Westone Thunder 1 Bass

1981 Thunder 1 p-bass natural finish. 1 volume, 1 tone and that is all that is needed.4 string, again all that is needed.Solid maple body with walnut stripes ,looks nice, looks neck thru but is bolt on.Passive with brass nut. Simple but quite seriously the best bass that I have ever owned in 36 years of playing.

Thunder 1 .The name says it all.This is a rock monster, also plays blues,country,fusion jazz,just about anything that I have ever tried this bass has no shortcommings.A true workhorse bass.You are realy only limited by your own abilities as far as getting the sounds that you need or want out of this bass.The pick up is great and the tone pot actualy works.I play this thru a Yorkville bassman 400 head with an Ampeg cabinet.Effects from time to time but not often.

As I bought this used I cannot comment on setup but the finish on mine is doing very well.My thunder 1 is 28 years old and looks great.The smaller body looks and feels just right.It has lived a long life and is still ready to kick.

This bass is 28 years old,still looks and plays great.I bought it used and the previous owner had changed the bridge and tunners because they had tarnished,guess he was afraid to clean them,and put cheap fender style replacements on.This was the only problem that I have ever had with this bass.I replaced the cheap bridge with a badass bridge and everything was good.I put straplocks on,personal preference not need.I have used it without a backup but I generaly have a couple of basses with at gigs.In the 10 years that I have used this girl the neck has been adjusted 1 time,when I first bought it. This is the most dependable bass I have ever had.These bass guitars will outlast all of us.

Westone factory burrned in 1986.There are westones built after that date but not of the same quality etc.Westone serial numbers are easy.The first number in the serial number is the year of manufacture in the 1980's.If it starts with 1 it's a 1981 etc.

Been playing 36 years,bass and guitar,Own 18 guitars and basses,but I only own 3 basses.The Thunder 1 is my number one.I also hve an Epiphone Thunderbird and a St.George semi-hollow style bass.I have owned Gibsons,Fenders Washburn's,Ibanez,Univox,and tons of others and copies etc.,but I like and respect this bass more than any of the others.If you can find one of these ,buy it.They are getting hard to come by,prices are crazy low for these.400.00 or so for a japanese built top quality workhorse bass that will last longer than the big names out there now.

Serial number 2082092, so probably build in august 1982.
Tone and volume knobs and that's it.

I play bass in an alternative rock band. Guitar, drums, vocals, backing vocals and this very low, but clear Westone bass. Just a rich, warm deep sounding bass. It suits the style of music I'm playing at the moment very well and I wouldn't change it to another bass if I where playing another style because the tone pot gives it lots of variety.

This is a well build instrument. At first I didn't like the way it looks, but I'm getting used to it. Just bought a second (fretless) one from the internet.

My Westone is almost thirty years old and it looks and plays like it was made yesterday.

Didn't need it yet and probably won't for the next thirty years.

I've been playing this one for almost a year now and like I said I just bought another one. I've played fender P and J basses (borrowed ones) but I like my own Westone just as much.

As below

Swapped the factory pickups for Kent Armstrong P-bass and it sounds great. I lean towards a precision growl anyway, and love how this thing sounds now.

Having been in the previous owner's attic for years, this came in great shape. The action could only be slightly improved, its plays well in every position and is balanced really nicely for strap or lap. A little oxide on the bridge, but nothing too serious and after 20 years, a spit and polish worked wonders.

Solid, feels totally reliable everywhere.

Love this bass. Its everything that was great about 80's Jap factories, I've owned other basses and this thing just feels right for me. I tend to play with either a full blown growl or a dull muffle, and it delivers both perfectly. All the hardware feels nice and solid and I feel good just getting it out of the case!

4 strings, volume, tone, pick up...all u need from a simple bass.

u can shape the tone by rollin the tone up or down....
sounds brilliant to me.....

there is a truss ros so u can adjust the action to ur personal taste....well built and the neck is straight.....

this one will live forever.

never had to use it.

all i wanted and expected on a bass.

I swapped a home pool table for my first bass, a Westone Concorde1. Still to this day the best action on any bass I have played. Despite the fact at the time it was probably worth only about #100 and as the years have past buy I have spent considerably more on lesser guitars. I would love to be able to get my hands back on it. I swapped it, plus about #200 for a Fender Precision fretless.... an unwise move... kids, dont do it!

I was in a punk band at the time and coupled with a Marshall 100w Valve Head and 4x10 Cab the sound was pure power with that lovely clickety treble to remind us we had to keep time too.

Action.....the action was almost flat and fret buzz was something I didn't learn about until I got my next guitar. The flaws of the bass were that the finish under the scratchplate was lazy. Granted no one was ever going to see it but it was very poor.

Will this bass withstand live playing?????? I have little doubt that it was designed with playing in mind and It lasted me a good three years. That was until about 14 years ago. It really wouldn't suprise me if it was still in circulation.

I got the guitar second hand and never needed to repair it. I never dealt with the company, however, after a friend played it once he went out and bought the only Westone that was available to him and that was a Thunder IA which I believe he still plays to this day.

I've been playing for about 20 years. These days my guitar of choice is an Aria ProII Integra Professional Series which is simlar in size and weight to the Westone. I'm playing though a baby Marshall 65 but have the benefit of being the bloke who owns the PA so I'm getting some great sounds with power.

I would love to get my hads back on my westone concorde... who knows? If I look in the right places.

Solid body 4 string, 20 fret bass guitar manufactured by Matsumoku of Japan. Date of manufacture: 1980?-84, probably 1984. Serial number 4010758.

860mm / nominal 34" scale bolt-on neck, attached by four screws through a chromed metal plate carrying the Westone logo, and the words 'Westone', 'A Matsumoku Product' and 'Made in Japan'.

Symmetrical headstock with two tuners per side. Neck width at nut 40mm; at 12th fret 56mm; at last fret 63mm. String spacing at bridge 19mm.
Body construction: laminate of ash, maple and walnut (ash wings, maple centre with 4 walnut stringers). 'Light Oak' natural finish. Body depth 45mm. Forearm chamfer to front, belly cut to rear.
Neck construction: 3-piece maple with rosewood fingerboard.
Westone logo to front of headstock, serial number to rear of headstock. 'Thunder 1 Bass' in gold on black laminate truss rod cover at headstock.
Hardware: 4 chromed steel slotted enclosed tuners, modern 'Y' buttons, Westone 'eagle' logo on tuner gear case (Westone 'Bass Tuner 1' model). Brass nut. Solid brass bridge with right-angle string anchoring base. Alignment grooves for saddle screws. Fixed to body by seven brass screws. Four solid brass cylindrical saddles with centre indent, each with full independent height adjustment via two hex screws and intonation adjustment via one Philips-head screw. Chromed steel conventional surface-mounted jack socket. Two identical knurled brass flat-topped control knobs, unlabelled. Two strap buttons (gold-plated steel - possibly not original?).
Electronics: a single passive P-type pickup (Westone 'Hard Puncher 1' model) with passive master volume and master tone controls. The control cavity is accessed through a black laminate plate on the rear of the instrument held by four screws. Wiring is tidy. The cavity is unscreened but the internal face of the cover plate is covered by an adhesive metal foil. The plate is cushioned internally by a piece of loose foam.

The medium rating for features reflects the fact that this is not a feature-laden instrument: it has exactly what it needs, and nothing more.

I bought this bass because I wanted a reliable, playable instrument of good quality for a low price, and I'm very pleased with it. Obviously its tonal range is limited by the single pickup and the basic passive controls, but intelligent use of the volume and tone (which is a classic treble roll-off), plus varying the position of your plucking hand, using a pick etc. can produce most of the familiar P-bass type sounds and more. If you want more variety, then a cheap bass multieffects unit or even just outboard EQ is recommended. The Digitech BP200 is as good as any.

I use the bass mainly at home and for recording. I would describe its sound as attractive but generic - it has no pronounced character of its own, which is fine by me since I didn't want a one-sound bass. I think it's probably best suited to pop, rock and blues but you can get jazz and country tones easily enough. I can't really comment on whether it's good for slap as I don't play that style, but certainly a good aggressive twang is available with the tone on 10.

At some point I might consider changing the pickup for a quality passive or active unit, but why fix what ain't broke?

The instrument was purchased second-hand. Nonetheless, setup was good and required only a few tweaks. The instrument appeared to have been unplayed for some time and perhaps only lightly played since new. Minimal fret wear, some tarnishing of brass parts as one would expect from a twenty-year-old instrument. A little lemon oil brought out the good quality rosewood of the fingerboard.

Action was medium low, intonation and neck relief easily adjustable. All bridge parts functioned. Tuners were smooth and secure. no squeaks or rattles after setup.

Electronics worked perfectly and silently - not even a squeaky volume pot. Controls were solid and smooth.

A small chip of wood was missing from the top front of the headstock of this second-hand instrument. Otherwise the woodwork was immaculate.

The bass plays easily and feels rather like a slightly thinner / narrower Precision: heftier than a Jazz Bass but not a real lump. It balances well on the strap or on the knee.

A very solidly constructed and simple instrument made from quality timbers and hardware. Little to go wrong. A pro would consider changing the tuners at some point, and some would consider upgrading the electronics. The finish is attractive and easy to keep clean.

No opinions concerning gigging reliability as I have only owned the bass for a short time. No sane person would gig without a backup instrument anyway - strings break, even if nothing else does.

The Matsumoku company was taken over around 1984 and I believe it ceased to exist around 1988. During its life it also made instruments for other quality Japanese manufacturers including Vantage, Washburn and the Aria Pro II range. The Westone name was eventually sold on and other guitars are now being produced under the Westone name. These instruments have nothing to do with original Japanese Westones.

This bass is so solidly constructed that I can't imagine needing to consult the manufacturer anyway, but all parts are standard types and easily replaceable.

I've been playing for about thirty years but seriously for about five.
If it were stolen or lost I'd try to buy another Thunder 1 in this condition without hesitation. In my opinion it is superior to any new Squier or Epiphone instrument I might have bought for the same price, and probably better than most modern Korean, Indonesian or Chinese manufactured instruments costing up to twice as much. The best things about it are the quality of the materials and the simplicity of construction and features.

The weakest point would be the electronics, which are functional but basic. The pickup is not the most powerful or characterful P-type, but an upgrade to something like a Seymour Duncan passive or an EMG active would be easy (and there is an active version of this bass, the Thunder 1A, which I haven't heard or played).

Made in the 80's dunno when exactly, made in Japan by Matsomuko. 20 frets with two active pickups a tone knob and active switch for each with one volume knob and a tone switch. Black laquer with natural wood stripe down centre. It looks like a thru neck but it isnt actually, fairly thin neck. When i bought it i got it off ebay and it came with a rubbishy bass amp (which my dad turned into a bass drum mic) about 3 leads a full pack of elite strings and a white plectrum! all for #140!

Bloody amazing! it is the most versatile guitar i've ever played (mind you that hasn't been many as im only 14 but other people have made similar comments) I like to play it with a very fat fender +10 sound but by turning a few knobs and flicking the tone switch you can make it as rickenbacker as you like. I play it through a beringer practice amp and i don't put the actives on through that because they would probably blow it out after a while. When i have done though it is really really loud and sounds like a motor bike going at 80mph. But through a trace elliott it's incredible.

When I got it I did it up- new strings, lowered the action and polished the metalwork. but it wasn't rusted or anything I just wanted it to look nice

It's great bass to play live sound wise but it is very heavy and you definetly would never need a backup. The finish and hardware would probably stand up to anything it is as good as new now and is probably over 20 years old.

bought it on ebay- no dealing with company- seller was a nice guy though

This is only my second bass as i have only been playing for a year and 9 months but i have no desire to buy any other basses (yet) because this is perfect for me. I got it because it was recommended buy a friend of my dads. if it were stolen i would cry a lot and try to get another. They are fantastice guitars.

O.k. Don't know when my Thunder was made, do know it was made in Japan as it says so on the back of the headstock.
I bought my Westone Thunder in , I think 1986, it seems a long time ago, from a second hand guitar shop in Scarborough (U.K. -yeah I'm English!)I fell in love with it whilst on holiday with my parents ( I was only about 15) so when I got home I counted up my pennies and rang the shop a few days later to see if it was still there. It was! I bought it, got it sent on a train,in a cardboard box, and lived happily ever after.
It has twenty frets, laminate body and neck, probably maple and ash, single active pickup with volume pot and two tones (one for the active circuit).

The sound is pretty good. It's deep and thumpy, yet it also sounds good played with a plectrum (if you have too)-nice and snappy. It's a little dead when it comes to slap compared to a jazz but it's made up for by it's shear style! I've gigged it through an Orange amp with a Marshall head, which was very good, although I haven't played anything similar to compare it to. I did have problems picking it out from two guitars, this could be more of an amp problem (or my deadened hearing) than the actual bass.
Recording wise, it sounds great. I really can't find fault with this guitar.

Set up was fine, although I do remember the action being a tiny bit too high for my liking.
Frets, bracing, pots, everything was peachy on this guitar.
No complaints at all.

The metal ware has oxidized over time, but it has seen some weather, so can't complain. Did have a problem with a tone pot dying a few years ago. Also broke a microswitch after knocking it over, but generally nothing serious.
I am an incredibly clumsy person. For this instrument to survive nearly twenty years after all the hammer I've given it is a real achievement and a sign of quality build.

The company no longer exists as far as I am aware so this doesn't really apply, although I've never had any serious problems anyway.
As it was second hand I never had a warranty.

I've played for nearly twenty years and had a love/hate relationship with this instrument. I now love it. I tried alot of basses before purchase and have played plenty since but nothing has that same originality. My other bass is an acoustic so its a nice contrast.
If it were stolen I think I would have to source another, although they are getting a little rare where I live.
Only question I should have asked when I bought it- Have you got any others?

Made in 1984 by Matsumoku in Japan (who badge engineered for Aria, amongst others) this bass is another sound Westone instrument. I bought it to go with my Thunder 1A fretless (also 1984, review on these pages). Neck is maple, bolt on, rosewood fingerboard with 20 frets, natural finish 7 piece body of maple, mahogany and alder (I think) that looks as though its a thru neck construction. Pickup configuration is as Fender Precision, humbuckers with volume & tone controls. Bridge is Fender style with brass finish as the controls, but the tuners are silver - typical for Westone of this period. Really solid construction with no frills. Would have been nice to have matching hardware. High rating is for quality of construction rather than millions of features.

Played mainly in a jazz context, the tone is fat and full with plenty of growl when played with attack and a rich, full sound all the time.. I use it with a Peavey Basic 112 and Zoom 3000 bass processor, which makes up for the lack of variety in the guitar's own features. Controls are quiet. I particularly like the small(ish) body and the medium width of the neck. High rating again for quality of basic sound.

15 years old when bought, so no factory comments! Action is medium to low with everything well made. No flaws, good wood, good pickups, and really solid construction.

This guitar will play forever. 15 years on and it seems as good as the day it was made. Laquer on the brass has faded, but that's just patina! My fretless replaced the Fender Jazz, which has never been gigged since I bought it, and the fretted version will keep me bang in tune with the piano for unison playing.

No factory to deal with!

Played for nearly 40 years. Fender, Gibson and Westone guitars and basses owned. I'd find another if I lost it. These guitars are great value for money, you'd need to top #600 to get a similar quality guitar new now.