# Washburn PX Solar guitars



## NicePants (Feb 21, 2016)

Anybody try these out? I'm looking specifically at the V models and the videos for them sound absolutely fantastic. I'm wondering what the build quality is on these things. They sound almost too damn good for the price.


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## HeHasTheJazzHands (Feb 21, 2016)

Does anyone besides one forum member even have them yet?


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## NicePants (Feb 21, 2016)

HeHasTheJazzHands said:


> Does anyone besides one forum member even have them yet?



I probably should have double checked. Now that I look, I don't think any major store has gotten any of these in yet. A few online places have them though. So if like one of the five people who has one can chime in, please do! Or if anyone has any of the superstrat type Solars. I'd like to know how those are.


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## A-Branger (Feb 22, 2016)

this guy got a 7 and a 8

http://www.sevenstring.org/forum/se...ate-ngd-ola-englund-washburn-solar-17etc.html

http://www.sevenstring.org/forum/ex...7331-ngd-ola-englund-washburn-solar-180c.html


and yeah the guitars hasnt hit the mayor stores yet. I think only a couple of european stores for now. No idea


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## Valco (Feb 22, 2016)

I actually own the 6 string EverTune(non V) version of the line and I can safely say it's easily the best Indonesian guitar I've played and owned. Which, probably sounds a bit odd to some people! 

Mine is extremely well made. I literally can not find any issue with it, the fret work is fantastic and the finish is just as good. The pick ups sound awesome in both clean and distortion.

I will say though, mine was £950 and I did not get a case with it...This will put people off, but I don't gig so I wasn't too bothered by it.


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## silent suicide (Feb 22, 2016)

I second the above comment.
I just received mine 6 string Evertune and it's pretty damn amazing guitar.


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## ConfirmedStickler (Feb 26, 2016)

Having been in the spot of desperately looking for information on these (as of now) rather obscure guitars, I decided to register to shed some light on them.

If you're looking for hard info, you may want to skip to the bottom, as these next few paragraphs will provide nothing but backstory.

When I first learned of the Solar series's existence in early October 2015, the 17ETC model, which had aroused my interest to say the least, was literally nowhere to be found. I figured the first step to get to the bottom of this would be to find out who distributes Washburn guitars in what country.
The first info I stumbled across was some forum posts where people mentioned Washburn had closed down their Indonesian factory and migrated to a new one, which was later confirmed by a Washburn rep. Next, I found out that Washburn was in the process of completely rebuilding their distribution network in my country. What I was not able to identify is the reason for this decision, but at least there was one (as in 'one on the whole net') brief news article confirming this change in distribution, in which the new distributor was named - email sent.

Being the neurotic that I am, I had also contacted literally every authorized dealer worldwide I was able to find. Needless to say, my inbox was overflowing with mostly useless replies. Some mails contained valuable info though: while the majority of overseas dealers were not able to provide any info beyond "Washburn has informed us that it's gonna take a whle for those to ship", some regional stores not only knew that the distributor had changed (indeed referring me to the new one), but also provided expected shipping dates varying from "at the end of November" to "early next year" as well as prices ranging from 999.00  to 1269 .

Remember when I mentioned being an impatient son of a gun some lines above? Well, you probably don't, because I haven't, but I am just that - impatient. Waiting a full month was not an option...
Luckily, I got word from the new distributor. They told me that they had literally JUST taken over and were a bit overwhelmed by the organizational issues that come with a task of this scope like building a new dealer network. But, and this is the key moment here, they recommended to check back with a dealer which was not on the original list of authorized dealers but had apparently been sent the first batch of new Solars. And so I did contact them (like 2 minutes later).
As it turned out, they had not received them yet but were just about to list them on their webstore. The store owner told me that a total of two 17ETCs were on their way. The rest is history. I got what I will always tell myself was the first European 17ETC ever delivered.


Okay... *Actual info:
*
- Build quality is marvellous; most wouldn't be able to tell whether it was made in Japan or Indonesia. Mine had a tiny imperfection, which I blame on being first run ware: an (one total) almost unnoticable "pimple" in the coating. One can't see it, but whenever my hand tuches it, I know it's there (that's what she said). Other than that, it's pretty darnn perfect, guys.

- The pickups sound aggressive, but get a little mushy when palm muting, which might be partially due to the strings in use though (NYXL 11-64 -> they're awesome, try them!). Considering to swap to Lundgren M7s or BKP.

- The potis produce a very, very slight crackle, so the wiring might be suboptimal. This could be easily checked and fixed, but haven't found time coz I need all my time playing the hell out of the guitar

- The locking nuts do not like string gauges upwards of 60. If that bothers you, you'll find some easy instructions on how to fix that via your preferred webcrawler. The simplest solution would be to just cut off some of the wound wire.

- The headstock is HUGE. Pretty sure the sevens have a slightly longer one than the sixes, but be prepared for having a hard time finding a case that takes that stock.

*Case advice:* In my case, I spent another few nights on searching for a fitting case, but I still had to return the first two I ordered, because that darnn, sexy headstock would be a fraction of a centimeter too long to fit.
Eventually, I had to settle with a *Gator GC-ELEC-XL ABS*, the build quality of which is less than mediocre (hate the soft shell, hate the cheap plush inside, hate the feet). The guitar doesn't fit snugly, so you wouldn't want to have your guitar shipped in it, but it's enough to carry it by hand or on the back seat of your car and the case is actually pretty cheap considering it's one of the very few, if not the only universal case of this size. Be advised that it itself is rather long and high though, so it might not fit under your bed.
One last thing regarding this particular case: Since the nack is pretty slim and the headstock is both uncommonly long and angled, the neck mould/recess in the case is not properly set up for it and the case might build pressure on the headstock when closed (and locked). An easy solution for that is to simply use a cleaning rag (e.g. microfibre cloth) as a buffer between neck and case mould. That way, you can easily adjust the mould's height and always have a cleaning rag handy when on the road or in the rehearsal room. See attached photo.


- The Evertune bridge has been discussed in detail around the web, but I'd like to point out that reports like "notes dying out quickly" (see Solar review on the store where the water is sweet) simply stem from people not being able to read/watch some simple instructions on how to properly set the bridge up. It's awesome and you get it at a fair price point with this guitar.

- As others have stated above and in previous threads, the neck is a blast to play. This is quite definitely my favorite neck design ever.


If Washburn manages to position themselves better and put out more modern models like this in the future, I might stick with them forever. Seriously, their awful info and promotion policies aside, this is how you come back with a bang.



P.S.: I am not a forums type of person, but I will be checking this thread for the next couple of days. If there's any questions, I'll be happy to help. Otherwise, thanks for readig and bye.


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## NicePants (Feb 29, 2016)

ConfirmedStickler said:


> Having been in the spot of desperately looking for information on these (as of now) rather obscure guitars, I decided to register to shed some light on them.
> 
> If you're looking for hard info, you may want to skip to the bottom, as these next few paragraphs will provide nothing but backstory.
> 
> ...



Didn't notice this post earlier since I was in bed sick for a few days, but wow dude, that was really in-depth. Thanks for the info. If their V models are anything close to that quality, I'm sure it'll be ....ing awesome.


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## Spectivum (Mar 1, 2016)

I tried the 160C which did not have a quality feel at all. I am sure there are differences in their Indonesian lines as Ibanez lines differ as well. 
If the 16 is better that is great, looking forward to try it.


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## A-Branger (Mar 1, 2016)

Spectivum said:


> I tried the 160C which did not have a quality feel at all. I am sure there are differences in their Indonesian lines as Ibanez lines differ as well.
> If the 16 is better that is great, looking forward to try it.



did you try it out from a shop or from a friend?

just wondering if its one of the "new factory" batch, or an "old model" from the old factory


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## Spectivum (Mar 1, 2016)

It was a used one for sale so likely produced late 2014/early 2015. If it is a different factory now this might not be relevant however I would not buy Indonesian before trying.
I have a Yamaha BB bass that is really MIJ quality but I do not see this level in terms of guitars.


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## A-Branger (Mar 1, 2016)

yeah that was one of the old batch from the old factory before they shutdown. So build quality would be different from the new ones


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## NicePants (Mar 1, 2016)

I have heard around that the ones from the new factory are top notch in build quality. I'm thinking of pulling the trigger and ordering one soon. I would love to try one out first, but I can't find any locally.


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## A-Branger (Mar 1, 2016)

Like other brands who have released new guitars in NAMM but they arent available till like June, I recon is kinda the same with these.

I recon you wait till they start to ship out and you can try them. Either way if you pre-order one, it wont arrive till later when the store gets them. So almost the same as waiting to try them out. Unless they sold out their first batch from pre-orders.

oh well. If you do get one, then give us a nice NGD review good or bad


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## Koneko (Mar 3, 2016)

ConfirmedStickler said:


> Okay... *Actual info:
> *
> - Build quality is marvellous; most wouldn't be able to tell whether it was made in Japan or Indonesia. Mine had a tiny imperfection, which I blame on being first run ware: an (one total) almost unnoticable "pimple" in the coating. One can't see it, but whenever my hand tuches it, I know it's there (that's what she said). Other than that, it's pretty darnn perfect, guys.
> 
> ...



Great review 

Both my 17ETC and 180C are really great guitars.
I was an Ibanez guy before and I was only swearing by extended scale length (26,5" for an 7 string, 28+ for an 8 string) and these are easily the best guitars I have played. I still love my Ibanez guitars, but for the price tag, it's easily better than any Ibanez Prestige model IMO.

The craftmanship is really good. My 17ETC has a small finish blem on the binding of around the 23th fret. I didn't even mentioned it in my review because it's really not a big deal, hardly noticeable... and I got a discount so I don't really care. My 180C is flawless.
The factory apparently had some issues with the carbon black finish and they're aware they let go some guitars with some small finish issues so the QC should be better with the next run. Still, the craftsmanship is far far better than any other Indonesian guitars I played.

Same issue with the tuners. I could not fit a .060 D'addario string in the low tuner. I had to cut the string and unwind about 1cm to be able to put it through the tuner so this is not an issue for me, just something to be aware of. But this may be solved in the next run cause they will use other tuners.

Other than that, the 17ETC fits in my Ibanez case, so it's not a problem for me.

No issues with the pots or the evertune bridge so far. The pickups are great IMO (better than the Duncan Design), really clear sounding.



Spectivum said:


> I tried the 160C which did not have a quality feel at all. I am sure there are differences in their Indonesian lines as Ibanez lines differ as well.
> If the 16 is better that is great, looking forward to try it.



The new 2015/2016 line feels way better than the 2013/2014 line. I tried an old 170C at one of Ola's clinics and I wasn't really happy with how it felt at all. They changed factory since and you can feel they have step up quality wise. The V's are super light and comfy guitars, considering it's mahogany.


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## Koneko (Mar 5, 2016)

Glenn Fricker just released an unboxing vid of the Solar 160C.



So we should get proper reviews in the next weeks.


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## Valco (Mar 6, 2016)

If you are in the UK or Europe, GAK and Andertons have them in stock, but not all of the models are available.

Buy Electric Guitars at Andertons - Gibson Fender Ibanez etc 

Parallaxe Series Electric Guitars

I bought my 160ETC in January I believe. They seem to phase in and out of stock at the moment.

The horns being rather pointy are very thin at the tip and potentially, if dropped, could break off. That is the only thing I could possibly find being a problem with this guitar...And really, it's not a problem as long as you look after it.


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## Mathemagician (Mar 7, 2016)

Ok, so even the $1k+ guitars are MiI not MiK, correct? Doesn't seem to be an issue from the detailed reviews, I'm just hoping they announce the 170ETC in white with black hardware. Either way, it's looking like I'll be grabbing a 7 in a few months as they become more widely available. This thread has been super helpful.


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## HeHasTheJazzHands (Mar 7, 2016)

Everything Washburn makes these days is Indonesian now, I think. They stopped making stuff in Korea and recently closed their USA shop.


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## HeHasTheJazzHands (Mar 9, 2016)

It took about a century, but the guitar I really wanted appears to be hitting the stores, now?

https://reverb.com/item/1415158-washburn-parallaxe-pxz200b-priestess-black


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## Koneko (Mar 9, 2016)

Mathemagician said:


> Ok, so even the $1k+ guitars are MiI not MiK, correct? Doesn't seem to be an issue from the detailed reviews, I'm just hoping they announce the 170ETC in white with black hardware. Either way, it's looking like I'll be grabbing a 7 in a few months as they become more widely available. This thread has been super helpful.





HeHasTheJazzHands said:


> Everything Washburn makes these days is Indonesian now, I think. They stopped making stuff in Korea and recently closed their USA shop.



Production models are Indonesian. It's really not an issue. My 2 solar feels at least as good (if not better) as my Japanese Ibanez Prestige RGD.

Since they closed the US Custom Shop, they now offer EU Custom Shop models (made in Poland) : https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.1019692021421156.1073741999.149762801747420&type=3 or https://www.facebook.com/fearedse/posts/1005132236212238


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## A-Branger (Mar 9, 2016)

HeHasTheJazzHands said:


> It took about a century, but the guitar I really wanted appears to be hitting the stores, now?
> 
> https://reverb.com/item/1415158-washburn-parallaxe-pxz200b-priestess-black



Im in love with that shape too. Its the best of explorer and firebird. Plus 25.5" and 24 frets 

I usually hate plain black guitars, but for some reason Im ok with this one. Price is not that bad either. But I would like to see some real pictures of it and not a computer render. Like what color is the pickguard? white, silver, grey, chrome?

it need some block inlays tho


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## noise in my mind (Mar 9, 2016)

HeHasTheJazzHands said:


> Everything Washburn makes these days is Indonesian now, I think. They stopped making stuff in Korea and recently closed their USA shop.



Even the US custom shop? If so, then that's a shame


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## NicePants (Mar 12, 2016)

Just picked up the 160V and posted an NGD thread if anyone is still following this:

http://www.sevenstring.org/forum/standard-guitars/308595-ngd-washburn-px-solarv160whmk.html


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