Westone Spectrum DX Bass

-Late 80's model
-22 frets
-pearl white coloured (I have redone it since)
-volume and tone
-stock pickup (passive)
-clear coat finish
-double cutaway
-super heavy bridge
-4 bolt neck joint
-shitty tuners
-slightly bulky neck
-westone carrying case
-slightly heavy
-punchy tone
-nice bass

-great for any style of playing
-playing through 200 watt yorkville bass master, with a few pedals
-clean, full sound
-good tonal range with simple controls
-great on stage or studio
-sweet bass

-super high action, but can be easily adjusted without touching the truss rod much
-easy to do any quick repairs on the electronics
-few flaws, adds to it's charm
-bridge is slightly rusted, but again, adds to the charm

-built like a tank, i can't count the nuber of times I've dropped it, but it's something so love, but don't care if it gets a scratch
-solid hardware, and electronics
-paint yellows easily, especially in the bar scene
-once every 6 months I need to adjust the truss rod
-this is my favourite and only bass, I sold my spector for some pedals to jazz it up

-this was my third bass, and I've found my sound with it
-I would hate to lose it, because it's quite a rarity
-I love it because I hate it, i hate it because I love it
-I've compared this bass with a few 4000 series rickenbackers, a spector professional series, a fender p-bass, and I still would take this one. I'm never getting rid of this bass, which I have christened "Felix"

Made in Japan model number 6060597. A 22 fret 4 string. Deep red body colour with black neck. Volume and tone controls only with one pickup mounted in the middle of the body. A passive instrument, but incredibly bright in tone making it sound more active than it really is. Don't know what woods the bass is made of, but the neck is a dark wood? The bridge allows the user to mount the strings in 2 ways - through holes right at the back of the bridge, or through holes that sit in a well under the bridge (presumably for quick refitting if you break a string during a gig). The neck is not too bulky, with a good action.

Tonally the sound is superb. I bought my instrument for ?50 with moulded flight case! I've not yet played an instrument that compares with it (except of course for the real hand-made jobs). The simplicity of it's pickup is it's key I think. It covers all tonal ranges perfectly from finger style to slap - the bass simply delivers. It's tone is incredibly well balanced. Even chord or harmonic work is just right. Not too bassy, not too trebley! I've had equal success on stage and in the studio with this bass. 13 years of ownership and it still delivers.

Bought it second-hand, so I set it up myself. but that in it's self is no hard ship. Pickups are none adjustable. As you would expect from owning a bass for 13 years it's no battered and bruised - but still delivers. I suspect the age of the bass is nearer 16 eyars though. The finish seems very hardy. I've given it some really cracks and it just takes it. A perfect gig bass.

Perfect for live work. Hard as nails. Fitted locking nuts for the strap for better support. Never ever used a backup bass in my life? Why would you do that? Treat your instrument right, and it will treat you right.

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Certainly have another one - well in fact I am - I'm getting the LX version. An active monster that seems as reliable and sturdy as this beast I have now. Certainly worth considering as a backup or permanent use instrument.

Bought mid 80's s/h. Gloss black (original finish)

With new(ish) strings it has a good tone range and plenty of power

The only thing I've ever done is lower the action. It's really low now (for bass) and gives a bit of buzz and string rattle but you can't have it all ways!!

I've had it for about 16 years and it's never been in a case and everything still works fine

As above, this bass seems indestructible. Really well made for a budget instrument.

Who knows?

I'm not really a bass player but I really like this bass. The only downside is that its a bit heavy

The Westone Spectrum DX (probably late 80's or early 90's vintage)is a Japanese-made entry-level bass. It incorporates a single soapbar pickup and a standard volume/tone knob setup. Although rather basic, the bass has some really interesting features for its price point. Starting from the top: smooth Schaeller like tuners, a NICE string (tuner) tree for the G and D strings that incorporates rollers (unlike the flat disc on Fenders, etc.), and the wide soapbar pickup has two poles for each string (internally setup like a P-Bass split pickup). As well, the bridge has an interesting feature in its fake-through-body stringing system. The bridge sits over a small routed groove which allows the strings to come out of the bottom of the bridge (you can also use holes at the rear of the bridge for a more conventional string path) giving it a "through body" look. The body has a modern look (kind of a meld between a Fender, Jackson, Carvin, etc.) and the neck is about Jazz width with a very flat radius. Prety darned cofortable to play.

I bought this bass about an hour before a gig (needed a backup bass). The strings were dead as a doornail, so it sounded a lot like an a knock-off Hofner Beatle Bass (real woody and thunky-- no sustain). After the gig, I tore the entire bass apart and gave it a good cleaning and new strings. I put on an old set of D'Addario Prisms that I had laying around. The change in sound was amazing. The tone is now MUCH brighter. With good strings, I am able to get a pretty good variety of tones with an adjustment of the Tone knob. Heck, with really good strings (the Prisms aren't my favorite) this thing may sound like a pro bass. Regardless, this would be a perfeclt good bass for a beginner or a gigger needing a cheap backup bass for gigs (this one goes with me when we play outdoors in the humidity or other inclement weather).

When I bought this at a local pawn shop, it was absolutely filthy. Dirt and grime everywhere. After the gig, I tore it down to its component level and cleaned everything. After reassembly, I can honestly say that fit and finish was as good as any bass in this class. Neck to body fit is outstanding. The pearl cream body paint and black neck finish (cool looking combination!) have some chips and scratches, but both still have outstanding shine and luminescence. The bass just plain looks good. The frets showed a lot of use, but it is hard to gripe about that at the price I paid. As an added bonus, I was VERY pleased with the electronics cavity. Not only was it partially shielded and well grounded, but all of the pots were well attached and clean. The soldering and wiring was ABSOLUTELY FANTASTIC! I've owned nearly two dozen basses (cheap Hondos to American Fenders to my current pair of Warwicks) and this may be the BEST soldering job I've ever seen. Kudos to fine Japanese workmanship and attention to detail!! That being said, I still get a little 60 Hz hum when around a lot of electronics and I'm not touching the strings. Rolling off the Tone knob seems to help a lot, so I'm not too upset by this issue.

As a rule, this bass appears to be a tank. Everything seems to be pretty heavy-duty. Other than the fact that the all-painted finish might show nicks and dings if abused, I would find it hard to believe that you could hurt this bass under normal conditions. With the amount of grunge that was on the bass when I bought it, I am surprised that there weren't more problems with the finish after it was cleaned. I have two pairs of basses for gigs. Normally I carry my Warwick Corvette Jazzman and Warwick Streamer Standard. When we play outdoors (in anything but perfect weather) or somewhere I'm scared to take the Warwicks, I take this bass and another old Japanese Fender knock-off. The Westone has now become my primary bass on these gigs.

If you can find customer support for an out of production, imported bass, let me know.......On the other hand, all components are of modern variety. If you were to break any hardware, you could simply replace it with aftermarket parts.

This is no pro bass, but it's a darned good beginner or backup bass. You won't find them new in a music store, but if you come across one at a good price used, I can't think of any reason not to buy it. Like any other used instrument, check it out before you buy, or be sure that the store has a return policy (I always ask the local pawn brokers for at lease 48 hours to check for bad electronics or other hidden defects). I'm sorry to see that our friend with the other review of this bass had so many issues. Like most used instruments, these problems are probably more indicative of the particular bass and its previous use (abuse?) than the overall manufacturing of the entire Westone line. For those of you that frequent used music stores and pawn shops, there's no doubt that there are dozens of different budget import basses out there. From this particular example, I am confident that Westones are as good as any of these offerings.

I bought this used, back in the late 80?s. Left-handed and made in Japan, but if I accused them of it I?m sure they?d deny all knowledge. It?s black with an elegant neck, curvaceous body, 22 frets and has 2 knobs, one for tone and one for volume. This guitar?s looks are its only redeeming feature.

Mellow but ruined by the action and fit.

This is a truly awful guitar. I was only unfortunate enough to own it because I had a tight budget and needed a left-handed bass. This happened to be the only one available locally at the time (oh lucky me!). It was this or continue playing the bass line on a synth. With hindsight I would have been better off buying a box and some elastic bands, saving both the money and the years of lugging this piece of crap around wherever I go. For a start the bottom 2 strings buzz. You can fix this by pressing on the strings at the guitar head but, this gets tiring if you use your foot, awkward if you use a doorframe and amazing if you use a third hand (this may get you on an episode of the X-files though). You could ask a friend to press down on the strings for you but after 2 hours this may stretch the friendship a little. Of course the best thing to do is to go out and buy a string suppressor and screw it on. So, with that problem solved we move onto the string rattle. The action is too high and strings rattle when played. The only place you can adjust this is on the bridge but it would appear that you need to remove it from the guitar?s body to do it. I?ve never felt the effort would be worth it. There is a screw at the end of each string?s bridge but this only allows you to remove the part. Then there?s the jack socket nut. It keeps falling off.
If your ever have the misfortune to be given this guitar (you sure wont buy it) then keep the strings and throw the rest of it away. The strings will probably be rubbish as well, but at least you can use them to strangle the person who gave it to you.

Well it?s certainly durable. I?ve tried driving over it, dropping it from high buildings and blowing it up with dynamite but it just stays in one piece as a permanent reminder of a big waste of money. And I suppose you could say it was reliable. If you wanted to rely on a consistently bad performance then it will always come up trumps.

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This isn?t suitable for a beginner therefore any standard of guitarist. It might be suitable for an archer considering the give you get with some of the strings. It?s a sorry excuse for a instrument. But not a bad work of art and, when friends come round they say ?wow, you play bass?? and you say ?yeh? and they say ?cool? and then you hope to god it ends there before they ask you to play it. Unless they happen to be death watch beetle, in which case they?ll dig the noise.