Would Someone Enlighten Me?

Hi All,

I bought a 1982 Thunder I-A just over a week ago which I am putting into shape at the moment. The build quality of this guitar is extraordinarily good, which encouraged me to buy a Specrum Series II bass today that needs a bit of work. On stripping this Bass, I find that the build quality is nothing like the Thunder I-A. Could anyone enlighten me as to which Westones are built with the quality of the Thunder and which ones are built like an Epiphone?

Martin.

The Spectrum Series II is a Korean model, not made by Matsumoku. If you look on www.westone.info you can see if a model was made in Japan, Korea, or both. Some models were built in Japan but assembled in Korea.

That would be most useful Warren, but how do I find Westone Info? When I clicked on your link it just took me to the home page.

Martin.

Got it. I have found the Westone Info site. Thanks Warren that is most useful.

Martin.

I see that you got it, but I went ahead and fixed the link anyway. It's weird that the link acted as it did. Anyway, glad to be of help. What will you do with the Spectrum?

The Spectrum had a piece that had been broken off the head sort of lengthways with the grain from the nut end and running through the G string machine head hole. This had been glued back together but not quite in line (typical!) and there was a thin piece missing from the face of the headstock which had cut half of the Westone emblem off and some of the word Spectrum. As the glued on piece was only a small amount out of line, I have opted for sanding it down to mate properly with its opposing half and I have also had to sand the face of the headstock down to level its missing piece. I am now in the process of sealing the open wood and I will have to paint the back of the headstock black as well as the front. This is because the broken piece had not been mated up correctly and there is a glue line along the join. My plan is to fade the black into the lacquered neck around the nut. The big problem is putting the Westone Logo back on the headstock as I don't have transfer making facilities although there is a company near where I live that may be able to help (at a cost). The finished item will then be set up and thoroughly tested (that's the best bit) and then put on eBay for sale. If it had been the same quality build as the Thunder, I would have certainly considered risking the wife's wrath and kept it, but as it is built like an Epiphone with a ply body, I will pass it on. I am not saying that the bass is rubbish, its just not a top quality build and is more of an intermediate standard.

Martin.

Let's have a look, bro!!!!

Tomorrow it will be getting a spray of black gloss which will hide the joins. Sorry that I have no photo's of it before I skimmed it, which is unfortunate as you could have seen why skimming it was the best option. But I will have it back into shape and playing well in a few days.

Martin.

It may be Korean, but it still has a Magnabass pickup.

Bummer Martin.
I'm in the final throws of restoring a guitar headstock that was butchered, so I'm sympathetic to your situation.
I'm a little confused though...was this the original headstock piece that was broken off, or is this a replacement?

Looks original to me.

Yeah, and to me. Those late model, throw-back headstocks are all made up of 3 pieces of wood; my Clippers are as well though not in the same fashion as the bass; I had a pic of mine close up somewhere but I can't find the rotten thing atm!!

umpdv, it looks like you're doing a bang-up job on it anyway; I'll bet you find it plays very well indeed!

The piece of wood is original, I have had to taper from the nut to the point slightly in order to remove the missing wood from the face. I will post a photo of the finished product when its ready.

What I really can't get my head around is why these Westones go so cheap on eBay? The build quality of those from the Matsumoku factory is as good as it gets, surely the guitar world will wake up to how good these are at some point. If I had a load of money to spare, I would buy as many as I could and sit on them for a few years as an investment, then tell the world and its dog to F**K OFF when it came around to selling time as I would have probalby formed an inseperable bond with them.

We all hope it takes as long as possible for the guitar world to notice so that we may snatch up as many as possible!

umpdv5000 wrote: surely the guitar world will wake up to how good these are at some point.

For Gods' sake man, shut up or someone will hear you!!! It IS happening, mate, albeit quite slowly... we're gonna see an Ibanez-type thing happening I'm quite sure, although Matt had a few brandnames that haven't quite caught on yet like Vantage, Westbury and, yes, Westone!! Aria Pro II are already experiencing something of a price hike...

C'est la vie....