Hi there... New guy with a question. Serial number = year of make?

Hi there fellow Westone-heads

I just recently discovered this forum and have a question for starters.

My Westone Pantera X-275 has serial number 6080373... What model is this then? Year of make I think of... Any way to figure that out?

I bought the guitar new back in the 80'ies and played it for a few years, then it became more of a "thing on the wall"...
So now I thought I should bring it up to speed again and this forum might help me along the way.

Thanks in advance guys!

Maybe I upload some pix some day in the members section


BaCtuZ
Norway

Hello bactuz and welcome!

The serial number dates your guitar to August 1986. As to the other numbers, that is a little bit of a grey area at the minute but we are hoping that the esteemed Mr. Tom Presley may be able to enlighten us on that one in the near future!

Please do put some photos up, sooner rather than later.

Polly

Thanks Polly!

An '86 model then... Nice to know. Tried to look in some old photos today and I must have bought it around 1989 some time... Not a 100% sure, but I think so...
Today I even located the case that has been at my parents addic for the last twenty years or so... Needs a wash!

I'll try to put up some photos in the fitting section


Kai (BaCtuZ)
Norway

hello i am another new guy looking for info/help my problem is similar but bigger, i have around 25 westones to I.D. and date (the, unfortunatley, sell) - i have looked pretty hard for a serial # site on-line, no luck. there used to be a a site called "westone info" - or something like that - i would love any help i can get but would not expect anyone to ID and date 25 guitars for me - any suggestions? while we are here....i have one that i think was near end of production, or so i was told when i bought it, serial # has 6 digits (different than most info i've seen that shows westones have 5 digits some with 8, wierd) anyway, serial # 053587 - i was also told something about steve lynch signature, anyway, thx in advance, tmac.

You will have to photo the guitars / serials and post them on here and Im sure you will get the help you want.

grogg wrote:You will have to photo the guitars / serials and post them on here and Im sure you will get the help you want.

thx will do.

Hi bluetmac and welcome.

The mothership site is still there; just type www.westone.info and all will be revealed. Having 25 Westones to I/D, date and sell will not be regarded as a problem on here, promise! You may find that you have to barricade your doors however



Good starting point is to tell us where you're based + put some photos or links up. Others on here much more knowledgeable than I will be able to help I/D your Westones and the dates can usually be worked out from the serial numbers.

We're a friendly bunch but our beloved mod, Polly, is rightly fairly strict on the forum rules when it comes to selling guitars (you'd have signed up to these when you joined). Links to ebay etc are OK, stick your pics on here (we're all addicted to guitar porn), sorry but we don't do valuations, check completed listings on ebay and any negotiations on guitars for sale are done via PMs between members so that this doesn't become an auction site. Polly will no doubt correct me if I've missed any

I put up some pictures of my Pantera in the "Members Westones" section, but maybe I could put some in this thread too? Just for the sake of it




And one of the serialnumber that started this thread in the first place...




And finally a picture of the great "head" of the Panteras. I really like the way these are shaped!



BaCtuZ

Hi, New to this forum, but have owned Thunder 1A since a teenager....   I was trying to find out the year my bass was made, more out of interest than anything else. This was on the westone.info FAQ for working out the age..  turns out my one was made in August '83!!!!

How old is my guitar?

Most Matsumoku Westones can be dated by the serial number, usually found on the back of the headstock.

• 7 digit serials are the most common  - the first digit gives the year it was made eg a serial number beginning with 2 indicates a guitar made in 1982. It is possible that the second and third digits give the month
  
  
• 5 digit serials appear on some models and it seems that the first two digits give the year and the last two the month. These are not really serial numbers, just production dates, and are not unique - 84009 is extremely common
  
  
• 8 digit serial numbers appear from late 1987, in the format NN NN NNNN (eg 87 10 0001), it seems the first two digits give the year and the second two the month. Any guitar with this sort of number was probably made in Korea.
  
  
• Later models (1987 onwards) have no obvious serial number  (May have originally been on a sticker on the guitar), these are also Korean made
  
  

Hi Rob.
You do realize that this is an 8 year old Zombie thread don't you?
Also the web source you are quoting is a tombstone site and has not been kept current.

For up to date info please refer to our own website: www.westoneguitars.net
You can also go there at any time using the link in the centre of the main menu at the top of any forum page.