Westone Thunder 1A

[7string]

As I do some setup work for electric guitars and basses, it's always nice to get recommended. One guy had sold this bass on and told the new owner that it needed a setup and that he should bring the bass to me. I finished the work earlier in the week and the owner picked it up today. I asked him if I could put the pics up here and he gave the OK.

I know that there's few owners on here, so I thought I'd post the finished pics of this 26 year old bass.








To get this result, every part of the bass needed help. to put it frankly, it was filthy. Every part of this bass needed cleaning. Serious cleaning. Everything that could be removed was removed. If I tried to clean around things I wouldn't have done the best job I could, and you still would have seen a film of dirt around things so I had to lift everything out of the way and clean it properly.

The bridge was the worst, so after removing it, I took it to bits and cleaned the parts individually. Even the height adjustment screws were individually cleaned! These were stuck in one saddle and even after being soaked in WD40 they still wouldn't budge. I used a Dremel tool to cut a slot in the top of the screw and then used a screwdriver to back the screws out. After a good clean, the screws went back in. They need a screwdriver to adjust rather a 1.5mm allen key, but that's not a problem.

I really should have taken the same pics of the whole thing before and after but hopefully this gives an idea of the transformation










So the setup became part setup, part restoration. I've had guitars in like this before, in one case a Tele which was in the attic for 10 years, but nothing in as poor condition as this. The controls on the bass worked, apart from a loose pot which the owner asked me to turn around of possible. The wiring was tight so I could only move it slightly, but changing the angle in relation to the other switch would help to recognise which was which mid-gig.

The fingerboard also took some work to get clean. I took a pic part way through:




The knobs needed work as well....







This took a long time to do and there was no way I could take any shortcuts. If I'd left one bit it would've looked bad in comparison to the rest of the bass. It's rewarding work though and the owner was really pleased to say the least.

I charged this job at the normal setup rate.

[pantherairsoft]

Lovely.

I ironically a chap bought one of these into me yesterday at Nottingham Drum & Guitar centre (but it was a natural finish), which had a number of electronic issues.

Thankfully I was able to fix all of the issues with switch cleaner! :-)

Was very impressed with how well they play. I guess I have become jade with what I know of Weststone from the last 10 years or so

[OutToPlayJazz]

[quote name='pantherairsoft' post='825522' date='May 2 2010, 02:18 PM']Lovely.

I ironically a chap bought one of these into me yesterday at Nottingham Drum & Guitar centre (but it was a natural finish), which had a number of electronic issues.

Thankfully I was able to fix all of the issues with switch cleaner! :-)

Was very impressed with how well they play. I guess I have become jade with what I know of Weststone from the last 10 years or so[/quote]

Nottingham Drum Centre? Say hi to Dave from Rich (from OutToPlayJazz.)

[pantherairsoft]

[quote name='OutToPlayJazz' post='825530' date='May 2 2010, 02:25 PM']Nottingham Drum Centre? Say hi to Dave from Rich (from OutToPlayJazz.) [/quote]

Will do mate. Big D is the man

[Paul S]

[quote name='7string' post='825164' date='May 1 2010, 09:23 PM']and the owner was really pleased to say the least.

I charged this job at the normal setup rate.[/quote]

I'll bet he was pleased! Cracking job. I've just acquired one of these myself and have fallen a little bit in love with it.

[bassatnight]

Recently acquired a Thunder 3 Fretless thanks to a wee bit of help from Paul S (Cheers Mate) Its an awsome bass, the Westones are serioulsy underrated in my opinion.

[7string]

This was the first one I've played and I was really impressed by it.

The guy paid £130 + £20 for the setup and then however much he paid for a set of strings. At £130 it looked a bit rich, but now at £150 it looks like a great buy.

The owner says that it's a lot louder than his other bass (a Carlsbro P-style bass and I finished the setup of that on Monday).