WASHBURN'S M-SERIES BASSES - A HISTORY LESSON
(originally written Nov 2021; updated Apr 2023)

The Washburn M-series has become something of an enigma. It gained the majority of its notoriety due to Peter Steele of Type O Negative. There is very little information on this limited run of instruments, so much so that I've read about inquires to Washburn turning up nothing, as those originally involved with it are likely no longer with the company. To make locking down details even more difficult, a lot of the input on the forums contradicts itself.

I had been trying to piece together information on these basses, specifically the ones played by Peter Steele, for about a year before I made contact with a gentlemen named Raine (of Raine Custom Basses) in Michigan that knew quite a bit about them. Raine specializes in bass sustainer repair, designed his own "Flatline" sustainer system, and builds custom basses. Raine told me that his cousin was once the artist relations director at Washburn, helping to design the M-series.

M10 & M12
The M-series of basses were built exclusively between 2001 and 2003 at Washburn's custom shop in Chicago. They can actually be seen in the 2002-2003 Washburn catalog, showcasing the M10 and M12, and the literature confirms that they were only made in the USA. The M10 came with two jazz style pickups that may have been Quarter-Pounds (given you can't see the pole pieces) and two potentiometers. The M12 came with one precision and one jazz pickup and two potentiometers. The one description I've seen stated that they had a volume (blend?) and a tone knob, but this was customizable. The catalog shows them loaded with Seymour Duncans, and I speculate that they were predominantly wired for passive operation. But different electronics were certainly an option. Many of the ones I've run accross have been repainted to mimic Peter's bass. I have read that these made-to-order basses had a starting MSRP of $1,600 direct from Washburn. "M10" has become the most common name used to refer to the entirety of M-series basses, despite each particular instrument's configuration.

M13 (aka M-13)
There is a third model that Washburn offered which was called the M13 and resembled an M10, though it did not contain potentiometers. Instead, it only had a stomp pedal-style on/off switch and a blue jewel indicator light. Per Frank Cavanaugh, the M13 was designed for him to accept any string gauge and tuning, plus be able to take a beating on the road. This is from an interview with Seymour Duncan before he left Filter in 2002, so this confirms Frank's first M13 was built no later than 2002. The interview stated that the M13 utilized the STK-J2B Hot Stack jazz pickup. I've seen them in solid drab green and a drab green/black flag motif, both subtly textured with a dull satin, bedliner-type finish. There was an M13 on Reverb with a serial number indicating that it was made in 2003 - it is the only M-series bass that I've seen with a model designation ("M-13") on the headstock.

M-series General Specifications
Raine informed me that these basses were built on a made-to-order basis and so could be optioned any way to suit the client. Many received a subtly textured, dull satin finish that resembled bedliner. The M-series generally featured natural-finished quartersawn maple necks bolted onto maple bodies, 24-fret rosewood fingerboards with optional double skull & crossbones inlays at the 12th fret, tiny dot fret markers, various chrome high-mass bridges that were recessed about 1/8" into the body, chrome diamond plate control covers, and chrome Grover 142C4 22:1 clover leaf tuners. These basses are known for their heavy weight, which run between twelve and fourteen pounds. The average mass-produced bass guitar usually runs between eight and ten pounds.

M14(?)
Raine had two humbucker-loaded M-models in his possession during our initial correspondence, which he sometimes referred to as "M-1 prototypes." He said they were attempts to specifically compete with Music Man and that only five were ever made. Washburn literature claims to not put serial numbers on prototypes, but Raine assured me all five of the humbucker-loaded basses were assigned numbers. The one I first encountered was in its original form, having a natural-finished bolt-on maple neck, 24-fret rosewood fingerboard, white fret markers the size of side dots, chrome Grover clover leaf tuners, a chrome Original Leo Quan BadAss bridge, a black diamond plate control cover, and a maple body that was painted gloss black. The headstock, which was painted black on the front only, simply said "Washburn" in white and was not marked with an M-number designation. The other one had been repainted to mimic Peter's personal tour basses - Raine said he had personally replaced the rusty Washburn high-mass bridge with a Schaller 467 bridge. He assured me that hardware (and everything else) depended on the client's request - the catalog shows them loaded with the BadAss. The serial numbers were not consecutive on the ones Raine owned (the gloss had the higher number), but the numbers indicated they were both made in 2002. According to Raine, they were loaded with a passive Seymour Duncan SMB-4D that was "custom-wound." I confirmed with him that the scale of his M-basses were 34". During our discussion, he mentioned that the gloss black one had a battery that was there only to power the original LED on/off indicator within the original toggle switch. I have never noticed any LEDs on Peter's basses, though.

The Prototype / M14 (Raine;2022)

So how did Peter come to owning these rare Washburns? It seems he was in the right place, at the right time. Raine claims that the five "M14" basses had recently been built when Peter just happened to be looking for a new endorsement due to his Fernandes basses' mediocre quality and temperamental electronics. It is likely Washburn simply made minor changes to spec three out identically to Peter's preference. Looking at the "Life is Killing Me" tour media from July 2003, we can see Peter playing his Fernandes Tremor. But by December 2003, he is seen with his humbucker-loaded Washburn M bass. Raine said that Peter actually tested out the Sustainiac (likely a Stealth PLUS) at Washburn, but passed on it because he felt it was too weak compared to the massive driver Fernandes had discontinued. Although one of the M basses that Raine owned indicates it was built in 2002, it is possible that Peter's personal basses weren't finished until the latter half of 2003. Would they have then been designated as the M14 at the Washburn custom shop? Raine told me that the entire M-series was abandoned shortly after Peter received his three, as the basses would cost Washburn more money than the line would ever recuperate.

34" vs 36" Confusion
Peter preferred 34" scale basses, and Raine re-measured and re-confirmed with me that the Washburn M in gloss black that he owned was exactly that. However, the scale on M-series basses had been a real problem for me to lock down prior to this. I had noted a Washburn M clone* in Carnivore colors on Reverb where the ad claimed it was "100% custom-built to the exact specs of the Washburn M10 that were used...by Peter Steele." Technically, Peter did not use an M10. I inquired with the seller, who told me the scale of that clone was 36". This same seller had listed several M-series basses, and in two of the supposed** Washburn factory-made models, the description stated that they had a "24-inch Scale Buzz Feiten tuning system" - I do not know if this was a typo that should have read 34-inch scale or 24-fret, but this section of that ad appeared to have been copied-and-pasted from the previous ad. However, the seller stated in one of those headlines that it was "long scale," implying a scale of 34". For some reason, the majority of listings that I have seen have never mentioned scale. If I had to, I would wager these were all silly errors and the Washburn M-models were 34" scale, across all iterations.

* this was described as one of thirteen M-series clones built around 2008 by a guy named Chuck Thibaut to mimic Peter's Carnivore bass. These red on black clones were referred to as "Alpha" basses. Apparently, there were thirteen more "Omega" clones that were also built by Chuck, with those painted green on black.

** I say "supposed" because of the five that I was able to find in Reverb's sold listings by this seller, on none could I see any indication of a serial number on the back of the headstock which I have seen on others. This includes the drab green M12 he listed that appeared to be bone-stock. I guess it is possible that these may have been non-numbered prototypes, but I doubt it given Raine's "prototypes" had numbers. I would have to assume that drab green one was a factory-built M12 given the unique color and texture, though. And keep in mind that this seller sold several of the Alpha and Omega clones, although he was very upfront about those being copies. So, maybe he just doesn't know how to measure scale?

Battery Compartments
Not all of the M-models received battery compartments, and Raine stated these were also up to the client's request. For example, it appears that active EMG X pickups were optioned for an M12 that Prong's Brian Perry supposedly ordered, that oddly didn't have a serial number. As for the gloss black humbucker-loaded model that Raine owns, he stated that the battery was only there to power an LED on/off indicator. He eluded to this LED being within the original toggle switch, but he had replaced it with an aftermarket LED button switch after it burnt out. He affirmed that this battery was in no way wired to the volume potentiometer on this bass. The M13's battery also seems to only have been there to power the blue jewel on/off indicator.

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