Westone Top End Guitar Collection For Sale

Some extremely rare Westone Guitars made in Matsumoto Japan & also modulus graphite England are to be sold on the 8^{th of} March by the reputable auction house of Gardiner & Houlgate.
Two very rare and beautiful L5 size guitars being a sunburst (PO501) and its partner blonde mark ed as King 2 and probably the best that ever came out of Matsumoto, the quality matches any equivalent USA similar model.
Joining these are the Prestige 150, 227 and top of the line prestige 250, rainbow models 1 &2 and a lovely session 2.
The English later Sid Poole designed, and Modulus Graphite made corsair & cutlass round off a Westone collectors dream having been mine! adding to this some Electra MPC guitars please do not miss out on bidding which you can do live from anywhere!
Here a link to the digital catalogue  https://issuu.com/gardinerhoulgate/docs/guitar_catalogue_march_2023_compressed?fr=sZTVlMDU0MzUzMDg
 
Here the main site which explains how you can bid buy etc, my current medical condition has forced the sale of my prized collection and I wish you all the best!
https://auctions.gardinerhoulgate.co.uk/?gclid=EAIaIQobChMIgJKS5Jak_QIVyuvtCh0SUAGTEAAYASAAEgKOTfD_BwE

that is some huge collection! i found 21 Westone guitars in the catalog. (there are 2 left handed Westies listed, Concord, Paduak)
the estimated prices seem quite reasonable, and with so many more expensive guitars for sale, i would guess the Westones will go for good prices.

King, Session, Prestige, Rainbow, Thunder, Concord, Paduak, Spectrum, Sid Poole Corsair

among all the Gibson and Fenders and others, there are also some Electra MPC guitars, Aria Pro too

to make it easier on anybody else looking, here are the lot numbers for the Westone guitars i found:
63, 64, 78, 81, 83, 86, 93, 95, 98, 99, 101, 104, 105, 115, 277, 507, 626, 684, 685, 687, 702

too bad for those of us in the US or Canada though.
26% buyers premium, plus packaging and international shipping, kinda kills the chance to get a good deal.

Thanks for taking time to do this Mike.

I had a brief look late last night and it wasn't immediately apparent just where to find the Westies. But they are there alright.

Interested viewers can also use the "Find" utility (magnifying glass icon) in the bottom right corner to search for something specific.

Mmmmmm nice Spectrum FX there and the auction is close to Don Towers.

Hi Elaine,

Thank you for posting. A fine collection indeed. The auction catalogue says Lot 83, the 1983 Session II has an electrical issue, either jack or earth. Would you happen to know what the issue might be?

Good luck with the sale (and wish me luck bidding:-)

Apologies if I've double posted this message. I'm new to the Forum and site and to these lovely instruments but recently acquired a Japanese acoustic from 70s/80s period and am getting the bug very badly.

Message sent earlier re the auction of Elaine's instruments:
"Hi Elaine,

Thank you for posting. A fine collection indeed. The auction catalogue says Lot 83, the 1983 Session II has an electrical issue, either jack or earth. Would you happen to know what the issue might be?

Good luck with the sale (and wish me luck bidding:-)"

Wonky, I could be wrong but I think Elaine joined the forum to promote the auction rather than participate in discussion. Auctioneers are not necessarily experts in the items they sell.

In any event I think she has already stated what the apparent problem is and quite honestly a jack would be a simple repair: either clean the contacts, solder a loose connection, or replace it altogether.

From experience, most jack related problems are caused by oxidation on the contacts which causes crackling and signal cutout . Easily fixed with contact cleaner and/or light rubbing with fine abrasive paper.

If you are interested in this guitar, I'd not hesitate if that's your only concern.

Thank you for getting back to me Barry. It’s auction viewing tomorrow and Tuesday, 6th and 7th, and although it’s a drive I’m going to get along at some point. I’ll take a replacement cable and see if they’ll let me test it. The price will be plus 26.4% buyers fees so if the electrical problem is internal then I wouldn’t be confident I could fix it myself in which case luthier costs would make it prohibitive for me. I greatly appreciate your thoughts and feedback Barry. Best, K

POST-AUCTION UPDATE:

Wow.

When the auctioneer got to the Westone's on day 1 he announced that the seller had lodged 70 instruments for sale from their collection.

For several lots competing international bids were being placed, at one point France, Italy, Switzerland, UAE, UK, US all bidding for the same instruments.

The Westone archtops I had my eye on began bidding way above the estimate putting them out of my range, including a lovely Morris acoustic which was estimated as £150-£250 but bidding opened at £520.

In the end I wasn't able to get to the auction room. Instead I bid blind online, an absolute no-no.

And ended up with a 1983 Westone Rainbow I version 2 in vintage walnut with original fitted case, and an immaculate Westone strap.

It is utterly lovely. Plays like a dream. I am in love.

Thank you Westone Forum for being an invaluable resource when I was researching these extraordinary Japanese instruments.

I will post photos in due course, but for now I have to go stroke my Westy.

Wow indeed!

Thanks for the report and congratulations on getting the Rainbow! It's a beautiful model.
Looking forward to seeing her.

I love an happy ending! *sniff*