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Westone bass guitars - what do people think of them?

CathalOC

By CathalOC,
in Bass Guitars

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rmorris Mentor

rmorris

Posted
Posted

Assuming it's from the Matsu' factory then it should be excellent assuming no serious faults/damage. Retail Shop prices are going to be higher than eBay auctions but £199 doesn't seem out of range. Maybe haggle for £180 ?

And given age it will likely benefit from pro setup Inc fret level so I'd budget for that and maybe get the shop to quote for that if it's something they can offer.

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Geek99 Grand Master

Geek99

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I had a Westone spectrum guitar in white, 2 x humbuckers and it was definitely okay. (I know, a guitar, I mean WTF was I thinking?) 🤨

 

 @cathal
you have to remember that in the 80s CNC machining was in its infancy and instruments were more variable in workmanship as humans did more of it. It might be a good one 

 

if it were me, I’d pay the asking price but with a setup, fret dress and new strings thrown in 
 

 

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rmorris Mentor

rmorris

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7 hours ago, Geek99 said:

I had a Westone spectrum guitar in white, 2 x humbuckers and it was definitely okay. (I know, a guitar, I mean WTF was I thinking?) 🤨

 @cathal

 

if it were me, I’d pay the asking price but with a setup, fret dress and new strings thrown in 
 

 

 

That would be a bargain but doesn't sound realistic ? I'd hope a retail shop would be sorting it with a basic truss rod relief and string / pickup height setup before it goes on the wall. But a fret dress is a bit optimistic imo. New strings might be good. Would more or less equate to the £20 discount I suggested. Assuming it's not a pack of cheap ones.

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Bassassin Grand Master

Bassassin

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3 hours ago, Stub Mandrel said:

Have a look at prices for Westone basses on eBay Japan.

 

They are clearly highly thought of in their home country.

 

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/124494439605?chn=ps&mkevt=1&mkcid=28

 

Would be interesting to know what that same bass would go for on the Japanese equivalent of Gumtree, rather than an Ebay trader trying to sell to a global collector's market. I doubt it'd be anywhere near £1400! There's a curiously increasing trend in genuinely crazy prices from Japanese sellers.
 

12 hours ago, Geek99 said:

you have to remember that in the 80s CNC machining was in its infancy and instruments were more variable in workmanship as humans did more of it. It might be a good one


Apropos of absolutely nothing at all* - apparently Matsumoku was the first guitar manufacturer in the world to introduce CNC manufacture, at some point in the mid 70s.

 

*Which like all unconfirmed MIJ-related factoids, might just be absolute b0ll0cks made up by some random Ebay gouger (not me) trying to flog their latest bit of £5 car boot tat.**

 

**Such as this:
 

thunder.jpg.70c4cfb20fb8c2ae4de2e79004cc8db8.jpg

 

It did need some work, but yes, £5 from the local car boot.

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Archy Collaborator

Archy

Posted
Posted

I DID see that the original post is from 2009, but I wanted to post anyway 😁

As a lover of Japcrap (is that still a thing?), I've owned a number of Westone basses.

 

- Westone Concord Bass I from 1981, (the only one still in my possession, but in need of a lot of work), amazing P bass

- Westone Thunder Jet fretless bass

- Westone Spectrum GT bass

- Westone Raider (Silver sparkle)

- Westone Quantum bass, this one I only had in my possession for the most part of a week. I just finished cleaning and giving it a proper setup, when I got an e-mail from the seller's son. 
Apparently he wasn't aware that his father was selling the bass, and was always hoping to inherit it at some point.

I could have chosen to keep the bass, but that didn't seem right to me, I wouldn't be able to enjoy it knowing it "belonged" to someone else (even though it did belong to me since I went to pick it up, paid the asking price, etc :D ).
So the son came over and picked it up, and of course reimbursed me. Seemed like the right thing to do :) 

So I was quite a big fan of Westone, altough of the Matsumoku basses I prefer Vantage.

I really liked all basses mentioned above, but the Spectrum GT was mediocre at best.

If you can find a Westone for a decent price, you can get a lot of bang for your buck! Just keep in mind that the post-1987 ones are Made in Korea and not Matsumoku made.

 

 

 

 

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Bassassin Grand Master

Bassassin

Posted
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On 14/08/2021 at 02:28, Musicman666 said:

 i got my westone after seeing harvey bainbridge of hawkwind using one on their sonic attack tour. He got a pretty good sound out of it.


Dave Brock still plays his (very Hawkwinded) Westone Speccy, as far as I know.

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wright/watt Proficient

wright/watt

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I have owned a few Westones!!👍😃

 

An 84 Thunder 1A bass in Black..to be honest always preferred the the mega punchy passive tone..total workhorse!! 

My first, to me anyway, serious bass!!

 

A Westone thunder 11 86ish!! medium scale (32) in a greenish tint..

 

Westone super headless 86 which sold on basschat in 30minutes!!! lol Absolutely stunning..Guess I wanted one since I was a whipper snapper! Didn't disappoint though, headless wasn't my thing..

 

Also a thunder 111..Brilliant but mega heavy..

 

I personally play with a low action and light touch and all the Westones I owned, were able to deliver that with aplomb!!

They can be great value and are wonderfully made instruments..👍😃

IMG_20200622_143036.jpg

IMG_20200622_143124.jpg

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Russ Mentor

Russ

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I remember playing a Thunder III Mk2 many years back, and, apart from it being quite neck-heavy and unbalanced, it was a pretty spectacular bit of kit - a proper bargain basement Alembic wannabe with loads of tonal options. 

 

They did come out with another bass, the Genesis, that addressed the balance issues. I think it was basically a headed version of the Super Headless, complete with the string-popping cutaway on the treble side. 

 

Fantastic gear for the time (let's not forget this was the era of the likes of Marlin and other plywood rubbish), and very collectible these days. 

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Paul S Grand Master

Paul S

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Posted (edited)

I worked my way through loads of Westones.  Really liked every one of them.  I had several Thunder 1As, both fretted and fretless, new style with the Magnabass pickup and old style.  Couple of Thunder Jets.  Love these - lighter weight and extra couple of frets.  I managed to get one of the flagship models - the Pantera X760 Deluxe.  All sold on, of course.

 

pantera2.thumb.jpg.e9a2f05fb5878865d2ac532ddcd69e9e.jpg

Edited by Paul S
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Musicman666 Proficient

Musicman666

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6 hours ago, Russ said:

I remember playing a Thunder III Mk2 many years back, and, apart from it being quite neck-heavy and unbalanced, it was a pretty spectacular bit of kit - a proper bargain basement Alembic wannabe with loads of tonal options. 

 

They did come out with another bass, the Genesis, that addressed the balance issues. I think it was basically a headed version of the Super Headless, complete with the string-popping cutaway on the treble side. 

 

Fantastic gear for the time (let's not forget this was the era of the likes of Marlin and other plywood rubbish), and very collectible these days. 

Yeah i remember the neck seemed really long in comparison to the body so you had a bit of neck dive on the thunder iii.

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Bassassin Grand Master

Bassassin

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18 hours ago, Musicman666 said:

Yeah i remember the neck seemed really long in comparison to the body so you had a bit of neck dive on the thunder iii.

Neck-divey symmetrical or near-symmetrical bodies was a bit of a thing with late 70s/early 80s MIJ original design basses, not sure why. Probably just recycling body shapes from guitars, where neck dive's less of an issue.

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Russ Mentor

Russ

Posted
Posted (edited)
2 hours ago, Bassassin said:

Neck-divey symmetrical or near-symmetrical bodies was a bit of a thing with late 70s/early 80s MIJ original design basses, not sure why. Probably just recycling body shapes from guitars, where neck dive's less of an issue.

I think a lot of them had that Alembic Series II influence, which had short semi-symmetrical horns, but the body was so big and heavy that it still managed to counterbalance the neck! 

Edited by Russ
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Russ Mentor

Russ

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4 hours ago, Stub Mandrel said:

 

It was the weight of all those knobs.

Yup. A ton of electronics went into those basses. Plus, many of the people who played them wore them way up high, Mark King-style, which also helped with the balance issues since they were held near-horizontal with the upper bout practically tucked into the armpit. :)

Edited by Russ
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