1980s Washburn B-20-8 8-String Electric Bass Guitar


If Darth Vader played bass... he'd cut you in half with this sucker. I mean, this thing is disgustingly-'80s in so many ways and so sinister in looks it should always be playing metal, yet my inner LA-kid just wants to hear boom-bum, boom-bum, Tejano basslines (as if it were a bajo sexto with a magnetic soundhole pickup).

All that said, yep, it's an 8-string bass. It'll do a huge, fat whump with the neck-position P-style pickup but the bridge gives you a "baritone 12-string" vibe with plenty of chime and ring. Blending the two, of course, is the sweet spot but either alone will give you all sorts of bad (good) ideas when it comes time to plug this in to record with it.

It also has a very fast neck and a neck-through construction just like other B-20 basses from Washburn. It's Japanese-made and all of the hardware, functionality, and design is top-notch throughout. It feels and plays deluxe. Let's not forget to mention the brass board inlay, nut, and saddles. Yip!

Oh, and... it's black! ...with faint, gold trim at the edges.

Repairs included: fret level dress, cleaning, setup, etc.


Body wood: ash, possibly

Bridge: ABR-like, 8-string

Fretboard: rosewood

Neck wood: maple multi-piece, through-body

Pickups: 1x P-style, 1x J-style


Action height at 12th fret: 3/32” bass hair-above 1/16” treble (fast, spot-on)
String gauges: 100w-45w

Neck shape: slim-medium soft V

Board radius: 10"

Truss rod: adjustable

Neck relief: straight

Fret style: wide/lower-medium tall


Scale length: 34"

Nut width: 1 11/16"

Body width: 14 1/2"

Body depth: 1 3/4"

Weight: 9 lbs 3 oz


Condition notes: there's light-medium scratching, scuffs, and small dings here and there throughout the body with various "belly rash" on the back. The hardware shows aging throughout. Overall, though, it looks pretty dang good. It's 100% original as well. I will say, however, that the truss rod is basically right near the end of its adjustability. The neck will not go completely straight when adjusted but it is straight from fret 2 through the joint. The 1st fret area adds a hair of relief in first position when tuned to pitch and I think this is more about where the rod terminates (under the board area at "0" fret rather than beyond the nut) than its tightness. The strings on it are a little too heavy, too, so I have it tuned down a full step (DGCF low to high) to keep tension lower. As far as playability goes, it plays as-normal. The tiny bit of relief is not perceptible to the player.


It comes with: a period Washburn hard case.





















Comments