Excerpted from August 2001

Washburn EA-16
Flat-Top Flash
by Michael Ross

Washburn acoustic guitars hark back to the early days of American guitar music. In the late 19th century, they were by far the largest sellers, and the company dominated the picker's market with a wide range of models. This long history does not inhibit them when it comes to instrument design, however. As their new EA-16 model shows, your acoustic axe need not look or sound like your great-grandfather's.

Cherry, Cherry, Baby
The one we tested came in a metallic-cherry finish last seen on a streaking Chrysler PT-Cruiser. There is a tradition of electric guitars in car colors (think sea-foam green, metal-flake blue, and salmon-pink Strats) but to spy such a paint job covering the entire body and neck of an acoustic is nothing less than startling. Strangely, it works well with the traditional Washburn headstock shape and wooden bridge. What helps is that the finish is flawless and features the deep gloss of a prize hot-rod. As fine as the finish is, it also can serve as a money saver, since the maple wood used for the top and sides need only be sonically sound, not cosmetically perfect. The binding on the rosewood fingerboard lends a touch of class to the otherwise street-legal attitude. doubt due to the mahogany body and the judicious bits of wood lost in the sculpting process.

A flat, wide neck makes it easy to play those open chords with all the strings ringing out. With frets this well-rounded, sliding into notes is easy; even though they are high and wide, there is none of that "railroad-tie" bumpiness. Proper crowning of the frets, combined with an accurately compensated saddle, makes the instrument's intonation near perfect.

Little Body, Big Sound
With its 3 3/4" deep body, the AE-16 is primarily designed for plugged-in play, but it still affords ample acoustic sound for sittin' around strummin' or pickin'. In fact, it is resonant enough that you may still need a sound hole cover to avoid feedback if your band likes to crank it up. Plugging in offers two options: a phone jack out that engages the nine-volt, battery-powered preamp and built-in chorus; or an XLR connector that bypasses all of the above, coming straight off the pickup. The more direct out may require some external preamping, depending on where you plug in. Jacking into my ProTools Digi 001's mic pre with the input level knob all the way up,

the pickupdid not provide enough output to register on the meter. Many mixers offer more available input boost, or you might use a high-quality external preamp. Using the guitar's own preamp affords acres of gain, along with sliders for the usual volume, bass, mids, treble, and presence controls. The basic sound of the preamp is very natural with little harshness in the high end.

Hallelujah Chorus
The AE-16 electronics also offer an Equis Chorus with rate and depth knob controls and a push button on/off switch. The chorus is extremely musical, no matter how extreme the settings. With rate and depth knobs at minimum, you're rewarded with a mild but still lush chorus; with the settings full on, you get a pleasant "underwater" effect without any attendant sea-sickness (see musical example). The model tested was an early one that exhibited clock noise-when the chorus was turned off. Turning the rate knob all the way down stopped it, and Washburn says that this noise has been fixed in more recent models.

You Look Mahvelous
If you play solo acoustic guitar instrumentals in a Vegan restaurant, the AE-16 is probably not for you. But if you are looking for something to add acoustic and ambient textures to a band project, you don't necessarily need to spend thousands of dollars for a custom luthier-built axe with a dual-pickup, stereo preamp amplification system. Let's face it, all that fabulous low-end and tonal subtlety will be lost the minute the bass and drums start playing anyway. Thanks to Washburn, you can have a stage guitar that is easy to play, sounds good, looks sexy as hell, and will do the job at a ridiculously reasonable price.