Washburn has a new, wallet-friendly range of acoustic guitars called the Deep Forest Ebony Collection. The lineup comprises three models featuring striped ebony tops and okoume backs.
Deep Forest Ebony Collection
This new range has been aimed squarely at players who want great looks with this dark aesthetic but without the huge price tag that some acoustic guitars have. The Deep Forest Ebony Collection could be perfect for many guitarists, especially beginners.
Three Models
The range consists of the traditional Deep Forest D standard dreadnought, the Deep Forest Ebony FE, a smaller folk-style instrument with an upgraded built-in Barcus-Berry LX4 active electronics system and an onboard tuner, and the Deep Forest Ebony ACE, with a cutaway Auditorium body and the same Barcus-Berry LX4 system.
Construction
All three models have striped ebony tops, Okoume backs, and a 25.5″ scale-length mahogany neck. Cost savings can be seen in engineered wood fretboards, dot inlays, and engineered wood bridges. I suspect the striped ebony and use of Okoume also help keep the prices down on these models.
They all have a set of die-cast tuners, an ABS nut, and all chrome hardware and matte finishes. The latter is also typically cheaper than a gloss finish.
Budget Goodness?
Washburn has a reputation for making solid-budget acoustic guitars. I owned one when I was a teenager and again in my early twenties, and both of those were serviceable instruments, built to a price and sounded pretty reasonable.
These new Deep Forest Ebony Collection models look a lot fancier, and as long as the factory’s QC is all done properly, the prices are pretty competitive. I think they could be perfect for beginners, and it is nice to have a choice of three different models on offer, all of them under $300.
RRP – The Deep Forest Ebony D is USD 229, whilst the Ebony FE is USD 269 and the Ebony ACE is USD 299
