The Guitar Gallery Forums - The Guitar Legacy of Matsumoku

I recently purchased a left handed A-20V from a local music store for £180.It's the black model with the gold pinstripe edging(body and headstock),brass nut,brass O ring fret markers,original washburn machine heads,all original washburn pick-ups with the push/pull pots on the the volume nobs for each pick-up,through neck/glued neck?,22 fret rosewood (I think) fretboard and the vintage style strat tremelo unit.The guitar looks all original except for a missing volume nob for the bridge pickup,which has been replaced by a chicken head nob.It looks like it may have had a refret or fret dress pretty recently because the frets look like they have hardly any ware on them,but there is evidence that the guitar has been played quite a lot because the finish under the high e string between the pick ups has some ware where a plectrum has been digging in.The guitar plays brilliantly with an incredibly low action with no fret buzz anywhere,and the pickups sound pretty punchy.The reason I'm putting this info up is that I am confused by the serial number.After reading the very useful info on serial numbers on this site I thought the guitar may be from 1981 but from the info on the site I don't know what year it's from as it says that these washburns have a 6 digit serial number and this one only has 5.The serial number is 17875, so any help identifying the year would be most appreciated.check out pics(if I've done it right)

Good score. I paid almost £300 for my right handed A-20 3 years ago and yours look to be in better shape.

I think you're right that this is a 1981. 5 digit numbers aren't unusual on these guitars and the guitar's features fits well with this year too.

The neck should be a 3 piece through neck. It's always very hard to see on the black models but the wood can often be seen through the paint if you hold it under a good light.

Does your guitar have a V neck profile? My 1983 does but not all A-20s have this profile so I'm still wondering which years they used this profile.

Thanks for the info SalemB,most helpful and it does have the V profile neck.

just so you know, this is a neck through guitar - i had a lefty b-20 bass for a while...

Hi there. Brilliant lefty A-20. I didn't know they made them in lefty. I have a black lefty Falcon, an 81 I think. (Pics elsewhere on this forum.) But I envy the over-the-top looks of the A-20. It's Explorer-ish in a better way. Well, a different way. Anyway, to cut to the chase, if you ever care to sell it I would certainly care to buy it.
best regards
Kenneth
(currently resident in France)