Washburn Ukulele reborn?

I saw these a couple months ago when they were first rolling them out. Haven't seen any in person yet, so I can't comment. But Washburn is the parent company of Oscar Schmidt, so I would expect the quality to be the same. For what the Washburns seem to be, I think they're a bit overpriced. I might pop on that slot head tenor if it was about half the price.
 
Laminate wood I would think because they don't say SOLID wood. What kind of wood is Trembesi sides & back?
 
I believe trembesi is another name for monkeypod.

And I think you're right about them being all-laminate. Washburn is very careful about indicating solid woods in their model numbers (on their guitars and mandolins anyway), using an 'S' if it's solid top and an 'SW" if it's all-solid.
 
They look pretty nice. I'm not into bridge pins, so not for me, but I wonder if they are on par with the Gretsch Roots line?
 
Trembesi is a mahogany-like wood (not related, though) It is very attractive and is a very good tone wood. I have a Washburn parlor guitar (R319SWKK) with solid trembesi back and sides and solid spruce top. It was inexpensive, is well-made, and was well worth the price. I played the laminate version of the same guitar, and cared much less for it.

I agree that if Washburn doesn't specifically say "solid" on their website, you can assume that koa uke is built from laminates.
 
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I know Washburn is still around since they made a version of the Oscar Schmidt ou5 about 4 years ago
 
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I am so confused.
I have talked with Wasburn reps several times, in person, and asked why they don't make Washburn ukes.
They said it would be weird and make the OS models pointless.
Wonder what is up. Did the move to Nashville cause a split between OS and washburn manufacturing?
 
I am so confused.
I have talked with Wasburn reps several times, in person, and asked why they don't make Washburn ukes.
They said it would be weird and make the OS models pointless.
Wonder what is up. Did the move to Nashville cause a split between OS and washburn manufacturing?

Move to Nashville? As far as I know Washburn and Oscar Schmidt are still headquartered in the Chicago area.

I used to be a big fan of Washburn, but the way they run that company anymore is just a mess. It went downhill fast after Rudy Schlacher sold the company to Jam Industries. They used to be innovative, now it seems like they just scramble trying to keep up.

I think the idea behind these three ukes is to try to evoke a vintage look, and tie that to their extremely successful parlor guitar series. I think they missed the mark, because, bling aside, these just seem to be modern designs.

(I still kind of like the tenor though, it just needs to be much cheaper than it is.)
 
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