Westone Dana wanted (again)

I've already got a Black Dana III Ltd., so ANY other Dana will work. Even a Red Dana III Ltd. Or maybe the Alvarez sister will be considered.

Let me know what you got!

Not giving up any of my Danas. 8P
(they are all Alvarezezez Alvarei Alvarez-made guitars, if that helps you get over the pain of disappointment)

usuallly a few on ebay or CL at any given time eh

Brainfertilizer wrote:Not giving up any of my Danas. 8P
(they are all Alvarezezez Alvarei Alvarez-made guitars, if that helps you get over the pain of disappointment)

Something about the Westone Dana's though, they're a little different in that they don't have the scarf joint and a few other differences. And two of the 3 different models were made in Japan, according to Mr. Sutcliffe (who I'll be meeting this spring, I'm excited to meet him)!

sarcaster wrote: usuallly a few on ebay or CL at any given time eh )

You're right about the Alvarez Dana's, but they're often the cheapy-cheapy models or the tri-force things. Now the Westone Dana's are the rare birds...

I don't think there are any cheapy-cheapy Danas at all.
From what I've seen, Alvarez didn't go cheapy-cheap for at least a couple years. The early Alvarezes are indistinguishable from the 1990 Westones, like the Westone Villain Graphite became an equally good Alvarez Villain Graphite. Both of my Scoops are great quality, and so are both my TriForces. The thing I like about the Triforce is that all 5 positions have good sounds, unlike a regular H/S/S where I tend to only use the bridge and 2 quack positions.

This is probably heresy around these parts, but while I love my Matsu Pantera, Corsair, and Dynasty, there are some significant things I don't like about some of their models. The all red and all blue guitars seem amateurish. The thin-ness of the front of some of the old Spectrums is horrible: I've seen 2-3 where the wood around the input jack was split/ruined. That shouldn't happen on a well-designed guitar. I hate vintage trems (that screams "cheap" to me more than anything) and vintage trems were all over the mid-80s models.

Plus, I'm an 80s hair band/shredder fan. The late Westones and Alvarez made guitars with the improved trems (particularly the Kahler licensed Floyd Rose and Kahler Spyders) really work better for shredding than the Matsumoku Westones.

What I'm saying is, Tom Presley may be 100% right about the superiority of Matsumoku quality control over the MIK Westones and Alvarezes. But he also might be biased, because my experience has been:
I've purchased ~12 Matsumoku guitars, including about 6 Vantages and 6 or so Westones. About 6 are worth keeping, and 6 were...meh. Not bad, just not inspiring.
But I've also purchased 7 MIK Westone/Alverez guitars. Every single one of them was a quality, well-made guitar with great tone, great action, fun to play, and very inspiring.

So while I am actively looking for cheap Panteras, I'd only go for any other Matsumoku guitar if it were in "What an amazing steal!" price category, like sub-$100. But I'd jump on just about any Alvarez shredder and almost any 1989-1990 MIK Westone for under $200.

But, hey, it probably just comes down to taste. If you are going for rarity, the Westone Danas sure fit that bill...but so do the Challengers, Dimensions, and Villains. Spectrums and Corsairs, not so much.

I can agree with your sentiments BF going by my experience with MIK Westones. The two we have and others I have looked into are all or have all been very good instruments. Remember also that much of what went into early MIK Westones was parts and pieces that were made at Mats or sourced from the same suppliers.

I can also say that I have been very fortunate in NOT having your experience with earlier Westone models that are strictly Mats and even going back to Mats models that are not Westone (Electra), as well as Electra models that are not necessarily Mats.

SLM had quite the crew designing electronics, sourcing builders and developing brand identity back in that day, and we are enjoying the fruits of the labors of guys like Tom even to this day because of it.

Good post men. I disagree to a small point, as there certainly are cheapy models of the Dana, the ones with the base as you can get pickups, tuners, and stratlike trems. I won't mess with those. Aside from the tri-force guitars, these base models are about the only Alvarez Dana's I've seen on ebay and CL (haven't looked a whole lot on CL, so I'll start...). And keep in mind that I'm referring to the Alvarez Dana's that are like the Westone Dana, as in no pickgaurd and no weird shaped head, I've seen a bunch of those. As to the Alvarez Dana's I'd found (again, the ones matching the Westone's), two out of the four had a broken scarf joint! Not good odds! One of them I'd driven an hour to see the guitar and the scarf joint had roughly separated and was cracking the rosewood. The Westone Dana has a sold piece for the neck and head, no scarf.

Brain... how do you like the Villain and Dimension necks compared to the Dana neck? Please explain, I'm interested...

The Chad wrote:Good post men. I disagree to a small point, as there certainly are cheapy models of the Dana, the ones with the base as you can get pickups, tuners, and stratlike trems. I won't mess with those. Aside from the tri-force guitars, these base models are about the only Alvarez Dana's I've seen on ebay and CL (haven't looked a whole lot on CL, so I'll start...). And keep in mind that I'm referring to the Alvarez Dana's that are like the Westone Dana, as in no pickgaurd and no weird shaped head, I've seen a bunch of those. As to the Alvarez Dana's I'd found (again, the ones matching the Westone's), two out of the four had a broken scarf joint! Not good odds! One of them I'd driven an hour to see the guitar and the scarf joint had roughly separated and was cracking the rosewood. The Westone Dana has a sold piece for the neck and head, no scarf.

Brain... how do you like the Villain and Dimension necks compared to the Dana neck? Please explain, I'm interested...

I guess I haven't seen Alvarez Dana's w/ strat trems...or at least they didn't register in my mind as Dana's. I've seen lots of Alvarez made guitars like that, and yeah: I stay away from them, too.

Now, the info about the scarf joint is interesting *and* valuable. I've never seen anything like that happen, but I will absolutely be sure to watch for it in the future! Thanks!

And good luck to you finding a Westone Dana. If I see one, I'll let you know and stay out of your way.

And the bottom line, of course, is that since my Dana's *are* Alvarez, it *does* help you to not feel bad about me being unwilling to sell them!

[quote="Brainfertilizer"]

The Chad wrote:And good luck to you finding a Westone Dana. If I see one, I'll let you know and stay out of your way.

And the bottom line, of course, is that since my Dana's *are* Alvarez, it *does* help you to not feel bad about me being unwilling to sell them!

Vice Versa, let me know what you're looking at and I'll steer clear too. These MIK gems are somewhat of a secret for quality and extreme playability and responsiveness! I saw another Alvarez AE-500 Paramount at a Guitar Center for only $169! I called immediately and it was already sold, it had been there only a couple days.

As for the scarf joint, I guess just keep a close eye for separation. When I take my Dana to Dana Sutcliffe I'll ask him if he's seen many separated. Just so you keep it in good temps you should be ok!

I still want a Westone Dana. And this is how I got the last one! I may reply to this post twice a year or so to keep it somewhat current if no one minds.

did you say you wanted a Dana?

just found this one today and it is only hours to go, but anyway......

Alvarez Dana II Triforce

go git 'em!