New to the forum

by Genetic Miscreant Fri Mar 28, 2014 5:53 am

Hi everyone, I just bought my first ever westone, which is also my first ever matsumoku. Wanted one for ages, it hasnt arrived but its a black spectrum sx and seems to be in very good condition. Comes with a hsc and cost me 500 aussie dollars in an auction from London. (thats shipping included.) you can see it as my avatar, but id show more of the ebay pics if I knew how lol. (although I'm betting at least one or two ppl saw it, i was nearly out bid.)
=)

by **corsair** Fri Mar 28, 2014 6:05 am

G'day fella!! So, are you living in Australia or the UK? Spectrums are a little addictive; I've got about 5 and Barry's got a few as well! They came in many Pick up configurations, and some wild finishes to boot; witness the Jap flag Spectrum LX in here someplace.

My word; certainly they've got a lot more expensive than when I was buying then; my last one that I bought in the UK was a red MX and I picked it up for about £130, plus postage to Jersey from Manchester.

Posting pix: most in here upload to an online photo storage site and then c+p the .img links you're given into your posts here.

Yours looks to be in good nick and still has its OEM knobs - thats a good thing!! - ; does it have the OEM stringlock and lock clamps?

Looking forward to hearing your impressions of it...

by **Barry** Fri Mar 28, 2014 9:22 am

Hello GM and welcome to the forums.
Yeah the Spectrums are addictive little buggers, so guard yer wallet! Twisted Evil

For information on how to post pictures CLICK HERE
For more information on your guitar (and all the other Spectrums) CLICK HERE

by Westbone Sat Mar 29, 2014 4:17 am

Wow! expensive! + import duties... affraid

by Sgt. Vimes Sat Mar 29, 2014 4:48 am

holy moley! I think I paid £50 for mine, in same near mint condition Smile

by Genetic Miscreant Sat Mar 29, 2014 4:49 am

Thanks for the info guys. I live in Australia but bought from the UK.
Yeah I guess it was pricey but someone was fighting me for it the whole way, wasn't one of those "buy it now only" auctions. I guess because it appears to be in good condition. Also part of that price was the crazy shipping fees-(100 pounds)

by Genetic Miscreant Sat Mar 29, 2014 4:53 am

HAHA, you guys are making me feel bad about the price. Keep in mind I live in Tasmania, everything guitars is a little more expensive here cos its an island, no cool westones to be found at bargain pawnshop prices here I'm afraid.
it was pay that or get a beat up one, for my first I wanted an honest idea of how they were supposed to be. In respect to the question about string locks and clamps, I honestly dont know I'll post more pics when it arrives. I've never owned a 'locking bridge and nut' guitar before.

by Westbone Sat Mar 29, 2014 4:55 am

The guitar sold for £242.57. I was watching it in E bay. So shipping was another £100 on top? + import duties.

That's what can happen with auctions though.

by Sgt. Vimes Sat Mar 29, 2014 4:55 am

Don't feel bad about the money, I sold mine (for the equivalent of) £200.
from the ebay listing all the string clamps are in order, as are the fine tuners.

you'll LOVE this spectrum when it arrives!

by Genetic Miscreant Sat Mar 29, 2014 5:02 am

yeah westbone has it spot on

by Genetic Miscreant Sat Mar 29, 2014 5:10 am

Hm, I just tried posting the rest of the images from ebay, just put them onto photobucket but the site didnt seem to like me doing that, I assume cos I'm new? Neutral

or I did it wrong? Embarassed

by Westbone Sat Mar 29, 2014 5:25 am

Read Barry's post above about loading photos.

I'll stick 'em up for ya!

by Genetic Miscreant Sat Mar 29, 2014 5:29 am

does that mean if i pm the image locations from pbucket you can show them for me?

by Westbone Sat Mar 29, 2014 5:29 am

Looks in excellent condition... Smile

Bet it's frustrating waiting eh! Feast your eye's on this thing of beauty.... Laughing

by Genetic Miscreant Sat Mar 29, 2014 5:31 am

Sweet
thanks for that

by Westbone Sat Mar 29, 2014 5:42 am

One little tip.
Be careful, do not over tighten the string clamp on the E-A bolt.
They have a tendency to strip due to the thickness of the E-A strings. ie the bolt isn't long enough and only grabs by a few threads.

Solution-put a slightly longer bolt in but make sure it doesn't bottom out on the headstock.

by Genetic Miscreant Sat Mar 29, 2014 5:57 am

Ok thanks for the tip, any other tips about these guitars, or locking nut/bridge setups in general are much appreciated.
secondly, do people recommend having the pickups wax potted? I am intending to have a pro wax pot them and flip the bridge humbucker around (so that when split, the active bridge s coil is further away from the bridge.) when I take this in for it's first setup. Cool

by Sgt. Vimes Sat Mar 29, 2014 6:02 am

Yes, lose the humbucker, its weak and doesnt do the guitar any justice at all, the neck and middle are very nice pups though Smile

by Westbone Sat Mar 29, 2014 6:05 am

Here's my one. Identical to yours.
New to the forum DSCF6725_zpsfde62270

by Westbone Sat Mar 29, 2014 6:08 am

Sgt. Vimes wrote:Yes, lose the humbucker, its weak and doesnt do the guitar any justice at all, the neck and middle are very nice pups though

Don't know what you had Sarge but mines a MMK45. Looks like Miscreant's is as well.

by Genetic Miscreant Sat Mar 29, 2014 6:08 am

Awesome Westbone, that thing is clean! cheers

hm, change it out you say?
is that common place? Any general recommendations for something that will match up well with the two remaining singles???

by Sgt. Vimes Sat Mar 29, 2014 6:10 am

And here's mine (now GAS Man's) with better pups in Twisted Evil

by Sgt. Vimes Sat Mar 29, 2014 6:10 am

Mine was the ubiquitous UBC

by Sgt. Vimes Sat Mar 29, 2014 6:12 am

ahh, well I could be wrong, though if it IS the UBC, bin it Smile

by Westbone Sat Mar 29, 2014 6:21 am

Mines '85. Still using the good stuff.. Smile

Those pole pieces on the Warmans remind me of rivets... Laughing

by Genetic Miscreant Sat Mar 29, 2014 6:25 am

Ok, so if that's the case, the first thing ill do is pull out the humbucker, take photos and get someone here to verify if its a ubc or mmk45 I suppose. Oh, right after deciding if I like the sound anyway, just from listening... Giggles

Nice clean axe btw SGT. =)

by Westbone Sat Mar 29, 2014 6:29 am

Sgt. Vimes wrote:Mine was the ubiquitous UBC

Black plastic bottom.

MMk 45's look like this.
New to the forum DSCF6380_zps66b4f901

by Westbone Sat Mar 29, 2014 6:31 am

You won't like the UBC's with the black plastic bottom, weak sounding.

Good idea to turn the 'bucker around, gives it a little more bollx when tapped.

by Sgt. Vimes Sat Mar 29, 2014 6:35 am

also seen the UBC with a plain silver (nickel?) baseplate....equally as poor.

westbone: rivets! lol....not pop rivets, but ROCK rivets!
nice sounding cheap pups those, good for maple bodies

by Genetic Miscreant Sat Mar 29, 2014 6:40 am

Thanks for that pic of the mmk45. I'll know what to look for now. =)

by Westbone Sat Mar 29, 2014 6:41 am

Rock rivets... Smile

by Westbone Sat Mar 29, 2014 6:48 am

Sgt. Vimes wrote:also seen the UBC with a plain silver (nickel?) baseplate....equally as poor.

s

Those have the cross head pole pieces from memory.

by **corsair** Sat Mar 29, 2014 7:12 am

My MX has the faux-UBC one; it doesn't bother me as I just EQ the daylights out it at the board!

Just missed a pair of MMK45s in NZ for NZ$13... forgot about the auction...

Gee, that looks good; quite complete and in very nice condition to boot - win!! I have a black LX in nice nick and that is a metallic black so it gleams!!

Yeah; I imagine Tasmania being a PITA to ship to and from - had the same problem when I lived in the Channel Islands in that freight banged the price of most things I bought on eBay up by a not inconsiderable amount!!

I'll tell you what, though.... I haven't found too many pawn shop treasures up here in Queensland, either!! I did get 3 rectangular hard cases for A$50 at Deception Bay which pleased me greatly!!

by **Barry** Sat Mar 29, 2014 10:27 am

Continuing the torture of a new member, here's my SX:
Trans Blue SX

Mine came with the UBC too which I quickly replaced with my preferred Crunchy PAT from GFS. The UBC doesn't cut it at all in this configuration, especially when split with the centre single coil.

by **corsair** Sat Mar 29, 2014 5:36 pm

OK... can I play the "Show the new guy what's out there!!" game?! Laughing

My Spectrums....

New to the forum DSC_0007_zps203c171d

by Westbone Sat Mar 29, 2014 6:56 pm

Posing by the pool... Smile

Blue bursts do look cool.

What's the story with importing into Aus from China/Japan?
Any problems at all, trade regulations etc?
Import duties any higher?

by eyebulger Sat Mar 29, 2014 10:53 pm

Australia the lucky country.
Importing from most places is simple and as long as you keep it under $1K there are no taxes or duties. Bringing stuff in from China is great for small stuff as there is generally no postage cost involved. Japan is pretty good as well with costs being able to be kept down in most cases. Somewhere around $130 to get a Guitar to Australia.

by Genetic Miscreant Sat Mar 29, 2014 11:16 pm

You guys make me wanna play my new twanger right away. FRUSTRATION. bom

by **corsair** Sun Mar 30, 2014 4:43 am

I'll bet.... I bought a guitar on Newcastle-upon-Tyne some years ago and after 26 weeks, had given it up as lost when it finally turned up on my doorstep in rural southern New Zealand!!

Nervous yet?! Laughing

by Genetic Miscreant Sun Mar 30, 2014 6:03 am

yes...

by gittarasaurus Sun Mar 30, 2014 12:55 pm

i don't have a black one, but i got some reds and some blues…
New to the forum Ry%3D400

this is the UBC pickup from the MX model
New to the forum Ry%3D400

these are the single coils from the MX, notice the cross-head screws for pole pieces
New to the forum Ry%3D400

the SX models have better single coils and have the MMK45 humbucker, notice the hex screw pole pieces
New to the forum Ry%3D400

MX on the left, SX on the right
New to the forum Ry%3D400

by Westbone Sun Mar 30, 2014 2:30 pm

MX= crap pups, SX= good pups. + Different controls.

Thanks g'saurus that explains it.

The SX is a better guitar.

No worries mate, it'll get there, eventually.... pale

by Sgt. Vimes Sun Mar 30, 2014 2:39 pm

The sx also came with ubc pups

by Westbone Sun Mar 30, 2014 2:56 pm

Very good.

So did my x300's but they're mmk 45's ?????

Just a flash sales name.

by **Barry** Sun Mar 30, 2014 3:37 pm

UBC in my SX too. 6'sh KΩ Not a '45.

Also in my ST, DX and S. Crying or Very sad

by Genetic Miscreant Sun Mar 30, 2014 7:08 pm

Dont cry Barry, It'll be ok.
I'll just have to wait and see when it arrives.
Also, I've realised some of you have too many guitars, if you wish to donate some to me I wouldnt turn your good will down. clown

by gittarasaurus Sun Mar 30, 2014 10:03 pm

...too…

…many…

…guitars?!?!…. Roll on Floor Laff

by **corsair** Sun Mar 30, 2014 10:37 pm

He's funny.....

by **Barry** Mon Mar 31, 2014 10:02 am

You 'bin talking to my wife? Pirouette

BTW, all dastardly UBC's have been excised and replaced with pickups that actually produce more than a squeeky mouse fart's output.

by Westbone Mon Mar 31, 2014 10:50 am

What year is your SX Barry? and anyone else's SX that had crap pups.

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