Westone Thunder Bass

[deaky]

Hi 

What’s folks opinions on the 80s Japanese Westone basses? Any good? 

I have a chance of picking up a Thunder 1A so any feedback on this model would be much appreciated. 

 

Thanks

 

Deak

[BreadBin]

Don't pay too much, they seem to be strangely overrated at the moment. 

When I was learning bass around 30 years ago they were cheap, but alright. Now there is a growing belief that they were extremely high quality instruments which I don't think they deserve. 

[Skybone]

I remember my Thunder 1A as being a solid and great sounding bass. The biggest downside of them was their weight though. Bloody heavy basses, but when they sound like that, you can manage.

The cachet is coming from people of a certain age, who bought & used them as their first/second instruments, and went on to use them in our first bands. Add to the fact that they have the Matsumoku history, and better build quality than some of the other "budget" instruments of the time, and now that people of a certain age have a bit more time available and a bit more disposable income, then prices start to rise.

Yes, I would have another one, purely for nostalgia purposes, but it'd have to be at the right price.

Saying that, I always wanted a through neck Thunder II or III.

Edited June 9, 2018 by Skybone

[jezzaboy]

There is a black passive model in a Glasgow pawn shop for £150. It`s in the window and I can`t really see what kind of nick it`s in.

[Bassassin]

Great basses with excellent build quality - as has been mentioned, hefty, and with a slight neck-divey tendency, but a bona fide 80s MIJ classic.

Don't pay £200+ Ebay BIN wishful thinking prices - because these were built like tanks & good players out of the box, there are still loads around. Sensible prices have sat around the £150 mark for years & that's still pretty much what you should pay. Badly listed Ebay auctions often go for a fair bit less.

[Brother Jones]

I've never played a bad one. There was a time in the mid eighties when the Thunder 1A was the go-to bass for those of us with a certain budget. And they built an unlined fretless which was the ultimate pose machine. 

I picked up a Spectrum DX (the twin pup one) a few years ago for 80 quid and then gave it away with a couple of things to lucky BC'ers. Not sure I should have let it go - it was like a poor man's Zon Legacy.

They are a strong candidate for investment, as good ones are still available pretty cheap, while their cachet is increasing. 

[deaky]

The one I’m looking at is £200. Is that too much?

[itsmedunc]

22 minutes ago, deaky said:

The one I’m looking at is £200. Is that too much?

Way too much but strangely they are worth it! Great basses but you can get them for £100 give or take. The Thunder 2 and 3 are different animals altogether. Thunder 2 Mk2 methinks and the Thunder 3 are basically the same bass and are really special.

[Bassassin]

Not massively over the odds but IMO it would need to be as-new to justify that. They go for a fair range of prices but as I said, £150 is pretty much the median.

Ebay sold listings.

[MacDaddy]

My first bass - sort of. It was the college bass I learned to play on. 

Sounded good, but as others have said, they're heavy buggers 😋

[Brother Jones]

Prospective Thunder 1A buyers should also note that the active circuit is controlled by a single pot - one way for more treble, the other for more bass. 

It actually works quite well in practice. 

[Krysbass]

Recently stripped out all of the original electronics on my '84 Thunder III and replaced it with  Bartolini P and J pickups and 3-band active eq. While i was about it; i replaced the original tuners with Gotoh lightweight items which has gone a long way to reducing the neck dive.

The pickup blend control instead of the original pickup switch and the 3-band eq are a huge improvement on what was possible using the original controls. 

I've owned the bass from new and as i wasn't playing it  much decided to give it a new lease of life.  Delighted with the results. 

Edited August 2, 2019 by Krysbass
Photos

[fender73]

I have very fond memories of mine, a red active 1a. Heavy and a little neck heavy, but great fun and a good gigging tone too. 

[cattytown]

I have a Thunder 1A fretless in black that I bought new. Not played it for many years - it's packed a little out of the way.

My dad made a hard case for it!

P.

[Wilco]

Complete mystery to me why Westone 1A's are perceived to be worth sub £200. I bought mine for £170 last year, which was great for me as what a bargain.

Contrary to the second post in this thread, they were very well made instruments. Matsumoku were a respected furniture maker, so had the woodworking knowledge & it's no fluke that so many Westone's & 80's Aria's are still around today.

If you can find a good one, at today's minimal market prices just buy it & don't look back!!

[franzbassist]

My first decent bass was a Westone Superheadless.  It had a superb EQ system in it and was a lovely bass to play.

[bartelby]

I've been GAS'ing for a Thunder Jet for a few years now...

[BreadBin]

Well made? Yes.

Worth what this guy is asking? Debatable. 

https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ebay.co.uk%2Fulk%2Fitm%2F302730748138

Was my point... 

Edited June 14, 2018 by BreadBin

[ForestPoetry]

A friend of mine has a Spectrum bass and I absolutely love it

[Wilco]

4 hours ago, BreadBin said:

Well made? Yes.

Worth what this guy is asking? Debatable. 

https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ebay.co.uk%2Fulk%2Fitm%2F302730748138

Was my point... 

If that's where the market price actually was & I'd paid £395 for mine (which is very similar to that one apart from being fretless), I wouldn't have felt short changed at all. I've seen & played a lot worse £500 basses in my time. 

[GregBass]

I found a tatty Thunder 1A mk3 (with the humbucker pickup) in a guitar shop for £75. I would say that's a reasonable price - it improved on cleaning/setup, but still can't live with other basses I would expect to see in the £200 to £300 range.

[deaky]

Thanks guys. Anybody played the Westone Spectrum basses? 

[TheGreek]

Seems that I'm not alone in buying one as my first bass. I actually tried to buy back my original bass from a friend only to find he's lent it to somebody who kindly sold it for him without his knowledge.

Good basses with a punchy pre-amp but as mentioned, heavy. I haven't seen one for less than £200 in a while. There are a few on eBay at the moment including a neck through 111 series.

[jezzaboy]

38 minutes ago, deaky said:

Thanks guys. Anybody played the Westone Spectrum basses? 

There is a Thunder 1A for £225 and a Spectrum ST in Guitarguitar for £145, a bit beat up but looks kinda cool. I bought a passive Thunder for £50 a few years ago in the local crack converters.  It was in a bit of a state but it cleaned up ok. I had never seen one before and it was quite ugly so I sold it for £55. I should have kept it as the pickup was rather good.

[bassbiscuits]

I had a Spectrum St as my first good bass (after a year struggling on a dreadful short scale Satellite bass) and shortly afterwards also ended up with two Thunder 1A basses, each of which cost me £80 from memory. 

They were all decent, solid basses, but not really the most amazing things ever. They seem to have taken on a mythical status in recent years which I'm not sure they deserve. 

I preferred my passive Spectrum ST to the active Thunder 1A. The spectrum was much prettier, had a nicer neck with a smoother finish, and I was never keen on the quite primitive sounding active circuit in the Thunder. 

I think the later Spectrum 2 series came out then and shifted to Korea, and had different styling, with a pointy headstock etc. 

For sentimental value I'd love to get my hands on one of those Westones I owned back in the day, but in reality I'd probably end up selling it on in due course anyway, as I've owned lots of better basses since then.