ISO Blue Westone Pantera or latter incarnations

I have been in a half-assed but long standing search fr a midnight blue westone pantera/alverez/X275CS ala Trevor Rabin.

I don't know much about the guitar or it's playability but I am a massive Trevor fan and have wanted this guitar since the early 90's. This is mostly for display purposes though I would love to play it and see how it feels.

I know the storied history (Westone being bought by Alverez/St. Luis music, etc) and don't really care which model I get but would appreciate any guidance in that department as well.

Can anyone help?

Kale (near Philly)

Here...

http://cgi.ebay.com/1980s-X300-Pantera-Westone-/400202333128?pt=Guitar&hash=item5d2deafbc8

And here...

http://cgi.ebay.com/1986-Matsumoku-made-Westone-X275-X-275-Pantera-Sunburst-/120531614940?pt=Guitar&hash=item1c103e7cdc

And here...

http://cgi.ebay.com/Westone-electric-guitar-Pantera-X300-locking-tremelo-/230602666438?pt=Guitar&hash=item35b0fd71c6

As far as finding one, an original one in the CB color finish, good luck young man. Less than 100 were made in all as far as x390 models, which is basically what our man Trevor has. He has the first x390CB made

The e(vil) bay listings I posted give you an idea also of the range in price you can expect to find out there in the etherworld. The pink x300 is way over-priced IMHO.

Good luck. Happy to have you on the forum.

I too am a big Trevor Rabin fan. I too sought out the X-390CB model.

I have owned a total of 5 X-390 guitars - two CBs with Kahler Pros, one CB with Bendmaster Deluxe, one DBK with Bendmaster Deluxe, and one PW with Kahler Pro. I still have the PW and the CB with the Bendmaster.

Quite honestly, the X-390 (and X-300 for that matter) has the most comfortable neck profile I have ever felt. The fretboard is wide and pretty flat. The nut is wide. The neck contour fills the hand, but is not too thick. The frets are GIGANTIC - measurably larger than Dunlop 6100s. The ebony fingerboard is fast and smooth. This makes for a shredder's dream but it is still great for chording. You can really play anything on this guitar.

The pickups are pretty good but not my favorite. The CB/BD that I now have came with some issues with the electronics, so I replaced the pickups with a Dimarzio Tone Zone in the Bridge and a Fred in the neck. It really sounds killer now. But the original electronics are very flexible and give a wide range of options with both coil tap and phase controls. However, as with all 24 fret necks I have played, the neck position does not sound like guitars with a 21 or 22 fret neck - that sound is just not there because the neck pickup is moved farther toward the bridge to accommodate the 24 frets. So the neck pickup sound is not as meaty - it's a little brighter than you would expect. But the body is maple and the fretboard is ebony, so it's bright sounding anyway.

Another nice upgrade is the now out of production Kahler string lock - this allows you to lock/unlock the strings using no tools. And of course strap locks are a necessity.

When set up properly and equipped with the Kahler Pro, I believe this design is the finest I have ever played - and I've played some nice ones.

Save your money, keep your eyes open, and you may be able to score an X-390. The next best thing is the X-300. The neck profile is almost the same but in a bolt-on.