A Brief Field Guide to the BT Series

I own a BT-4 in TSB, and I have to admit that though the color is definitely not "in your face" or "look at me dammit," it's quite pleasant.

So, here is a BT-2Q in something other than the endemic CSB. I'd guess it's a VERY late run, as it's loaded with the 18:1 Rotomatics - unless a previous owner REALLY loved the axe enough to upgrade, those didn't hit the market until the Maverick Series was withering. However, it's also got an s/n stamped on its heelplate, which is relatively early. (In general, the first neckplates were the fake-sandcast look with stamped numbers, followed by this shiny neckplate, and then the serial number went to the little paper tag or occasionally silkscreen.)

Anyway, if you want a pretty good HH guitar, this is available for $249 + $65 and open to offers

My first post on this forum...

I saw this on FB Marketplace recently. The guy wants $40. 





I've been buying beater guitars and fixing them up for a while now. I have most of the parts needed to get it up and running. This one is missing almost everything, including the back covers, the bridge PU, 3-way-switch, volume and tone pots & controls and the body has a big gash down to the wood near the output jack. 

I really like the body style and functionality of this guitar. I'd fill in and re-drill the volume pot hole, as I like that control farther away from the pickups. I have a couple of chrome covered humbuckers I can install.

My question is... Is this worth fixing? The tuners look good. I would actually enjoy doing the body work and painting. I have spare pickups, switches etc...  I'd cut control panel covers out of spare plastic or make wooden ones if I feel I like the guitar enough. 

Anyway, even if I paid $40, I'll offer less, I know I could get it looking and working quite nicely for around $75 total. With lot of labor. But, I actually enjoy working on guitars.

Thoughts or advice?

Keep us posted!

I think Tele-style knobs are more complimentary here. Here’s hoping the frets are level and the tuners are good.

What kind of finish will you use on it?

I'm very sorry that I haven't gotten back to you -- attention span of a mayfly sometimes.

First up, the s/n. It's a prefix + eight digits, with the latter always (well, almost always) ddmmnnnn. So my bet is it's guitar #2040 for production month September 2000. And produced by Samick's Indonesia factory.

Oh, I do love the chunky Rotomatics. I usually price those tuners alone at worth $40/set, particularly now that the market is flooded with so many garbage counterfeits.

This is a series where "collectability" is not much of an issue, and that is pointedly true for the BT-4 (hss) and the BT-2: there were Just So Darn Many. Modifying them isn't going to slash resale value, and for all we know might improve it. I do like your idea of relocating the knob, and why not? -- if that cavity were any bigger, I could stash snacks there!

Because they littered the landscape for a few years, I have a few Mavericks. My experience thus far is that the pickup sets on the cheapest are actually pretty good. The humbuckers are a little on the "cool" side, therefore less wooly low-end and cluttered mids, so on the BT-4 this makes for a good balance with the single-coils; I like the sound on my BT-2.

Since the Maverick Series was on the market, "clean boost" pedals have become much more common AND inexpensive; IME, this is definitely an instance where anyone who feels they need more powerful output really should put their money into a good stompbox rather than fancy pickups. The fact is that the cost of a pickup will never be recovered because there's not much demand for used pickups, while processors have a way of holding value, or even increasing over time.

Unless you're going for a showpiece -- or maybe just want the practice!! -- I wouldn't advise sanding or stripping down to wood. A light overall sanding to take the shine off the topcoat, then a few thin coats with plenty of time between, and maybe buffing compound for a nice shine (if you've got a buffing pad already, otherwise just skip it).

My one niggle with the BT-2 is because of the bridge -- and that's not specific to the Mavs or even to Washburn, but to ALL imports with that half-arsed pseudo-TOM assembly! If the posts are a millimeter off, whether forward or backward, it's easy to wind up with at least one string that CANNOT be properly intonated. The solution would be to properly peg it up and redrill. If you're going to repaint anyway, you could consider whether such overhaul is needed. I will be a little happier with life if I can locate a drop-in replacement that's just a little bigger AND won't cost more than the guitar cost me.

Like you, I find that it's a VERY comfortable guitar to play, whether standing or sitting or slouched back into the sofa. Truly a classic design, and if Washburn's present owners had any sense they'd bring it back.

Greetings! New member here. I have had this Washburn BT-8 since I was 18... purchased back in 1997 or so. I have seen the set neck BT-8 out there, but I have never been able to see this exact spec. Is this the normal run of the mill BT-8? I love this guitar so much. Could pass a very high end guitar on looks alone. What are these valued at these days? Have never seen another in the wild.

Thanks... do you know anything about this particular one? Standard BT-8... nothing special? 

I have a few set-neck electrics in my herd -- and one is almost unplayable due to neck bow. With a Strat or Tele, it's easy to replace a neck, or salvage a good neck from a destroyed body; most of the Mavericks have that same bolt-neck flexibility, so personally I'd say that's worth MORE, but the marketplace often disagrees.

As the Maverick line progressed, manufacture was passed between various factories; there's both Cort and Samick builds, and from Korea and Indonesia and even China. Too, specs changed:
TUNERS -- aside from 14:1 Rotomatics, early models sometimes had generic "diamond cans," and we've seen both Minis and 18:1.
ROUT -- usually "Gibson diamond" shape, but also Tele-style or even dogleg.
DOTS -- markers might be small or large.
The BT-5 is in two very different versions; other models were "tweaked" over time, as with your BT-8's bolt-on neck.

Your guitar is fairly early, as the "cast" neckplate indicates. A seven-digit s/n has no prefix, and the format is YMMNNNN, so (as you've doubtless guessed) 1997 manufacture -- because apparently Washburn wasn't certain they'd continue past 1999 -- and the 1,272nd instrument cranked out by that factory for Washburn in (probably) March.

Per the price list:
BT-8
HS, TPU, TR
$749.90
MAHOGANY BODY / MAPLE TOP
628mm SCALE / 43mm NUT
BOLT ON MAPLE NECK / ROSEWOOD FRETBOARD
WB 600 SERIES HUMBUCKERS
TUNE-OMATIC STOP

The pickups seem to be a stepup from the BT-2's WB 200, but I have no idea as to why, or what the specs are.

Interestingly, yours sure LOOKS like a cherry sunburst (CS), which at the time was only officially offered on the BT-2. The options here are Honey Sunburst, Transparent Purple, and Transparent Red. If there's actually some demented collector somewhere on Earth, this oddity might interest them... but as you've seen, Mavs in particular and Washburns in general have MANY such quirks.

As to value... well, the Fjestad Rule is that most electric guitars may NEVER have a market value of 50% of MSRP -- even allowing for inflation. IMNSHO, Mavericks are undervalued, and mostly disappeared from the marketplace due to "flippers" who figure they're going to get rich... eventually. Fact is they're darn good instruments, and deserve to be lovingly played until they fall apart: they are TOOLS, and ought to be used and respected as such. Unfortunately, Mavs appeal to actual dedicated musicians, who are a minority in a world looking for Chibsons and Ten-Tops and $99 Squiers and extra-floppy trems.

Standard retailer cost is usually 40% of MSRP, so your dealer likely paid around $299.96; call it $300 base value. Given "one owner" status, condition, maple top, Grovers, and color quirk, if I had a shop in Minneapolis (any large city, actually), I'd hang it up for at least $450, which means I'd offer like $250; naturally, you could earn the $450+ yourself, but marketing takes time and effort.

Nice! The color looks like it could have been a Washburn choice.

As it's getting up there in years, I'd suggest a little attention to the fretboard, primarily a few drops of lemon oil and touch up the fret ends, but you could also look up how to "roll" the fingerboard edge a little -- if (of course) you're into that sort of thing. (I thought it was utter nonsense, until I had opportunity to compare two Strats, one of which had a "vintage" style rolled edge. I wouldn't say it's a game-changer, but it DID feel very pleasant too play!)

I'm curious how you managed to balance the piezo against the mag pickups. The "common wisdom" of my youth was that piezo output is so low that it's just a whisper compared to coils, so requires a preamp -- and either way can't easily be paired with passive mags. (Switch Guitars dodged the issue by having totally separate 1/4" outputs.) It's much simpler with actives, of course.

And before anyone asks: No, respectful mods and paint DO NOT "destroy the value" of any good midrange axe, and may (in a functional sense at least) actually add value if they make the guitar easier to (eventually) resell. Additionally, in this instance, the BT-8's maple top may actually be a maple TOP, rather than just veneer, so it has potential to be a tone monster. Anyone buying for looks alone should (IMNSHO ) stick with flipping their $400 Squiers amongst themselves.