Washburn EA10 - Overview and Best Prices

Washburn EA10 Review
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  • 2 Prices - New from $265.68 >
  • From Washburn's 2020 Festival series
  • Made in China
  • 6 strings
  • 24"'' scale
  • 12" Fretboard Radius
  • Basswood top
  • Basswood back
  • Basswood sides
  • Mahogany with 2 way Truss Rod neck
  • Engineered Wood fretboard
  • Bridge pickup: Barcus-Berry EQ4T (Preamp/Active)
  • Alternative bridge
  • Acoustic Washburn Festival Set neck
  • 20 Medium frets
  • Chrome Diecast tuners
  • Side-By-Side Comparison
Show Specs
Washburn EA10 Specifications
Washburn EA10
General
Brand: Washburn
Year: 2020
Configuration: N/A
Strings: 6
Made in: China
Series: Festival
Colors: Black
Left-Handed Version: No
Body
Type: Hollowbody
Body Material: Basswood
Sides Material: Basswood
Back Material: Basswood
Bridge: Alternative
Neck
Neck Joint: Set
Tuners: Chrome Diecast
Fretboard: Engineered Wood
Neck Material: Mahogany with 2 way Truss Rod
Decoration: Dots
Scale Size: 24"
Shape: Acoustic Washburn Festival
Frets: 20 Medium
Fretboard Radius: 12"
Nut: NuBone
Nut Width: 42.8mm (1.687'')
Electronics
Pickups: Barcus-Berry EQ4T (Preamp / Active)
Hardware
Strap Lock: No
Hardware Color: Chrome

Our Scores and Tone Evaluation

Playability 85
Sound 83
Build quality 64
Value for money 87
Overall Score 77
Tone Evaluation
  • Heavy Metal
  • Hard Rock
  • Jazz
  • Blues
  • Funk
  • Country
Strengths & Weaknesses
Washburn EA10
  • Expensive Wood
  • NuBone Nut
  • Electronics
  • NuBone Saddle
  • Cheap Fret Wire (NS)
  • No Locking Tuners
  • Made in China
  • No Top Brand Pickups
  • Laminated Top Wood
  • Laminated Side Wood
  • Laminated Back Wood
  • No Compound Radius Fretboard
  • No 21:1 Tuner Ratio
  • No Strap Lock

Price Overview

Its average competitor's price is $440, which means that the Washburn EA10 is around 40% cheaper than the competition. This takes into account all instruments of the same category in our database with 6 strings and Fixed bridge that are made in China.

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User Reviews & Feedback

Not all instruments are created equally. That's why it's important to have different opinions. Here's what our users who have played this instrument say. If you've played it before, help others by voting below!

Weight

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Tuning stability

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Neck speed (thickness)

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Neck access to high frets

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Neck profile shape

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Fret edges

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Pickups noise

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Pickups power

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Hand Size Comfortability

After taking into account the neck profile, scale size, fretboard radius, and nut width, we can conclude that the Washburn EA10's construction favors people with relatively small hands.

Nevertheless, this comes down in the end to personal preference. Make sure you test this guitar—or another one with similar characteristics—before buying.

Big Hands
Small Hands

Beginner Friendliness

The Washburn EA10 meets 5 out of our 8 criteria items for beginner friendliness, which means that it's a good guitar to start with as a complete beginner. This takes into account the type of frets, scale length, nut width, bridge type, fretboard radius, and neck profile to determine the easiest combination for new players to get used to.

New Player Friendliness

Washburn EA10
  • Easy-to-use bridge
  • Tall frets
  • Narrow nut
  • Short scale
  • Comfortable neck
  • Comfortable shape
  • Comfortable fretboard
  • Soft Strings
  • Locking tuners

Videos

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Playability

Scale Length

Scale length is the distance the strings will span between the bridge and the nut. It can tell you a lot about the overall playability and tone of the instrument. A longer scale length means longer distance between frets, brighter tone and more string tension—which means lower action, but more difficult bending of the strings.

Here's the Washburn EA10's 24" scale length compared to other common sizes:

Washburn EA10 Scale Length Comparison
Washburn EA10's scale length (at the top) compared to other popular sizes

There are advantages and disadvantages to a short scale length like this. This guitar will be very easy to play, especially if you have small hands because the frets will be close to each other. Also, since the distance between the bridge and nut is short, the strings will have less tension, so they'll be really easy to bend. However, this also means that you won't be able to lower the action (lower the saddles and get the strings closer to the fretboard) too much or you will get fret buzz since the strings will be a bit loose.

Also, short scales give less space for the harmonics to 'breath', so this ends up making the tone of the guitar sound more 'bassy' than a loger scale where there's more separation between harmonics, which gives the tone more chime.

More with the same scale length:

Neck Profile

Washburn EA10 Neck Profile
Washburn EA10's neck profile

The neck profile tells you the thickness (neck depth) and shape in cross section. Every difference will completely change the feeling and comfortability of the neck. This is a highly subjective thing, but most players indeed prefer certain types of necks (like Cs and Ds) because they feel nice in most hands.

It has a D type neck. It's similar to a C shape, and it's one of the most common shapes right now. It's a bit flatter and thinner, even though sometimes it has a bit more shoulders. It's a fast type of neck that is comfortable, and shredders love it.

Fretboard Radius

When it comes to fingerboard radius, personal preference will dictate which one is better for you. However, most people seem to agree that a more curved (lower) radius will make it easier to play chords while a less curved (higher) radius is better for soloing and bending.

The Washburn EA10 has a 12" fingerboard radius.

Here's an image comparing this fretboard radius to other popular choices:

Washburn EA10 Fretboard Radius Comparison with Fender Stratocaster and Gibson Les Paul
Washburn EA10's fretboard radius compared to others

This is the same radius that Gibson uses in most of their guitars. When compare to the other popular radius of Fender Stratocasters, you can see that it's a lot flatter. Guitars with this radius are usually made to bring a good balance between single-note and chord playing.

Compound radius fingerboards give the best of both worlds. Unfortunately, the Washburn EA10 has the same radius across the board.

More with the same fretboard radius:

Playability compared to main competitors

Washburn EA10
This model
24'' Scale Length
D Neck Profile
1.687'' Nut Width
12'' Fretboard Radius
23.622'' Scale Length
D Neck Profile
1.75'' Nut Width
14.96'' Fretboard Radius
23.622'' Scale Length
D Neck Profile
1.75'' Nut Width
14.96'' Fretboard Radius
25.5'' Scale Length
C Neck Profile
1.75'' Nut Width
16'' Fretboard Radius
24.75'' Scale Length
C Neck Profile
1.693'' Nut Width
12'' Fretboard Radius

Nut Width

Washburn EA10 Nut Width
Washburn EA10 Nut Width

The Washburn EA10 has a nut width of 42.8mm (1.687''). This is considered a narrow width for a 6-string guitar. This means that this guitar will have a narrower string separation at the nut, which will affect your fretting hand.

If you are a player with big hands, you might find it difficult to play chords without muting strings. However, this is good for players who have smaller hands, as it will allow them to reach each string more easily at the nut.

Frets

It comes with nickel silver frets, so they won't last as long as stainless steel frets. If you use your instrument a lot, you might need to replace the frets after a few years. But this is unlikely as most people change instruments before this happens.

Fret Size

Washburn EA10 Fret Size Comparison
Washburn EA10's fret size (in orange) compared to other popular sizes

Finally, let's talk about fret size. Some people prefer tall frets because it's easier to press the strings and perform bends since there's less friction against the fretboard. On the other hand, some people like shorter frets because they like to touch the fretboard when playing, or because they got heavy hands and tend to press too much on the string and alter the of the note pitch accidently.

The Washburn EA10's frets are Medium size. With medium frets, you can feel the fretboard more than with jumbo frets, but it's still easier to press the strings cleanly than with small frets; notes might change their pitch just slightly if you press hard on the fret. Also, if you need to do some fret leveling after years of playing, you'll have some room to sand them down without having to replace them.

Playability Score

Bending & Vibrato Ease 90
Chord Playability 85
Solo Playability 80
Playability 85

Tone

The type of wood and even the shape of the body will have a lot of influence in the final tone of an acoustic guitar. Here's we'll talk about what kind of tone you can expect from its specs.

Wood

Basswood wood pattern used for guitar building
Basswood Top, Back, Sides
Mahogany wood pattern used for guitar building
Mahogany Neck
Engineered wood pattern used for guitar building
Engineered Fretboard

Basswood Top, Back and Sides: This is a soft type of wood that is very light and easy to work with. It's cheaper than many other kinds of wood used for guitar building, but it doesn't mean it's low quality. In terms of sound, it accentuates the mid-range, which matches the frequencies that a Humbucker produces.

Mahogany Neck: This is the type of wood found in many top-of-the-line guitars, so that's a positive point for the build quality. This red-looking wood Mahogany is found in Africa and Central America and has great sustain and a warm tone due to its high density. The downside about this type of wood is that it's relatively heavy.

Engineered Fretboard: It's made from wood material that is ground and put back together to make a material very similar to traditional wood. It's a strong and stable wood that's cheaper to make. There's nothing bad about it, but some people prefer traditional wood because of tradition and looks.

Pickups

This guitar comes with preamp pickups that will allow you to connect it directly to an amplifier and record with it, or use it live.

Sound Score

Sustain 75
Versatility 85
Tuning Stability 70
Sound 83

Build Quality

Country of Origin

Knowing where the instrument is produced is a good way to know how well it's built. Some manufacturing countries are known for having higher quality standards. For example, most expensive instruments are made in the US or Japan, but there are some exceptionally great countries—like South Korea—that are building a good reputation.

The Washburn EA10 is made in China. So you can expect lower build quality when compared to others made in Korea, Japan or the United States. Guitars made in this country are meant for mass production, which translates into less attention to detail and quality control. This doesn't mean the product is made poorly at all. Chinese products have a bad reputation since long ago, but they've definitely improved a lot the last few years.

Bridge

Alternative: The advantage of fixed bridges is that they don't require any kind of set-up. This makes it extremely easy when changing strings because you don't need to adjust anything besides tuning the guitar. Also, the fact that the bridge is directly attached to the body will help to increase sustain. The disadvantage is the lack of versatility since you can't create the same vibrato effects as with tremolo bridges.

Nut Material

Another important thing to analyze is the nut material, as it's one of the most important aspects that can affect the sound and playability of your guitar. A well-cut nut will make sure it stays in tune and will make it more comfortable to play.

In this case, the Washburn EA10 has a NuBone nut. It's a synthetic nut from the same creators of Ivory TUSQ. It's a hard and self-lubricating material that helps a lot with tuning stability. It produces a brighter tone similar to TUSQ, but it's not as hard.

More with the same nut material:

Build Quality Score

Quality of materials 61
Features 75
Quality Control 55
Build Quality 64