Westone prices suddenly on the up. Why?

The title pretty much says it all. Has anyone else noticed a sudden and dramatic increase in the prices that some of these Westones are going for lately?

I've been checking eBay, on and off, for the past two or three years, to see if I could find a nice Thunder IIIA fretted bass (late model) and most of the Thunder IIs and IIIs I've seen have gone for between £150 and £300. This one just sold for £400 (although it was in very nice condition) ...

Thunder IIIA ...

... and a couple of days ago, this (somewhat tatty) Rail Bass sold for £360 !

Rail Bass ..

I don't think that we can blame the price of oil for this one, so what's going on!?

Your thoughts, folks?

Yep, I've noticed it too... and not only Westone; Ibanez MC & Roadstar basses as well. There's an MC888 on the US ebay with a $1200 buy it now pricetag... these bean-basses are not particulairy rare, odd looking and rather limited in their tonal abillities, probably the worst of the whole MC bass family. I could have bought one last year in black complete with OHSC in good condition for something about 400 euro's, it wasn't worth it... I bought a MC2924 instead, for the same amount of money.

Maybe people are fed up with overpriced vintage Fenders etc. or maybe it's some sort of 80's revival?

Perhaps it's just websites like this one that by stirring up interest, make people think they have to ask/pay higher prices, who knows?

Your last point, hummel, is what was burning away in the back of my mind too .

I wonder if the enthusiastic posts by us Westone addicts is stirring up GAS in the wider guitar playing community!?

Also, I remember very well how Aria SB basses went through a dead patch, up until about 5 years ago, when prices really took off and now you have to pay over £500 for a really good one. I believe, although I can't confirm it, that this (rather excellent) website began life around that time ...Link .... Just a thought !

hummel wrote:Perhaps it's just websites like this one that by stirring up interest, make people think they have to ask/pay higher prices, who knows?

I too have noticed that some Westones are now fetching ridiculously higher prices than they were even a year ago! The world seems to have gone Westone crazy! Mind you, my mate John (corsair) predicted this rise in prices a while ago!
(I think that he must have a crystal ball or something! )

Has anyone else noticed though, that if you have to reluctantly part with one of your beloved guitars, (which I've had to recently) they don't seem to fetch anything near to what some others do? Or is that just bad luck on my part?

Pauline :flower: :queen:

"Murphy's Law" in action there, Pauline .

This site and David's westone.info have certainly revived interested in the marque. Also, don't discount the article in Vintage Guitar a couple of years ago.

I have noticed, however, that ratty-condition bolt-on neck Westones have been going VERY cheap on ebay recently. Lots of pointy ones and Spectrums are going for less than $200US.

It was always gonna happen, kids; out of all the Matsumoku guitars, the Westones up till now have bucked the trend of steadily rising prices - check out the prices of Aria, APII's, Vantage, Electra, Skylark et al!

Expectation at auction by sellers and buyers certainly plays a part in the price rise, as do people like us waxing lyrical about them. However, my feeling is that the rest of the guitar playing, and unfortunately guitar collecting, world has woken up to the low price/high quality/playability of Westones, and away we go...

It breaks my heart, though, to think of any guitar bought to hang on a wall, especially Uncle Matts, rather than being played, sweated on, bled over and generally loved to bits!!

One man's thaoughts... anyone else??

I've no difficulty believing this. It happens with all good things. Especiallly in this day and age where people are taking advantage of the bountiful information trove that is the internet.

Every day, more and more people are becoming more and more familiar with the internet and it's uses. With all of these people finding forums like this one or online auction sites, it's no wonder demand for high quality guitars like Westones is going up. And since there aren't any more in production, prices have to go up.

And actually, the price of oil will play it's part in prices. Unless you walk over to get the guitar, shipping will be getting more and more expensive as we approach USD 200$ and over per barrell of oil.

So grab them while you can.

Sfalj wrote: shipping will be getting more and more expensive

...*sigh*...

... no good for us down here at the bottom of the world, eh!!!

Well, if you're not in a hurry the seafreight option is still affordable. The superheadless I bought last month from an Australian guy would have cost only AUD 65 (euro 40) by seafreight from Australia to the Netherlands... it would have taken 8 weeks, but it is an option. Airfreight was indeed 3 times more expensive, but it took only 7 days incl. customs.

hummel wrote:Well, if you're not in a hurry the seafreight option is still affordable. The superheadless I bought last month from an Australian guy would have cost only AUD 65 (euro 40) by seafreight from Australia to the Netherlands... it would have taken 8 weeks, but it is an option. Airfreight was indeed 3 times more expensive, but it took only 7 days incl. customs.

...Yep, my GT that Polly forwarded - thank you,thank you,thank you!! - on is coming by sea I think and was about £20 cheaper than the air option, so it's well worth looking into... still dear and just about doubles the price of a guitar from the US or UK/Europe for me!!

boutjp97 wrote: I just got in the market in January and have bought 14 Westones mostly on Ebay so I’m sure I did my little part in making people think they are more desirable to the public as a whole. I’m glad to see that this forum as a group owns a pretty good chunk of Westone guitars, because hey, they aren’t making them anymore and the prices only go up with time.

...true, but it was always gonna happen anyway, so at least your Westones have found a good home and you're dead right about your last point - they don't make 'em anymore so grab 'em while you can!

Well, I suppose that there is one consolation to these rising Westone prices - we all already own at least one !!!

Of course, certain members stand to benefit more this rise in the "stock market" than others (you know how you are, you little tycoons ).

Old Gregg wrote:Of course, certain members stand to benefit more this rise in the "stock market" than others (you know how you are, you little tycoons

....yeah,........Polly and Oliver!!

corsair wrote:

....yeah,........Polly and Oliver!!

Mmmm??? Oliver perhaps? But, there again, Oliver just keeps adding to his collection!

I reckon you are starting to catch up with the rest of us now John and I'm sure you've nearly got as many Westones as I have, if not more!


Pauline :flower: :queen:

Pollyanna wrote:I reckon you are starting to catch up with the rest of us now, John, and I'm sure you've nearly got as many Westones as I have, if not more!

...I'll bet I haven't!! 5 +1 Electra!! You must have at least eleventy-seven by now....

hello everyone !!

I've got four !

I just joined because I noticed the (old) forum on David's excellent Westone site, and I was after some bits for a Thunder 1 a I am going to do up...

Anyways it seems I joined last year (the old forum) but didn't post anything...

And at the time I probably only had the one Westone, (a Thunder 1) (which I have had for a few years and love dearly ) but I seem to have been overtaken by an urge to acquire three more in the meantime. This is the first thread I came across, as you can see it has grabbed my interest, but to be honest I'd have to think hard about parting with any of mine regardless-ish (!) of price at the moment.

As I say I am doing up a rather badly treated Thunder 1 a at the moment, and I will have a good ferret around in here and probably have a good deal more to say, in due course !

SO, nice to be here.

John ,.

....welcome, brother!! good to see that Westone G.A.S has got someone else; you're not alone!! Anyway, let's have a look at what you've got - we need pix in here, eh! What are the others you have 'acquired'!?

Hello John and Welcome from me too!

Yes, you must let us all see what you've got!

Personally, I'm really interested to see this Thunder IA that you are nursing back to health!

corsair wrote:
...I'll bet I haven't!! 5 +1 Electra!! You must have at least eleventy-seven by now....

Mmm? Nope! I think at the last count it was something like twelvity-five? Or maybe around about umpteen and six, I'm not really sure now! I'll get my abacus out and get back to you on that one!

Pauline :flower: :queen:

Thankyou for your kind words of welcome.

I will, in due course, when I get a minute, post up some pictures of the four of 'em.

All in all there's

Thunder 1

Spectrum (DX, I think)

Both original and working fine.

Concord 1 which has had the pickups replaced with Vox ones.

Works fine and sounds good, except that turning the tone pot up to full treble cuts the pickups out !!

And the project, an early (1981, I think) Thunder 1a.

The project was apparently stolen from its owner, recovered, but had somehow gotten mixed up with a load of gloss green paint in the meantime. Owner then sanded and varnished it (not too well IMHO, better be careful, may be a member here....) but didn;t get round to reconnecting the wiring, which had been chopped (?). Then gave up on the job and flogged it to me via Ebay a few weeks ago. But the pickups work, the electrics sort of do, but I'm getting new switches, pots and knobs, then I plan to strip and fully restore it all, finishing up with a dark (walnut?) type stained oiled finish, and a black bespoke scratchplate. This latter bit may ruffle some feathers, but that's my current plan. I was going to contact this board for advice (I'm sure to need it!) and especially yourself Pollyanna for help with the finish (having checked the 'show us yours' thread, and seen one that I think you had a hand in oiling.... )

I still have the carcase of a (I think) homemade guitar which I started a similar project on, ooo, thirty years ago. Completely coated in Black gloss paint over an insulation tape Union JAck design (!) got the body and (fixed) neck stripped and oiled, bautiful piece of mahogany I thik, but never put it all back together, (the thing possibly, in terms of overall quality, not being worth the project in the first place) but I've kind of hankered after doing this to a beast worthy of the input ever since... and I think with this Westone I have found the the very one. I would be careful to modify or alter the appearance of one that's ok ('if it ain't broke...' ) but I have high hopes for a good outcome for this Thunder 1a. May add a picture of the half done 30 yr old project when I get the minute, mentioned above !



I like these smileys !

If only I could play the things better !

logicaljohn wrote:If only I could play the things better !

...ah yes; you ain't the only one there either!!!

John,

That Thunder IA project sounds right up my street, as does your other project too! I've done one or two complete restorations as well as Zubair's Paduak which you mentioned, but that was in really good nick to start with so it was a doddle to do!

Please, put some photos of the restoration work up and if there is anything that you want to know, please ask, I'll be only too glad to help if I can. I love doing this sort of thing and have acquired a little bit of knowledge through my own experience and I am just happy to pass on what I have learned to anyone else who is willing to try to do it for themselves.

Pauline :flower: :queen:

It's good to hear prices are going up in so far as it suggests increasing respect and demand for Westone guitars (at last!) But it's obviously only beneficial in practical terms if you have one to sell, less good news if you're planning to buy a few more!

I think many people from the more recent generations of guitarists are totally unaware of Matsumoku products and their legendary quality, but word has been spreading for a while on the internet, and many of us who have enjoyed the superb experience of owning a Westone have been passing this information on.

Got to say it's a nice feeling to owning a guitar that's in demand....

Krysbass, I was bidding on a black Thunder IIIA (late model) this week, which was in nowhere near as good condition as yours (albeit a different version, with the two humbuckers) and it sold for 317 GBP !!!

That must make yours worth a pretty penny by now . 10 years from now, we'll all be rich .

I had a look at that Thunder III on Ebay - I'm thinking of buying another bass for doing pub gigs with, but that one was just way too nice to risk someone with a skinful tripping over it or deciding to bounce it off the floor!

In fact, I don't think I'd have the heart to subject anything with a Westone badge on it to that sort of treatment and even less-so now that the values are going the right way!

Krysbass wrote:In fact, I don't think I'd have the heart to subject anything with a Westone badge on it to that sort of treatment and even less-so now that the values are going the right way!

... yeah, this is a hard one, because we value them for what they are and would like to preserve them, BUT, they were designed and built to be hammered by players beating 'em half to death in smoky pubs and clubs everywhere!
I've decided that there's no use in NOT using them so will gig 'em every chance I get; this will save my Vantage VA900 from any further trauma!! sometimes you just can't win, eh!!!

I threw in a half hearted bid on a Thunder 1a that we on ebay yesterday.. didn't win it.. it went for £129 (with a couple of broken switches) which I guess is good because both of my first two, (Thunder 1 and Spectrum DX) cost me £130 in full working good order, in the last 3 or four years. I mentioned this to Paul, from whom I'd acquired the Spectrm and he mentioned an ebay item he was watching (wouldn't tell me what though!) . He reckons he coud be pushing the prices up by telling everyone how good they are. (!)