Washburn N24-Nuno Vintage Matte Review & Prices

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Washburn N24-Nuno Vintage Matte Review
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  • From Washburn's 2016 Nuno Bettencourt series
  • Nuno Bettencourt Signature
  • Made in Indonesia
  • 6 strings
  • 25.5"'' scale
  • 12" Fretboard Radius
  • Agathis body
  • Maple neck
  • Rosewood fretboard
  • Bridge pickup: Bill Lawrence L-500 (Humbucker/Passive)
  • Neck pickup: Washburn Humbucker (Humbucker/Passive)
  • 1 volume and 0 tone Dome knobs
  • 3-way Switch
  • Floyd Rose Special bridge
  • Washburn Nuno Bettencourt Bolt-On neck
  • 22 Medium frets
  • Grover Exclusive 18:1 Chrome tuners
  • Compare Specs >

Our Scores and Tone Evaluation

Playability 67
Sound 79
Build quality 64
Value for money 70
Overall Score 70
Tone Evaluation
  • Heavy Metal
  • Hard Rock
  • Jazz
  • Blues
  • Funk
  • Country
Strengths & Weaknesses
Washburn N24-Nuno Vintage Matte
  • Expensive Wood
  • Locking Nut
  • Top Brand Pickups
  • Coil Tap Pickups
  • Tremolo
  • Cheap Fret Wire (NS)
  • No Locking Tuners
  • Made in Indonesia
  • No Neck-Through Build
  • No Weight Relief
  • No Luminescent Inlay
  • No Compound Radius Fretboard
  • No 21:1 Tuner Ratio
  • No Retainer Bar
  • No Strap Lock

Price Overview

Its average competitor's price is $1000, which means that the Washburn N24-Nuno Vintage Matte costs around 20% more than the competition. It might be due to it having additional features, but know that you can find cheaper similar alternatives. This takes into account all instruments of the same category in our database with 6 strings and Double Locking bridge that are made in Indonesia.

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Videos

Washburn Nuno Bettencourt Signature Electric Guitar demo at Basone Guitar Shop
Nuno Bettencourt on the Washburn N4 at The Music Zoo
Gitar Washburn N24 Signature Series Nuno Bettencourt
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Testing Washburn N24
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Your 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!

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Is it Easy to Play?

The Washburn N24-Nuno Vintage Matte meets 3 out of our 8 criteria items for beginner friendliness, which means that it's not recommended for complete beginners. 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 N24-Nuno Vintage Matte
  • Comfortable shape
  • Tall frets
  • Comfortable neck
  • Comfortable fretboard
  • Narrow nut
  • Short scale
  • Locking tuners
  • Easy-to-use bridge

Hand Size Comfortability

After taking into account the neck profile, scale size, fretboard radius, and nut width, we can conclude that the Washburn N24-Nuno Vintage Matte'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

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 N24-Nuno Vintage Matte's 25.5" scale length compared to other common sizes:

Washburn N24-Nuno Vintage Matte Scale Length Comparison
Washburn N24-Nuno Vintage Matte's scale length (at the top) compared to other popular sizes

This is the same scale length used in Stratocaster guitars, and it's one of the main reasons they have such a bright sound. It's considered a long scale when compared to most non-baritone guitars.

Since the distance between bridge and nut is relatively long, you'll need to give the strings more tension to get them in tune. This higher tension will allow for a couple of things. First, you can get a lower action (get the strings closer to the fretboard) because the strings won't 'wiggle' too much when pluck and won't cause fret buzz. This can allow you to use lower tunings without increasing your string gauge, and it will make it easier to press down the strings fast.

However, the frets will also have a wider separation between each other, which can make it harder to play, especially if you got small hands. The higher tension will also make the strings feel stiffer, so bending will require more strength.

More with the same scale length:

Neck Profile

Washburn N24-Nuno Vintage Matte Neck Profile
Washburn N24-Nuno Vintage Matte'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 C type neck. C-shaped necks like this have been the most popular for the last years. The reason is that they feel good in most hands. It's generally a thin neck that doesn't get in your way when playing fast, but that also has enough mass to give your hands a comfortable grip for chords if they aren't too big.

Thin necks like this make it easier to move your hand across the neck and it helps when playing fast solos, especially if you like to leave your thumb free while playing high on the fretboard. However, thinner necks are also weaker and will need adjustment more often than a thicker neck.

More for different hand sizes

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 N24-Nuno Vintage Matte has a 12" fingerboard radius.

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

Washburn N24-Nuno Vintage Matte Fretboard Radius Comparison with Fender Stratocaster and Gibson Les Paul
Washburn N24-Nuno Vintage Matte'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 N24-Nuno Vintage Matte has the same radius across the board.

More with the same fretboard radius:

Playability compared to main competitors

25.5'' Scale Length
C Neck Profile
1.693'' Nut Width
12'' Fretboard Radius
25.5'' Scale Length
C Neck Profile
1.625'' Nut Width
Compound Fretboard Radius
Multiscale Scale Length
U Neck Profile
1.654'' Nut Width
13.78'' Fretboard Radius
25.5'' Scale Length
U Neck Profile
1.654'' Nut Width
Compound Fretboard Radius
25.5'' Scale Length
C Neck Profile
1.625'' Nut Width
14'' Fretboard Radius

Nut Width

Washburn N24-Nuno Vintage Matte Nut Width
Washburn N24-Nuno Vintage Matte Nut Width

The Washburn N24-Nuno Vintage Matte has a nut width of 43mm (1.693''). This is within the most common range of nut widths for a 6-string guitar. It offers a good balance of string separation at the nut. It's the size that most guitarists prefer as it gives them just enough space to play open chords without muting the strings, but without spreading the strings too wide and making bar chords difficult to perform.

Frets

The Washburn N24-Nuno Vintage Matte has 22 frets. Even though 24 frets has become really popular, there's still a good reason to get fewer frets; the pickup at the neck position will be further away from the bridge. This makes the neck pickup achieve a warmer tone. You might want this if you're playing Jazz or similar genres.

However, if you don't care about the warmer neck pickup, more frets will always be better. It's always nice to have the option to play higher notes if you want to.

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.

More with the same amount of frets:

Fret Size

Washburn N24-Nuno Vintage Matte Fret Size Comparison
Washburn N24-Nuno Vintage Matte'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 N24-Nuno Vintage Matte'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.

More with the same type of frets:

Playability Score

Bending & Vibrato Ease 70
Chord Playability 60
Solo Playability 70
Playability 67

Tone Analysis

Wood will have little influence in the final tone of an electric guitar or bass. Instead, the hardware, especially the pickups, will be the most important thing to look at. Bur first, let's see the quality of the wood.

Wood

Agathis wood pattern used for guitar building
Agathis Body
Maple wood pattern used for guitar building
Maple Neck
Rosewood wood pattern used for guitar building
Rosewood Fretboard

Agathis Body: It's similar to Mahogany as it offers good sustain and a warmer tone. It's more affordable so it's often used for lower-end guitars.

Maple Neck: This is one of the most popular types of wood used in all kinds of guitars. It's heavy, strong and compact, which makes it great for necks. However, it's also used for fretboards, bodies and tops due to its light color, resistance and beautiful patterns. When it comes to tone, it highlights the mid and high frequencies.

Rosewood Fretboard: Since the ban of Brazillian Rosewood, this has become a rare and expensive wood. It's not usually used for guitar bodies because of this, and also because it's heavy. Instead, it's used mainly for fretboards. Sometimes it's also used for necks because it's an extremely hard wood (even harder than maple). Its tonality tends to favor warm tones.

Pickups

This guitar comes with pickups from one of the top brands: Bill Lawrence. So you can expect well built pickups with great sound that shouldn't need an upgrade anytime soon.

These are passive pickups, so you can expect a rounder sound and a moderade level of output.

The Washburn N24-Nuno Vintage Matte's configuration is HH. With this pickup combination, you'll get warmer tones and more output than using single coils. Humbucker pickups cancel the noise that single-coil suffer from, which also results in a warmer tone. This pickup combination isn't only for high-gain music like Hard Rock or Heavy Metal. Their warmness is also popular for Jazz, Indie, R&B, Blues and more.

More with the same pickups

22 Frets
Floyd Rose Bridge
Bill Lawrence L-500 Bridge Pickup
Washburn Humbucker Neck Pickup
22 Frets
Floyd Rose Bridge
Bill Lawrence L-500 Bridge Pickup
Seymour Duncan '59 SH-1N Neck Pickup
22 Frets
Floyd Rose Bridge
Bill Lawrence L-500 Bridge Pickup
Seymour Duncan '59 SH-1N Neck Pickup
22 Frets
Floyd Rose Bridge
Bill Lawrence L-500 Bridge Pickup
Seymour Duncan '59 SH-1N Neck Pickup
22 Frets
Floyd Rose Bridge
Bill Lawrence L-500 Bridge Pickup
Seymour Duncan '59 SH-1N Neck Pickup

Versatility

It comes with the popular 3-way switch that is present in most guitars. For more versatility, players tend to prefer a 5-way switch, although it all depends on what you want to use your guitar for.

It has a Coil Tap option. This will allow you to get a single-coil sound out of your humbucker once you activate the power tap. The way it works is that it cuts part of the power coming from one of the coils, which ends up giving you a more real single-coil sound.

Diagram

Washburn N24-Nuno Vintage Matte pickups switch and push knobs diagram
Washburn N24-Nuno Vintage Matte's switch options

What music genre is it good for?

As a 6 strings, Solid Body guitar with HH configuration and Passive pickups, we'd recommend it for genres like Hard Rock or similar. However, you can use almost any guitar for any genre. This is just the typical type of music for this particular one.

Sound Score

Pickups 90
Sustain 70
Versatility 72
Tuning Stability 85
Sound 79

Build Quality Analysis

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 N24-Nuno Vintage Matte is made in Indonesia. Many people prefer the quality of an Indonesian guitar over a Chinese. Respectable brands like Epiphone, Ibanez and Schecter are building in this country because of the great quality and lower price. Some people like to compare them to the ones built in Japan during the 80s, when Japanese guitar makers made a name for themselves.

Bridge

Floyd Rose Special: With this type of tremolo bridge, you'll be able to perform dive bombs and pinch harmonics without getting out of tune. This type of bridge gives you the best versatility, but it also makes it harder to set up your guitar correctly, especially when changing your strings.

More with the same type of bridge:

Tuners

The tuners have a ratio of 18:1. This means you need 18 turns of the tuner knob to make the tuner post go around 1 complete revolution. The more turns it takes, the finer and more precise your tuning is going to be. An 18:1 ratio is what most instruments have nowadays. Some high-end ones come with a ratio of 21:1.

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 N24-Nuno Vintage Matte has a Locking nut. Instead of the typical nut, this nut locks the strings in place and will make them stay in tune even after heavy tremolo use. This type of nut provides the best tune stability, but they also make the guitar more expensive.

Unfortunately, it doesn't come with a retainer bar for the nut, which would be a helpful addition. Without it, the strings will change pitch once you lock down the nut, so you'll have to make more micro-adjustments at the bridge to tune it correctly.

More with the same nut material:

Neck Joint

The neck joint is the part where the neck of the guitar meets the body. There are three main techniques to attach both parts together: Set-In, Bolt-On and Neck-Through. The latter two provide different advantages, although neck-throughs are the most expensive.

This guitar has a Bolt-On neck joint. Even though this type of neck was looked down upon for a long time, nowadays bolt-on necks are well built and provide just as much sustain as any other join method. First of all, it's cheap to make because it consists of simply 4 bolts that attach the neck to the body. And you can travel with the guitar more easily, swap out the neck if you damage it, or upgrade to a more comfortable neck later on.

More with the same build:

Build Quality Score

Quality of materials 51
Features 65
Quality Control 75
Build Quality 64

All Specs

Washburn N24-Nuno Vintage Matte
General
Brand: Washburn
Year: 2016
Configuration: HH
Strings: 6
Made in: Indonesia
Series: Nuno Bettencourt
Colors: Natural Matte
Left-Handed Version: No
Body
Type: Solid Body
Body Material: Agathis
Bridge: Floyd Rose Special
Neck
Neck Joint: Bolt-On
Tuners: Grover Exclusive 18:1 Chrome
Fretboard: Rosewood
Neck Material: Maple
Decoration: Dots
Scale Size: 25.5"
Shape: Washburn Nuno Bettencourt
Frets: 22 Medium
Fretboard Radius: 12"
Nut: Locking
Nut Width: 43mm (1.693'')
Electronics
Switch: 3 Way
Knobs: Dome
Pickup Mods: Coil Tap
Volume Controls: 1
Tone Controls: 0
Bridge Pickup: Bill Lawrence L-500 (Humbucker / Passive)
Neck Pickup: Washburn Humbucker (Humbucker / Passive)

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