To Buy or not to Buy...

...an '86 Westone X125?

GAS again rears it ugly(?) head !  A nice lady is selling a well kept 125 for what seems to be an attractive price - pick-up only .  I seem to be the only one even interested as she has messaged me three times, but I'm broke at the moment (waiting for an overdue Gov payment ).  I really need this thing like another hole in the head - especially with it classified as an "entry level" model - but I'm kinda thinking of my Son (gotta find a way to distract him from my Thunder) even if it means getting this pup and swapping out the UBC (if necessary).

I've messaged the lady back, clarifying my position and the fact that I've no auto - a 480 Km trip one-way, so I'll see what transpires...  I'm REALLY looking for and electro-acoustic - but this sort of fell into my lap...

Anyone have any experience with this model?

Yup.
I have a black one which I bought from gittarasaurus a few years back. (Have a look on the website for Mike's beautiful white one!)

You can read about my tinkering HERE

I have a special fondness for single pup guitars and I love my Vantage Avengers, so I was happy to add this one to my Westone herd.

It's definitely an entry level build though and doesn't quite come up to the same body standards as the full Spectrum line, but it is very playable and has a nice neck.

The main deviation is that it has only a volume control, no tone. If you read the above thread you'll see that indeed the UBC was the first thing to go. Then it became a bit more problematic finding a replacement that wasn't too shrill and treble-y.

My problem was that I did not want to add a tone control which I felt would have spoiled the nature of the guitar. But it was a thorn in my backside trying to find something that worked for me. In the end I installed a humbucker sized P90 which sounds really good.

And I still have the aesthetic of the single pup single knob. YMMV

The lady wishes 140 Euros for it, which seems fair but my darned SON has been bugging the he*# out of me for the past week about "borrowing" my acoustic/electric and suggesting that my next purchase should be another E/A for HIM !  Little does he know that that is precisely what I had intended all along!  The one I now have (and he wants - like a salivating pup just waiting for the steak to fall off the counter) is a Baton Rouge BR42c (Red Ridge in Ami land) - quite nice in both looks and sound.  I've decided to get an ARIA ADW-01 CE (I'm a bit more partial to ARIA's), even tho this particular model is made in China, for a steal.

If the lady with the Westone goes along with posting it (still waiting for a return reply), I may still get it.

What did you end up with as a replacement pickup in yours?? I have a couple of Duncan SH-8 Invaders laying around.

Pete, I don't think I'd recommend a hot pickup in this guitar unless you plan to EQ it a lot or add a tone control and possibly modify the circuit a bit. The straight output can be on the raw and painful side.

I had previously bought a cheap set of no-name Chinese HB P90's to put in the Squier Bullet Mustang but it was not possible to fit them without a lot of extra work so I left the originals in.

I grabbed the bridge pup one day out of desperation having tried several humbuckers without luck. Eureka! The Alnico P90 sounded just right! Enough spank and clarity without cutting my ears off. Looks good too.

The other option I was entertaining was a lipstick humbucker with a coil split.
You can get a lot of rubbish from Chinese suppliers but every so often you get lucky!

Thanks for the tips, Barry.  right after I wrote the last message, I checked back whether the lady addressed my suggestion and found that the axe was no longer available .  I guess she really was against posting it.  "Problem" solved...  I bought the ARIA E/A last nite instead.

Sort of a closure, the ARIA E/A has arrived.  It's the ADW-01 CE in black - designed in Japan, built in China.  It has never been touched by the previous (first) owner.  Only needed a bit of truss rod work (too much relief for the gauge strings) and the bridge could use a teensy bit of lowering - the nut is okay.  Really surprised at the sound - both straight and amped.  Quite happy I got it.

It was originally intended for my Son, but he's gonna get my Baton Rouge instead

Nice!

Here we go again - GAS attack!

A couple of nice Westies available for reasonable outlay (and a few for WAAAY too much!  Downside is that the two that are the more attractive pricewise are Korean models - a CORSAIR XA1410 and a series II Spectrum SP1012ST - both in very nice condition.

I really like my SP3112 even with its sanded neck (going over it with 400 grit made it much gooder) and an addition of a little "brother" is interesting but I have heard nice talk here about the Corsairs (it is also a good bit pricier than the Spectrum, but looks a lot nicer).

Received a call this morning from the guy with the CORSAIR.  His first question was if I was a collector or player and seemed to be the factor as to whether he would ship it or not (he seems to be an active pro with a YouTube vid with the guitar - https://youtu.be/zNSOhefyVeI).

He offered me shipping, including case, at a considerably reduced total price so the deal was sealed.  Might have it before Xmas .

Way to go Pete! You must have pot of gold stashed away somewhere


One sure way to beat them Covid Blues---get another Westone!

Pot of gold would be nice, but was just some cash that I was able to squirrel away for the two and a half months that I was put out of the loop.  I had promised myself NOT to buy any more guitars 'cause I really wanted to save for the ES-800 Stereo that might someday re-materialize.  Then, I made the cardinal sin of looking thru the Fleabay Kleinanzeige...

NOT a Mats, but...

the Corsair models are some fantastic guitars, among my favorites out of all Westones. great sounding pickups (alnico) and terrific feel to the neck. they also have Westone's unique tone shaper circuit. very versatile guitars, with a large variety of tones available.
Congrats on your new find! you will not be disappointed.

here is my Corsair Deluxe XA1440BK

gittarasaurus wrote:the Corsair models are some fantastic guitars, among my favorites out of all Westones. great sounding pickups (alnico) and terrific feel to the neck. they also have Westone's unique tone shaper circuit. very versatile guitars, with a large variety of tones available.
Congrats on your new find! you will not be disappointed.

here is my Corsair Deluxe XA1440BK

I'm pretty sure your and Corsair's raves about the axe were what prompted me to go for this !

In further correspondence with the seller, he explained why he had listed it as "pick-up only".  The low-side locking thread is partially stripped but still holds, which he wanted to personally point out - told him it's a non-issue with me as long as the locking plates are there (they are).

Should be here tomorrow