Washburn D61 SW Does anyone have any suggestions for how to go about selling this guitar? I don't even knowenough to describe it adequately for sale on ebay. Well, let's work on that, shall we? I haven't got a clue as to any of the woods or appointments on this guitar, but the letter D in the model number is an indicator that it's a dreadnought, which is the most common steel string acoustic guitar body shape. Here's a picture of a Martin dreadnought on this _link_:
http://www.elderly.com/vintage/items/10U-2938.htm Forget the price and vintage on that Martin, just tell me whether that's the body shape your guitar has. If not, we need to walk you through a few more body _style_s until we find out what you have. But my guess is that it's a dreadnought. The next step is to determine what sort of wood it's made out of. Most Washburn acoustics are made out of laminated woods, though at the price range you paid I would hope that you got a solid spruce or solid cedar top. This will have an effect on how much you get for the guitar, so try to look closely at the wood at the edge of the soundhole to see whether the grain goes all the the way through. If it's solid wood, the annual growth rings will be visible as lines all the way through, whereas a laminated top will have a core wood in the middle. It can be much harder to tell whether the back and sides are laminated, but the chances are very strong that they are. What I do is try to find a distinctive grain pattern on the back - a whorl, a bit of flame, something slightly different than the grain pattern around it - then flip the guitar over and look through the soundhole and try to find the same thing on the inside. If it's not there, the wood is laminated. This method isn't foolproof, as there can be some really cunning laminate matches made, and with those the only way to tell for certain is to remove the binding and look at the edge of the wood. And you don't want to do that, as you'd damage the finish. Assume it's laminated back and sides. The next step is to figure out WHAT the woods are. Chances are that it's a spruce top, but with Washburn the back and sides could be almost anything. Rather than try to give you de_script_ions of the possible tonewood combinations, I'd suggest you call around the music stores in your area and try to find one that is more acoustically oriented. Then - on the PHONE, before you drive all the way out there - ask them who on their staff really knows their stuff about acoustic instruments. Typically there won't be more than one or two people onstaff who really know acoustic instruments and tonewoods, even at shops that carry Martin guitars. Find out who those people are and when they work, then arrange your schedule so you can take the guitar down for them to look at it. Usually it'll be the repair tech and one or two of the more senior sales people who will have seen and handled a lot of acoustic instruments and who will be able to accurately tell you what you have in terms of tonewoods. One word to the wise: working in close proximity to high dollar guitars can turn even the best-intentioned people into instrument snobs, and because of the wide range of prices Washburns come in they don't necessarily have the best reputation among guitar people. There are some very nice Washburns out there, but you might get blown off if you tell them what you have over the phone. So after you determine which shop has an acoustic orientation, just say: Oh, I have this guitar here, I don't know much about it, I just want to know what it's made out of and don't give the brand name over the phone. If they press you, just say It's not here right now, but I'll bring it by. Once you get it there I'm sure you'll get the attention you deserve. Being snobbish and brusque is much easier over the phone. When you get the guitar to the shop, ask what the woods are and whether they'e laminated. Offer to pay the minumum shop charge for their time. Anyway, putting fresh strings and getting a trussrod adjustment on it are a good idea, as those probably haven't been done in a while. If the guitar has electronics on it, be sure to list those in any de_script_ions you post on eBay. Good luck with this. Let us know how you do. Wade Hampton Miller
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