Westone Rail

Don't know all the TECHNICALS about this guitar. It has a single "RAIL" pick up which is "so so" sound-wise but hasn't failed yet. It sounds better going through my MIDAS Venice 320 so decided to keep it. Was gonna dump it on eBay. Comes with a flimsy cheap plastic silver "gig bag" which couldn't offer protection if your life depended on it. It says "WESTONE" on it and that's about all it's good for. COLLECTOR ITEM, otherwise, it's birdsville, man. There is no "body" to speak of and thus, no "style" that you'd find anywhere else but right here. It's in a class by itself, for what it's worth and however that plays out. The neck is rather chunky and the action isn't close like I really like it to be. The frets are ok and no buzzing. It intonated correctly after futzin' with it a while. The bridge isn't the best. The tuning knobs at rear (headless) are vulnerable to smashing so you have to stay mindful of that...so no standing it up on the floor allowed. I haven't any guitar or bass stands that'll accommodate this at all. Pain the butt to gig with. Good thing I'm a DRUMMER and use it in recording at home. I prefer either my YAMAHA BBN 5 string "Nathan East" edition, or my Fender J Bass Fretless in any case. Otherwise, the whole thing is "serviceable."

Likes: It's Different and hardly anyone else has one. The sound, albeit not FANTASTIC, is also "different" for recordings of certain kinds which don't follow the crowd sound-wise. That's what this is GOOD for.
Otherwise, it's a cheap piece of Toy Tokyo JUNK. Not at all quality like the Japanese YAMAHA bass which is based on a Fender P bass in design. If it weren't for the MIDAS board and its FABULOUS pre amps circuitry, there wouldn't be any "warmth" or "brightness" or other descriptive VALUES pertaining to what kind of sound. As it is, I can tweak almost everything I want out of it going into the MIDAS first, then it goes to the DAW through a DRAWMER 1960 pre amp soft knee compressor (British). That's the only way to get something out of it.
Amp wise...or for a paying GIG? ...in a word: Use something else.

All the body aspects seem to be in order. No loose or bad frets, or faulty wiring. The knobs and pots are good. Etc... The action ? I brought it down as much as I could without it buzzing. It's "OK" but not nearly as easy on the fingers as the Yammy or my Fender Fretless.
But if you want a good WORK OUT so you can punch harder and go faster (where applicable and with TASTE of course) bang around on THIS for a couple hours. It's really good when you do that and then go pick up a 6 string Custom Shop Strat or my CARVIN CM 140S (based on a Gibson LP). You at least think and feel like you're FLYING.

I wouldn't use this on a REAL GIG at all, to be honest. So I'm not sure how the hardware would withstand road rigors. I wouldn't want to find out about that the HARD WAY. So I'd leave it home if I were a bass player in a working band. Otherwise, it appears to be solid enough for hobby playing and recording at home. The "strap buttons." Not much can wrong with them unless you're using the guitar and strap to jack up the front end of a '66 Pontiac Bonneville with a 425 V8.

Never needed to activate the WARRANTY. I didn't bang it up on a gig or drop it off the back of a truck going 70 on I 95 just outside of Baltimore. It's still intact and functional as it was when new.

But the MUSIC STORE owner where I'd originally bought it back in '85 wanted to trade a brand new Rickenbacker 4001 EVEN STEVEN for it cuz he wanted it back real bad. So I'm KEEPING IT because there is still "SOMETHING ABOUT YOU, OH BABY, TONIGHT..." Ha ha ha ha !!!!
At the time, I wasn't that fond of the RICK sound. YES was the ONLY band where that actually fit. Of course, that's just my opinion. And who the heck am I ? Nobody.

I've been playing music in general a long long time. DRUMS, over 37 years. So "imitating" Neil Peart or Mike Portnoy etc.. wouldn't be any problem. Besides, they're all BUDDY RICH babies like I am too. My instructor was a direct student of RICH's in NY CITY before he moved upstate to my neck of the woods. So I got BUDDY RICH up the yin and yang as a kid. Thus, I've been ACCUSED of imitating PEART and others of that ilk, but the fact is I was playing that way even before I'd ever heard of any of them. That's just the BUDDY RICH "culture" if you will of the time when I was growing up. RICH was the "IT GUY" for drums. If you took lessons, HE was almost ALL you'd get after you were done with Haskell W. Harr and the very basics, that is ..about age 8 or 9.
Other than DRUMS, I play guitar, bass, keys and do lead vocals and now, probably more at songwriting and recording. I was also a recording studio engineer and can do MASTERING. I've worked at just about every brand of desk, such as these:... NEVE V3 Capricorn, SSL, Harrison, etc.. (too many to list here).....nigh all you can think of at one point in time. Even Mackie and Soundcraft. ha ha ha !!!
I still have a 1993 OTARI MX50N-II mix down open reel deck though. I LOVE IT !! The computer DAW I built myself cuz I couldn't afford to buy a brand name one. Running SONAR 4 PE on XP PRO. Would prefer a MAC but ... $$$$$ and the OUCH FACTOR there, bro. But it does the job.

Currently I make a living as an IT dude where I help hapless users and tall white guys named "BOB" in a big office figure out where the "ANY" key is. Or how to set the date on their OUTLOOK Calendar so they don't forget GOLF on Wed. at noon with Ted, Bill, George and Tom. And maybe Mike, if he's not too busy shaggin' the secretary with the long legs and short skirts in 5" French heels.
Hey, it's a JOB. You gotta be a NEP to "make it" in music.
"Talent is universal. Nobody makes it unaided." -Joe Bonanno.
I guess ask Frank Sinatra about old Joe. tee hee hee.

Not sure what year it was made but I bought it new in 84 or 85. Japanese,two octave neck,satin black.Silver gig bag , sliding pick-up carriage,all rails are the same are'nt they?

Love the style,construction simple but very effective. Easy to tune , great neck, great sound for slapping.Full sound through my old Peavey 210 watt.Good for the stage for the look but better to use sitting down I found.

Very well made and finished. Harmonically perfect neck.

No reason to doubt reliability as seemed very well made.

My rail bass was stolen in 89 or 90 and it was like losing a leg. I still have receipt and serial no. and I would love to find my old bass and buy it back.If anyone can help I'd love to hear from them. I was particularly interested in reviews from Rob and Hedge as I am from Sydney Australia also.

My Rail, I believe by the Serial number, is probably 84-85 vintage, black in colour.Spec is exactly as described elsewhere. Black finish still looks good. I have what looks like the matching hard case which seems to be pretty rare amongst Rail owners. Single volume knob makes for a simple layout. Pickup is original.
I bought this is as my travel bass for jamming with a friend interstate when I travel. Perfect size for air travel particularly with matching hard case. Bought in 1995 for $250 Australian.

Good bottom end but light on the mid/treble end which suits me as I play classic rock at the bottom end. Not a great variety of sounds but it does the job well. Started to have a mains hum sound owing to not being grounded properly but that is fine now. When I can I play it through a Behringer 300 Bass Head and SWR 2 x10" SWR Workingmans bass bin. Sounds great.
I dont use it on stage as I am a finger player and I find it a little awkward to play that way as there is no cutaway arm rest. I use it as a sit down jam guitar.

Finish is fine, action is a little high but very usable

As its over 20 years old and still looks good and sounds good that is a testimony to Japanese quality manufacture of the 1980's. I dont doubt its reliability for one moment.

Never had the need for any

I have been playing since 1982.I would not part with the Rail as its handy to have and very striking to look at.
Like:
1.Style- design, its a real conversation piece
2.Light and transportable
Dislikes:
For a finger player any Headless bass of this style is not exactly comfortable to play but I live with that happily, you cant have a great design and expect it fits like a glove.
My main working bass is a handmade 1983 Japanese Diaon MKXX, so it looks like I am an '80's bass guitar tragic! I also owned in the 1980's a 1982 Alembic Distillate with Explorer body a la Mr Entwhistle style(sadly sold). In terms of sound you cant expect the Rail whose body is 50% fresh air to sustain etc like the Alembic or Daion, but it has the unique advantage of being a highly portable bass, so its a trade off I can live with.
I am thinking of making some sort of arm rest that clips on to aid my "old School" playing style.

This log made back in the early 80's. Single volume, Well finished. Funny I was all hung up and determine to get a headless monster after playing my cousins headless Hohner. So hard to find one and expensive, so gave up untill my friend saw one of these strange rail bass in a guitar shop far away from the city. No one ever noticed the rail,I guess it was not in fashion, lol, it was standing in a corner in the bass section for years.People look at it and by pass it for a box wood type chinese korean copy. This shop bought out all the westone guitars ten years ago, So the boss says. And we managed to buy 2 new rails still in a box sooooooooooooooo cheap. What a bargain. I give it 10, coz with all d sonic posibilities with vst plugins.

You read the reviews from others.
I like it coz its diffent an un popular.
When im finnished with it im gonna make it talk.
Why not of course its good on stage,its better than any other bass I played. It might not have a great body, but its got balls. Funny the audience see so many borring looking bass players and they all look the same. They dont know the difference between major brands. But when they this RAIL they will notice and never forget the band.

Action playable. Typicaly good japanese quality.

Well see after a game of cricket.Looks solid enough.

Dont know

Im a guitar player. I needed someting for recording. Sick of all those so called bass lead players that cannot play a good solid simple bass line. So I do it myself. Its better than any chinnese, Korean made stuff, I know for certain the japs were trying to keep up with major leading brands and they used good woods in those days not like the box wood in the cheap chinnese and koreans stuff of today.

i'm not a pro player. i just like noddling around and fooling with guitars and basses. the "rail" feature of this bass caught my eye, plus it got it cheap. can't give it a 10 for "normal" features, but if you like the quirkiness of the rail feature, it's something you won't find on anything else. i eventually found a second one and pulled the frets out of it.

sounds ok to me, but just because i like to experiment i'm looking for other pickup options. especially for the fretless to kind of put even more distance bettween their tones.

again, not a pro, but the first one i played without problem. no buzzing or anything. the second one i took apart pretty much right after i got it, but i have no reason to believe it would be any worse.

this section will probaly make some who love them mad, but i can attest to their durability because i've had them somewhat apart, and drilled holes in them to connect them together with similar sized tubes to make a fretted/fretless rail doubleneck. i decided i didn't like it though, and filled in the holes to make them separate basses again.

they were also left in a damp basement for a few years while i did military and moved around some. the soft cases are pretty much messed up (i tried to wash them. mildew) but the basses seem no worse for the wear. i've pulled frets out of maybe 2-3 other basses before this one and it didn't tear the neck up any more than any other. filling in the fret slots and repairing nicks wasn't any harder.

got them used.

again not a pro, and i admit i got these as cheap basses to experiment with and do things i wouldn't do to better (more expensive) basses, but i've messed with basses for about 23 years and i plan to keep them just because they're unique. i read the other reviews and plan to put a thumb rest on the pickup section. don't know why that didn't occur to me, and would like any suggestions for pickup options, especially for my fretless rail.

I'm a drummer but this beast cought my eye, sitting in the window of a second hand shop. I once sold it to the bass player in my band, I was touring Europe and short on cash. I brought it back off her four years later. Never again. One of my first modifications was to weld together a protective bracket out of 8 mm rod that is bolted to the body and protects the tuning knobs. The knobs are still readily accesable and the bass can stand upright on the bracket rather than on the knobs, which is what tended to happen. I had a problem with the bracket that holds down all the strings at the end of the neck. The simple solution was to cut it in half. This way each half locks down two strings. No more slipage and changing a string now requirers loosening off only two strings, not all four.

Sounds good to me.

Feels good to me.

Bomb proof.

N/A

This bass has grace and style. I've never seen another one being played here in Sydney and wonder how many there are. It always attracts comments at gigs. I had no intention of buying a bass before I saw it and had no hesitation when I did lay eyes on it. And it came with a gig bag. It's the only bass I have ever owned and probably will be the only bass I ever own. I can emaiil photos of my modifications if it is of use to any of you Railheads out there..

Well I finally found one. Oh happy day!!! My rail bass is #506496. Not sure when it was made,but they were all built in the mid 80's. Been looking for a while.Dident come with any thing else like a gig bag and stuff but I was just happy to get this thing. I completely had my rail professionally rebuilt from the finish right down to the little springs and (hard to find) original screws and nylon bushings for the bridge and tuner.It turned out better than I had hoped.It now is beautifull and like brand new.It also now supports a seamore duncan screaming demon pick up which by the way fits the pocket in the center piece perfectly. I had everything bead blasted and powder coated. Any questions if you plan on the same journey,I can help.

It suits my music style just right.Love that heavy stuff.I run it threw a peavey nitro bass head which is very adjustable for the tone,a folded horn cabinet with 2 15"black widows,and two satelites on stands with 2-15's and horns.Threw the mixer and away we go!!! Nice and quiet with the volumn knob up.I love the bottum end sound and can easily stun a large animal at about a hundred yards.The top end is a little weak,but that can always be overcome with a emg or such.If you haven't guessed yet,I like loud and often get accused of to much volumn.I just smile and tell them to turn up a little.By adjusting the slider to the bottom I can get that wonderfull growl of the early 80's, Grand funk comes to mind. I just usually leave it there.It not only works well,but every body just flips on how it looks.When you are carrying one of these things,you had better be ready to not only walk the walk,you know? The thing looks like it could lossen a nut on a fire hydrent,and because of that I have no dislikes about it at all.

I love the way this thing plays,with a few adjustments nothing else is needed.Although I think that some one along the way has lowered the action a bit.Once you tune it thats it.The neck is straight and dose have the usuall small knicks if you look close enough.But the over all visual charicteristics can mask even a large hole. (which i dose not have)

This bass will withstand any thing any body can put up against it.The hardware on it is well built and will stay on the bass always.The finish looks very thick and will withstand a lot of wear.The strap buttons are very solid.This bass is as dependable as they get.I would have no second thoughts to bring it to a 24 hour concert as the only guitar.

Not a concern.We are all on our own.We should be proud.

Ive been playing all my life.about 34 years.The only question I wish I would have asked before I bought the bass is if they could have over night aired it to me.I live completely accross the country from where I found it.But it waswell worth it.It it was ever stolen from me I would spend my life or how ever long it took to hunt down and regain it.Yes I would buy another one if I could find one.There in lies the problem.Finding another one.I cant say enough how I like the bass.The sound the looks,and all the heads that turn when they see it. Now I know why they are starting to be in huge demand,and wouldent be suprised if another manufacturer will see that and start building them again.

It's a simple, reliable bass, great for travelling on airplanes or in bars requiring close quarters to your bandmates. Great intonation, little modification from stock. Great tuners. Only poor point is string locking system at nut is a little fussy and requires lossening all strings to change one. Always tighten nut from center outwards!
I get a lot of comments on my FLAME RED RAIL!

With todays processors it's not an issue. I use a ZOOM 607

All good. Action is fine, neck is straight and has been for years.

Solid as a rock and stays in tune when bashed now and then. Never adjusted neck or action since I set it up on day one.

Never an issue.

My only complaints are the locknut at the head, and the volume knob is a little too easy, and tends to move on it's own. (I cures this for free by wedging in some thin cardboard to creat friction, making it perfect. I also installed a thumbrest from an old fender.

This "Steinberger" clone was manufactured in 1985 in Japan. It's very lightweight, but I am not sure if it's made of that era's graphite styled basses. 24 frets with an average action, the big plus this model has over it's contempoaries is that it doesn't need the special "double-balled" strings...even though it is a headless bass. One sliding humbucking pick-up is provided, much like the Gibson Grabber bass of the 70's.One volume knob is the only control on the bass.The tone is fairly snappy, with a pronounced bite @ 1.5K. Very nice, even response throughout the neck. Somewhat auckward to play...plays best with a piok and a long strap.

Overall the bass has a bright sound. I run the bass through an Aphex aural exciter to fatten up the bottom. Average pick-up, but not noisy on full. This bass is a great live bass...really looks cool and different.Sounds best when picked or slapped. Not a "tappers" bass.

The action is average, a bit too high for my tastes. The only defect that I could find was the tuning knobs on the bridge had a tinge of rust to them.

This bass was made in 1985, and looks like it's only a year old. The thing really feels solid and well-made. Top-notch.I never play a gig without two basses!I did replace the strap buttons with Dunlop strap locks.

No opinion

I have been performing in bands for over 25 years, and this was the first "headless" bass that i have owned. The guitar plays nicely, is light on the shoulder and has a cool stage vibe.

I bought mine used, from the owner of the local music store who knew I was into weird/different instruments. At first, I too thought it was made from some plastic, composite, graphite, etc... however, after having it apart some five or six times to modify, I conclude that the bass with the exception of the two pipes is positivly made of wood. I am not sure what kind but I have carved and installed a Seymore Duncan stack (J-style) and have seen the wood first hand. I will say that it has advantages like the locking nut which means you don't need the double ball ($) strings. This bass is as tough as a 2 x 4. I made my own case from an old Eko bass that has passed away. I have never had to retune except when switching bands or changing key. Whoever designed this bass knew what the hell they were doing. Hat is off to you. The only pain was the placement of the volume knob, but I have since done away with it and replaced it with an on\off toggle.

sounds ok with stock h-buck but now sounds better with the Seymore Duncan stack

action satisfactory
finish makes wood look like a clear coated plastic\graphite

this bass is one of the most reliable I have ever seen. I have owned it for about eight years and have never needed to adjust the neck.

been playing since 1976 and have seen many basses come and go. This one will stay with me for now.