Washburn quality control..
Hey, Guitars-
I played a few Oscar Schmidt's in Avi Ronen's old 'Lahaina Guitars' shop (he just moved) on Maui a few months back. I specifically was interested in the "Willie K. signature" that Avi & Uncle Willie helped design, but was actually engineered by Maui Uke luthier extraordinaire, Ken Potts -
http://kpukuleles.com/home.html -
I also played some of Ken's ukes at his Lahaina shop, and wish i could afford them, but alas - I've relegated not to hock the Lamborghini for any stringed instrument purchases!
In all honesty, the quality control on the Willie K's seemed superior to the other solid Schmidt's I played -- they're both very nice instruments, with Willie K. sig having high & low bass (5-string), but I honestly think there are better options at this price point. I really love my Kala ALL solid Mahogany with fishman electronics for the $$ (got a SCREAMIN' closeout deal on last year model!), and considered the same solid Oscar you asked about prior to playing a few of them.
Again, nice instruments....and certainly superior overseas manufacturing quality than what goes into Washburn's guitars for sure, I just don't think the value & quality control is there for the dollars. Here's link to the Willie K sig model:
http://www.oscarschmidt.com/info/news/williek-sig-model.asp
Alo)(a,
Sean (aka NKO)
Edit - so difficult to gauge whether or not Acacia/Koa is actually sourced in Hawaii, as there are SOO many varieties & even companies with previously excellent reputations (e.g. - Gibson w/ Madagascar ebony et al..) making illegal moves for the sake of profit.. I've played Acacia that sounds BETTER than certain sourced Hawaiian Koa, so not certain that is bankable, viable criteria....though I think the odds say that Hawaiian sourced tonewood definitely has a better history & lineage than unknown sourced materials.