It is currently Tue Mar 17, 2020 2:49 am

All times are UTC - 7 hours



Post new topic Reply to topic  [ 13 posts ] 
Author Message
Post subject: NGD
Posted: Mon Nov 18, 2013 1:36 pm
Offline
Professional Musician
Professional Musician
User avatar

Joined: Thu Jan 07, 2010 3:31 am
Posts: 1398
Location: scotland
Hi , my darling wife got me a new to me guitar , it's a 1982 westone thunder 1A , i was thinking of wiring one of the sg's up like frank zappa's roxy sg , then i saw this for sale 8) . i had one back in the 80's but did't appreciate how bloody good it was (playing through crappish amps ) , anyhows , i picked it up tonight , gave it a clean , sorted out the crackly switches and pots , a setup with a new set of eb 10's and it sounds brilliant , it's got that out of phase zappa honk , it's got coil split (it doesn't sound like a strat though ) and it's also got an active eq system rigged into it , (ideal for later zappa type solo's 8) , all in all i'm a happy chappy :lol: i'll get some pics up tomorow after work , cheers
Alan

_________________
Image


Top
Profile
Fender Play Winter Sale 2020
Post subject: Re: NGD
Posted: Mon Nov 18, 2013 1:49 pm
Offline
Rock Star
Rock Star
User avatar

Joined: Sun Sep 08, 2013 8:50 pm
Posts: 4602
Location: ˚ɷ˚
Now those are nice guitars!
Congrats, and make sure she gets played well!


Top
Profile
Post subject: Re: NGD
Posted: Mon Nov 18, 2013 4:14 pm
Offline
Rock Icon
Rock Icon
User avatar

Joined: Wed Jul 29, 2009 10:03 am
Posts: 9449
Location: NL Canada
That's a great find Alan you have a keeper there both in a guitar and a wife...lol. I haven't heard the Westone name mentioned for years and had frankly forgotten all about the brand.They were great guitars for the price back in the mid-70s to early 80s,if my memory serves me correctly they were somehow tied in with the St. Louis Music Supply Co. which also sold the Electra active electronics equipped guitars that Jeff Lynne of ELO used for a couple of years.Either way that guitar is a lucky find because they aren't all that common these days.

_________________
'65 Strat,65 Mustang,65 Jaguar,4 more Strats,3 vintage Vox guitars,5 Vox amps,'69 Bassman with a '68 2-15 Bassman cab,36 guitars total-15asst'd amps total,2 vintage '60s Hammond organs & a myriad of effects-with a few rare vintage ones.


Top
Profile
Post subject: Re: NGD
Posted: Mon Nov 18, 2013 4:19 pm
Offline
Professional Musician
Professional Musician

Joined: Tue Sep 11, 2012 2:14 pm
Posts: 2561
Cool !! 8)

Congrats !

cheers!

_________________
Image

'11 FSR Am. Vtg. Ltd. Ed. CAR '57 Stratocaster (SN# LE02639)
'14 American Deluxe Ash Stratocaster
'12 Telebration Empress Telecaster
'99 Deluxe Nashville Telecaster
'12 FSR Telecaster HH
'10 Heritage H-535
'99 Martin DC-1E
'13 Lanikai Tenor Ukulele


Top
Profile
Post subject: Re: NGD
Posted: Sun Dec 01, 2013 10:19 am
Offline
Professional Musician
Professional Musician
User avatar

Joined: Thu Jan 07, 2010 3:31 am
Posts: 1398
Location: scotland
here's a few pics
Image

Image

_________________
Image


Top
Profile
Post subject: Re: NGD
Posted: Sun Dec 01, 2013 10:20 am
Offline
Professional Musician
Professional Musician
User avatar

Joined: Thu Jan 07, 2010 3:31 am
Posts: 1398
Location: scotland
Image

i gave the bridge a clean up
Image
cheers
Alan

_________________
Image


Top
Profile
Post subject: Re: NGD
Posted: Sun Dec 01, 2013 10:48 am
Offline
Rock Star
Rock Star
User avatar

Joined: Tue Mar 01, 2011 3:10 pm
Posts: 5646
Location: Gateway to the West
Congrats on the score. Certainly these are well built guitars. I had a buddy that had one almost exactly like it, but it was made by "Vantage". I wonder if these two companies were intertwined somehow? Anyone know?

Either way, enjoy the "New" guitar.

T2

_________________
-----------------------------------------------------------
What time is it? It's Fender Time.


Top
Profile
Post subject: Re: NGD
Posted: Sun Dec 01, 2013 12:18 pm
Offline
Hobbyist
Hobbyist

Joined: Thu Dec 20, 2012 4:51 pm
Posts: 93
nice alan. brass bridge and nut? i bet it is awesome sounding. what kind of pups are in it?


Top
Profile
Post subject: Re: NGD
Posted: Sun Dec 01, 2013 12:35 pm
Offline
Professional Musician
Professional Musician
User avatar

Joined: Thu Jan 07, 2010 3:31 am
Posts: 1398
Location: scotland
hi guys and thanks , T2stratman i'm not sure about the ties with vantage but it's a neat design for the 80's and anytime i suppose :) ,
Hi shinkicker , yep brass nut and bridge and has the original mmk 45 pickups which are actually decent enough sounding , i've no plans to swap them out :) plugged in this thing can cover just about any sound i need 8) , it waas also in dire need of a refret , someone had filed the **** out of them , so low i couldn't even crown them , 2.7mm wide flat frets aren't nice to play on at all , but since fitting the new ones it rocks , the action is 1.5 mm at the bass side , and a wee bit lower on the treble side
unplugged it's not the most resonant guitar but it makes up for it when plugged in , cheers
Alan

_________________
Image


Top
Profile
Post subject: Re: NGD
Posted: Sun Dec 01, 2013 3:56 pm
Offline
Rock Star
Rock Star
User avatar

Joined: Tue Mar 01, 2011 3:10 pm
Posts: 5646
Location: Gateway to the West
alanssaab wrote:
hi guys and thanks , T2stratman i'm not sure about the ties with vantage but it's a neat design for the 80's and anytime i suppose :) ,
Hi shinkicker , yep brass nut and bridge and has the original mmk 45 pickups which are actually decent enough sounding , i've no plans to swap them out :) plugged in this thing can cover just about any sound i need 8) , it waas also in dire need of a refret , someone had filed the **** out of them , so low i couldn't even crown them , 2.7mm wide flat frets aren't nice to play on at all , but since fitting the new ones it rocks , the action is 1.5 mm at the bass side , and a wee bit lower on the treble side
unplugged it's not the most resonant guitar but it makes up for it when plugged in , cheers
Alan


Alan...this got me thinking and after some research it appears both Vantage and Westone were brands made by Matsumoku of Japan. Some models shared the headstock shape, and it appears the main difference is Westones used a strat style bridge and the Vantage models used a stop tail ala Gibson. Both used a lot of brass in their guitars (nuts, bridges, knobs, etc.). Both used neck laminated neck thru body designs. As I remember it was a very well made guitar and like stated, did not have much acoustic resonance, but once plugged in had very nice sizzle to em.

FWIW

T2

_________________
-----------------------------------------------------------
What time is it? It's Fender Time.


Top
Profile
Post subject: Re: NGD
Posted: Sun Dec 01, 2013 4:27 pm
Offline
Professional Musician
Professional Musician
User avatar

Joined: Wed Dec 07, 2011 1:59 pm
Posts: 1152
Location: Surf City, USA
She's a beaut, Alan. Congrats!


Top
Profile
Post subject: Re: NGD
Posted: Mon Dec 02, 2013 9:17 am
Offline
Professional Musician
Professional Musician
User avatar

Joined: Fri Feb 06, 2009 3:11 pm
Posts: 2330
Location: location, location.
Everything which comes out of Matsumoku is great. Enjoy.

_________________
Rated "M" for meaty.


Top
Profile
Post subject: Re: NGD
Posted: Mon Dec 02, 2013 11:30 am
Offline
Rock Icon
Rock Icon
User avatar

Joined: Thu Jan 29, 2009 7:13 pm
Posts: 19026
Location: Illinois, USA
Congrats Alan!

_________________
you can save the world with your guitar one love song at a time it's just better, more fun, easier with a fender solid body electric guitar or electric bass guitar.


Top
Profile
Display posts from previous:  Sort by  
Post new topic Reply to topic  [ 13 posts ] 

All times are UTC - 7 hours

Fender Play Winter Sale 2020

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: stratmangler and 2 guests


You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum

Search for:
Jump to: