Questions about the 1983 Raider II basses...

Hello to everyone from a new member/new Raider II owner in Denmark, Europa... :-)

Today I was (finally) able to become the owner of a very nice '83 Fire Red Raider II bass in it's equally very nice original case...

As far as I am able to discover, the Raider I & II series basses were produced only in 1983 and 1984...

My questions are as follows:

1.) Does anyone here know the actual number of Raider II basses produced in 1983...?

2.) Does anyone know the starting serial nr. and ending serial nr. for the above...?

3.) Does anyone know roughly how many of the above basses still exist to this day - is there any sort of owner database...?

I thank you all in advance for whatever answers, advice or help anyone may offer...

Sincerely,
Eric :-)

Hi Eric,
Matsumoku (and most Japanese factories) have used their serial numbers quite randomly, canged the layout a couple of times and haven't recorded which number was used for which guitar.
It is very unlikely that the Raider basses have a logical follow-up of numbers and very unlikely someone, somewhere has kept track of how many guitars were build.

A community member of a Matsumoku group has been collecting serial numbers for years and has collected all the data known to men in one document.
It is the best serial number source available.

This is the 2021 version, number 4.

Thank you very much, BQ - I have downloaded that foto...

BQmusic wrote:...Matsumoku...have used their serial numbers quite randomly

BQ, please see the front page of our website for Westone serial number information. (Click on the link in the menu bar above)

Although the numbering system changed slightly over the years, there is at least consistency in the manufacturing date so far as we have determined.

The system also holds true for other major Mats labels such as Vantage and Aria Pro II.

It is very unlikely that the Raider basses have a logical follow-up of numbers and very unlikely someone, somewhere has kept track of how many guitars were build.

If you read Tom Presley's information in the History section of the website he does specify the production runs of a few Westone models such as Pantera and Dimension IV, but as a rule production numbers have been lost for most models.

A community member of a Matsumoku group has been collecting serial numbers for years and has collected all the data known to men in one document.
It is the best serial number source available.

Thank you for bringing this poster to the Forum. Who created this?

Unfortunately an image figure is too blurry to read easily, is there any way we could get a larger, clear PDF version?

It would be helpful to cross reference that info with ours.