Brain Fertilizer

Just as I was getting distressed about Westone maybe not being as good as I was led to believe, I get this comment on an earlier post:

Ran across your blog doing a Westone Google...welcome to the fray! They are awesome guitars! I first became aware of them by reading an article about them in the Nov 2005 issue of Vintage Guitar. In the monthly Different Strummer column, they featured Japanese Muscle Guitars (like in muscle cars?) by Matsumoku. Along with the Arias, Vantages, etc, were the Westones. About a week later I am in my local Music GoRound and see a Pearl Burst White Westone hanging on the Wall for $69! I went home because the name stuck in my head. I found the Vintage Guitar article, read it, and went back up there and played that Westone. I was shocked! The thing rocked. The neck reminded me exactly like my '73 Fender Mustang and newer Fender Jag reissue! I bought it on the spot. It is in nice shape. It has been played and has a few scuffs but nothing major. New set of strings, lowered the action a bit, and replaced a couple of knobs so they matched. You can see it in various pics on our band myspace. Our lead guitarist Brian constantly steals it from me to play, so there are lots of pics of him playing the white beast! It has the hottest pickups of any guitar! Mine is an LX model, just under the TOTL FX which had a set neck. Brian bought a black ST this spring and now plays that. I also picked up a Silverston (Green-Gray Sparkle) Spectrum GT from another MGR for $79. I love how the coil taps can make it sound like a Strat, and then return it to the darker growling Gibsonish tones. And they are built like a tank!! Even though I have some other nice guitars, the Westones are what I talk to people about. Did you know they were actually mostly handmade at Matsumoku? Along with my Spectrum I gig with, I found a mint, never purchased 1986 Pantera Pro (X-300) for $225 at a guys store liquidation. It still has the St. Louis Music Setup sticker on it with the tech's initials, original hangtags still on the neck and case. It is my "never leave the house guitar." I may use it to record some with on our next promo CD, but that will be about it. It is gorgeous with a carved maple top like a PRS, 2 single coils and a humbucker. Pearl White. Mint Mint, and, did I say Mint? It is weird to own a 22 year old guitar that I am the first owner of!!

Anyway I have rambled far too long, but it is because the Westones are
such awesome guitars. If I had enough extra dough, I would buy up
everyone that popped up on ebay!!! Good luck and let me know if you need any
help with yoru projects!!

Manoman, that sounds awesome! I wish I could find a mint Westone at a good price. I nearly got one on eBay, but someone else was willing to pay more for it.

But the one I have, a 1987 Anniversary Edition Spectrum II XA1230, doesn't sound anything like what John describes in his comment.

So my question is, as far as sound/tone is concerned, I'm not impressed with the Westone. Am I setting my standards too high, or did I just get a sub-par Westone? Or is my opinion affected by the fact that I purchased 3 guitars, but only 1 can be considered to be a Westone original with an actual Matsumoku Westone sound?

I love Carvin's guitar sound. They have special pickups, with 11 pole pieces that probably boost the sound. They sound great on any setting on my amp, at any volume. So maybe I'm setting my standard too high...

There are a few positives about Westone guitars that I've noted, however.

First, the Westone fretboards are wider at the 12th-22nd fret than other "superstrat" guitars, including my Carvins, my J.B. Player, and my Schecter Omen-6. You can tell from pictures that they are wider. That gives a slightly wider string spacing, and it seems to make playing fast, chording, and bending just that much easier.

Second, the action is awesome. I like the action on my Carvin, it doesn't slow me down any...but the Westone is so smooth, I feel like I'm gliding.

Third, the pickups do seem to help you hear every string/note better than the average guitar. Not as good as Carvins on this issue, but to date, I haven't played any guitar that is...then again, I've never played a top-of-the-line Seymour-Duncan or DiMarzio. But I have played on EMG Selects (used to be on my J.B. Player)...

Fourth, the tremolo system seems to be really good. To be fair, I've only had standard (crappy) Fender tremolo systems that cannot stay in tune no matter what you do, and a Wilkinson tremolo (on the J.B. Player) that didn't stay in tune very well even with roller nuts, until I put a Hipshot Tremsetter on it. But the Bendmaster Deluxe is easy to tune, easy to change strings, and keeps the strings in tune quite well. It also does a pretty good job of keeping the other strings in tune when you bend a string up, which is important to my style of playing.

So with all that, it is worth keeping the original Westone XA1230 I already have. But is it worth buying more? I'm not sure.

Right now, it seems like my best bet would be to put Carvin pickups into the Westone...but then it is no longer anything close to the original guitar. I might be happier with it...but what's the point of collecting Westone if I'm just going to modify them when I get my hands on them?

Maybe the XA1230 is just not as "top-notch" quality as the Genesis II or its successor, the Corsair. I'm scared of the Genesis because it only lasted about a year in its catalogs...if it was that good, why did they replace it with the Corsair, why did they drop its stepped body (its main distinguishing feature)? But the Corsair was only around for about 3 years before the company folded, too. And its last two years, it was made in Korea, which diminishes its collectability (not being made by Matsumoku).

I do have all the parts I need to redo the blue Westone (most likely a 1989 made-in-Korea, Spectrum 1A). The neck is still just as good as the Matsumokus. It has what I think is a Yamaha clamping tremolo system, rather than any of the Bendmasters. Someone routed out the neck pickup pocket, and the bridge pickup is also clearly not Matsumoku, so I'll probably go ahead and drop in the Mighty Mite Motherbuckers in both neck and bridge positions, add a single/double coil tap for each, and then replace the middle position single-coil pickup with the extra Carvin AP-11 I've got sitting around.

If it sounds really good, i.e., better than the XA1230, then I might just give up on collecting Westones, and just keep the modified Korean Spectrum 1A, put Carvins into the Spectrum II XA1230, and just enjoy playing guitars that sound and feel great, even if no longer original/collectible.

If I ever find a higher-model-line Westone in a pawnshop for a good price, it might re-ignite my fervor, but right now, it seems like J.B. Player might be a better way to get an inexpensive, little-known, well-made guitar. I won't feel as bad about changing the pickups in one of those, either.