Westone Thunder 1-A Bass

All these were made in Japan at the Matsomuko factory. Mine is an 1983 fretted one in natural wood (ALder?) and a rosewood fretboard.

Other people have described the features so I won't waste space. I can't imagine what else you would need to stick in a bass guitar.

This is a beautifully made bass guitar with everything you could possibly need. Great range of sounds, beautiful to play, fast neck etc. If I had known about these years ago I would not have bought so many other basses. I really do think it is the nuts! It even outperforms my beloved Ricky- sob sob!

This bass is an active one - my only grouse is that it takes 2 batteries but they do last for years. And, glory of glories, it also give a more than passable sound if there are no batteries fitted or they die.

Sounds: everything you can imagine a bass doing, this guitar does. In passive mode it sounds good, nice even tonal range. The phase switch and tone control give you some nice other sounds as well. Switch on the active and POW!!!!! Everything from bass so deep you will blow speakers to a really thin scratchy lead guitar type of sound. Again, the phase switch also gives more variety. And its absolutely noise free.

Mine was second-hand so can't comment on factory setup.

Action is superb and easily adjustable. Ditto intonation, Ditto truss rod, ditto everything. Really good brass bridge. The whole guitar is bombproof.

Mine is 24 years old and looks like new apart from slight oxidising on the brass- no marks on the body worth mentioning.

Frets are barely marked- I think they will see me out.

Superb build quality, hardware has lasted!!

As I said it looks like new, the tuners very rarely go out of tune, I've never adjusted the neck other than to check the truss rod works. Strap buttons feel like they have been welded in!

I've used this guitar on many gigs and it has never let me down in any way. I trust it totally to deliver and I love the fact that even when the active is disabled its possible to get a decent, workmanlike bass sound.

Factory is long gone so can't comment

Been playing for 36 yrs. Own Gibson, Rickenbacker, Guild, Ibanez, Hohner and Guvnor basses.

This guitar really is a top bass and compares well to all of my basses and beats some of them (much as I love them).

I love this guitar because it is well-balanced, easy to use, easy to play, highly reliable, looks superb, extremely well made and has a fantastic tonal range. And they are dirt cheap to buy.

Beginner, intermediate or pro player - regardless of your skill level this guitar will have something to offer you. At the worst you will get a top-line backup bass but I suspect most players who get one will see it as their bass of choice. They are just brilliant- get one before the prices shoot up!

My Thunder I-A active bass was built in Japan 1982. 6 years later the factory burned down. So I think within another 10 years they will definitely be collectors basses. It is very solidly made with great resonance.

Sounds great for playing jazz and Rock even slap bass too. Sounds like an earth plate shaker, when you hit the open E. and open A. strings. Play two strings together and you will shatter studio windows, and put a grimace on the producer's face!.
Has all sorts of sounds. Interestingly I discovered that I could play my bass through my Sony stero using the Auxilary Line Out mono (For Left and Right Speakers) inputs; and using an adaptor to input to the bass, the sound is amazing with stereo speakers the Sony stero unit is 55 watts, any lower and it will distort heavily, I've tried it.

The bass is simply constructed by the Japanese, simple but deadly. The brass bridge looks a bit oxidized, but seems solid enough to last a life time.

Well my bass is already 24 years old and still no worrying signs of serious wear, frets are in perfect shape.
Had to tighted the strap buttons when I bought is last month.

I started playing bass in 1987, when I was 19. Had many basses including a Fender Mustang, and a Fender Precision 1977 U.S.A original model. The precision was a great bass, but the Westone Thunder, is a little different but up to the same standard. Gave up playing bass in 1997, and this year came back to it after nearly a ten year abscence.
I choose the Thunder because it was affordable with no gimmicks, but with a great look and sound.

I have several westone thunders ranging from 1983 to 1985, fretless and fretted and I dont think I have to describe it as many have already done so

I have a coupler that are original and a couple to which I have added my own actives ( circuit diagrams supplied onb request) these have been used by Raging Speedhorn and Viking Skull for recording (my sons bands) they are earthquake machines!

It does not matter how they were set up in the factory as a bass needs resetting for each new set of strings. there were no flaws in any of my westones - just as well as I swap necks, bodies etc indiscriminately

What can I say - gigged with them for 20 years - they stay in tune for ever - never mind the finish (although it is exellent and very tough) I always use a backup as I break about 4 strings a gig

I have been playing 40 years and use lots of gear mainly a marshall VBA400 with an 8x10 cab = if one were stolen I have plenty more!- I prefer it to my precision which goes out of tune, my ricky which bends when I play it and my EB3 which is just horrible. everyone get one while they are still cheap - in 10 years they will fetch ?1000

1982 made in Japan. Serial no 2111797. 20 frets, rosewood fingerboard, semi-wide but thin mneck, halfway between a jazz and a precision. Very 80's striped multi- wood construction, semi-matt finish, bolt on neck, single pole split P style pickup, active electronics with passive tone, active tone and volume, plus pickup select switch and active on/ off switch. Takes 2 PP3's in the rear hatch. Westone tuners stay solidly in tune for months on end! not got any gimmicks, but you use everything it gives you. bridge looks lightweight, but don't be fooled, it's brass and well stiff.

Very versatile sound, from mild to wild, fat to twangy, sustains really strong for a bolt on neck. very good live presence, great for rehearsal at quieter levels, too. I play in a blues/ rock type pub band and this is the bass I always pick up when we are playing.

Super low action, has never warped, twisted or otherwise deteriorated since I bought it new and the guy in the shop set it up low for me because I was 15 years old and couldnt handle the heavy gauge strings when it was set high from the factory ( I got a deal on the active because they couldn't get me a non active (thunder 1) in a reasonable time). Frets have lasted 25 years of playing, hardware is really still nice (some pitting on the tuner pegs), one knob fell off and rolled down a drain whilst I was still at school, otherwise this lovely old friend is pretty much as it was when I bought it.

I have had a 25 year friendship with this bass and it has NEVER let me down, not even once. The electronics and hardware are still great, the matt finish looks lovely (polished a little in some places) the strap buttons may as well be welded on, and it has NEVER needed ANY adjustment. It has never been apart or had a screw out other than to change the batteries. it still has the brown protective paper on the rear hatches! but this guitar has been used, and used,m and used. I have always treated it kindly, because it sucked up my life savings at the time, but make no mistake, this bass is bombproof.

I have never had any cause to need any support, and I think westone are gone, now, anyway

I own several other basses and lots of guitars, but this is my Luculle, this is definitely the one I would rescue from a burning building. I don't really know the current monetary value of this bass, but it is probably around #150-#200, but it is worth a fortune in sentimental terms.
I only got the active model by accident, but it is a really useful system, and gives an otherwise basic guitar the versatility it needs to be your constant companion. The fit, finish, playability and longevity of this guitar far outweigh its modest price tag when new (not so modest when you are 15, though!)and Thunders are quite rightly sought after as usable and reliable instruments. The very 80's style, combined with the rugged construction and easy handling make this range ideal for people without tons of money to burn who want something different, stylish and usable but ultimately don't want to pay well over the odds for certain american "Names". The only thing I can think of to go against it, is that it is a little heavy, but that is certainly part of the reason these basses last so well.

Yeah, twenty two fret rosewood fingerboard finished in black lacquer, chrome fittings, gain knob, passive tone and active tone knobs, couple of switches doing spoony things with the pickups. Active electronics so you have to have a couple of PP3s in the back. About ten years old I think. Double stringered neck with a deep shape. Pickups not ideal for thumbresting but will do. Smallish, neatly curved, very dense body, not planky like most of the Fender copies, not totally rounded like Warwick style. I tend to find mine a bit neck heavy. Rating is low-ish for it hasn't got spectacular features, but I think they're just right and it's not in the tiniest bit gimmicky or tacky.

I play metal and doom and rock and pop and occasional other odd things. The bloke that had it before me played slap on it very well but that's somewhere I don't go. I use it through assorted Peaveys in practice rooms and a 200W Hartke head with a 1x15" for live. The sound is consistently meaty. It's actually difficult to get it to sound hollow or seriously scooped, it don't like it, it wants to beef. That suits me very well. If you turn up the active bass you can blow amps with it in no time, solid huge signal coming out of it. Electronics very reliable and clean. I've used it for stage and studio, the sound is never quite like anything else, it can't stand in, but it can do most things itself so that doesn't matter.

Action has been a bit funny at times, result of poor setting up by me though really. I tend to go quite low but it's got plenty of space to really thump on the strings if you want. Solidly made, the neck has managed to get slightly twisted over the years but everything was made of good solid stuff.

This bass will withstand everything short of a thermonuclear blast. I'd happily rely on it. Sometimes I can pick it up having not used it in three days and find it's still in perfect tune. The finish is thick and durable, barely a nick in it. Strap buttons are a bit weird because of the top horn being short, bringing the strap to a funny angle and meaning you generally need a longer one as well. Having the strap further right suits me as a woman anyway as then the strap goes inbetween, as it were.

n/a. got it second hand. Had no trouble with it anyway.

I've been playing about four years. It's seen me through my early years very well. I've had use of assorted Fenders and copies in that time, and I've also got a five string semi-acoustic, but this is my main bass and always dependable. I'm not sure I'd be able to find another if this one went but I'd always be looking. I like the density of the body and the meaty sound, I find it very playable, the deep neck suits me. I'm very glad I bought it and it's taken me a long time to to even think about buying something else.

Made in 1983 (the first number of the serial no. indicates the year, e.g. 3='83, etc) this bass is now 18 yearts old, made by Matsumoko in Japan who also made Arias & Epiphones, I believe. 4 strings, 22 frets, the body is alder/wlanut/maple with a maple neck - all quality woods. Controls are passive volume, passive tone & active tone. Switches are in phase/out of phase &humbucker/single coil, giving a good range of sounds. Pickups are arranged precision style, don't know the origins but they give a really good sound, plently of depth and growl and a good, full sound for a wide variety of applications & styles. The finish is nice, with a black lacquer on the alder "outsides" od the body, and a thru neck style of walnut/maple stripes at the centre. Body style is as my pics of its brother, the fretless bass (see my other review). Neck profile is somewhere between precision and jazz. Bridge is fender style with individual string adjustment. Rating is for durability and quality rather than for tons of features.

I play a variety of styles, jazz, retro, r&r, pop, and it suits them all. I use a Zoom 3000 processor to add variety in some applications. No control noise and no electonics noise at all. All sounds are possible - you wouldn't believe a mid price guitar of this age could be so versatile! I gig and record, and it does it all. I didn't like the mixture of brass and chrome hardware, and I have replaced all the brass with chrome on my basses.

The action is set medium to low and the guitar copes well all the way up the neck. For real attack playing I would set it a touch higher. There are no poor areas on the neck. Pickup adjustment on my model is unneccessary. Apart from the ageing brass (18 years old, after all) there are no flaws at all!

This bass is gigged weekly and loves it! Everything, but everything is solid and dependable. Once I set it up and settled on strings, no further adjustment has been needed. I do take a backup, my fretless 1A, but only for a quick change if I break a string. This bass is indeed rock solid.

The company doesn't exist any more, so this section doesn't apply.

I've been playing a long time, and I have now settled on Westone basses exclusively. If I lost this I would find another - nothing else comes close for the price. It fits me perfectly and I love the sounds. I love particularly its understated lines and the feel of the neck - it's so playable! I might fit a thumb rest to it in due course.

its older then me...I'm guessing around twenty years.
22 frets: 4 strings: solid finish: 3 controls (volume, pickups, and one that i think is busted on mine, it still sounds good): modified P-Bass style pickups: active electronics: Maple: Modified P-Bass style body: Bad Ass Bass 2 Bridge: Standard Bass Scale. Over all, a pretty decent bass, alot like a modified P-Bass.

I play punk. works well. I play it through a Fender Frontman B-15...a very cheap piece of junk practice amp...I am sure it would sound much better through a nice amp. I don't use effects. Not to noisy. It sounds can adjust from a very muffled sound to a very crisp and percusive sound.

every things fine...A little heavy because of the older electronics that are now made with much litter material. pickups fine, nice finish. Mine had a busted jack. I got that fixed and they are fine now.

Very stable its fallen many times and survived a couple earth quakes just leaning against a table. Its the benefactor of the heaviness. Very dependable, the strap stays on most of the time. You could play a gig, but its more of a learning and practice bass. Its sound isn't really as professional and jazzy or bassish as some other models.

I hear the company went under fifteen years ago.

I like it, I would like a better bass though. I'd give it a 7.5-8 or something compared to really great basses

This is a guitar of unknown years,made in Japan with 22 frets (i think) You get a volume control plus all the usual bells and whistles it has a maple neck (?) and is finished in a basic wood colour i'ts a double cutaway with a slightly larger cut on top. Generally very well put together

I play Avant Guarde rock (ala Eels)and it suits the style very well,i used a squier champ 15w practice amp with it and it gave out a wonderfully rich,full bodied (if slightly pinched) tone this is a versatile guitar and i recommend it to anyone from a bass beginner to a full on pro

This guitar is built like a brick s*!thouse,it is firm sturdy and will stand the test of time.the pickups were bang on,although they have their moments.i cannot flaw this guitar for build.

Play it live,it wont break,drop it off you roof,it wont break,jump up and down on the f$*cker it'll laugh back. the strap buttons are solid if a little big,this is the volvo of guitars,strong,safe dependable,if it was an illness it would be flu.

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA warranty,what warranty but don't worry,it wont break,it's a classic anyway so i can't really comment.

i have been a bassist and session musician for 3 years.i bought this guitar a year ago.if someone stole my thunder,i would buy another one,sure,but only if i could get another bargin such as this.i have owned and sold several othe basses by the big brands but always return to my thunder.