Washburn D8K Guitar Action Pak Reviews 
4 / 5 based on 1 reviewsChristmas season comes along. I had asked for a guitar and was hoping to go along with the parents, but they decided that the element of surprise was needed to have a successful Christmas. I was rather worried, but fortunately they asked my guitar-playing-Aunt what to look for. They still refuse to tell me the price of this guitar, but lets just say that the only other things I got was a sweater and a guitar chord poster.
This is my first guitar, but not the first one I've used. One of my friends got a starter guitar that could have made your fingers bleed from just looking at it. I swear the strings were an inch off of the board.(that's an exageration, but even after months of going to her house, I could only stand around 10 minutes ofplaying)
Anyway, the strings are very close to the fret board, just like my Aunt specified, making it less of a chore to crank out 2 hours of practice.
Another wonderful feature is the superb tone wood. The tone is beautiful, one of the best I've heard. My parents said it was one of the best tone woods there, and, despite my absence, I would have to agree with them.
The "Pak" came with several other items as well: a "gig bag," quartz tuner, instructional CD rom, nylon strap, and 3 picks. The bag is the nicest of all the add-ons as it provides an adequate amount of protection while providing several pockets to put your picks and any sheet music you may use. The nylon strap is also good, but I would say it's difficult to screw up a strap.
Another great part of this deal is the guitar is guaranteed forever.(which basically means that if 30 years from now you find out that your guitar is a piece of junk, they'll repair or replace it for free... that's about all that means, though)
The things I don't like about the unit. The guitar itself, there are very limited things I could say about it. The neck may be a bit big for my smaller hands, as it is very difficult to get most bar chords, but I have extremely small hands. With practice you can get some of the bar chords, but most sound muffled b/c you can't apply any pressure to the strings. Also, my friend noted that it didn't have a dot, marking the 3rd fret. This made it confusing for him to play, and has made it confusing for me to play guitars with the proper marking.
Other than that, I've had no trouble learning on this guitar.
The tuner that came with the guitar is a piece of junk. I tried using it a couple times but only became frustrated with it. The instructions are inadequate for such a complex device. At first I couldn't figure out how to use it. I had used tuners in high school band and the like, but all were much nicer than this. The buttons were difficult to press, the LCD display confusing, and after tuning the guitar, it sounded worse than when it started.
The CD Drive in my computer was on the brink so I never got a chance to review the CD rom.
The picks are made of flimsy plastic that lasted a couple months of rigorous use before breaking. They came in three colors, white marble, gold marble, and strawberry creamsaver.(that's the best way to describe the picks)
*peppy bell music in the background plays* This handcrafted beauty has a top made of only the finest select spruce with mahogany sides. Its surface is pleasant to look at without being too much. It's durable enough to take the King Kongs of older brothers and the Godzilla of dads.
As far as guitars to learn on, I would suggest this to anyone. The tone is so mellow it can make bad fingerings sound good... only SOME bad fingerings mind you. This guitar has everything a beginner could want in a first guitar: great tone, strings close to the fret board, and 6 strings. I know that's all I needed.
Joel rated this unit
on
2002-02-01.
