Washburn #6 - 'KC90 V' transparent gold

So nice I bought another one.

Definitely a hidden gem these, where else can you get what is effectively an early 90s Japanese made Jackson fitted with real Seymour Duncans in great condition for under £150. The nicely aged JBJ pickup would sell for about £40 on its own.

The electrics on this one were a dry jointed badly earthed disaster and the owner had fitted an 'Iron Gear' bridge pickup. As he supplied the original JBJ an afternoons fiddling got it nicely sorted though. Still need to go back and replace the jack socket as it's a bit loose but it's 100% playable.

There's a little fret wear but nothing terrible.

Washburn #2 - 'KC90 V' natural

In modern times, Washburn have contracted out the bulk of their manufacture with only the 'custom shop' models being made in the USA. In the early 90s, the Chicago series were their standard superstrat offering and mostly made in Korea. Nowadays they're not in the slightest bit desirable so if you want a good quality cheap superstrat one of the KC models would be right at the top of my list. The electrics and pickups are even of a decent quality.

The two top models, the KC90 and KC100 were made in Japan. This was in the factory which made early 90s 'Professional' Jacksons, renowned for being made to giant-slaying levels of quality and playability. Unlike the Jacksons this isn't widely known so the KC90 can be had rather cheaply sometimes. I managed to pick this up for £90. The KC100 is similar but with a through rather than bolt-on neck and is quite uncommon.

So, the KC90 comes with good quality Japanese hardware, Washburn branded Gotoh machine heads, Washburn 600-S tremolo which is actually a Takeuchi TRS-101 and fantastic build quality. The neck on mine feels exactly like the one on my Jackson Rhoads EX Pro, which would have come from the same factory. It even has the same slightly too close together inlays at the 12th fret.

Last but not least you get genuine Seymour Duncan pickups. Mine came with a JBJ at the bridge and 'classic' single coil in the middle position. Originally the neck pickup would have been a Duncan too but somebody had replaced it with a cheapo Artec mini-humbucker at some point. The electrics were all scratchy too, but such is the peril of of 15+ year old guitars.

When I got this it had a badly chipped metallic blue finish on the body. So I stripped it back to the wood and did a Danish Oil finish. this was my first go at refinishing and it's not perfect but is adequate.

I also rewired it with a Kent Armstrong Motherbucker at the bridge and two Cool Rails in the other positions. I stole the Duncans from it for one of my EC29s.

If I see another one cheap I'll buy it. They're the perfect base for a 'superstrat project' as you're starting from something decent.

Fiddling with the Washburns

The last couple of evenings I've been sorting out my Washburns. First up the red EC29 got the duff pot replaced. Sadly while doing this the Gibson bridge pickup that was in there seemed to fail with all the symptoms of a broken winding. I guess it's possible I tugged the wire and broke it but it seems a bit odd. I'd been very happy with this pickup and was surprised it was so good as I'd expected Gibson OEM stuff to be fairly lacklustre despite the high price tag on their guitars.

The dead pickup got replaced with a Seymour Duncan JBJ that came out of the KC90V when I bought it. It might not be F-spaced but it's the best 'classic rock' pickup I've got kicking around and will match the 'vintage hot' single coil in the neck position. Except it's really the middle position courtesy of the stupid length of the EC29 fretboard.

While I was in there I changed to a master volume/master tone/variable coil tap setup. This was at the suggestion of JayGee whose borrowing it prompted me to sort it out. If I was going to rewire it might as well try something new and it seems to work OK. Some day I'm going to have to do something about the cosmetics but for now I'll leave it as it is.

Next up I replaced the selector in the KC90V as it was knackered. I made a much tidier job than originally so I'm happier with it now.

Anyway, now to give the Goldtop some love.