Collectable Guitars pt 32 – Washburn A-20V Stage Series

Matsumoku built Ibanez guitars?
What makes you think so. Can you prove this?
Name your sources, or think again.
Myths keep everybody guessing and add to confusion.

I have an A-20 and its the most awesome guitar. I bought it at a second hand shop for R800 or $100 with case. What a luck.

I often wonder what happened to my A-20V I foolishly sold in 1992. I bought it brand new in 1982.

There is another truly collectable A series out there that is not listed here. That is the super rare USA built Chicago Custom A-30 that was built only 1 year in 1996.
These guitars are works of art and have a Shaller Floyd trem, Honduras Mahogany neck and body, AAAA Quilt Maple top and headstock overlay, Braziian Rosewood Finger board, triple ply binding around the neck and headstock, 6100 Jumbo frets, carved smooth neck heel, a Duncan JB Trembucker in the bridge and a 59 in the neck. These are so rare I have only seen 2 the one pictured in the 1996 Washburn catalog and the one I own. Mine is a Cherry Sunburst Quilt topped MONSTER!

Did they ever produce a factory 3 pick up version of this guitar????

I own an A10 that I purchased brand new in 1980. It is Black with cream colored pickups and a set or thru neck. It is a great playing and sounding guitar. Very well made. It has had very few repairs or mods done to it over years other than a Seymour Duncan JB pick up in the bridge positon 20 years ago. This guitar is not mint. It is well worn and has alot of paint chips and dings. All components are in great working order still.
I will never forget the excitment of picking it up off lay away from the music store 30 years ago. She was beautiful to behold. Great guitar!

I have what I believe to be Washburn A10 or A20. It has a Head Crasher Trem. Is this a stock trem system? Or after market? Anybody know how to figure out what year I have? there is a serial number on the Headstock. Does anybody know what years match up to serial number patterns? Or serial numbers match up with Model numbers? Any feedback would help. Thanks in advance.

I have an A20v stage,1982 in pink with cream binding,totally stock immaculate. Im interested in selling it,but need it valued first. I posted pics on the washburn guitar forum, but got no replies at all. I have the original case too. SW

I have an A20V sunburst with original case in show room condition serial #831973.
Mine seems to be a bit darker sunburst than the one pictured. I bought this guitar new back in the mid eighties because of Carlos Cavazo of Quiet Riot. I didn’t play it much because of the weight. I later ended up using it for a studio guitar because of its great sound. I have babied this guitar ever since and glad I did, not a scratch on it.
I love the versatility in the push/pull coil splits and is one of the only guitars that require little effects to produce a great sound.
KD

Michael,

The A-10 always had the set neck, both original and reissues.
It was only the A-5 that had a bolt on neck.
The A-20(original 80’s) are available with both set neck and neck-through constructions.

Hi, i have a Washburn A-20 Reissue with the egnators replaced with a SH-1 in the neck and a SH-7 in the bridge and the previous owner put on gold grover locking pegs…anyone interested in buying it feel free to email me at davidzun69@gmail.com

Thanks

i have a 83 a5 in red and rosewood frett board double hummbuckers kayler tremola with fine tuners and added locks on head stock upgraded pots it is the baddest guitar in my line up setting in the corner it will play itself its so easy to play i had it tuned up and was told sombody did about a thousand dollars worth of work in mods to it the finish is perfect exept for 1 small chip on the top back corner i bought 20 years ago in a pawn shop for $90 and didnt even know what the hell it was lucky me the rythem guitar player and singer in my band plays it at our shows it has one hell of a sound im would like to find a matching bass to go with it i wish you could see it i will se what i can do so you can there is something really special about this fine guitar thanks for reading Gene Russell jr

I have a Stage that I bought in 1983 or 84 for £60. The serial number is 810418. It has a through neck and Di marzio pickups. It also has an extra little switch which boosts the bridge pick up. I love this guitar but it now needs some work on the electrics. I`m not sure what model it is though. Anyone got an idea?

Thanks for putting up this tribute
My first A20V was with me for 20 years , Purchased in1980 for $200 from a pawn shop in Kings Cross here in Sydney. It was stolen about 10 years ago
Decided to look for another
and found a A-20 Tobacco finish, pretty much immaculate. It came from an employee who worked in the Chicago factory
who was given the guitar in the 70’s when they were still developing the model. He didnt play guitar and it just sat there for all those years. Gave it to his younger brother who decided to sell it via ebay. I corresponded with the older brother who remembered it being worked on / manufactured in Chicago.
It differs in that it has a normal
neck profile, doesnt have the acute V shape that the guitar is known for. He didnt talk specifically about the neck profile but said it was given to an endorsed player ( didnt know who ) & was a prototype. For whatever reason it came back and ended up being given to him. Its a tone monster ,plays beautifully as a “normal’ guitar but I set it up for slide, heavy string 12 14 18r-52 and either tune it to open tunings or keep it in standard tuning and tune down 2 frets ( DGCFAD ), It didnt have its original pickups, but a great old Di Marzio in the neck and I loaded a SD 78′ Custom for the bridge. Its one of the
most “organic’ sounding instruments straight into a descent amp creates classic rock tones , Zeppelin , heavy blues etc. Then a few years later I found an A20V a bit battered and totally fret worn , all original pickups, electronics
and that too is a gem. Its a cherry burst finish, from 79′ I just invested quite a bit to have it referetted by a luthier here in Sydney, who did a wonderful job. He said the guitar drew some interest while it was in the shop. Anyway that Pink one sounds interesting, I have never known of one ,
I did try one of the mid 90’s re-issues with aFloyd Rose but just didnt have the same feel or tone , very different instrument. All the best from Oz
Craig

I found a A20 for £150 pounds in auction I was bidding against someone but I got it! It had a reserve of £100! The neck on mine is joined to the neck (continually don’t know what that’s called!) and I love it! It is the orginal 1980 one! I am only 14 and the only guitars I have used are lones from my teacher and a acoustic from my sister, this one is my first guitar that I actually own! I have been playing for under a year and i am very proud to own this!

I love my A20v, I bought it back in the eighties brand new and have kept it in near show room condition with its original case all these years. The guitar has such a great sound and the machine heads are the best I have ever used. No doubt the best Ibanez produced. I use this guitar mainly for studio work and use my USA Guild electric (another great guitar) for the road.

I have the same A-20 Pictured above as well ! I love it and can’t even play any other guitar comfortably after owning it ! Anyway I would like to know where to find the serial number ! I checked all the typical places every guiatar would have it and can’t find one anywhere !

These were not built by Matsumoku. These, along with the entire Washburn electric guitar catalog, were built by Yamaki.

My story seems common: I bought my A-20 in the early ’90s for $200. Just found this comment area because I wanted to find out a couple things.

1. My case has become rusty on the hinges and latches; is it a big part of the overall value? I was just considering scraping it and buying a generic new one.

2. What is the difference between the A-20 and the A-20v?

3. What is the approximate value of my guitar? Assume it is in “good” condition.

Heya, Tyler Erickson. I happened to be browsing past (researching a topic for the Washburn Forums), & hope I can help your questions. I don’t work for Washburn, but I’m a longtime fan.

(1) While Washburn has always had decent-enough cases, OHSC doesn’t bump the value as would vintage Gibson, Gretsch, Fender, etc.; a new decent-enough generic case (Musician’s Gear or similar) would IMO add just as much actual value. But you might consider putting the old case on eBay or Reverb in case there’s some hardcore who’d be happy to finance your upgrade a little.

(2) Generally, a “-V” suffix on a Washie indicates some sort of “vibrato” bridge. The earliest Stage & Wing series guitars were generally hardtails, & this recurred on some reissues.

(3) Though Washburn has made some now-classic workhorse guitars in the past 40 years, as a whole the brand is severely undervalued. A Fender with a Book value of $1,000 would likely take about $1,000 to replace, & fetch you at least half that if you went to sell it. A Washburn, on the other hand — unless it’s a USA or a particularly hot signature model or some such — can (in my experience) be found for 1/4 its Book value, or less.

Setting value on an A-20 is a potential can of worms, depending on when it was built, where (Matsumoku, Terada, Korea…), how fancy the finish is (lately the red-bound blacktops have outpaced the flametops), & random demand.

And what a guitar’s “worth” depends on whether you are insuring it, replacing it, selling it to a Guitar Center, selling it to a high-end shop, selling it on Craigslist, & how quickly you need the cash. Also, what you mean by “good condition”: 9 out of 10, or 6/10? With no missing or broken parts, no chips showing wood (or roughly 8/10), I’d expect to see a 1980s A-20 (Terada build) with ebony fretboard & brass inlays & sunburst flametop online for $900 at most, & I’ve seen them go out for under $500.

well this is the first time i posted on here, so here goes. i bought a washburn A10v. i got it at a pawn shop in columbus ohio. at first i thought it was matte black, it turned out that it was it that shop for 20 years, and covered in dust and soot, the guitar turned out to be purple metal flake. it took me four days to clean it. so i get to looking for a serial # and there is not one, on this guitar it should be on the fret board on the very top fret. so i find out that it is a proto type a10v. so i need to find nos locking nut tabs and a tremolo bar for this guitar.
i also want to add that i talked to a person at washburn and they said that the color of this guitar was never a production color and that he ran the service dept at that time and he would have known. so in closing does anyone know where to get vintage nos for this stage series guitar.

Hi,
This is a truly great site, congrats.
I’ve come across a bit of a rarity.

A left handed Av-20
Seial # 842136

Black body Red binding, neck has red binding as well with red dot markers.

Needs a bit of work but in generally good
condition. Most notable is corossion to tuning pegs. The trem system of a beast but could be some type of Kaylee prototype.

I’m figuring the lefty had got to be even more obscure.. Never seen one before but I’ve seen
and played a few 1st gen A-20V’s.

Any ideas or feedback would be appreciated.

Regards, Brad