Sharp Shapes

There was a recent addition to the Washburn guitar family, the Bantam series, released on January 2006, with sleek body shapes, and a radical headstock and an extended neck tenon of uneven shape to increase body contact surface area, which results in a better sustain of the instrument. Also it sported a new headstock style, same shape, but with a matching-color plastic plate covering part of the headstock and leaving some wood exposed, giving it a futuristic and cool look. But, is it really that radical? Is this sharp shape really that new? We'll have to look into the dark realms of our minds and guitar archives. And the answer is, No. The first time I spotted a new Yamaha RBX 774 was in July 2002 in a Yamaha catalog, it was not display as a product in the catalog but it was in some pictures of it, being held by Taproot's bass player Philip Lipscomb. It had the same shape of the Bantam bass I already described, the same body with sharp cut borders, even the same pickup configuration, just some changes in the horns and in the bridge, but the concept being kept the same. And this rises the question, why is quintessential guitar maker, Washburn, copying body shapes and headstock concepts from a japanese company? I'm not saying this is bad, but this speaks ill of the creativity of the design department of Washburn. I'd buy the Bantam BB4 anytime if available , I think is a good bass, both basses play very well and have unique tones, and that's good, sound identity was not touched but aesthetics tell us a different story. The Yamaha RBX 774 was already discontinued last year. Did Washburn think we would forget about Yamaha's design? I dunno. Probably they did and thought this idea was fresh and new. Benchmarking is everywhere.