loula Posted February 1, 2014 Posted February 1, 2014 [font=trebuchet ms,helvetica,sans-serif]Joined this forum hoping to find a Westone Rail for sale. [/font] [font=trebuchet ms,helvetica,sans-serif]In the mean time, was looking for any bass that was nearby and cheap, to have a play around on and to maybe chop as a bit of a project. Found a woman on my local facebook buying and selling page with a "red" bass guitar for sale. I wasn't that bothered as to what it was, and she was selling it an amp, lead, tuner and pedal for £40. Whatever it is, that will do nicely, I thought. [/font] [font=trebuchet ms,helvetica,sans-serif]Turns out it's a 1983 Westone Thunder 1A Bass. Not the Westone I wanted, but weird that I end up with one at all. [/font] So yeah, I now have my very own bass. Let the fun begin. Quote
Len_derby Posted February 1, 2014 Posted February 1, 2014 Sounds like it's all 'meant to be'. Have fun, and let us know how things are going. Quote
discreet Posted February 1, 2014 Posted February 1, 2014 Bass, amp, lead, tuner and pedal for £40? That surely must be a record. Quote
stu_g Posted February 1, 2014 Posted February 1, 2014 bargain for £40 cant go wrong with a westone thunder Quote
TheGreek Posted February 1, 2014 Posted February 1, 2014 What a coincidence - my first bass was a Westone Thunder 1A!!! That's where it ends though - mine had a natural finish... Quote
loula Posted February 1, 2014 Author Posted February 1, 2014 Well the good news is the amp and the lead both work; however, I get nothing when I plug in the bass itself. Is there a thread someone can point me to for diagnosing what's up? Quote
Lozz196 Posted February 1, 2014 Posted February 1, 2014 Is it active? If so, new battery first. If not active, or if it is but new battery doesn`t sort it, probably either a solder joint failed, or maybe one of the pots (potentionmeters) has given up. Welcome to the forum btw, nice first bass - I used to long for one of those when I was just starting out. Quote
loula Posted February 1, 2014 Author Posted February 1, 2014 Aha! Thunder 1As are active and passive, so I thought it should still work without needing to change the battery. And it did!... Once I'd flicked it over to passive hahaha newb. Still, that means for £40 I've done pretty well as it all works. Now in tune and in business! Quote
Turk Posted February 2, 2014 Posted February 2, 2014 (edited) Going by the prices in these listings, for £40, I'd say you did reasonably well. [url="http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Westone-Thunder-1a-Active-Bass-Guitar-/251430418272?pt=UK_Musical_Instruments_Guitars_CV&hash=item3a8a6bb760"]http://www.ebay.co.u...=item3a8a6bb760[/url] [url="http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Westone-Thunder-I-Bass-Guitar-Version-1-Matsumoko-1982-L-K-/261386753198?pt=UK_Musical_Instruments_Guitars_CV&hash=item3cdbdd54ae"]http://www.ebay.co.u...=item3cdbdd54ae[/url] [url="http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Westone-Thunder-1-Bass-Guitar-Red-very-rare-and-collectable-owned-for-25yrs-COC-/141177670721?pt=UK_Musical_Instruments_Guitars_CV&hash=item20ded84c41"]http://www.ebay.co.u...=item20ded84c41[/url] Edited February 2, 2014 by Turk Quote
madshadows Posted February 2, 2014 Posted February 2, 2014 Great buy for £40 !! well done, what's the name of the facebook group you found it on? John Quote
Bassassin Posted February 2, 2014 Posted February 2, 2014 Hi Loula - £40 for a Thunder 1a as a great score and these are excellent basses. Stick around and no doubt someone will be selling a Rail sooner or later, a few members have them - there's a fair bit of passion for Westones and other Japanese basses from the 70s & 80s. Jon. Quote
adam87 Posted February 2, 2014 Posted February 2, 2014 Wow I thought I done well just finding a bass for £35. You found a proper bargain! Nice! Quote
rogerstodge Posted February 2, 2014 Posted February 2, 2014 [quote name='TheGreek' timestamp='1391289721' post='2355517'] What a coincidence - my first bass was a Westone Thunder 1A!!! That's where it ends though - mine had a natural finish... [/quote]i thought everones 1st bass was a westone thunder 1A Quote
DarkHeart Posted February 2, 2014 Posted February 2, 2014 Hi Loula, did you know there is a Westone forum? Im a fellow Westone owner with a headless quantum and also a member of that forum . Welcome to BC. http://forum.westoneguitars.net/ Quote
Lozz196 Posted February 2, 2014 Posted February 2, 2014 [quote name='rogerstodge' timestamp='1391349902' post='2356048'] i thought everones 1st bass was a westone thunder 1A [/quote] If only. They were wayyyyy too expensive for me when I started out - a Kay EB-0 copy with higher action than scale length was my limits. Quote
loula Posted February 3, 2014 Author Posted February 3, 2014 Thanks Myke and Dave - I feel I'm off to a good start. Turk - those links are very informative! Money I can now put aside for my, what's is it you guys would call it? GAS fund...? John - it was a facebook page called Buyandsellsomerset Jon - I'm certainly hoping that's the case! If you see one, let me know. Please! adam87 - £35 for a bass still sounds like a bargain to me. I was just lucky. It's not in perfect condition, but it plays so it's good enough for me for now. rogerstodge - I had no idea they were so common. Probably the only time I'll be in the same boat as other BCers! DarkHeart - I had seen a couple of Westone sites but google results for ones for sale led me here. Will have a look there soon, thanks Kev - it sure seems that way from everyone's comments. Woohoo! Lozz196 - You can always have mine when I get my rail if you want... Quote
Dad3353 Posted February 3, 2014 Posted February 3, 2014 Good evening, Loula, and welcome to the forum... Just a word, could be useful; if there's a dead battery in the battery compartment, take it out (and dispose of it safely...). An old battery can (read: usually will...) leak, and spread gooey substances inside the instrument. Not good. Hope this helps, although you may already know this. Just sayin'... Quote
RhysP Posted February 3, 2014 Posted February 3, 2014 A great bass for a daft price - excellent find! Quote
Dom in Dorset Posted February 3, 2014 Posted February 3, 2014 Wow that's a bargain , I can't say I've ever seen a red Westone before. Welcome aboard and check out the events page , there's a Dorset and Somerset bass bash coming up soon. Quote
OldG Posted February 3, 2014 Posted February 3, 2014 [quote name='rogerstodge' timestamp='1391349902' post='2356048'] i thought everones 1st bass was a westone thunder 1A [/quote] [quote name='Lozz196' timestamp='1391373350' post='2356469'] If only. They were wayyyyy too expensive for me when I started out - a Kay EB-0 copy with higher action than scale length was my limits. [/quote] Same here... A Westone was highly coveted - and that's a very accurate description of the Kay... wish I still had the little valve amp I used to play it through. Quote
CamdenRob Posted February 3, 2014 Posted February 3, 2014 I've always had a bit of a soft spot for westone thunders... I can't really justify buying one but I do think they look good. Quote
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