Ok, here it comes..... Knobs!

Specifically Westone Thunder Jet bass knobs.

I've had a bit of a Matsumoku moment recently and acquired two new basses. One of which was a Thunder Jet on eBay for a princely £72 which, considering it has the original (if tatty) hard case and is in 'ok' nick, was something of a steal. It has an action you could drive a bus under - not a problem, hopefully, once tweaked. But - it has mis-matching and incorrect knobs. In the spirit of keeping it 'original' I would like if remotely possible to get 'proper' Westone Thunder Jet bass black knobs. What does anyone reckon my chances of getting would be? My guess would be 'not a single solitary one'.

What are the originals like, in fact? I guess not brass, like the 1A bass. Plastic? In which case I imagine any generic Gibson-type knob would do?

Once I get it fixed up I'll post some pics, along with my Thunder 1T guitar (another ebay bargain) and a Thunder 1A bass bought almost by accident. A nice trio of black guitars for sure.

PaulS wrote:
What are the originals like, in fact? I guess not brass, like the 1A bass. Plastic?

The knobs are called Switchmaster they are metal with a grub screw and they look like this:




I Imagine originals would be hard to come by but someone on here found a nice looking alternative here: LINK

PaulS wrote:
Once I get it fixed up I'll post some pics, along with my Thunder 1T guitar (another ebay bargain) and a Thunder 1A bass bought almost by accident. A nice trio of black guitars for sure.

Hey I've just done a bit of ebay stalking and I'm thinking you are the guy who won the Thunder 1T for £37.70 ... wow wot a bargain!!! nice one! Look forward to the pics

Mate, those black Switchmaster knobs are up there with the Holy Grail; finding them is an exercise in self-flagellation! However, those Philps repro ones are pretty damn close...

Oh, they made 'em in plastic push ons as well....

Yep, like Corsair said.

I was very close to bidding on a Spectrum I didn't really want (and certainly didn't need, I've got two already) just to nick it's original Switchmasters to replace the non-original chrome knobs on one of mine.

Can't understand why so many Westones have lost their Switchmaster knobs? I can see why peeps have changed the brass knobs on Thunders as these tarnish over time but why swap out black plastic knobs? The link above will take you to the closest I have seen.

I have the plastic push-on switchmasters on both my Spectrum GT bass and Dimension IV bass; I have no idea how you could lose these, they're difficult to remove.

Thanks guys. very interesting - that means one of the knobs is an original but with what seems to be an unadjustable little grub screw to stop it twiddling round - at a quick glance the interior of the hex. seems burred over. At some stage someone has used Bostik or similar glue to try and keep it steady - a bit of a mess! Thanks for the link to the knob shop - looks near enough doesn't it.

And, yes, Bowenjaybee, that was me who won the 1T guitar for £37.70 - and it ended up being a better bargain than you could imagine. It was filthy dirty with 20 yr old strings on it, high action, usual cliche about being kept in a loft. But - almost unused - hardly any wear at all and very little 'mojo'. Spent £50 at my local man having it thoroughly cleaned, set, restrung, new whammy bar (he happened to have a correctly threaded one knocking about), little electrical issue sorted and it is SUPERB!! One of my band recently bought a new Gibson Les Paul Studio and I reckon this is it's equal in build quality, playability and sound. Mind you he doesn't... but then he paid around £600 more than I did

Anyway, seems my Westone luck is still in as I also bought a 1A bass (£110!) that, when Parcelforce handed it over, was in much better nick than I could have hoped for an '84. I am going to get both basses sorted and prettified then will post pics of my handsome trio when done. I am truly converted, though - how can such fantastically well made instruments be so cheap!!

Shhhhh; keep it quiet and they'll stay affordable