Re: Westone - US Design - Development History

[boutjp97]

I didn't get it in the mail yet, only pics available of mine are on the ebay link. I promise to post when I get it, maybe even upload some video to youtube.

[Barry]

Excellent.

[X350ma]

That's awesome! Yeah, I love this guitar and will never sell it. I'll get some pics up tomorrow, I have to go work a double shift right now.

By the way, mine also says 'Pantera' with a recutangular inlay on the fretboard (easily seen). The 'X350' is merely stamped/pressed into the ebony fretboard, near its end, after the last fret, and is rather hard to see.

Great info, and greatly appreciated.

[Barry]

Hello Tom! Hope all is well with you and yours.
Man, this thread has suffered from atrophy it seems. Where have all the Westie weenies gone?
Sheesh!

I was just wondering if you were yet able to locate the catalogue info that you mentioned you had, and in particular the manufacturing/dating codes? We think we're correct in at least the year and possibly the month interpretation but it's observational reasoning and would be nice to have something more concrete to hang a hat on.

If you have anything at all on Vantage numbering too that would be a huge bonus as the boyz are going batty over in the Matsumoku forum trying to determine what happened around the 1980/81 mark. That seems to be a pivotal change year in both manufacturing design and serial numbering.

Cheers!

[Guest]

Thought this might be interesting - a section from a Westone Hot Harrdware Handbook. I haven't figured out a way to scan the whole thing yet, it's too big for the scanner...I think it dates from 1985/6 (the guitars featured on it are Spectrums, with Bendmaster FT trems) which makes a bit of this extract puzzling (Been product manager of Westone guitars at SLM for 10 years???)

[Warrn]

Just means he's been product manager at SLM for that long I think, since he designed the Spectrum line as Electra models originally and is well known for his work on the Electra line as well.

[gittarasaurus]

i'm sure if the thread has gone dead, but anyway........

there has been alot said about the development of the guitar bodies and necks and hardware even, but not much about the electronics (aside from the true story of the origin of the UBC, too awesome!).

for me, one of the many things that set westone apart from other types of guitars is the very innovative design of the pickup switching. there were lots of combinations of switches used, 3-way box sw, 5-way blade, mini switches, push/pull pots...it seems that the idea of active electronics was tried a short time and then dropped....what inspired the change from mini switches to push/pull pots?

can you elaborate on the way the pickups/electronics/switching process evolved through the various models?

great thanks for all the insider information, fascinating history. this forum is like a finding a bunch of old friends i never met before. wonderful place ya got here....

[Barry]

Good question, and I hope Tom sees this and has time to respond, but he is definitely still around and reading the forum when he can.
Meantime, if I may be so bold, on his behalf and for the benefit of all members, to request that you post your considered and researched questions either here or in a new thread.

One of the reasons we don't see Tom so much publicly is because he's being a bit overwhelmed with private message questions. A lot of these are dumb ones asking the value of a particular guitar. Others are questions which have already been asked and discussed and are readily available both here and on the www.WestoneGuitars.net site under "History". These people are just too damn lazy to look it up and read!

Tom is too much of a gentleman to complain. So I will!
Folks, we have a unique resource here. Not every guitar forum is honoured to have a key designer of their instruments actively participating with the members. Plain and simple: you're wearing the man out with needless offline chatter! And while it may be a thrill to get a personal email, the rest of us do not get to share in the information given.

Whatever spare time, energy and enthusiasm Tom has available to give us is being sapped away by this selfish activity. And I can't blame him for keeping a low public profile now. So please, please! think before you fire off a PM to Tom.

Let's all see the question and the answer, and let poor Tom answer it only once!

[sarcaster]

I for one have emailed TP and was lucky enough to get a response and totally agree with Barry's comments. I'll be posting my question/answer soon, as I am on track on aquiring a certain guitar at which my question was directed to. Once the guitar is in hand, I will post my response along with some additional knowledge of the particular guitar in question. Should be good stuff for those interested.

[Barry]

Cheers for that sarc!

[sarcaster]

posted the Presley info here:
http://forum.westoneguitars.net/t2288-tp-qa-on-trevor-rabin-signature-models

[corsair]

I did too, and my Q & A has been here since I received it - about the Bendmaster bridges.

While I agree with Barry in no uncertain terms, I also know that there's sometimes an overwhelming desire to know something esoteric about an instrument and to have TP in here, well, the opportunity just presents itself, really eh!! That said, there are an awful lot of other people in here with knowledge that is none too shabby - I've been helped all the way along this quest of mine by bods in here from long time users to new people; so rather than just pop off a PM to TP, post the question here and one of us just may have the answer!! Thorn may still be about and his knowledge is right up there and I do hope he'll join in again sometime; bout, colt, sarcaster, hoax, Westbone, Barry and loads more have all helped me over the months and years and hopefully I've helped people as well: we have a great wee community in here!!

Bugging TP with questions about an instruments' current market value is crass at best; just as it is here....

[Brainfertilizer]

I have a bunch of questions...no rush in answering them:

- Why was the Westone line closed and replaced with Alvarez? Was there a feeling that the Westone brand reputation had been lost or something?

- Why was the variation between versions of the Spectrum guitar bigger than between the Spectrum and the Corsair?
Put another way, what was the decision-making process behind the marketing?
background: In 1987, both the Spectrum II XA1220 and the Corsair XA1420 had the same body shape, 22 frets, same headstock, same pickup configuration, same electronics configuration. The only real differences were the XA1420 had active pickups, the XA1420 had binding, and the body wood was different (ash for the Spectrum II vs poplar for the XA1420). But the Spectrum II (XA1230) and III (XA1330) had poplar body wood like the Corsair...half the time I forget my XA1420 is a Corsair and call it a Spectrum. It seems like the XA1220 is the one that is the most different...
And then the Genesis I and II had poplar bodies, as well (except for the solid ash TBR model). So it really seems like the only difference between the XA1330 and XA1630 is the body shape. Even the pickups and controls are identical.
Even more stark: look at the specs page for 1988:
http://www.westoneguitars.net/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/069.jpg
There is very little variation across that range. The Spectrum I is the only one I could call a truly different guitar.
Was this just due to the transition from Matsumoku Westone to the MIK line?

More to come...I'll separate them to make it easier to answer separately.

[Brainfertilizer]

I did too, and my Q & A has been here since I received it - about the Bendmaster bridges.

Can you point me to the Q&A about the bridges? I can't find it.

[Brainfertilizer]

In the 1989 Catalog, we see the Magnaflux name for pickups dropped and two new names:
Heatwave & Stylist.
It seems like the Heatwave are Alnico and the Stylist are Ferrite, correct?
But those names only appear in 1989.
In the 1990 Catalog, the only Westone-specific name I can find is "Powersound" on the Villain standard. Everything is either not named, a Trever Rabin signature, Dan Sutcliffe pickup, or EMG Select. What happened to the Stylist pickups?

The Challenger is probably my favorite guitar ever. It has perfect ergonomics for me, perfect action, perfect neck and the best tone I've ever heard on a guitar. Maybe that last part is just due to my taste, but since I'm a greedy fellow, I want to find more Westone/Alvarez guitars like it. Which other pickups, either prior to 1989 or after, is likely to have the same tone as the Stylists?

How do the Stylist, Heatwave, and Powersound pickups compare to the old MMK45, in terms of specifications? How involved were you with the design of these three pickup lines?