Brain Fertilizer

They went bankrupt despite being good quality, innovative guitars.

There is a solid body of Westone enthusiasts out there. But they went out of business anyway.

Okay, it couldn't have helped when Matsumoku stopped making guitars. That resulted in moving production to Korea (I think to Samick, but I'm not sure). Samick is a good guitar maker, but Matsumoku was something special.

Some people say that Westone got caught in a numbers game: they were producing high-quality guitars that competed with the best names in the business at a lower price, but B.C. Rich, Ibanez, Charvel-Jackson, et al, got bigger quicker, and Westone was left with a too-small piece of the growing Super Strat market.

That makes sense.

But in my opinion, I think Westone's biggest problem was that they never really developed a coherent business model.

Take a look at a catalog, and compare it to the price list (If the links don't work, then navigate from the main page by clicking "catalogs", then look at the 1988 catalog and pricelist). Notice from the catalog spec sheet that the top 4 guitar specs are almost identical. The same neck scale and radius, same tuning pegs, same pickups, same tremolo system... Yet the prices vary from $350 to $475. Why? What reason would you want to get the $350 Pantera rather than the $350 Spectrum II? What makes the Spectrum 1 $25 better than the Spectrum Basic? How do you choose between the $449 Corsair and the $449 Genesis? Why aren't some of these guitars in the catalog?

Now compare that with the same-year (1988) British catalog. Why doesn't Great Britain get the Pantera, the Corsair, the Genesis? All they get is about 100 variations, all called the Westone Spectrum Series II. Well, they get the Corsair, but it's still called the Spectrum. Honestly, why give wildly differing guitars the same name to three levels? (Westone. Spectrum. Series II.) It can only reduce brand name recognition by muddling characteristics.

Then look at the 1984 catalog, the 1987 catalog, the 1989 catalog, and the 1990 catalog (the last before they closed up shop).
About the only common thread in those 4 catalogs spanning just 6 years is the name "Spectrum." Configurations are clearly all over the map. And where does the Challenger fit in? Or the Villain?

I've played on an '87 Westone (made in Japan), an '89 Westone (made in Korea), and an unknown Westone Frankenstein (original neck and tremolo, likely made between '86 and '88). They all have identical necks. The necks are all awesome, maybe the best in the business.

What they really should have done is hyped the neck. It is unique in its rock-solid consistency, low action, easy string-bending, and ability to aid and abet fast playing (shredding) at such a low price.

Then they should have made a clear three-tier system of quality. The lowest level should have had a fixed bridge and only a bridge pickup and a basic body. Higher levels within the basic tier would add more pickups. The next level up could add a tremolo system and have more pickups on the base models, and sculpted bodies (alternatively, sculpted bodies could be a separate line), better wood, and some special features on the deluxe mid-tier guitars. The top level would then have bound bodies, the best woods in the body (maybe even some flame or quilted tops), options for deluxe paint jobs, and the top, professional-quality pickups.

Such a plan would have allowed anyone to pickup a basic guitar for fairly cheap, and fall in love with the Westone Neck. Then they would want to move up, and depending on their bank account and/or performance needs, could get a decent guitar at a mid-range price, or a deluxe guitar at a deluxe price with enough of a profit margin to not go out of business.

Instead, it's hard to tell if the top-of-the-line Westone was the Pantera, the Genesis, or the Corsair. At one time or another, each of those was the highest-priced Westone, but there was a great deal of overlap in these guitars being offered for sale. For instance, all are offered on the 1988 pricelist. The Corsair is the most expensive of the three in baseline models ($449 for the Corsair compared to the Genesis' $425 and the Pantera Basic's $399), but the Pantera Deluxe starts at $995! (except for the outlier in "dull black" that is just $699) Why such a big gap? Why make the Pantera Deluxe the most expensive rather than put that quality/accessory level on the Corsair?

As I've said, I have a 1989 Westone Spectrum 1-A and a 1987 Westone Spectrum II (XA-1230), and I wouldn't be able to tell you which one is the better guitar. And, incidentally, they are virtually the same price ($375 vs $369). I'm hoping to purchase a 1988 Corsair Standard, so maybe at that time I'll have a little more insight into their quality levels.