Westone Guitars are 30 years old soon!!

Westone guitars will be 30 next year and I thought it would be fun and interesting to see which member on these forums has the oldest model.............. so come on who has the oldest Westone??? and remember "We want pictures" so show us your serial numbers!

it's not me as my oldest model is a January 1982 Thunder bass............. but here is an example of proof



anyone??

Nope - not me; oldest Westone is probably one of the Spectrums; oldest Matsumoku is my 1980 Vantage VA900.

My oldest Westone is my 84 Rail bass, but I have a 1980 Electra and an early 70s Matsumoku-built Aria.

Hows about a Paduak 1- serial 1110.......
Rainbow 1 serial 1123.....
Thunder 2 serial 1370....
Oldies but goodies.....

My oldest Westone is my Thunder I-A from Sept '82, #0664.

I do have an older version of a Thunder I that has separate string ferrules, but the neck plate was missing when I bought it! My oldest Mats is my CS250 from Sept 1980.

DAN.

Paduak I. F810015

http://yfrog.com/73p9041231jx

How do you download the actual picture on here??



Cheers corsair.

I upload to Photobucket, and then c+p the .img code into my posts here... I wonder what the F in that s/n is for??

The F in the serial refers to the month, A=Jan, B=Feb, C=March, etc. This guitar was made in June '81 and I guess the next four digits mean it was the 15th built in that month (I seriously doubt they could have made anything close to 9999 of one model in a month!).

My Quest Atak A-5TR has this numbering system and Ibanez used the same thing in the 80's.

DAN.

Well now., let's see...
my Concord II Version I serial #1120146 makes her an '81 Dec:


and my Thunder I-A serial# D810040 also indicates Dec '81 (sorry no neck plate pic)

So, a tie for me!
All my other Westies are '84 or '85.

According to Duofuzz, Barry your Thunder would be April '81.

mine is 82




P.

Hi,

my Thunder Bass shows: 1101753

THUNDER II

Someone help for the year.

My two Concord III have the following No. 1110009 and 3050844

H.

Westbone wrote:According to Duofuzz, Barry your Thunder would be April '81.

Ooops! Well then, that makes her even older!

My Thunder IIA is May 81, I think - S/N 105009

I'm not sure on the date, as it's an odd number (Only 6 digits)

Thorn's thunder 2a serial got me thinking and on checking my own I had mistaken a 0 for a 3....oops. That would be more in keping with numbering convention.
Therefore- thunder 2 serial 1070... (and like thorn's there are only six digits!) July 1981.

Thanks folks.. great response! and I've learnt something too about the early '81 models A=Jan, B=Feb, C=March, D=April etc .

So Barry's April '81 Thunder 1A is the oldest so far.. anyone got an older model?

Cheers!

I'm not so sure about the early numbering - if the 6 digit numbers follow the same pattern as the 7 digit ones, then the first digit is the year and the second two the month. Seems to work, or at least I've never seen any that contradict that. But if the ones with a letter at the start have the letter indicating the month, then they either ran that system for a while, then switched to the 6 digit number, then switched back to 7 digits with a letter at the start, or they ran both systems in tandem, since we have examples here of a D81xxxx number (April 81), an F81xxxx number (June 81) and a 105xxx number (May 81?)

hendrik wrote:Hi,

my Thunder Bass shows: 1101753

THUNDER II

Someone help for the year.

My two Concord III have the following No. 1110009 and 3050844

H.

October 81 for the Thunder, November 81 and May 83 for the Concords

Ooh, I like this thread!

I'm not sure what the serial numbers are on my guitars, I'll have to check and get back to you guys but I know that they aren't as old as some of them listed here! I do know that my Paduak I begins with an 'F' and has a lot of zeros in the number!

Polly :queen: :flower:

I compete on this one, my Thunder 1A Serial Number 2111571 is October 82 so you guys informed me a while ago.

It's seems a safe bet that the serial number XYZ0000 = 198X Month=YZ.....

My Thunder 1 says 405..., and May 1984 would be right.
My Vantage is 301..., so Jan 1983.
No real oldies there though...

So, anyone got a serial number less than 1040001?
By the way, is there a prize or just the glory?

Regards,

Tony C.

Mate... just the glory!! None of my Westones even come close, but my Vantage is a 1980!!

My Concord I is 2010910.

I've got an older non-Westone MIJ guitar, a Washburn Raven with no serial number which (according to the good ol' boys on the Washburn forum) dates it to 1979/80. Seems Washburn painted the serial numbers on the back of the headstock on the early Ravens and the paint has worn off over the years.

The Concord is in pretty good nick with just a few tiny dings; the Raven is well and true "road-worn" with many a gig under it's belt.

Good thread BTW!

None of my Westones even come close, but my Vantage is a 1980!!

I thought this was Westones only.... If Vantage's qualify I'll have some work to do and I know I have some 1980's in there....

P.

It is, Pierre... I just wanna be included!!! Sad, eh!!

come on guys this is a Westone forum....Westones only!! no cheating with ya 1980 Vantage's

I just wanna be included!!! Sad, eh!!

Yep!... very sad...

My VA800 (Phantom) March 1980...(old logo) the intro of Vantage on the market place....

come on guys this is a Westone forum....Westones only!! no cheating with ya 1980 Vantage's

I agree but like Corsair... i caint compete on the Westone front....

I'm sad too...

P.

Frenchy wrote:

None of my Westones even come close, but my Vantage is a 1980!!

I thought this was Westones only.... If Vantage's qualify I'll have some work to do and I know I have some 1980's in there....
P.

Moi aussi! One 1980 one possibly 1979.

Ah, sod it; I can't even be the oldest Matt, therefore no more non-Westones!!!

I think I've posted the oldest Mat so far, John, my Aria 1540 was made between 70 and 75! And I mentioned it on page one.

MunkiNL hasn't been around for a while but I remembered he bought a Paduak a few months ago. I just checked his serial No and it's D810242.. Link

so if the last numbers represent the production number then it brings his guitar in at No2 very close behind Barry's Thunder 1A (D810040)

I'm feeling pleased with myself today. I picked up a Thunder 1A bass last night complete with original hard case for £71 ...my original intention was to buy it, keep the case, clean up the bass and sell it on to get some money back....turns out the bass is a very early Westone (C81 = March 1981)... I think I'll keep hold of it now....

I recently upgraded the bridge on the Thunder and finally took some decent pix. For the record, here's a link to the neck plate :


So...looks like we have (so far) established the oldest Westone guitar and bass?

I am assuming my Dimension iv must a little older because it doesn't have a number stamped on the plate which just reads ' a Matsumoku product. Made in Japan.' There is a number on the back of the headstock which appears to be painted on and reads 5050222?

David, yours would have been made in 1985 so no prize for you!

Barry wrote:David, yours would have been made in 1985 so no prize for you!

Nevermind! It's age along with not having much paint left on it and a crackling jack and pot's mean nothing, it's still my pride and joy!

Thunder I-A, 2062437

bought it new in New Jersey, still my one and only electric bass.

Not me- My Raider is a Feb '83

Edit: just had its 28th birthday

Hello !

Thunder II Bass,

My serial number is 102003

The beginning of production ?

A idea for the month ?

Thx

February 1981, that's an early one indeed. Possibly the 3rd one made??

1=81, 02=Feb.

Is that accurate as far as anyone knows? I mean do the following numbers after the first 3 in the serial represent the Julian Date of the year?

No, not the Julian(perpetual) calender.

First no. ie. 1= 81. 2 = 82 and so on.
secound 2. ie. 05= may of 1982

The rest possibly guitar production no.

Thank you for your answer Westbone.

It's incredible if it's the third thunder bass build in Matsumoku!

If somebody can confirm or not

David

It's possible, but there's too many variables to say with any degree of certainty that yours is indeed the third ever built!! That said, it would certainly seem to be the case....

My Westone Thunder 1

Hi! Mozart here, from the matsumoku forum.
Just wanted to let you know that the "month-theory" doesn't work for Vantages (at least):

I'm owning 2 Vantage Spirits, probably both from 1980, according to the first digit of the ser.no.:

old logo Spirit, six digits: 05xxxx
new logo Spirit, 7 digits: 004xxxx

I don't believe the new logo guitar to be older than the other one!
Can't tell you if it's the same for Westone serial numbers, but never forget uncle Mat's motto:
"Subjects to change without notice"

...finally got around to checking mine: Paduak - C810416 - March 81? Sounds like she's overdue a party!