Can you guess what it is?

Man, a NGD is exciting, but that's not much to go on....am I seeing a Kahler?

Lets take a stab ........

Yes. An NGD is great !
i could go with one I think.
It's been awhile

Is it the Ace guitar? Give us the deets.

The Ace guitar, yes it is! 88’ Washburn AF-40! Congrats Birnie, you guessed it right!
I just had to drive 30 minutes to pick it up…
I also bought a bike from the same seller, so I can say the bike was expensive and the guitar was cheap… the seller had this guitar from his wife’s uncle, and was more attached to his bike than to the guitar. Nice person.
The guitar is in a very good condition, a few traces but nothing too bad.
I have several Japanese Washburn guitars from that era (the Robert Palmer/addicted to love shape, the RR Brian May shape, etc.) and I didn’t expect something that much different (average quality). Ace didn’t like this guitar, and there are also some negative reviews on it. But I think it’s a good guitar, surprisingly.
I try to get one on January this year, but the price went too high (and the guitar wasn’t as nice as this one), and gave up. I didn’t think I could find one this fast, and so close to my home.
Here’s what it looks like ( pics from the seller):

Kick ass, only 30 minutes away! That's so lucky man. I would get one of those for the right price, though I'm not into that many 80's guitars with the weird 80's trems. I understand why they were doing it at the time, they had to do something, but it hasn't lasted the test of time, if you maybe want a great player guitar, or just a museum piece.

Looks great, with the original case, which is fantastic to see.

Heya !!!
Lucky guess !

Congrats.

I was like "What Brian May guitar" ?
Oh yeah right. Princess of the Universe. Nice one

How many in total have you got now ?
Are you in triple figures ?

Thanks, Vic and Birnie!

It’s true the trem on the first pic looked like a Kahler. The Washburn wonderbar sounds more like a Bigsby than a Floyd I think.

I must confess I’m in triple figure, less than 999 and more than a hundred. I keep the guitar I buy, can’t sell them, as they make a happy home. I hope there will be a market still when my son and daughter will sell all these guitars in many many years if everything works fine.

Time flies, here’s a post I wrote ten years ago, the dream has comme true… :

https://www.vvforums.com/viewtopic.php?t=6660

Wow man, you have a LOT of guitars....way more than me, and I thought I had too many already. I don't really intend to get anymore, but I'm sure if one of those popped up nearby at a great price I would have to get it, ha ha.

It's good that dreams can come true!

I'm still in single digits for the guitar count (...i think)

Rookie numbers!!! Pump them up!!!

2 guitars were enough for years (a Standard strat and a PS10). Then something happened around 2011, some kind of addiction I enjoy. I wonder when it’ll stop.

I had four for years, then "something" happened, but I didn't get as far as you buddy!!

Very cool. Glad she’s a decent player.

The Washburn Wonderbar. Quite the complicated piece of gear. Hope she stays working, as I doubt you’ll get any parts easily.

Kick ass buy though.

I have 11 guitars… and that’s 11 too many!

Gen X people start to sell their 80’s guitar they have kept unused for years. It’s so hard to resist…

Thanks shramiac! I have a Washburn GV-10 (?) with a fine Wonderbar (I bought that one thinking about a transformation into an AF-40, lol). So no worries for the parts.
Hey, too much, that VVV Jackson ? I wouldn’t say so!

There is less of this stuff around in Australia, and it's usually more expensive, which is both a pain, and helpful in keeping numbers down, LoL.

The Jackson VV is a case baby. I look at it now and then.

Vic still looking at a way to break into my house for it though!

I did nearly buy a PRS 24 SE a couple of weeks ago but the pawn shop couldn't find the matching case. It was in great condition and only about $US350.

When the VVV goes missing, it wasn't me!!!!!

I just remembered, PRS SE guitars usually come in a gig bag. Not the best, but these days many a US made Suhr is coming in a gig bag!!!! Cheap scum bags.

When Vic's breaking into to get yours, we can make it a coordinated attack and I'll break in and grab as many as I can carry from his place. Probably 3

Hmmm, I'm not liking where this is going....I need all my guitars.....

soory if i'm late in posting here,congrats on this purchase! Kudos to you!


I wanted one for years but the prices asked were always too high.

So a couple years ago i bought a chinese copy,and changed the pickup.Bought more for the aesthetic than anything else.The paintign is very good, i would have preferreda white lighting bolt, instead of the more correct silver one, but it has a sparkle finish, i paid about 150 euros, P&P included.

The one i bought it is made of pear wood(?!),it has a Floyd Rose copy and very flat fingerboard.What was funny was the 3 switch pickup selector.First position had no sound, and then went directly to full humbucker mode ( the HB was an EMG copy, a passive one).

So i've made a few changes.
Brought the guitar to the luthier for a general setup(i'd rather not quote his comment about the shape, the colors and the overall quality:P),and swapped the cheap pickup with a Shadow EQ 5 pickup,the one with an onboard eq:


it does work, quite effectively, of course when you try to "mime" the sound of a neck pu,the sound is not exactly the same because of the stiffer sound due to the string inferior travel span.

When activated, the built in preamp does also boost the volume.

So now the selector works like this:
A) no sound(for the typical Townsend/Frehley effect),B) active single coil,C) full active Humbucker.
The circuit is activated by the volume push/pull knob.When knob is in the "up" position, the pu works as a passive pu.

Going back to the original Washburn, i have a g5 equipped with a wonderbar, it has a very smooth operation and it works very well.
The af 40 v sported a phenolyc fingerboard, please be careful when you will have to change the frets since that material isn't easy to work with, especially when you are pulling out the worn frets.
Sorry if the post it is too long or boring....

Man, you gotta show us this copy guitar!!

Those babies do need some setup love, and some better hardware for sure. I can only imgaine what your Luthier said....

what look like polepieces are small screws to turn to set the humbucker's onboard EQ, that's why they don't align with the strings.

since it has been a while since i've posted my guitars and the mods i've done to them GB,if you want, i can open a separate thread, alreay feel guilty that i've posted pics here..... i don't want to hijack this thread, and once again kudos to tukoztukoz for finding such a great guitar.

Nice guitar! It looks great and so close to the original, which isn’t always the case with Chinese replicas.
A shadow PU seems to be a great choice on a single PU guitar.
$ 150, that was a deal!

Thanks Ankh!
No worries about opening a new thread or leaving it here, AF-40 are in good company together…

tukoztukoz wrote: Wed Dec 24, 2025 5:05 am Nice guitar! It looks great and so close to the original, which isn’t always the case with Chinese replicas.
A shadow PU seems to be a great choice on a single PU guitar.
$ 150, that was a deal!

i was pleasantly surprised about the price,and the silver bolt has a sparkly finish .
I would have loved to have a white bolt,but ther's always time and space for another guitar.

The Shadow pu sounds great and it really brings the guitar in the other pu's ballpark.
I'm also experimenting with the mooer tone capture,but between my job and homework, often i have very little time.

tukoztukoz wrote: Wed Dec 24, 2025 5:07 am Thanks Ankh!
No worries about opening a new thread or leaving it here, AF-40 are in good company together…

too kind!! What are your thoughts about the AF40 you've bought?
My copy has a very flat fingerboard and radius,how does the fingerboard of your'ìs feel?
Very curious....

That looks very cool Ankh. I like the sparkle in the finish, ha ha.

With the fingerboard, what you're refering to is the radius, it's very flat, at least to you and compared to vintage Fenders.

Genebaby wrote: Wed Dec 24, 2025 6:55 am That looks very cool Ankh. I like the sparkle in the finish, ha ha.

With the fingerboard, what you're refering to is the radius, it's very flat, at least to you and compared to vintage Fenders.

i have sevral guitars with different radiuses,,some are more or less flat,but this one is one of a kind, the neck is thick but the radius is almost like a brickwall.Very peculiar,yet isn't the best for stanley jordan type of playng...

The flattest radius I've seen is 20", on a PRS Signature model. My RG500 is 17" and that is quite flat, and it's cool, but I'm happy with 12" and above, I don't like less than 12" too much.

Interesting neck on that guitar, I wonder how they chose those specs?

judging by the neck itsellf,they simply split vertically a baseball bat in half and took the measurements

Man, why do they do that? A nice neck profile is as easy to do as a bad one. Even the cheapest guitar can have a great neck profile, like a Charvel Strat etc, there is no need for these baseball bat necks, unless it's custom specced that way. It never made sense to me why they do this.

On that guitar, a nice neck profile and also a Floyd upgrade and it would be pretty cool to me.

ankh wrote: Wed Dec 24, 2025 5:27 am

tukoztukoz wrote: Wed Dec 24, 2025 5:07 am Thanks Ankh!
No worries about opening a new thread or leaving it here, AF-40 are in good company together…

too kind!! What are your thoughts about the AF40 you've bought?
My copy has a very flat fingerboard and radius,how does the fingerboard of your'ìs feel?
Very curious....

I think it has a flat fingerboard too, see the image. I tend to accept guitars for what they are, and have forgotten a long time ago about transforming a strat into a Les Paul or else. So the AF Washburn has that mid eighties feeling with Ace driving his Delorean automobile and saying wild and crazy things… It’s all in the mind I guess.
I still have to clean it better and do some settings on it.
The toggle switch doesn’t do anything at all. It works on all positions. I’m wondering which position is the right Ace kill switch…

That does look pretty flat!

thanks for posting the pic,very interesting.Years ago i wrote to Bill Baker,who owned Ace's af 40 v seen in the official viodeo for " into the night",and he told me thar the guitar wasn't great. I wrongly assumed that Ace had a luthier version,like happened with many rockstars,but that wasn't the case.
My chinese copy has a completely flat fingerboard,even flatther than the original,go figure.
About the switch,tukoztukoz,you can wire it in a way that the up position kills the sound,like i did,it is the best solution.