Dream guitar (pt.5) - Washburn N4

The ultimate rock guitar with a portuguese hand. The guitar (in selected woods) totally rocks and you know the reason why... Nuno Bettencourt designed with Washburn.

One thing that annoys me is that (other than the awesome Padauk model) the guitars have a low standard in woods ressonance. I've played several alder and swamp ash models and they never sound the same, or close... and having a high output pickup such as the Bill Lawrence, it definately shows (when I bought my Parker Fly, I tried an N4 and rejected because it sounded like my $250 Ibanez).

Playability... 101% !!!
The "Stevenson Extended Cutaway" is definately an excellent addition for those who really use the higher frets... it's better than a common neckthru construction and, for me, comes only second to the Parker Fly neck joint, which is virtually "all-access".

Considering the padauk model... play it through a "Hughes & Kettner Tri-Amp" and you'll have the Nuno sound. Crisp, sharp, full & solid. And, of course, all harmonics at hand...

Here go some specs and pictures...

- Body: Alder, Swamp Ash or Padauk
- Finish: Natural / Color Stained
- Neck: Maple (or custom choice)
- Neck construction: Stevenson Extended Cutaway
- Head: 14" pitch-angled reverse headstock
- Tuning: 6-inline with Buzz Feiten system
- Fretboard: Ebony (or custom choice)
- Inlay: Pearloid dots
- Frets: 22
- Bridge: Floyd Rose by Schaller
- Hardware: Chrome (or custom black)
- Pickup configuration: H-H
- Neck Pickup: Seymour Duncan '59
- Neck Pickup: Bill Lawrence L-500
- Controls: Volume, Tone