need opinions/input

Twisted, I don't know anything about it.

However, have you checked out the harmonycentral.com reviews? That's a good place to start.

yeah i checked there also.
i seem to remember that MF bought Harmony central a while back.
not sure what their policy is on reviews of guitars they sell. :wink:

Well they sell pretty much all guitars, haha. But, the reviews on harmony central are given by people, not employees.

Don't have any personal experience but all
the reviews I just read are very positive.

It sure is pretty and the price seems fair.

John

yea, i'm a sucker for a pretty blond (guitar) and most all the reviews i can find seem to be positive.
plus the MF 12 months same as cash on their Platinum card is a real temptation.

Well they sell pretty much all guitars, haha. But, the reviews on harmony central are given by people, not employees.

You'd be amazed. I have some real serious suspicions that more then a few companies dump fake reviews on HC. It's a bit too weird to see everyone bash a product only to see some 'super experienced famous old dude who wants to be anonymous' claim that it is the best product ever designed by anyone, which shouldn't be weird because COmpanyX has always made the best products on the market. I see that just way too often. HC is nice to check out issues *everyone* has, for the rest it's absolutely useless.

my only real concern so far is that altho it's listed as a "mahogany" neck it's actually "Nato".
i realise that nato is in the mahogany family, but i was under the impression that it's a softer cousin.
should i be concerned that it's used for the neck? after all it's a 12 string

Haven't played this, but the Washburns I have played (or the ones some of my students have had) have been good mid-ranged guitars. This looks like it would be considered closer to their "top of the line" and, one would suspect, would be even bettre quality. (did I read the site wrong? I thought it said it had a maple neck.)

I'll see if my local store has one in next time I'm there.

Peace

Taken from the Johnson guitar site:
Nato
Nato wood, also known as Eastern Mahogany, is a reliable, strong wood used on guitar necks. It is a value-priced wood used more for beginner instruments. However, it still embodies all of the properties of more commonly used mahogany.
From Peter Kun Frary, Professor of Music • University of Hawaii, Leeward:
Rosewood is traditionally used for backs and sides. Softer hardwoods such as nato, mahogany, walnut, koa and maple are excellent and less expensive alternatives to rosewood.
Taken from Ukelele World:
Roy, I see several ukes that say they use "NATO" wood.... what is that?
Nato wood, also known as Eastern Mahogany, is a relieble, strong wood used on guitar necks. It is a value-priced wood used more in the lower cost instruments. However, Nato still embodies all of the properties of more commonly used.... and more expensive mahogany. Not a bad wood at all for most ukes.... except the finest ones. - Now did Johnson copy Ukelele World or the other way around?
By the way, Martin used Nato wood for the necks of their (budget) Shenandoah line of guitars.

thanx for everyone who responded, i posted this earlier but the forum glitch erased the post i guess.
the nato neck i was worried about was on another washburn 12 i had mistakenly linked to, so thanx for clearing that up for me DH.
i'm off to compare and decide this week sometime when i have a chance. it's down to the eg523sc12 a/e or the washburn cumberland 12.
wish me luck!