Washburn 8 String Bass Reviews 
3 / 5 based on 1 reviewsMars Music clearance price,
New: $480
My old Kramer 8 is bigger and heavier
[altho it sounds like like no other 8
you've ever met] so I thought I'd get
a lighter one. Also, the Kramer is a
real showpiece visually and I let other
players jam on, which made me a bit
nervous. The Washburn is easier to
hand over to others !!
I played the Washburn in the store 3 at
least 3 or 4 times for 30 to 40 min per
visit, but a $600, I couldn't justify
getting *another* 8 string. When they
marked it down, I already knew I liked
it, so I just checked it out and paid.
The main, maybe only reason to play an 8 string is for the huge sound, and I like
they way it sounds. Sometimes I run it
into a double octave pedal so I have tones
above and below normal bass, plus double
voicing on the normal bass range [from the
pedals octave drop from the high set of
EADG strings].
It's 8 strings EADG with picolo strings
for the octaves, so I can buy over-the-
counter strings. The sound is not as
crazt as the metal-necked Kramer, so I
can play "sort of normal" bass on it.
It's passive, which I prefer. The tone
controls actually have some effect [no
Kramer I've ever played can claim that].
The balance is very good, only a hint of
neck weight, and the body is comfortably
rounded.
I also tried a Hamer 12, but the neck is edge-to-edge strings [still EADG, but with
a PAIR of octave strings per bass string]
and I could hardly play it.
It slows me down a bit, and can make your
fingers sore from extended playing. Also,
it's just kind of homely looking compared
to the Kramer 8 that I also play. There's
no way to switch the whole string set to
flatwounds, an it's the high set that I'd
most care to switch [but all picolo sets
are roundwound].
It has monorail bridges with pair grooves
on each to space the octave string from the
bass string. Both ball share the same anchor notch inside each monorail. The
head has alternating Bass and guitar pegs
on both sides, neatly done. Pickups are
wide soapbars, like on many 5 or 6 string
basses. It's really as ordinary as possible while accomodating 8 strings.
Mine has an oil finish which was a Mars
Music exclusive [as was the whole 8 string
model] but I'd expect with Mars gone, that
Washburn will offer these as general stock,
but maybe with the more typical finish of
the 4 and 5 string versions of this same
bass [that are sold everywhere]. It's
really just a typical $400 Washburn 5
string with a bigger peghead and the nut
and bridges set up as described. BTW, the
neck is bolt-on [which I prefer]
It's an affordable decently built bass
set up as an 8 string, nothing too exotic
until you play it -- then it's almost like
an extra player sitting in. I should also mention that it rings quite diffently depending upon whether it's plucked upward
or downward. I can imagine certain bands
in which this could be the primary bass but
those are not band I'd like to be near, let
alone play in. For most players it will be
an alterntive voice.
It's a responsive ax. When I switched the
main strings to Thomastik roundwound jazz, the change [improvement] was quite audible.
Golem rated this unit
on
2003-01-30.
