X350 on the Bay

X350 w/bendmaster deluxe on eBay

Link?

Sorry Barry, computer issues...

Got your back there Sodbuster...

http://www.ebay.com/itm/RARE-Westone-Pantera-X350-Guitar-w-Bendmaster-Deluxe-/231009802818?pt=Guitar&hash=item35c941da42

I will be driving from the San Diego area up to Thousand Oaks on Wednesday and just might swing east abit to check this one out in person.

I wonder how many there really are of these?  Great to see another at any rate.   They pop up more often than Monark's or Prestige's it seems (in the States, anyhow).

I want - no postage overseas though - damn

Looks to be missing 2 fine tuners as well, so be prepared to find a couple.

I want one........................egas.....egas...egas...... egas..... must not give in..... egas................................

Y'all will have my report tomorrow evening.

Poor news to report boys...

Just left the pawn shop which is listing this guitar and they would not let me look at it. In fact they were not truthful about the guitar even being on the premises even after I caught a peek of it in their back office area.

Talked to a guy whose first question was "What are the going for?". Judging by the conditions of the other guitars they had hanging, and the lack of a hardshell case... roll of the dice guys.

Ewww... don't buy from liars!

Well guess they are wanting to score BIG on the bay and most likely got it for a super low price off a needy musician

First guy I talked to said it wouldn't be in the display area if it is on ebay and would go get it. He went back behind the counters and pulled out the gig bag being sold with it and opened it... I caught my peek and then started checking out the other guits hanging in the store. About s minute later a different fella comes back and plays me a tale of how the employee who lists things on ebay wasn't there but could drive in (30 minutes away from the store) but only if there was a very good chance (read definite chance) of a sale.

When I said "oh, so your telling me this pawn shop is the ebay seller, but it isn't actually here right now?" he hemmed and hawed for 5 seconds before replying "uh, yeah.. sorry" This shop sells more guns than anything else to judge by the merchandise being displayed, plus EVERY employee was packing a Glock, Sig, or. 45 ACP cocked and locked so I just shrugged and said, " too bad... I was passing thru on vacation and a pal in Wisconsin asked if I could swing by and check it out as he was itching to meet your minimum bid on it. Since I can't see it though it will probably mean no bid, and he REALLY wants one of these."

Guy responded again asking how much they go for as I was walking away and I told him anywhere from $300 to a grand in the last 2 years depending on how motivated the buyer was and the condition... but since I wasn't gonna wait a half hour they probably just lost this opportunity.

Dude looked gut punched sick, but as he was armed I didn't push his buttons any further

Interesting story Ice.
The whole description seems to depict a very strange selling tactic even if they haven't got a clue what its worth, you gave them a decent opinion.

I personally have difficulty understanding how, in a civilised society, sales staff are allowed to wear lethal weapons. If the merchandise they sell and the customers they have means this is necessary then its all wrong for me.

grogg wrote:...I personally have difficulty understanding how, in a civilised society, sales staff are allowed to wear lethal weapons....its all wrong for me.

Yeah, it's a constant source of puzzlement here too.
Canadians are not a bunch of pussies where guns are concerned (except perhaps for the prissy, Pinot-swilling, Birkenstack-wearing, left wingers in downtown Toronto). We do have lots of legitimate gun users, and God knows we have our share of gang related gun violence, but the thought of pistol packin' store clerks is downright scary!   As an "outsider" I don't get it at all.

If you work as a sales person in a shop that sells guns in this country, as a general rule you see them packing while on duty. As customers are going to handle the merchandise with regularity, and as a general rule firing pins or other essential parts that make the product go boom are not removed... well let's just say you can't always know if some nut walked in with a full magazine in a pocket and could use the merchandise as a means of holding up the place... or worse.

Perhaps a bit far-fetched to some, but if you are willingly entering a gun store it seems silly to me that anyone should be shocked or offended to see guns being kept handy by the staff. A Beretta 92 is not some sort of fashion accessory, it is a sidearm first and foremost, and quite frankly is meant to be worn accordingly at times.

Just sayin'...

I can understand it, but I don't like it. I've been using long arms all my life and still own quite a few, though they are still in NZ, and hence have frequented firearms retailers for years in NZ, Australia and in Jersey where none of the employees wear sidearms and in fact, sidearms are kept under separate, more stringent security provisions that the long weapons.
The idea of a nutbar walking into a shop with a loaded mag ready to slap into a pistol chills me to the bone; are the employees who are packing really good enough and slick enough to drop said nutbar before he or she goes postal?!

Went for $800 which seems cheap to me.

To all the non-Americans who have posted various opinions about the pawn shop guys with guns, please remember this one very simple rule in life:  context is everything.  

It's easy to pull the keys out of the ignition of a car.  But clearly there is a level of ignorance here concerning the removal of 'the thing that makes a gun go boom.'  Ignorance can be remedied.  Knowledge is power.

Deleted

Not to belittle your last comment, but you will need to educate me on the idea of purchasing without any sort of background check. That can be done with a muzzleloading rifle but only that to my knowledge. All states here as to my knowledge have background checks, waiting periods, permit to purchase requirements... many (like Minnesota) all three, others with some combination thereof. And that in in addition to the federal regulations that apply to all us citizens regardless of the state we reside in. Legal purchasing is anything from simple and immediate here in the US of A. Illegal purchases are of course the only fast way around the systems in place, save for purchases between individuals... at the present time.

As tired and a many times misused analogy it is... this country would be far safer if the time and effort spent on gun regulation and restriction were instead focused on toughening up laws involving alcohol abuse combined with operation of motor vehicles

And that is the end of my comments concerning guns in this thread. You are very correct that it is a tangent that should not have been gone off on, I only mentioned it at all to help anyone reading gain some insight as to my reluctance in pressing the dope who was lying to me at that pawn shop as to why he was being such a dope.

So who bought the guitar?  The rest of the stuff should be in non-westone or non-guitar discussion

I do find it interesting that it is anothe MA with a BMD and no flame on the back.

Ive deleted my recent posts on this thread because they dont belong here.  Didn't mean to start an argument.   Sorry guys.

No need to say sorry, bud; we all tend to wander off on a tangent at times, and I do think all points made about firearms were worthy, if way off topic!!

That said, I would've loved to have seen Steve backing out the door placating the bozo with the boomstick....

OK... enough about guns; price seemed OK for the Pantera?

Great deal for someone.  Hope its someone who knows what theyve got

corsair wrote:OK... enough about guns; price seemed OK for the Pantera?

Well I paid about $1000 for mine a couple of months ago and I'm still smiling. When I look what $1000 gets you for a new guitar I smile even more. Hope the new owner is either on here or shows up here soon so he knows what he has got

And all those guitars out on display! You could kill someone with a guitar very easily! What is there to stop a guitar salesman from just beating a customer with a Les Paul at any moment?
And how do they allow there to be cars on the lot at a car dealership?!? Don't they know how many people are killed by cars every year?
Don't even get me started on hardware stores. It's a wonder blood doesn't flow down the aisles on a daily basis.

Thought we'd agreed to stay on topic here.

Sorry.

No, seriously PMSL at someone using a Les Paul as a weapon.  I think the construction of the 350 would give you more confidence of a successful defence.

Les Paul? pah...surely you would be better using this:

^^^^^^
I hope thats sold with the strings removed wouldnt want anyone getting hurt.

Hondo madem cool back in the day, this Thompson model and the famous M16 model and AK and you were rockin big time locked and loaded and ready to fire the trems.

"I gotta get me on'a dose"

Back on topic - I mentioned it before, but the BMD on the guitar was missing parts.  I'm sure they could be found. Does anyone make those screws or will the buyer have to buy a new bridge?

Last off-topic comment guys...

My apologies for any offense I have caused with my inability to remain on topic, I sincerely meant no disrespect in my words.

As to the x350 I suppose $800 might have been a fair price if they can refurbish the missing bits on the BMD and it makes it's way to them safely during transit. The condition of every other guitar I did see on their wall was not reassuring to my eyes and caused me to wonder about their experience in handling guitars. Thinking about shipping any guitar without a hard shell case that isn't a bolt on which can be removed and separately wrapped has always given me the willies.

Your answer to the fine tuners may lie buried in this thread Sarc...

http://forum.westoneguitars.net/t4230-bendmaster-ft-fine-tuner-dimensions

The Sarge was looking to replace some on a BFT and I found a couple of links for online fastener suppliers and posted them. I would be surprised if ones for a BMD could not be found there as well, 4mm thread to start with.

I found that when I was hunting the fine tuner thumbscrews that there were no exact matches available anywhere, but I lucked out and had some personalized caps for standard 4mm hex head bolts made.

The FT ones are a little different in the head shape and are longer as well...

sarcaster wrote: Does anyone make those screws or will the buyer have to buy a new bridge?

the buyer will not have to buy a new bridge...

because i have a spare that has already donated the missing screws, and also replaced the other grubby ones. 

it needs a screw and a hold-down plate for the Kahler string lock
not a lot of fret wear
it is very clean over all
no buckle rash and only a little swirly stuff on the front, the logos are pretty much worn off the pickup covers
a couple minor dings around the bottom edge, and...
   

and i think i may know why the guy at the pawn shop was a little funny about showing the guitar to Iceman...

i'm not too sure how much is broken. it is very tight and very smooth to the touch, but shows up in bright light. i've just strung it up to see if the tension opens up a crack, and to see if the tuning is stable.

happy/sad
the rest of the guitar is in great shape, such a shame it has a crack.
just a fuggin' bummer.

Yup... I feared as much. Was that crack disclosed in the auction listing Mike? Knowing you and your skills around guitars returning it will be out of the question I suppose but as they are a business you might ask for some sort of compensation.

The second guy who gave me the bum's rush did say it had some wear around the lower edges and some SLIGHT rash on the back but otherwise nothing else was wrong with it.

This means of course that the 48 thread will be getting updated... Congratulations Sir!!

Nice one!! Kahler string lock and a BD bridge... odd!!

Anyway, hoping that crack is a finish crack only, mate!!

If there is no seperation it still may not just be a finisih crack, and then there is only one way to know - yup....sand her down.  One of my 350's had a similar looking crack and the seller claimed it was a finish crack, but sometimes you cannot tell until the finish is out of the picture.  If it seems stable then no big deal to leave it as is, but if you really want to be sure, then whats the harm in sanding her down and maybe staining a different color

Nice one Mike.   Your pics are a big improvement on the ones that were on ebay.  If this had been open to buyers outside the US you definitely would have had competition from here.
Hoping that crack is just cosmetic.  If not how do you go about repairing?

Considering the laminated construction of these necks I think it's unlikely to be a structural crack. You'd need a considerable impact to break the wood. And I think you'd see a tremendous amount of damage somewhere at the point of impact.

Looks to me like she's experienced a blow to the headstock possibly from a fall, which has caused a "whiplash" effect, breaking the finish. I also note a smaller stress crack running from the nut.

The pattern of the crack is troubling though, but it may be caused by violent neck vibration, kinda like a big tuning fork--that is a long piece of timber!

In other matters, I have strong urge to eat toffee.