Product: National Westwood 75
Price Paid: UNKNOWN
Submitted
04/29/2008
at
10:33am
by
Artie Fisk
Features
:
10
Made in 1963. 20 frets. Solid-ish. Master volume, three-position toggle, three small white knobs of undetermined function. One extra-large single-coil in the neck position, and one oddball pickup INSIDE a block of lucite UNDER the bridge. Pickups made by National. I believe that the fingerboard was rosewood, and the body/neck were maple. Semi-glossy "redburst" finish. Body shaped like a stylized map of the continental US. No-name open-back tuners.
Wooden saddle on top of aforementioned lucite block. Neck was a real CHUNKY MONKEY. Purchased in its original case.
Sound
:
10
It was the best-sounding neck PU I've ever heard. You could basically get ANYTHING out of that pickup. Never let me down. The bridge PU was another story. Nearly useless. Very thin, sort of "weedy" sounding. Not sure what the idea was. The guitar was DEAD QUIET, and sounded sweeeeeeet when played through both my Bassman Ten and through my Pro Reverb (both late-70s), especially with the tremelo and reverb on. Wow. Rich and full from the brightest to the mellowest. Sparkly when you wanted it, dark and bluesy when you needed it. It could basically do ANYTHING. The neck PU was SUPER high output. It SCREAMED when you turned it up all the way. There was nothing to dislike if you remembered that the bridge PU was off-limits.
Action, Fit, & Finish
:
10
Set-up was great when I opened it up in the consignment shop where I found it. Paid $55 for it in 1987. Wish I had it now. The story of its demise is too long for this review but wuold make you chuckle and then curse. It was flawless. Action was low enough to play leads comfortably but high enough to really dig in and chug.
Reliability/Durability
:
10
I beat the crap out of it and it kept going. I gigged with it more than once. It was, honestly, the best guitar I've ever owned.
Customer Support
:
No Opinion
HA! They stopped making guitars in the '60s. The neck had no truss rod, so there was always the threat of trouble there, but I never had any.
Overall Rating
:
10
Played for 28 years. I also own an Eastwood Stormbird, a project "Frankenstrat," an Oscar Schmidt Uke with a PU in it, a 1978 Fender Mustang bass, and the abovementioned late-'70s Bassman Ten. Over the years, I also owned a 1984 Gibson 335 and a late-'70s Gibson L6-S Midnight Special.
I would KILL to get another one of these. Now, of course, they go for $1500 or more. It was the best guitar I EVER played or owned. Bar none. For the $55 I paid, I got the greatest value I could imagine.
