We like it heavy. Or at least that's what the designers of our new guest must have thought. When it comes to the modern metal scene, Washburn has always been right there in the trenches (see Dimebag Darrell, Scott Ian or Dan Donegan, for example). In front of us we have a dark-looking six-string that is going to get people talking on the contemporary metal scene: the Washburn WI200PROE.

It's a new bet by Washburn (along with its sister, the WI200PRO) to offer a professional-level instrument for metal guitarists at a mid-range price, with certain details and touches that make a difference. So let's see whether it's really worth it and whether the guitar screams with the rage of metal, whose fumes start wafting from the packaging before you even open it. Let's soak up its aroma.

Warning: blues players and pop lovers, look away.

Draw, stranger
As soon as I unpacked it, I got a pleasant surprise, to say the least: the guitar comes standard with a heavily padded gig bag and an Allen wrench. It's also strung with Vinci .010 strings. They may not be essential, but they are small details worth appreciating, especially considering that most manufacturers don't include them in this price range.

After taking it out of the bag and checking the warranty card, I pick up the guitar by the neck, and once again a smile spreads across my face, because the guitar is quite light and, to my touch, quite well balanced. Seen from the front, practically the whole guitar is black with a matte finish, its electronics are active and its overall look is a cross between an SG and a Les Paul (although it has more of the SG). All of this suggests in advance that the style it's aimed at is especially heavy (rock and metal offshoots).

Analyzing the components
Let's take a tour of the guitar before we make it sound, to see what we're up against. As Jack the Ripper would say, let's take it piece by piece:

Wood: body and neck
The body of the WI200PROE is made of mahogany, a wise choice, since mahogany emphasizes low frequencies, which makes it suitable for certain modern metal styles. Also, as we'll see later, it complements the electronics well.
As for the finish, we're talking about a thick matte black polyester coat. While this finish may be less attractive than a satin one, I think it's a good call, since it is highly resistant to fingerprints and scratches. Needless to say, it feels silkier and allows smooth movement.

The neck is made of two-piece maple (the second piece being the headstock), bolted onto the body (bolt-on), with a very thin natural finish. It's a slim neck, with a twenty-two jumbo-fret rosewood fingerboard, dot inlays (both on the edge and on the face) and no binding. The scale is 24.75", as I expected.

The front of the headstock has the same finish as the body, with the Washburn logo in white; the top end of the truss rod is protected by a multi-ply cover with the guitar's model name engraved on it. It's worth noting that the nut incorporates the Buzz Feiten tuning compensation system.

Hardware: tuners and bridge
What could be better for a guitar that's begging to be played savagely than a black finish and tuning stability? That's roughly what I imagined before plugging in this baby. Loaded with two-row Grover tuners with an 18:1 tuning ratio and a tune-o-matic bridge (finished in black, of course), things look pretty good. The frets are also well installed.

Tough hardware, both in looks and in performance.

Electronics: pickups and pots
This is undoubtedly the epicenter of this guitar earthquake. Two active EMG pickups, an 81 in the bridge and an 85 in the neck position, which makes the musical focus of our guest quite clear. To bring this guitar closer to the SG aesthetic, it has two tone and two volume knobs, plus the three-way selector. Something worth highlighting is that the selector feels quite smooth, doesn't cause any hum (something I have noticed on some SGs), and the pots are quite sensitive, so the slightest touch changes the respective settings. This can be an advantage or a drawback, depending on how we play.

It may seem obvious, but it doesn't hurt to point something out: these EMGs aren't dual-mode and can only be used in "humbucker" mode, with both coils in series. However, on a guitar like this, so focused on metal, I don't find that option necessary.

If we look at the back of the body, we find the cover plate for the pot circuitry and a compartment for the 9 V battery that powers the pickups.

As always, I can't resist gutting a guitar when I test it, because when a guitar is weak in construction and/or finish, its Achilles' heel is often in its innards.

We unscrew the plate and, to my delight, I discover spotless wiring, with the cables bundled by a small plastic tie.

The guitar is also well finished inside, although with a thinner finish than on the outside of the body (which makes sense, given that it's an area that will hardly suffer any wear). This is worth noting, since I've seen the insides of American guitars from famous brands that are rather careless in this respect.

That said, let's go wrestle with the sound.

Taking positions: phase 1, unplugged
This is a phase that is often skipped, yet I consider it essential. First of all, let's check which positions are most comfortable when playing this guitar. Those of you who are used to playing seated with the body resting on your left leg (myself included) may feel a bit uncomfortable with it. However, if you rest it on your right leg, the guitar fits quite well. Mind you, I'm speaking from a right-handed player's perspective, so lefties should reverse this explanation. Where this guitar really shines, though, is hanging from your shoulders. That's a point in its favor on stage.

Now we're ready to play. We start with chord progressions in different keys, and something surprised me: I didn't expect the body resonance to be so high on a guitar at this price. Another point in its favor. However, although the bridge is stable and holds the tuning, if you play resting your hand on the bridge as a reference, it may be a bit uncomfortable, since the edges of the saddles are somewhat sharp and your wrist rubs against them as you move it—something that hasn't happened to me with other tune-o-matic bridges.

The feel is truly exquisite, very smooth, and you can play with the strings set quite close to the fingerboard, which is worth noting given that the bridge is a tune-o-matic and the fingerboard isn't completely flat, though it is fairly flat. As for fret access, we reach the twenty-second without too much trouble, although you have to twist a bit to play that last one properly. And of course, after checking by playing a chromatic scale, there's no fret buzz with a medium-low action.

As for intonation/tuning, the truth is that this guitar is quite stable: after three days left undisturbed on its stand following a setup, it stays in tune practically as I last left it. The Grovers are really effective, as is the well-built nut.

About the Buzz Feiten tuning system
Most mid- and high-range Washburn guitars feature this system, which contributes to stability. Many musicians have admitted to me that they don't know exactly what it involves, so if some of you feel the same way, pay attention. The name comes from the musician/luthier who invented it, Howard "Buzz" Feiten. Having tuning problems with his instruments, he considered changing the height of the nut, but he didn't stop there: he came up with the idea of moving the nut closer to the bridge, especially at the first string, so that it ended up slightly slanted relative to the frets. Obviously, a string supported at two points (in our case, nut and bridge) involves a compromise the closer to those points it is pressed.

Consumed by curiosity, Feiten reviewed the empirical rule of 18 for fret placement. As was already known at the time, that rule isn't exact: at the first fret there are no audible differences (one hundredth of a semitone), but as we move up the fingerboard the error grows progressively, reaching about 20 cents by the 19th fret. That's already audible, about the size of a comma, a nuance that in Turkish music, for example, implies a change of mode. So the last frets (the high ones) are "slightly flat."

Interesting, right? Mr. Feiten thought so too, and he came to the conclusion that the nuts on all guitars were in the wrong place. So he set about reviewing tuning systems and adapting them to the guitar, based on the tempered tuning system used for pianos.

In short, he first made changes to the nut, and then adopted a series of tuning offsets to apply to each string (except the first string—E in standard tuning—which needed no compensation, since it was taken as the reference).

Note: the intervallic relationship between E and the rest of the notes differs if we tune with a traditional electronic tuner. However, these days almost all of them are built to deal with this issue.

It's worth remembering that a guitar will never sound 100% in tune, because of the physical limitations of the instrument, its construction and its design. Still, the Buzz Feiten system really works and is effective.

Sound
Relax, we've reached the part you've been waiting for. I felt like starting with extreme saturation, given how much the guitar is crying out to be pushed, but sticking to protocol, I started with the clean channel. A round sound with lots of volume on both pickups, with the EMG 81 strong in the highs and mids, and the EMG 85 deeper and warmer.

I notice strong resonance and a more than acceptable bass response, which made me fall in love with the bridge position in particular, since the sound is very balanced and powerful overall. In the neck position, you notice the scooped mids and a somewhat "jazzier" sound, but it's nowhere near suitable for that style. I found the middle switch position very attractive on this channel, with a somewhat accentuated bass response and a "bell-like" touch, which results in a velvety, sweet sound.

Even clean, these pickups aren't very versatile, given their high output. But besides the active component, it should be noted that they're built with heavy electrical shielding, so even at extreme volumes our sound stays protected from electromagnetic interference. A point in its favor live.

Now we move on to the main area this guitar leads us to: battle sounds. I start with a mid-gain crunch distortion, and the sound in the bridge position is rocking and crunchy. Noticing a rather hot output, I reduced the gain and, now, we have something more like "typical crunch." Solos are especially attractive and hard-hitting in the bridge position, while the neck pickup's sound gets a little closer to the PAF concept. Mind you, it only comes closer than the 81 does; I don't mean to suggest the 85 is a PAF-type humbucker.

I check the sustain by doing bends, and the guitar really delivers, holding the sustain for quite a long time.

Now we move on to "lead"-type distortions and the extreme saturation typical of modern metal. The intended sound of this guitar has its essence here, just as I expected. High volume, with hardly any noise... A guitar for the extreme metal musician (thrash, death, black...). Chords sound powerful and solos screech. Both pickups complement each other well. Artificial harmonics are easy to play, and they sound like true screams of anguish. Other rock techniques, such as palm muting or even tapping, are just as impressive on this guitar, sound-wise.

You'll notice I place special emphasis on the bridge position, but as I say, that's where this guitar really struck me. Then again, this characteristic applies to practically any extreme metal guitar, many of which even do without a neck pickup altogether.

Of course, I couldn't resist trying alternate tunings. After tuning down to C and cranking the saturation all the way, we get the "cocktail" that nu-metal fans are after, another standout point for this guitar.

Conclusion
An instrument as solid as a tank, well-shielded active pickups, tuning stability, light weight, a well-balanced guitar overall (no neck or body dive), a slim design that's comfortable to the touch... This is undoubtedly a guitar especially geared toward live performance, and aimed at those of you who play the most savage metal styles.

Good construction, EMG pickups, Grover tuners, the Buzz Feiten system... And a retail price of €625, VAT included. The trick? This guitar is built in Indonesia (under strict Washburn USA specifications), where labor is considerably cheaper than is typical for instruments of this level, such as Korean labor. In general, I'm in favor of mid-range guitars being made in "mid-range" countries, but in this case I find the Made in Indonesia idea quite sensible, since skilled labor is usually needed for more complex finishes. In our case, the finishes are quite good but very simple, so the main thing is assembling the guitar industrially, something that varies less from one country to another in that part of Asia. That said, there are also companies that build in Indonesia without this level of quality, which is worth bearing in mind and something to thank Washburn's supervisors for, because they know it: PRO is more than three letters.