'Westone' Les Paul?

The seller has this down as a late 70's Westone Les Paul, doesn't sit right with me but could he be right?

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/200987239424?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1438.l2649

Didn't think the bird logo came in that early, other logo on headstock is different from the Westone logo I've seen on an early Westone LP and nothing written on neck plate all make me a little wary.....

I've contacted the seller and getting info out of him is like pulling teeth....

What'cha thing....someone stuck a Westone logo on a generic 70's Les Paul copy from Japan?

I was viewing that last night too, as a relative Westone newbie, I didn't realise they had made a LP style guitar during any era?

Love the seller's advertising style too, enough said !!!!!!

Westone did do a Les Paul type 'unknown model 9', but with variances against the one that this ignorant t**t is selling....I wouldn't buy from him regardless of what he was selling.

I don't think it is a Westone.  The only guitars I've seen where the bird logo was used and the Westone name was not, was the first couple of Pantera's.

Yikes, my eyes !

Real "nutter" font choices there...

By only putting it on for a very quick auction and by his threats of "never to be seen again", it makes me think he's looking for a panic buyer;  someone who thinks they'd better buy it quick before anyone else notices.  Anyway, as sarcaster points out, the bird logo doesn't appear before the '83 catalogue, does it, so the date at least is dubious.  I'm not buying it.

The diamond shaped symbol on the headstock looks all wrong too.

Fake.  Not saying that the seller performed the deceptive work, just saying someone did.

Bollox. : BS :

I'd PM him on ebay to suggest he might want to revise his description that didn't work out too well last time I suggestedvis to someone. 

It went for £112 which I think is more than it would have got otherwise, oh well youve got to be careful buying this sort of thing on-line.

I've got a couple of unbranded strat copies sitting here....anyone know where to get a waterslide bird logo from?

grogg wrote:It went for £112 which I think is more than it would have got otherwise, oh well youve got to be careful buying this sort of thing on-line.

Nope its back on ebay again.  I suspect some shady bidding practices to drive the price up.

  re-listed due to the seller being a complete tosser!...

I shall have to start messaging him some more questions about it - I know he really appreciates my interest  

He particularly liked my observation that the Westone bird logo wasn't applied to their guitars in the 70's....'oh yes they were!' was his first reply    and it went downhill from there faster than Franz Klammer.

Those private listings where you can't see the other bidders strike me as a little odd as well, always have.

I don't think he actually knows but then again I don't think he actually cares either.




k

To quote the seller:

1. FULL PAYMENT TO BE MADE VIA PAYPAL ONLY AFTER THE SALE.
FULL PAYMENT TO HAVE BEEN RECEIVED WITHIN 48 HOURS, OTHERWISE THE ITEM WILL GO STRAIGHT TO THE UNDERBIDDER.

So why the re listing????

if only Poirot hadn't popped his cloggs last night eh?...the mystery could have been sol-ved.

Im thinking maybe he was the under bidder, and the highest bidder (and maybe the only bidder)

I pointed out the w logo being "out of time" and got a very abusive email back, he has now added detail to the description saying the logo is under the lacquer.
You can't report abusive emails on eBay. Shame.

There is a "real" LP copy on ebay at them moment:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/321246858419?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1423.l2649

I sent the link to the seller so he can compare his to the real one and decide for himself

went for £122 second time round.....

If only he'd bought it from from himself the first time he'd have have saved himself £10.  Wouldn't be surprised to see this popping up again, no doubt the highest bidder will let him down again.

I am the seller of the above much discussed and dismissed guitar, and I'm sure as a matter of fairness (cos I'm SURE you are all FAIR people on this forum...) I should be allowed a right of reply.

So here it is...

About me:

I have been buying and selling guitars since 1972.

I have owned, played, and sold, just about EVERYTHING there is.

No exceptions.

You name it...Ive had it through my hands at some stage.

FACT.

I began working as a Saturday boy in Rose-Morris in Shaftsbury Avenue (THE premier guitar shop in London in the 70's) in 1975, and subsequently worked in many others after that, both in Charing Cross Road and Denmark Street.

For those of you who live anywhere OTHER than the place that really MATTERS in the music trade (ie: London)...this was , and still IS, THE centre of the U.K guitar trade.

I bought my first Fender Tele in 1972, and by the time I began working in Rose-Morris, I had accumulated all of the Japanese trade books, which contained year by year, all of the models which were being imported into the U.K.

I NEVER claimed at any time to be an "expert" (unlike some of you on here who have only ever garnered knowledge from the internet), but I DO have REAL-TIME, and REAL-LIFE, experience of trading guitars and importing guitars from Japan, back in the 70's.

How many of you can say the same?

One of the VERY distinct memories which sticks in my mind from this time was the abundance of "one-off" guitars, which would arrive from Japan for our inspection, and possible larger-order.

Of many I remember, one was an open-headstock (like a classical guitar), birds-eye maple, KAWAI.

Ever seen another one of those again?

THAT is what I believe THIS guitar to be.

A one-off "test piece".

With further regard this guitar...

These are the facts...

1. I purchased the guitar from a lady who has (literally) had it in her attic for AT LEAST 30 years.
2. It was her sons guitar (who is now in his 50's), and she CLEARLY remembers him purchasing the guitar just after he left school in 1977, because he had a band for a while, but gave it up after a few months, as many do.
3. It was then consigned to the attic, where it has sat ever since.
4. EVERYTHING about the guitar is 100% ORIGINAL
5. The guitar is most definitely JAPANESE in origin, and not (like the late Westone's) Korean.
6. The headstock is totally original and unchanged, and the decal is UNDER the headstock lacquer ala "Gibson".
(sorry to disappoint all those conspiracy theorists...you'll just have to get back to the "men on the moon"/"Kennedy assasination"/"Princes Di" forums).
7. It is my belief that this guitar IS possibly one of those one-off trade-test pieces, and that it was purchased just before Matsumoku began making their full-time models, and while they were making the Aria Pro II, Westbury, and Vox models in the late 70's.
8. As most of you on this forum will know, Westone was Matsumoku's OWN brand, but they did not start producing models under this (own) trade brand until AFTER they had been making Ari Pro II's etc for some years.
9. Asian companies have a history of making one-off trade examples for inspection/testing, and indeed I have 4 "Hofner" Jazzmaster-style guitars which were made by a Chinese company (which make the current Hofner models). These were from a trade-show in Germany, and were part of a small test-batch which NEVER got made.
10. To the U.S "ranters"....please remember...many brands/models which were sent/sold to the U.K, NEVER appeared in the U.S, and vice-versa, so you of ALL people, are in NO position to pass judgement.


Finally, I would like to say thank-you to all of those who have poured bile, and suspicion, upon my auction, without knowing ANY of the facts, as has been proved by the ridiculous "water-slide" decal assertions.

Perhaps next time you might think...before you whip up hysteria over something you know NOTHING about.

Wow, all those words written yet nothing said, impressive

There's always a right of reply here and I think you'll find people here to be honest and decent with no axe to grind, so, quite frankly your tone is out of order.  Its quite telling that you waited till after the sale to come on here and respond to legitimate concerns as to the provenance of the guitar.  So maybe you've sold a lot of guitars, all that means is that you are an expert at selling. One way to allay suspicion would be to not hide the bidding activity.

I'm not hiding ANYTHING??????

What the hell are you talking about?!

HOW...am I "hiding" anything?????

If you are referring to the way that I do not allow bidders names to be revealed, that is for the sake of buyer privacy, which EVERY BUYER is entitled to.

Or...would you like to send me details of ALL of YOUR financial transactions?

In which case...can you send me...all of your wage slips and shopping receipts for the past five years.

Ive been selling guitars all over the world for several years...and have nothing but PRAISE from my buyers.

As for the "all those words..." comment.

I suspect your the type of individual who enjoys pulling the wings off of insects for "fun"...so I'll just ignore you.

I'm happy to reply to grown-ups though.

...Or is this a North vs South thing?

I'm beginning to suspect that it IS.

Mind you, I'd be bitter and twisted if I had to live up there.

Of course you should be allowed a right of reply Muppetslayer, and if everything is as you say then we have all lost out...you as a seller financially but also anyone else interested in Westone guitars.

But the fact remains that if you had provided all this information DURING the auction we might all now be in a different place.
Your own actions threw a negative light on proceedings.

I actually placed a bid when it was auctioned the first time around but your incomplete replies to my legitimate questions made me suspicious.

And in answer to your final sentence...I did think, I did contact you for information, you didn't supply it so I'm afraid the hysteria was largely down to you - so maybe we both have lessons to learn eh?

I actually REMOVED your bid...BECAUSE of your attitude.

I...CHOOSE who bids on my auction, and you were rude to me.

You would have done the same.

As for "my actions"...what actions would those be?

Be specific.

Sorry, you have me confused with someone else...I was never rude and it wasn't my bid you removed.

It is clear I am not going to win with any of you on this forum.

You have all collectively made your mind up that I am some kind of "fraudster guitar-demon" (nothing could be further from the truth...I have stated the guitar EXACTLY as I saw it, based on my own extensive experience in the guitar trade), and I am not going to convince you otherwise, whatever I say.

Thanks for all having an open-mind.

"North vs South thing" ?

Stick to facts and relevant opinions and your arguments will seen as being lucid.

Start throwing in little puerile digs and you will be perceived as being an idiot.

By the way, I made no comment on your auctions.

Hoax

Rightio.... those who've had something to say have said their piece - enough!

Muppetslayer, you've been in here 5 minutes and have offered nothing but justifications and snide comments. Yes, you're right about one-off, market research and test models appearing in the 70s and 80s, but without provenance, to claim that status for a guitar is, in my opinion, utterly futile and opens your credibility up to rigorous inspection.

The enthusiasts in here do get rather carried away when claims such as yours appear, and maybe sometimes hackles are raised when there is no real point in the argument, but there's no need for infantile behaviour, so let's keep it civil, eh?!

It's a bit late in the day to start trying to claim the morale high-ground Hoax.

I'm not going to play that game.

Ive described the guitar as I see it, based on my own knowledge accumulated over many years, and which is, I am willing to bet, more extensive than most on this forum.

I will make this my last post as it is doing my head in trying to justify something which really doesn't need justifying, with people who are not prepared to listen.

It's a GUITAR.

NOT...a war crime.

Locked.