Say hello...

Hi all, quick intro: Tom's the name, partial to a guitar or two, and have an unhealthy interest in Matsumoku instruments for reasons I'll go into eventually. Based near Norwich, UK, but often found in various parts of the world for work, unexpected extended stays somewhere will inevitably result in another instrument purchased. Here I am:


(on the left). A bit dull, sensible and practical. So, let's try again:


Better.
Here's a selection of my lot:

Looks like it's 3 pics per post so I'll carry on in a more appropriate "show us your stuff" thread asap. I'll try and get to grips with the photo sizing too.

Welcome here Nanbu.
That's a great cross section of guitars you have there.
(It's also nice to see another Ovation fan.)

Yes, please start a new thread in the Members' Westones forum and let's have a look at your Westies and hear your story!

St Catharines!! The Gretsch acoustic in that photo was procured from Tundra in Hamilton to keep me company for the year I spent there. I'll post a bit more when I get a moment.

I say "Hello" ;-)

Ok, male, 59YO. 

I have a Westone electric guitar, seems to be a prototype from the Matsumoku era. 



Have a nice day !

JerryLee!

We have seen at least one other model like yours before and it's on our website HERE

It likely was a prototype but we have no information on it. So we'd be grateful for anything you can tell us/show us about your guitar.  

Please start a new topic in the Members' Westone forum. Tell us your story and post lots of pictures!

Hi all! 

My name is Mike; 23 years old and been playing bass for almost 3 years now and I already have way too many instruments lol

Among my collection, an '86 Spectrum GT fretless! 





She's been well loved over the years, no shortage of dings and chips but she still plays like a dream! No dead spots or anything. And those pickups!!! Amazingly loud!

You might also be able to see the headstock of her sister bass, an Aria ProII RSB smooth joint series. Also an '86 Matsu! (but much worse for wear, a whole lot of chipping paint and the guts need a little work... I've got it jury rigged to function for now)

I'm thinking of finally getting a soldering kit and giving them both a once over inside and out, just to help keep them in top condition. The fact that these basses are older than me and still look and work so great really speaks to their quality and I'm a lucky dude to have them both in my possession.

Thanks for the add to the forum by the way!

Dirt_Lord_ wrote:...I already have way too many instruments lol

Mike, there's no such thing!

Welcome fellow Canuck!
That is a gorgeous looking bass right there. This is not really the place for pix so please feel free to start a new thread in the Members' Forum and post lots of pictures of your babies!

Hello everyone…new here from Michigan!

Not sure of my model but love the guitar:)


edit: I removed the multiple repeat images --Barry

Hello and welcome neighbour! (I'm in Ontario)

It looks like you have a Challenger model. Cool colour!
You can read about it on our website HERE.
There is also scan of the sales catalogue with the specs available HERE(scroll down)

Simplyme64 wrote:Not sure of my model but love the guitar:)


edit: I removed the multiple repeat images --Barry

Welcome  SimplyMe!  You have a great late 80's, early 90's Korean made Challenger.  I like the unique plum color of yours.

Hey, all...

...just got my first Westone, a Corsair GT (?), appears to be trans purple over a flame finish (photo flame or real, unsure).  The Bendmaster Deluxe has no arm, and the wiring has noise issues, so I've got some work ahead...but I remember getting their catalogs as a teenager, when Trevor Rabin was endorsing 'em...and it's kinda cool to finally get one in hand(s).

I'm a tinkerer, so there may be some mods.  The wiring approach is...well, interesting...?

Hello CAMartin and welcome. Sounds like you're about to have an adventure!
Check out our website if you haven't already for info on wiring LINK

And please start a new thread in the Westone Members forum when you're ready to begin. We love pix.

Very cool, thank you...after looking for many years, it's kinda surreal to own one.  I have to admit that it bit me last night, I had just finally gotten home to sit down with it and the ground wire to the jack went south almost immediately...the trem went from benign to full-floating nightmare...and so on.  It still seems noisy, I figure grounds and solder connections 3 decades old can be very suspect.  I'm a tinkerer, I shall tinker in the coming weeks.  A trem stabilizer will be added pretty soon.

Before you get too carried away: re-flowing the old solder joints might be worth doing if they seem a little 'brittle' or 'cold'.

Circuit noise is usually caused by oxidation of the pot wipers and switch contact points. A liberal spraying with contact cleaner will usually cure the scratchiness and drop outs.

Spray. Work it like a monkey in a mango tree. Repeat.

Westone tremolo bridges, like all trems, usually respond well if set up correctly, you may not need anything to 'stabilize' it.

Yeah, that's all basically on the slate for this weekend.  I'm pretty fried when I get home from work, so it'll be bits and bursts of time 'til then.

Gorgeous axe, though I'm still not entirely sure which Corsair she is....

Hi to all !

I'm starting 2022 with a new guitare i just bought in a second hand shop for twenty five bucks... and it is a WESTONE !
Honestly I never heard about this guitare brand. But despite a poor condition, I recognized a good guitare.

I figured out it might be a THUNDER II-A from 1982/83, but I'm not really sure about and some looks not genuine. Would you be so kind to give me your feeling and expertise on this guitare ?

So I'll certainly ask you few question those next weeks cause I plan to bring it back to shiny !
The tailpiece is broken, one button is sticked and I've no idea if the pickups are working.

Well. Here are the picture

By the way my name is Jacques, and I'm leaving on the shore of the mare nostrum in Marseille.

Oups here are the photos. If you have any comments you’re welcome ! Jacques

Bonjour Ricard13 et bienvenue sur les Forums!

That is a beautiful guitar and the good news is that everything that you have mentioned can be restored or repaired. . . except for one major part.

That broken stop tail! This was made from a pot metal casting and over time the string tension bends and eventually breaks it.

Sadly, this is a proprietary part and unfortunately it is mounted on non-standard centres. That means that there is nothing available which can be dropped in to replace it. It was used on the this Thunder model as well as the Prestige line, and all suffer the same fate eventually.

I'm afraid the only practical solution is to plug the current post holes and re-drill the centres for a standard part. You could machine a replacement out of solid brass but that's expensive.

Je suis désolé de vous annoncer la mauvaise nouvelle.

Hi Barry and thanks for your message.
I’ve realised genuine parts are a bit rare to purchase.
Of course this tailpiece is a strong pain in my… (sorry for my french).
Does anyone as modelised or has got a technical drawing of the tailpiece ? If not I’ll try my best to do something.
Thanks !

I have a tailpiece that supposedly came from a Vantage LP (LP-S Made in Japan). If anyone knows if the spacing is identical, I can send it to Ricard.  It is silver/chrome with studs and inserts, but the finish looks like it has measles .

Hi Pete.
I've wondered about that too, but I've never checked.

According to our Westbone these are, "...an odd size 73mm".
If that's a match, great! (But I won't hold my breath!)

Good luck.

Is that center to center, or the distance between the inside edges?  Mine is 73mm between the inside edges and ~82 C to C.

Damian wasn't specific but I would assume he's referring to C.to.C. measurement. That's the only one that would make sense here methinks.

Hello, I'm Eddie from Pittsburgh. I'm not very forum-savvy so bear with me. I came to research a black Pantera X390 that I just got and it seemed like a cool place so I joined. That's about all, thanks for having me!

P.S. I'll definitely be posting picks of my X390 later.

Hello Eddie and welcome!
You are a fortunate man indeed, there were only 96 copies of the X390 made!
 
If you haven't found it already please check out our website for more information on your guitar here: https://westoneguitars.net/guitars/pantera-series/pantera-deluxe-x390/

Barry wrote:Hello Eddie and welcome!
You are a fortunate man indeed, there were only 96 copies of the X390 made!

Thanks Barry, I love the guitar, it's amazing. I think I have to wait 7 days to post pics (?) but if there's a way to post them now I'd love to share them with y'all.

The waiting period was instigated in order to curb Spam postings, nothing personal.

When you're ready please start a new thread in the Members' Westone Forum.
This thread is meant for introductions and if you post your pics here they will not be searchable in the future.

Barry wrote:The waiting period was instigated in order to curb Spam postings, nothing personal.

Totally understand and I figured it was a preventive measure, a good one at that. And thanks for pointing me in the right direction, I'll be sure to post there after a weeks time!

New to this site. Just bought my first Westone. Presently also have Fender Strat and ESP LTD ec-500. Please check out the pic and perhaps help me determine model / specs? Don’t have it home yet so can’t give any more detail right now. Got the Westone, case, both amps and cables for $300 Cdn. Paid for and pick up tomorrow.

Hello Tebrandon and welcome.

Congrats on the score!
You have what was referred to as the "Python" which was not an actual model but a custom finish made to order.

It was normally offered on the Corsair GT Custom WE7450
Yours differs in the pickup layout but the finish is the same.

You can read more about the Python HERE and HERE

Thanks Barry. I thought it might be the WE5400 Dimension, same pups, but obviously has the snakeskin.

It might possibly be the WE400. The snakeskin was available as a custom option. Anyone with deep enough pockets could have had it done.

SRD here. My westone has been passed around the family like a bad cold. Now I have to find the lost parts. 
Very nice to be here on this website. Thanks. Steve

Welcome SRD.

Thanks

Greetings, fellow Westoners

Mine is a 1985 Thunder Jet bass - which means it's older than I am (only by a couple of years, mind)! How, you may wonder, does such an instrument come to reside in the east midlands of Britain, where I call home? I inherited it from my late father, but he wasn't the original owner. He played it in a church band for many years, and I believe the ownership thereby shifted gradually from the church in general to him in particular.

It's still lovely to play. Been a long road getting used to the balance, but the feel is rock solid and the neck is straight as an arrow. Originally I wondered (ambitiously, given my lack of practical skills) about treating it as a doer-upper, now I'm thinking it's great as-is. Aging better than it's owner, at any rate! Everything is original except for the bridge saddles, which were a little worn. Currently standing in is a cheap set from a spare bridge I had lying around, planning to upgrade these when budget permits

Welcome Spindrift, nice to have you along!
You can't go wrong with a Westie and the Thunders are as solid as they come.

Enjoy the heck out of that bad boy!

Thank you Barry, much appreciated ^^


Agreed - if the world's militaries used bass guitars they'd probably have Thunders!

Howdy y'all! New here and just wanted to say howdy! Long time owner of an all original 1988 Westone Corsair XA1440BK in great condition. And I love it!! 

Sorry...uploaded a pic on here but my old redneck self can't figure out how to get it to post. I'll post a pic one day! LoL!

Edit: Got it figured out, but can't post a pic in my first seven days as a member..which makes perfect sense!! I'll post my 1440 in a week or so!! 

Hello Knowplay and welcome.

Yeah the 7 day wait is an anti-spam measure.
It's annoying but it helps to ensure that bots and nasty people can't flood the forum with cr@p!

When you are ready to post your  pictures please start a new thread in the Members' Westones forum rather than here.

Tell us all about it and document as much as you can, we love stories and pictures!
And it'll make it easier to find in a future search and won't get lost.

Welcome to the clubhouse Knowplay!

Hi all,

I am new here. I recently bought a Westone Thunder 1. I was looking for more information online and came across this forum and the westoneguitars.net website.

I am a longtime 3 chord acoustic strummer. During the pandemic related lockdown I gave playing the guitar more attention. Since then I took some lessons, updated an old Korean-made Squier Bullet with new pots and wiring and took some lessons. 
I went looking for a guitar with perhaps a more versatile sound and landed on the Westone Thunder I because of its single coil/humbucker mode switch. And because of its looks. I think the wood body and brass parts look amazing!

I've played the Westone Thunder for a few weeks now, and I've joined a band of likeminded musicians and used the Westone for 2 of our rehearsals. I've changed some of the settings to lower the action and tried to make it feel more "my own", but I've hardly been playing the Squier anymore.

Based on the information on the website I believe my Westone Thunder I is a version 2. But perhaps it has a neck leftover from the version 1 series. The body has all the characteristics of the version 2 (through-body strining) but the neck has the script logo in all black, instead of gold with black outline. (neckplate says: MATSUMOKU / 2010119 / MADE IN JAPAN). If sometone is interested I can share some pictures.

To finish introducing myself:
Name: Paul Bijlsma
Year of Birth: 1974
Country: The Netherlands
Guitar playing skills: between beginner and novice?
Guitar maintenance skills: can change my own strings, make minor adjustments (saddle height/truss rod), solder in new potentiometers with sloppy solderwork :-)

Gear:
EKO RANGER 6 EL (jumbo body western guitar, with pickup)
Squier Bullet Strat (Korean made, slightly smaller body than Fender Strat)
Westone Thunder I (series 2?)
Boss Katana mkII 100

Have a nice day!
regards,
Paul

Hi Paul and welcome.

As you're discovering the Thunder is a great player with enough tones to cover just about everything.

The coil cut gives an OK imitation of a single coil guitar and it will do in a pinch, but it doesn't really replace that unique Strat single coil sound, so I wouldn't abandon it completely.

New members must wait 7 days before they can post hyperlinks, but please start a new thread in the Members' Westones forum when you can and let us see your Thunder.

Any questions you have can be addressed better when we can see what you're talking about.

Welcome aboard Paul! Congratulations on discovering the joy of Westone instruments

My name is Sami, and I'm from Finland. Recently I decided I want to start playing my very first electric guitar again – a black Westone Spectrum DX, bought from a mate in my early teens. I really like the design and after years of using other brands, I have to admit, the Spectrum DX is not bad. Anyway, as I started doing repair and maintenance on my guitar, I bumped into this community and after a bit of browsing on this site, I'm happy I did.

Here's my guitar. A bit of wear here and there, but that's fine. I was thinking of changing the pickups, but now I kind of feel like restoring it to it's original glory.

I removed the bridge for cleaning the entire guitar. The neck and body are now done. A bit of polish and oiling does wonders to the fingerboard! The string locking mechanism is completely missing, so if anyone has a spare or an idea of where to get one, I'd be happy to hear from you.

Unless someone on here has the whole nut, it'll be hard to snag an original. I went with a Kahler styled lock nut to replace the worn out one on my Westone. Just search Kahler style locknut and you'll see some. Average price will be $30 something.

Hey, just bought a 1983 Thunder 1A in Sunset Red. I play bass in a Covers dad-Band (all genre's, all eras) but lead is my passion - the classic Les Paul/Marshall Plexi combination - just love it. I'd been looking for a new guitar - wanted a Gibson Thunderbird like Johnny Winter played - but then came across this Westone advertised locally and was immediately drawn to the outstanding looks! I've probably heard of Westone before but don't really remember them, but I decided to go and try this one out.

They were advertising 3 from the same era - the reds, the black and the natural. When I got there they had already sold the black and natural - just as well it was the red one I wanted!. Had a really good play around with it and immediately loved it - really easy to play and easy to get a lot of varied tones - bought it (despite the Equalizer switch and/or active circuit not working) and played it 'til my fingers bled (an exaggeration but you know what I mean).

Glad I found this website - what a huge resource! So much experience and passion for the Westone brand!

Hi Robaxeman and welcome here.

Congrats on getting your Thunder. They are as you've discovered, very versatile tone machines and smooth players.

The "A" versions are not really active models at all, but offer a substantial EQ tone boost in the mid range that can be startling loud, hence the "Thunder".

If you not getting a response from the circuit the first thing to check would be the batteries (2 x 9 volt = 18volts!!) These only power the boost circuit, the pickups are standard passive magnetic design and work as in any guitar.

Hi Barry, thanks for the welcome.
Regarding the EQ tone boost, the shop where I bought it put two new batteries in, and also fixed a loose wire, but still nothing. I have some queries regarding which version this is..... It seems to have features of both versions 2 and 3, as described on this site. Perhaps I should start a new thread for that.
As I am soon to retire this will become a project for me...fix it up, clean it up and then play the bejeezus out of it!

Robaxeman wrote:... Perhaps I should start a new thread for that.
As I am soon to retire this will become a project for me...fix it up, clean it up and then play the bejeezus out of it!

Yes please, start a new thread under Members' Westones, this space is just for introductions really.

I'm sure the members here will help with any questions you have with your "project".