It's a brave new world for guitarists. For better or worse, these days, the traditional is less valued and players are more open to new, innovative designs. So Washburn has stepped in with a guitar that incorporates both a new look and a new tuning system-not just for the novelty but with progress in mind.

Thin to Win

The Washburn Idol series is an interesting variation on the set-neck, single-cutaway, two-humbucker, tune-o-matic-type bridge-equipped instrument, à la the Gibson Les Paul or Guild Blues Bird. The neck and body are made of solid mahogany with a quilted maple top. A 22-fret neck has a rosewood fingerboard, a scale length of 24 3/4", and is 1 11/16" at the nut. Typical specs, but Washburn has included a few innovations as well. For starters, the body is less than 2" thick at its widest part. I say widest part because the Idol's body is heavily beveled on the top and back, with the maple veneer attached to the top's unbeveled mid-section. This, combined with the sharp lower cutaway, a hint of an upper cutaway, and a wide lower bout, create a distinctive look and a well-balanced instrument that is quite light (6 lbs.) for its size. The finish is faultless. The clear coat on the test model reveals a wealth of figuring in the top, and the green color combined with gold hardware gives the instrument a classy appearance.

Temper, Temper
The Washburn Idol employs the Buzz Feiten Tuning System, which relocates the nut a little closer to the bridge and intonates the saddles in such a way that the guitar's tuning is tempered more like that of a piano. The net result is that guitar chords that have never been quite in tune before are now spot on. Remember how you had to compromise the G string tuning to make root position E and C chords sound roughly in tune? No more. With this system, both chords are accurate. This can be almost disconcerting after a lifetime of hearing instruments slightly out of tune, but it is a pleasure once your ears are acclimated.

The setup was fine for my playing preference, but with the flat fingerboard and medium frets, an even lower action can be used, if that is your style. The instrument played well except for a slight resistance in the rosewood fingerboard when bending notes-like you sometimes feel after a fret job when the fingerboard has been planed. As in that situation, the problem may disappear as finger oils accumulate with more playing.

Faux Single

The Washburn 800-series Humbuckers produce standard output with a clear, snappy tone. Rather than offer splitting options, Washburn has elected to provide its VCC (Voice Contour Control) tone system. These roll off the midrange rather than high end, to simulate a single-coil sound without losing the hum cancellation. They do a fair imitation but sacrifice both some high end and a standard tone control. An alternative might have been to provide one master VCC and one master treble roll-off. In another twist on the traditional, the tone knobs were located diagonally across from their respective volume knobs.

Crispy Critter

The Idol's maple top and medium output pickups make it a versatile instrument, equally at home with fuzzed-out thrash or country crackle. Best of all, the precision intonation makes playing chords, whether complex jazz types or distorted metal material (even including major thirds!-see musical example) a pleasure. In general, all the notes ring truer than you have ever heard them, which, while strange at first, rapidly becomes a real joy. Having a Buzz Feiten Tuning System installed in your guitar could cost you almost half the street price of the WI64 , and that alone makes this Idol worth worshipping.