Westone Custom Guitar

Hi, I'm new to site and still learning to navigate.

I have a Westone Custom Guitar. I believe its an Unidentified Matsumoko, probably made in 70's.

I'm after specifics and general information, especially year, current approx value.

Has 5 piece neck through body
Original case and in excellent condition
6 digit serial number (rare)
Think it could be Nobuaki Hayashi (design)

I'm posting pics, so if anyone has any information I would really appreciated.

Very pretty indeed!! Have a squiz through here...

http://www.westoneguitars.net/guitars/unidentified-models/

... could be something similar there, eh!

We're loathe to put a value on anything; best way to establish market value is to put up for sale on one of the internet auction site and see what happens! As pretty as your guitar is, the monetary value probably isn't huge as the Matsumoku values have plateaued out quite markedly....

Boy, it never rains but it pours eh! For years no one had seen this model outside of the one "unknown" example on our website. Then one of our members spots this model for sale on eBay Germany just in the past week. And now you bring us another one!

Thank you for the pictures, and I would like to add them to the website listing if OK with you.

If you've checked out the serial number info on our web site by now you'll know that this is a 1980 build, not 70's and appears to have been a prototype run which may have eventually become the Thunder model.

As for the designer, we have no idea. Hayashi-san was certainly around at Matsumoku and an influential designer, but his name has never come up in our discussions with Tom Presley, Westone's Production Mgr and co-designer. Toshi Owah was apparently "the man" during the Westone years.

I suspect Hayashi was more involved with the Aria Pro II line since his name regularly appears on those products.

For the record, could you give us a description of the controls? That would be most helpful in filling in the gaps in our knowledge base.

Nice to see this, thanks for sharing.  I would agree with Barry.

At those old plants, with things changing rapidly and high demand with new customers, I can see designs getting brand swapped.  Like what happened with this one.  "Hey Westone, let's use this design that we already have"!  We've seen that before.

Thank you so much guys for your responses, really appreciate it.

Barry, happy to have pics posted on website and I have uploaded description of the controls...

With all the controls you have a very broad spectrum of sounds, sustains, deepness plus overdrives all built-in  within the guitar.

Also can you clarify what "active" guitar means for me.  thanks

I have some posts on You Tube under "The Olleoc" with sounds all played with this guitar 'mainly blues etc', in Spanish and English.

Ah-ha!! Another Aussie... excellent!

'Active' in guitar terms generally means that there is an onboard, battery powered pre-amp that when engaged gives a fairish boost to the sound, and that's perhaps what the switch you've labelled as overdrive is.

The 3 way on the upper bout is probably the pickup selector, neck/n&b inner coils/bridge, and perhaps the bottom two switches are coil split and phase reverse??

Thanks for the info.
This has a boost circuit then (what you've labelled as "overdrive")? I'm assuming the mini toggle between the tone knobs controls that.

Have you peeked under the control cover to see if there's a battery in there? There's no separate access as on the Thunder.

Interesting addition of the Variatone switch to the circuit.

..hi, didn't expect such a quick answer,thanks corsair,I guess you're totally right in your descriptions about the selectors,..I notice a battery in the back compartment,that change often,but in my absolute electronic ignorance never questioned myself what it was for,I just play the guitar, which I love deeply ,being a very versatile and enjoyable instrument,I have it for more than 25 years,..again thanks a lot , also to Barry,...good to find this site....

Hi mate! I think I have quite a similar one... It is one GREAT guitar! 

I need to take some new pictures though... These are from 2011

Hello ! I am new here. I am a Guitar Fan for very long years and I know about the good qualitiy of Japanese Guitars. So by acciedend I found a WESTONE exacteley like the guitars above. I just had to repair the Batterie Jack and some cables, now it is running perfectly. I can´t believe I got such a rare guitar !

Hi KingKrissi, 
lucky you! I was after that beauty on ebay-kleinanzeigen lately, too. However, the previous owner didn't want to send it via mail. If you paid the price he wanted - congratulations! That was a true bargain. Even though the knobs are not original, it still is a beauty and plays absoulutely fantasically. I've got two of them and I can tell they are by far my most  favourite axes in selection. Cheers!

Yeah, the knobs suck, but the guitar is gorgeous! Congratulations.

Thank you for the warm welcome and the congratulations for getting this guitar. To be honest I did not know anything about this guitar only that it was an old japanese guitar. So I really got this by accident ;-)
I like the guitar and I have enough knobs from old japanese ladies to change this.
So if you don´t hear from me - I am playing. The best tone is Westone !

The best tone is Westone

Hmm... where have I seen this before? 
http://matsumoku.org/models/ariaproii/ts/ts.html

jorg wrote:Hmm... where have I seen this before? 
http://matsumoku.org/models/ariaproii/ts/ts.html

Not too surprising eh?

... I have one of these customs ...has three knobs in a straight row parallel to the strings and three switches in a line parallel beneath the knobs .. different arrangement from what is pictured here but same function ... same case as the first guitar in the forum ironically .. also it is walnut with cream DiMarzios and input jack is in the bottom edge of the tail not the face..

If it is the same as the ARIA TS-600 Transition model, as noted by Jorg, the two lower switches are phase and coil cut, with the one between the knobs being the boost.

Wasn't Westone the proprietary label from Matsumoko?  I seem to recall reading something like that not so very long ago.  if this is true, the Aria TS 600 would likely be the "re-branded" model .

ExFender wrote:...Wasn't Westone the proprietary label from Matsumoko?

Yes sir.

  if this is true, the Aria TS 600 would likely be the "re-branded" model

Very likely. But it's a toss up as to which version came first, Aria Pro II or Westone.

knobs in a complete straight line with dots on body .. I have a fender deluxe plus with a rosewood fretboard and the westone is every bit as good in quality ..

The Aria Pro II TS models started with a 6 in line Fender style head in '79 I believe. I've also seen them with the '79 "transition" head as well as this 3+3 head from around 1980. So far, if I remember correctly, all of these Westones have a 1980 serial. Unless you can find a Westone with a 6 in line head or an earlier serial, I would tend to think it was initially released as an AP2.

Hello, I am luc from France.

Many Japan Guitars in my collection. 5 or 6 years ago, I bought a nice guitar, same as ones you show in this topic. particularity is mine is badged Westminster. but definitely the same. 

strangely, I have to other WESTMINSTER define as unknown WESTONE.

unidentified WESTONE model 9 is my is my EG400B Westminster according to the 1976 Westminster catalog
unidentified Westone model 7 is my SA280R Westminster also according to the same catalog  

And the mystery deepens ...

Luc, merci pour les excellentes photos!
I don't think we have any information on the wiring so these are very helpful.

Interesting to see point to point component soldering construction here. This predates the conversion to a PC board as in the active Thunders.

If you're knowledgeable in such things I suppose you could read the values of the components and get some clue as to how the boost circuit was built.

Not surprised about the Westminister badging. This was very common for Matsumoku at the time.

Not surprised at all. Another '80 serial. . .

Barry wrote:Luc, merci pour les excellentes photos!
I don't think we have any information on the wiring so these are very helpful.

Interesting to see point to point component soldering construction here. This predates the conversion to a PC board as in the active Thunders.

If you're knowledgeable in such things I suppose you could read the values of the components and get some clue as to how the boost circuit was built.

Not surprised about the Westminister badging. This was very common for Matsumoku at the time.

 Hi Barry,

ok, I have to open it once more, but if it can help, it's a pleasure. I'll try to take as much pictures as possible and try to give you the components values.

About Westminster, it is not a common badge in France. When I look after one, they usually are in eastern Europe...

Thank you Luc. Not absolutely needed but nice to have in the archives.
Take your time, no rush.

So, I made many pictures, hope they will help.

Wow!
Those are wonderful pictures, and should be very helpful for any members who have a similar guitar or who might need to repair or rebuild this type of circuit.

What beautiful workmanship on a point to point construction.

Merci beaucoup Luc!

Merci,

Great photos Luc!  I haven't had the chance to really dive into the back of mine, other to check the battery.

MANY thanks!
Pete

my pleasure  . I tried to find a wiring diagram... no way.

Hi all, first post here. Came across this thread as I just learned about the Westone/Aria connection. I have an Aria pro ii TS-600. Not sure about the year or anything else about it though -- headstock and location of switches are different from what I have seen on Aria's sites. It does look more like the Westones with the Aria headstock.