' that the silver one at the ebay link would be decent or a dog?

 

[nevusofota]

Thanks for the input guys! So do we have a 'feeling' that the silver one at the ebay link would be decent or a dog?

It is a 2007 USA N4 built in Washburn's Chicago custom shop. It is a great guitar based on the simple fact that it's an N4. It is not a dog by any means. However, I personally prefer the neck profile from either a Davies (91 builds) or the Davies 2.0 (2009 or later Authentic's). If I were you I would go to a Washburn dealer and try an N4 then compare it to an N4 authentic to see which neck dimension you prefer. Basically, there are only 2 neck profiles amongst N4's, besides the slight variances associated with manufacturing, the Davies profile and the "standard" profile.

The silver N4 you are looking at on eBay is a killer guitar.

 

[Luca79]

I had a 2008 alder N4.
Not liked it at all. Frets, neck profile, neck joint, bridge...
IMO not build so well. At least mine. (pickups were changed with the original BL)

 

[NaturalBornBoy]

All USA N4's were built in the custom shop. Washburn closed the Chicago shop last summer. Apparently they are currently being made by a smaller US builder now.

This.

 

[kunos]

I don't have good memories of mine, circa 2004. It was the "relic" version.. looked incredibly badass. I had a moment of crazy and got it bringing in a wonderful LP Standard and a Steinberger GM7SA... still banging my head in the wall every time I think about it, GAS is a terrible disease.
Hated the bridge pickup straight away, bought an Evolution to replace it, it didn't fit in the hole, had to bring the guitar in to route it. With the DiMarzio it was ok-ish, still looked bad ass, but nothing really special to play.. it became useful some years after when I sold it to pay for the rent.