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A few questions

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Post by Confused Fri Jun 13, 2008 9:44 am

Hiya,
I've been busy so I haven't logged on for a while but I've been lurking. What the heck makes Lucy (Pantera X300 Pro) sound and play so nice? (I have NO experience playing other makes but from the comments posted on this site, Westone's blow away the "name" brands). Was it the configuration/placement of the various pick-ups? The types of woods selected? The quality of workmanship? Any guesses/hard facts?
In the same vein, regarding refinishing (nope, Lucy stays as she is)...I can appreciate that a re-finish on an acoustic guitar CAN alter the sound but does a re-finish on a solid body guitar do anything to the sound/tone quality? Did Westone make it's own pick-ups or were they "sourced" from other places?
Sorry for the crazy questions but I'm just trying to understand where Lucy is coming from.
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Post by Guest Fri Jun 13, 2008 10:03 am

Confused wrote:
... What the heck makes Lucy (Pantera X300 Pro) sound and play so nice?... The quality of workmanship?...
In the same vein, regarding refinishing (nope, Lucy stays as she is)...I can appreciate that a re-finish on an acoustic guitar CAN alter the sound but does a re-finish on a solid body guitar do anything to the sound/tone quality?

Hello again Confused,

Sorry that I am unable to answer all of your questions but yes, I do think the quality of workmanship is outstanding compared to some of the other well known and more expensive brands, and I think that it plays an integral part in the overall sound of the guitar! As to refinishing affecting the sound or tone quality, from my own personal experience, I would have to say that it doesn't.

I hope this has helped in a small way.

Pauline
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Post by Confused Fri Jun 13, 2008 10:11 am

Hiya,
Thanks MS. Polly. I suspected that a re-finish would NOT affect sound. Another question that I forgot in my previous post that YOU may be able to answer. I suspect Lucy's back plate (the one covering the tremelo arm springs) has been replaced at some point and I saw the post regarding the Spectrum back plate where the plate had oval holes in it. Does the Patera back plate have the same oval holes?
Thanks as always...
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Post by corsair Fri Jun 13, 2008 4:26 pm

AFAIK, it does - I think all of the Westone trem covers were the same - what does the one currently on yours look like?

The woods selected to build a guitar make a huge difference to the sound in that the denser the wood, ie hardwoods etc, allow for more sustain and as the wood ages the sound changes as well, generally becoming a little more mellow. This is one of the attractions of old guitars; they are just SO organic; modern ones, particularly those made in China and Indonesia, tend to be very bright in their sound, indicating less than premium woods have been used in their manufacture!
The pick-ups from Matsumoku - Westone, Electra, Aria Pro II, Washburn Wings, and some Epiphones, among others, - tended to be MMK pickups and they came in a variety of outputs. I think your Pantera will likely have at least 1 MMK 75 in it; they are a well designed p'up indeed and aficionados are starting to wake up to the fact that have such a rich palette of sound, hence the values of used Matts creeping ever further upwards! Westones don't seem to have been caught up in the frenzy surrounding Aria Pro and Vantage, but it is happening...

I've never even seen a Pantera in the flesh so I can't comment on the playability of that model - don't they have a carved top? - but I do know that my Spectrums/Phoenixes and the Genesis and Clipper are very comfortable to play, particularly on the strap. The only adverse comment, such as it is, is that the output of the h/b's is not as strong as some of the early Gibson ones, and the modern after market ones will shade them completely, so if all out gain is your bag, then perhaps Westones ain't for you!!
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Post by Guest Fri Jun 13, 2008 4:46 pm

Confused wrote:... Does the Pantera back plate have the same oval holes?


Hi Confused,

No, the back plate on my Pantera just has a single slot as opposed to the individual holes. When I get time, I'll post a photograph of it so that you can see exactly what it should look like. It ought to be relatively easy to make one and I'll give you the measurements for it as well.

Glad to be of help again.

Pauline
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Post by colt933 Wed Jun 18, 2008 2:18 pm

I would guess that a refinish of any of the Matsumoku Westones that have that 1/8" thick poly finish on them might actually make them sound better than stock, especially if the new finish were thin oil or nitro.

The Pantera X-300 has a very comfortable neck profile and gigantic (bigger than 6100) frets. The neck is round with a medium thickness and a fairly flat radius. So it's pretty easy to play.

Personally, I think the X-300 is a bit bright sounding with the maple body. I think that bright guitars and bright sound in general is/are pretty popular in the UK. However, brightness can be easily tweaked with the amp tone controls whereas really dark guitars cannot be brightened much with the amp.

I have a Seymour Duncan TB-12 George Lynch model in my X-300. This pickup was created for Lynch's maple-bodied ESP guitars, so it sounds great in the X-300. The original UBC pickup had an open loop when I purchased the guitar and it can only be repaired with a re-wind - thus the upgrade to the SD pickup.
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