This guitar is a gorgeous little instrument! ...things in small packages, you know. Classic herringbone binding, dark rosewood sides and back and inlays on the fretboard and headstock make this look almost lavish. Acoustic Guitar magazine (A.G.) called it "authentic" and "vintage" looking in a March 1995 review 'Small Wonders', a review of 13 small-body guitars. They did not favor the R-306.
Washburn, now an import, was one of the oldest of America's music companies -- founded in 1864 by Oliver Ditson in Chicago. The brands made, Washburn and Lyon & Healy, were named after associates George Washburn Lyon and P.J. Healy.
Although Washburn and L & H, one of the largest guitar makers in the world at the time, supplied mailorder houses like Montgomery Wards, they also made "fine" instruments rivaling Gibson and Martin around the turn of the century. They used "superior" machinery to produce thousands, but created hand-worked beauties for people with money.
My R-306 is a good copy of the L&H model with the label, "Authentic 1892 Reissue" inside. Referred to as a parlor guitar, it has the "OO", small size body. The slotted headstock, solid cedar top and diminutive, narrow-shouldered shape all give a late 19th-century look.
Models of L&H were designated No. 1 (Standard, 18x12 1/2), No. 2 (Concert), No. 3 (Grand Concert), and No. 4 (Auditorium, 19 1/2 x14 1/2). The amounts, or styles of added ornamentation went from type 1 through type 8, type 8 having the most decoration. The R (reissue) 306 (Grand Concert, type 6) is quite nicely appointed! The size, however, being nearly the largest the company made, seems strange today -- it's so small!
Too much bracing on the top and laminate sides and back make it a little heavy, and along with the small size a bit thin-sounding. The guitar is small, though, and I didn't expect a dreadnaught sound from it. Fingerstyle, with the soft of the fingertips, the guitar has a great sound! Using nails or picks it responds nicely, too.
I have a Fishman Matrix pick-up into a L.R. Baggs Gig-Pro preamp to make up for this when I play out. No lack of bass and power here! A bit of delay, touch of spring reverb, tad of chorus (just a tad) and the air is singing.
People at A.G. magazine, eat your heart out -- I paid $285 for this guitar!! This factory list on it was $1029. I got it used in 2000. Although Martin and Gibson, Larrivee and Breedlove, at prices far beyond Washburn, are great guitars, a person should always check out these workingman's guitars, especially limited-run like the R-306 only made in 1995. No other Washburn looks like it and no guitars in the price-range play like it -- not even the Martins made of plywood in the Orient!
My review of this guitar on Harmony Central:
www.harmony-central.com