1991 Westone Dan Armstrong Signature Series "Shark" prototype - 1 of 5 made

guitarz.blogspot.com:

Here's an intriguing prototype guitar, the result of a collaboration between Dan Armstrong and Westone Guitars. It's a Westone Dan Armstrong Signature Series "Shark" prototype from 1991.

The guitar features a licensed Floyd Rose tremolo, Dan Armstrong Mini humbucker and Dan Armstrong Monster triple-coiled pickups mounted on a body that is somewhere between a Stratocaster and a Mustang in design. For more information please see: www.danarmstrong.org/westone.html, www.vintagesilvertones.com/forsale_westone_dan_armstrong.html and www.westone.info/danarmstrong.html.

Currently listed on eBay with a very reasonable sounding Buy It Now price of US $499.

G L Wilson

© 2014, Guitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - the blog that goes all the way to 11!
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1980s Westone Rail Bass headless design with sliding pickup

guitarz.blogspot.com:

Hello!

I'm a casual bass player with a lifetime goal to eventually become a bit better than at the moment. I first heard about Westone's Rail Bass in your blog (http://guitarz.blogspot.fi/2009/04/westone-rail-bass.html), and now a couple of years later I finally bought one on eBay. Cost me a bit less than 500 euros (£380, $650). Even though red is the least cool color it was produced in, I love the way it looks. Attached are a couple of photos of the bass and its sliding pickup. You can use them in the blog or store them in the archives.

Cheers,
Jorma Kim
Finland

Very nice. Thanks for the photos! - GLW

© 2014, Guitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - the blog that goes all the way to 11!
Please read our photo and content policy.

Westone Corsair Classic - a Sid Poole-designed beauty

guitarz.blogspot.com:

I really like the design of this Westone Corsair Classic, it looks almost as if a Fender Stratocaster has been given the Gibson Junior treatment. Or perhaps a slightly offset version of Fender's Lead series guitars.

Of course this is one of the Sid Poole designed Prestige-series Westones built in the UK by the makers of the Status Graphite bass. It's virtually identical to the Westone Cutlass which differs only in pickup configuration.

This guitar is currently listed on eBay UK with a wholly reasonable Buy It Now price of £400. Alas, the seller specifies collection in person, which is quite a bummer if the prospective buyer is not within easy travelling distance of Swindon in Wiltshire, and is also peculiar given that the guitar comes in a hard case which looks like it'd easily provide adequate protection against the rigours of being sent by courier.

G L Wilson

© 2013, Guitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - the blog that goes all the way to 11!
Please read our photo and content policy.

Electra Westone X-700JB Futura Bass, Made In Japan circa 1984

guitarz.blogspot.com:

Ah, you know we're big fans of Japanese-made guitars here at Guitarz, particularly those from the now legendary Matsumoku factory (could they ever do any wrong?), so I can't help myself showing this Electra Westone X-700JB Futura Bass which is pointy and Explorer-y in a very 1980s way but you only have to take one look at it and you know that it's going to handle well and perform perfectly. The design will not appeal to everyone, I mean it's going to look a bit out of place in your Bluegrass band, but as far as I'm concerned it's biggest problem is that it's got too many names! "Electra Westone X-700JB Futura" is quite a mouthful.

This bass is interesting from a historical point of view as in 1984 the brands Electra and Westone (both used by Saint Louis Music from the 1970s onwards on their imported guitars) were merged. A year later, however, the brandname - which I have already noted was rather a mouthful - was shortened to simply "Westone". It was also the in-house brand for Japan's Matsumoku factory for a while, before production was moved to Korea in the late 1980s (not to mention certain high-end models being made by Status Graphite in England, but that's another story).

This bass is currently listed on eBay with a starting price of $399.99 and no bids at the time of writing with just under a day before the end of the listing.

G L Wilson

© 2013, Guitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - the blog that goes all the way to 11!
Please read our photo and content policy.

Westone Clipper Six ... someone please snap this one up!

guitarz.blogspot.com:

As I write this blog entry there are 17 hours left on the eBay UK listing for this Westone Clipper Six. Here's my recommendation: someone out there, snap this up soonest! I'd buy it myself if I wasn't financially embarrassed. It's a 1986 Matsumoku-made Japanese Westone guitar and has a Buy It Now price of £155. What more could you want?

It's a simple no-nonsense guitar, as the seller points out:

Slab hardwood body, maple neck with a beautiful genuine ebony fingerboard. Westone engraved genuine Gotoh tuners.Tele style through body bridge. The slant pickup is unique. This is NOT a humbucker, but 2 seperate single coils on 1 baseplate, that can be switched on or off using the 2 toggle switches. Single vol, no tone and a nice tight jack socket.

The singer of a band I was in during the tail-end of the 1980s had one of these guitars; he only used it on one or two songs, and despite the fact that I had a pair of Fenders (a Strat and a Tele), I always secretly coveted his guitar. It was such a nice player.

And yes, it does have a Telecaster thing going on stylistically (so much so that Status Quo's Francis Rossi and Rick Parfitt were roped in to advertise it in the music press), although the sharp lower horn is a nice departure from the original Tele design.

If you do buy it, please tell us in the comments below.

G L Wilson

© 2013, Guitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - the blog that goes all the way to 11!
Please read our photo and content policy.

Custom headless doubleneck guitar and bass

guitarz.blogspot.com:

Unfortunately I was too slow in getting to feature this headless doubleneck guitar/bass combo before the eBay auction finished. It's not the most elegant of creations but it's certainly a headturner. I'll let the seller describe it for you:

This is a working instrument, built in the early eighties, intended to be part of a Rush covers band. In spite of being a bit rough at the edges, the visual impact of this machine on stage is spectacular.

The necks for this instrument are Japanese, from a company called Westone. Both necks are very well set up with low actions and good intonation. They still feel in very good condition, as this certainly hasn't been played much for a 30 year old axe!

The body is all mahogany [...] The machine heads are all Schaller M4 and M6 chrome [...] The pickups are 80s DiMarzio models [...] The guitar has two Super II humbuckers, made popular by Paul Stanley, the guitarist in Kiss [...] The bass has a "Model G" humbucker, which was the same as the famous Wal bass Model 1, but packaged for a standard guitar pickup mount.

Both sides have their own volume level knobs, which are also coil tap pull switches. The guitar additionally has a 3 position mini-toggle pickup selector switch. There is a single stereo jack output keeping the necks as separate signals...

This instrument eventually sold for £365.76 on eBay UK after 26 bids.

G L Wilson

© 2012, Guitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - 10 years and counting!

Matsumoku-made Westone Thunder III guitar from 1983

guitarz.blogspot.com:

It's funny how your perception changes over time. I remember thinking, back in the day when they were being produced, that Westone guitars were all rather ugly - although I would have been first to admit that they were "ugly ducklings" by which I mean that the quality of the build and the playability meant they were really quite elegant swans beneath the ugly duckling appearance. (Errmmm... perhaps, I've carried that metaphor a little too far).

Anyway, back in 1983, this Westone Thunder III was the top of the Thunder range and features all maple construction, a very modern and comfortable heel-less set neck, and coil taps/phase reversal switches for the humbucker pickup, which is - unusually by present day standards - the middle pickup in a three-pickup S-H-S layout. It's the kind of pickup layout that makes you question why so many modern guitar manufacturers stick rigidly to the same few tried and trusted ways of doing things and don't try anything different from the norm anymore.

This guitar is currently listed on eBay UK with bidding currently just over £30 at the time of writing. Japanese-made Westone guitars have more than kept their value over the last thirty years and examples often change hands these days for sums in excess of their original retail price in the 1980s.

G L Wilson

© 2012, Guitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - now in its 10th year!

1981 Westone doublecut electric guitar

guitarz.blogspot.com:  

Kaizerart, the French seller of this Westone doublecut guitar from 1981 refers to it as being "70 Years" model, a reference that is lost on me. It's one of the earlier Japanese-made Westones from the 1980s, from before the better known models such as the Thunder, Concorde and Spectrum series. It's essentially a double cutaway Les Paul style guitar (albeit with simpler controls), with an arched top, set neck, and Bordeaux red finish.

This guitar is currently being offered for sale on EBay France with over five days left for the auction to run and with bidding currently just over €50 at the time of writing. If anyone can explain the "70 Years" reference to me, please leave a note in the comments.

G L Wilson

© 2012, Guitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - now in its 10th year!

Japanese-made Westone guitar from 1964? I'd aways thought they were from the 1980s

guitarz.blogspot.com:

We've looked at several Westone guitars previously here at Guitarz. As we've mentioned before, Westone was the house-brand of Japan's Matsumoku factory with guitars being produced from 1981-1988. The Westone name was later used for the Westone "Prestige" series with guitars being made in the UK, and even later in the 1990s the Westone name was applied to Chinese and Korean-made instruments.

What I have not been sure about, however, is the origin of the Westone name. I had assumed the story started with Matsumoku in the 1980s, but pictured above we see a generic-looking Japanese solidbody electric guitar from the 1960s (this particular example being circa 1964) and which clearly shows the Westone name on the headstock. Evidence that the name was around a lot earlier than the 1980s.

I can only surmise that the brandname was resurrected by Matsumoku in the 1980s from an earlier brandname appearing on certain Japanese-made guitars. The seller of the above-pictured instrument (recently was offered for sale on eBay) has commented that this particular model was also available under the Kent brandname.

So, if anyone out there knows more about these early 1960s-era Westones, please do let us know. The only literature that I can find about this name states that it was a "new" brand of the Matusumoku company as of 1981, but clearly this is not true.

G L Wilson

© 2011, Guitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - now in its 10th year!

Westone Cutlass designed by Sid Poole

guitarz.blogspot.com:

On seeing the Westone name you'd be forgiven for thinking that here was another Japanese Matsumoku-made guitar. However, as part of Westone's 1990s-era Prestige series, the Westone Cutlass was actually made in the UK by Status, known for their Status Graphite basses which started out as a headless design in the 1980s.

(The Westone Cutlass pictured here however, is not headless. It's just a bad photograph. I do wish that eBay sellers would always include at least one photograph of the entire length of the guitar, face-on, and not cut parts off, e.g. the headstock as in this case.)

The design, which appears to be somewhere between a Fender Lead II and a G&L SC-2, was by legendary British guitar maker, Sid Poole.

This is a quality British-made guitar, which would have orignally retailed at around £500. The auction for this example is ending very soon; with bidding currently at less than £100 at the time of writing, someone could end up with a very nice guitar at a very nice price.

G L Wilson

© 2011, Guitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - now in its 10th year!

1980s Westone Thunder III guitar with S/H/S pickup formation

guitarz.blogspot.com:

Here's another from Japanese guitar-maker Matsumoku's own Westone brandname, the top of the line in the Thunder series, the Westone Thunder III guitar. It's one of the few production model guitars that I know of to feature three pickups in a S/H/S formation (i.e. single coils at neck and bridge positions and a humbucker in the centre position). Having played a guitar with this pickup formation, I can personally atest that it is a very useful layout with the ability to produce some great tones, so I have to wonder why we don't see more guitars with this layout. I can only assume it's that sense of the unadventurous that plagues the modern-day guitar world; sticking to the tried and tested, and not wanting to try anything just a little different or off the wall.

The controls on this Westone consist of a master volume and two tones, a 3-way pickup selector for the single coil pickups, a 'mix sound' switch for centre humbucker, plus 3-way coil tap switch for the humbucker, and a phase switch. I reckon that ought to make for a pretty damn versatile guitar!

Thanks to James Davies who saw this being auctioned on eBay, where it has a starting price of £249 and with no bids as I type this.

G L Wilson

© 2011, Guitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - now in its 10th year!

Westone Spectrum MX from 1985 in red cellophane finish

guitarz.blogspot.com:

Here's another "Spectrum"-named guitar from Japan, this one bringing proof that Haryama weren't the only Japanese guitar makers in the 1980s producing cellophane finishes. This Westone Spectrum MX is a Matsumoku-made guitar (yes, them again!), Westone being their house brand. Features are a 25.5" scale length, 22 frets, solid Maple body, Hard Maple neck and fingerboard (so it could well be heavy). Pickups are two Magnaflux III singlecoils, and a Magnaflux I UBC (unbalanced coil) humbucker in the bridge position. Controls are a 5-way pickup selector, single volume and single tone - the latter being a push/pull switch for coil tap. The guitar also features a floating tremolo system.

The Westone Spectrum MX was produced between 1985-1986 and was also offered in an all-over blue finish.

This guitar is currently being offered for sale on eBay with a Buy It Now price of $429, and the seller points out that the middle pickup is currently not working and so will need some attention.

G L Wilson

© 2011, Guitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - now in its 10th year!

Westone Raider Bass

guitarz.blogspot.com:

...and there was a Westone Raider bass too, seen here in the afore-mentioned two-tone silver flake finish! This is currently being offered for sale on eBay UK with a Buy It Now price of £275, which is well over twice what it would have cost back in 1983 when it was new.

G L Wilson

© 2011, Guitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - now in its 10th year!

Westone Raider I

guitarz.blogspot.com:

Recently on Guitarz we've been looking at several of the 1980s Matsumoko-made Westone guitars. The above-pictured guitar is another of the pointier examples of the species, the Westone Raider I, this one currently being offered for sale on eBay UK, with the auction ending in just over 12 hours as I type this.

Of course, with a pointy guitar of this age there are the inevitable knocks to the extremities, but that considered this example looks to be in very good condition.

When we looked at the Westone X5RD Monark the other day, Grk! commented "I've a soft spot for Westone's pointy guitars. The only really gruesome one is the Raider, especially with that two-tone sparkle. Have you ever seen any actual metallers play one of those? I've only seen it on the cover of a Culture Club single & being twanged by one of We've Got a Fuzzbox & We're Gonna Use It!"

Well as I recall, it was one of the cheapest guitars in the Westone catalogue at the time so perhaps many bands thought it was too "budget" to be seen with. But I also remember The Damned appearing on the BBC comedy show The Young Ones in 1984 with guitarist Roman Jugg using a Westone Raider I in two-tone glitter finish. (The Damned later toured their "Phantasmagoria" album with lead singer Dave Vanian playing this same guitar for one song each night.)

G L Wilson

© 2011, Guitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - now in its 10th year!

Westone X5RD Monark

guitarz.blogspot.com:

Now do you see what I mean about Westones often being ugly?

Yes, this is another Japanese Matsumoko-made Westone guitar from the 1980s. I'd guess mid-80s because it seemed that about then every guitar manufacturer was trying to come up with some twist of their own on the V-design. This Westone X5RD Monark looks like a sawn-off Flying V, or else an inverted Jackson Randy Rhoads style. In keeping with guitars of this ilk it is very very pointy; it's another one you could impale yourself on.

G L Wilson

© 2011, Guitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - now in its 10th year!

Westone Rainbow 1981 semi-hollow body

guitarz.blogspot.com:

Westone Guitars, built by the now legendary Matsumoko factory of Japan, were hugely popular in the 1980s and rightly so. They were exceedingly well built but at the same time were usually very affordable. The one drawback, for me at least, was that many of their models were decidedly ugly looking (which didn't stop me owning a Westone Thunder I-A fretless bass). This one, however, the Westone Rainbow from 1981 is quite a beauty, which I guess is understandable seeing as it was their top of the range model at the time. Obviously it's inspired by the Gibson 335 semi-hollow body, and I'd guess that it'd have the same construction featuring the solid block through the middle of the body. This example also features a discrete flower design, which is said to be original to the guitar and not a later addition (the seller says it was a "review model").

This guitar is currently being offered for sale on eBay, and with less than eight hours to go as I type this it has garnered quite a lot of interest and bids already.

G L Wilson

© 2011, Guitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - now in its 10th year!

Westone Super Headless Bass #2

guitarz.blogspot.com:

Steve Conner writes:

I was reading your Guitarz blog and came across a picture of a Westone Super Headless! I have one too, which I bought second-hand 2 years ago, in McCormack's Music in Glasgow. I couldn't resist the bird's eye maple finish. The frets were badly worn from the previous owner's slapping and popping, but it plays fine, and I used it for quite a few gigs with my old band.

I've attached a pic and would be very happy if you'd feature it.

Steve

Nice one, Steve. I think I prefer that finish to the red and black example we looked at before, as striking as that was.

I notice that this one has different pickups - they were more Jazz Bass-like on the red and black bass (X900TPR). Do you know if yours has a different model designation?

G L Wilson

ADDITIONAL - Steve replies:

Re your question, the Super Headless came in a few different versions:
http://www.westone.info/cats/1985headless/p3.html

The "FS" with single coil pickups and a choice of red or light oak finishes, and the "RC" with humbuckers and birdseye maple, which is the one I've got.

Mine is missing the cover plate with the Westone logo.

Steve

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Westone X900TPR Super Headless Bass

guitarz.blogspot.com:
In the 1980s Westone guitars and basses seemed to be everywhere. Built in the now legendary Matsumoko factory in Japan, these instruments offered high quality at an affordable price. Another factor in their favour was that they had their own original designs and were not merely copies of the same old Fender and Gibson models. I remember when I was looking for a bass guitar on a budget, I ended up buying a new Westone Thunder I-A fretless for £175. There was no way that I was going to buy a "copy", that would not have been cool. Even though I thought the Westone was ugly (and to be honest, I think a lot of their designs were) I could see that it was a well-made instrument.

It's nice to see that these old Westones have kept their value. If I'd kept my old Thunder I-A fretless, I could probably sell it now for over £200. Bearing that in mind, the above-pictured top of the line Westone X900TPR Super Headless Bass seems a mere snip at a Buy It Now price of £299. It is of through-neck construction, as were Westone's higher-end instruments, and features an active EQ. Unlike many Westones, this isn't ugly at all. The curves of the body are quite attractive, to my eyes at least. Note the interesting contouring with a lower-levelled area around the lower horn. This was probably designed to aid the slap and popping style of playing that was popular in the 1980s, but we won't let that detract from the beauty of this bass.

It's nice also to see a headless bass from this period with a full-size body instead of being another minimalist rectangular-shaped Steinberger rip-off.

G L Wilson

NB: There are a lot of blogs STEALING content and bandwidth. If you read this anywhere else but on guitarz.blogspot.com then you are reading a blog that STEALS content. Please support original bloggers!

Westone Rail Bass

Following the introduction of the revolutionary Steinberger bass in the mid-80s the market was soon flooded with cheap copies and clones of these minimalistic small-bodied headless basses.

One of the more unusual was Westone's Rail Bass, as seen here.

The minimalist body looks especially peculiar as it is divided into two sections connected only by two metal rods - the "rails" in the bass's name - upon which sits a sliding pickup. This is a very cunning way of getting a whole bunch of different tones out of a single pickup.

Of course, sliding pickups have been done before - Gibson's Ripper Bass, and Wilkes Guitars "The Answer", but the Westone Rail must be the oddest looking. There was also a Rail 6-string guitar, although this may have been a prototype only, I don't think it ever went into production.

Gene Simmons autographed Westone Warlock bass

This Gene Simmons autographed Westone Warlock bass is quite neat, as apparently he won't sign guitars any more. Being a Westone it ought to be a nice quality instrument too. I had a Westone Thunder I-A fretless bass years back and it was a fantastic bass. I always regret getting rid of that one.

Pictured below is another bass that looks like it should (or could) be played by the Kiss bassmeister himself. Apparently it's a Toshiya bass (never heard of them) and to my eyes it looks as if the design has been based on a left-handed Rickenbacker.