My first Westone Bass

by Bomstart Tue Feb 04, 2014 5:13 pm

Hi.
I was in the marked fore a small amp to hear the sound of my '63 Epiphone Newport again. I found a small Peavey nearby, but it was in a "packet" with a Weston Bass and a Strat' copy. The bass looked interesting, so i bought the package. The Bass is a black "The Rail". I've used the website to try to figure out exactly what it is, but i'm a bit confused. The "serial number" is 505051, which should mean that it is produced in may 1985 (and build nr, 051?).
It has rubber end stops at each end, and the side dots in the fret-board are white, but the "The Rail" text appears to be on top of the clear-coat.

Are there more "hints", or is it definitely a '85 ?

PS: The Strat' turned out to be a Musima Lead Star from the late 80'. Made in East-Germany My first Westone Bass Icon_eek

by **Barry** Tue Feb 04, 2014 5:54 pm

Hi and welcome.
I'm not the bass expert here, but if I recall correctly these were all built in '85, and may in fact all had the same serial number because of limited numbers. More of a production stamp than an actual serial.
I stand to be corrected by the Rail owners.

by Bomstart Sun Feb 16, 2014 8:23 am

Not many hints yet.....
From http://www.westoneguitars.net/basses/the-rail/:
Matsumoku, late 1984 to 1986

The ’85 Rail has rubber end stops at each end of the rails, the 84 one only has them at the bridge end
The neck pocket is shallower
The ’85 bridge heel has two fewer carves than the ’84; the two corner carves are gone
“The Rail” text is under the clearcoat on the ’85, whereas it is on top of the clearcoat on the ’84
The dot inlays on the fretboard are still red, but the ones on the side are now white
The heel at the top of the neck (where the serial number is) is smaller on the 85 model

It all matches, except the text/clearcoat-bit. Probably a '85 then.

by Westbone Sun Feb 16, 2014 8:29 am

How's about some pictures?? Smile

by Bomstart Mon Mar 03, 2014 5:00 am

Can't find a way to post pic's. Is there a place/way to do so ? Have no website to link to.

by **Barry** Mon Mar 03, 2014 10:13 am

Hi Bomstart, CLICK HERE

by Bomstart Thu Mar 06, 2014 2:20 pm

https://s850.photobucket.com/user/bomstart/media/bilde1_zps64493739.jpg.html?sort=3&o=2
https://s850.photobucket.com/user/bomstart/media/bilde3_zpsca6ba922.jpg.html?sort=3&o=0
https://s850.photobucket.com/user/bomstart/media/bilde2_zps6be96d19.jpg.html?sort=3&o=1

by **Barry** Thu Mar 06, 2014 6:25 pm

Every time I see one of these I shake my head. Tom Presley must have been on some serious giggle water when he conjured this one.
A true original.

by **corsair** Thu Mar 06, 2014 8:04 pm

An original indeed, and I like it!! Was TP was riffing on Steinberger, or the other way around, d'ya reckon?! Laughing

by **Barry** Thu Mar 06, 2014 8:43 pm

I think the only similarity I can note between the two is the positioning of the machine heads.

A customer brought in either a GT or a Synapse recently (can't remember which one now) for a pickup change. Besides being a nightmare to work on, I remember being underwhelmed with the Steinberger having initially been excited by it.

Just didn't feel "right" ya know? And the double ball end strings are a pain to find, and not cheap. Too bad the Rail guitar didn't pan out. It would have been a remarkable instrument.

by Westbone Fri Mar 07, 2014 12:48 am

Remember reading somewhere that the Rail was one of the Japanese guys designs that TP worked with.

by **Barry** Fri Mar 07, 2014 10:16 am

From the Westone website, Tom Presley wrote:the Rail was the inspiration of Ohwa-san...
...Toshi played around with neck set angle, centerline and scale and ended up with a really unique bass...

The guitar was another story altogether. I messed around with it for months

by mortarman120gang11c Fri Mar 07, 2014 9:16 pm

I have the exact same Black rail model and I love it. The MMK 45 under the cover really has the boom and I like the ability to move the rail to change the tones. Very cool and gets lots of looks when I gig it or the Quantum. Cool Basses for certain. Congrats and enjoy.

by Warrn Tue May 06, 2014 2:30 am

I may be way late on this, since I haven't been around in months, but felt the need to point out that it's the 1984 model Rails and Quantums that all have the same 84009 serial number. This one is indeed an 85. Maybe it's only the black Rails that have the Rail text outside of the clearcoat? I wrote out that list of differences myself since I have a black 84 and a white and a red 85.

by **corsair** Tue May 06, 2014 6:07 am

Nice to see you back, Warrn....

by **Barry** Tue May 06, 2014 10:00 am

Hey Warrn! Where ya bin?

by Warrn Tue May 06, 2014 10:59 am

Busy busy with work and band stuff. Had a very negative studio experience late last year. Mostly just been distracted, I don't have a good excuse for not being around! Can certainly say that being away has been good for my wallet though, haven't bought a guitar in ages! Laughing

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