FEATURES
MAHOGANY IS A GREAT wood for a metal and shred guitar due to its inherently heavy bass, wide mids and controlled highs. It may not be as loud as alder or basswood, but mahogany’s even tonality mixes well with high gain. All of the WM526’s other design and component choices are aimed at adding attack and presence to the natural warmth of this guitar’s mahogany body and neck. Aside from comfort and weight, the body is cut thin, allowing the modest resonance generated from light-gauge strings and a floating bridge to make the body ring. The shape of the WM526’s neck is cut for speed. At the nut, the hill is thin and C-shaped. It gains some depth and becomes flatter as you move higher. When you ultimately venture into the upper registers, the depth of the neck heel is countered by a comfort-enhancing bevel and rounded body contour. This reach-improving feature almost hides the trick that Washburn utilizes to gain more attack from the neck: instead of just pushing the neck into a hole under the pickups, this thin neck is set into a bolt-on style pocket that maximizes neck-to-body contact area. Washburn partnered with Parker Guitars for the WM526’s nearly flat fretboard. It’s made from the same carbon-glass composite that Parker uses on its futuristic Fly guitars and is topped with 24 jumbo stainless-steel frets.

FEATURES
WASHBURN’S ATTENTION TO construction details and careful part matching markedly enhance the shredding experience. In particular, Parker’s responsive composite fretboard is a flawless platform for frenetic styles, and it presents tones with a neutral high-tech sheen that can’t be duplicated with the hardest woods. Similarly, EMG’s preamp-controlled balance and compression characteristics complement the tone. The effects of high-tech moderators and Buzz Feiten’s intonation system are most noticeable on the fretboard’s upper end. Players that like to burn above the 15th fret and run hyperspeed modal sweeps will be empowered by the Washburn’s ability to distinctly deliver each sound. It’s really quite an exhilarating experience to hear every note played with such pianolike percussion and clarity. The tone may not be sweet and lush, but it’s also not clinical or lacking in musicality. When I turned the gain down, the same qualities that made it so shreddable with high gain lent the WM526 to all manner of fusion. The Washburn’s almost colorless and pure delivery of clean tones forced me to focus on note choice and composition.