Westbury Super Custom

The one I own now is the Tobacco sunbust model W-2312 With the Tortoise Shell over Cream Binding. The Westbury Custom-S was not only the ?top of the line? in Westbury Guitars, but arguably for all of the Matsumoku made guitars. The Custom-S Specs are as followed - The Custom-S was a Joined-neck design with deluxe Mother Of Pearl, trapezoid inlays on an Ebony fingerboard. It has a beautiful Tortoise-shell over cream binding throughout the neck and headstock. The hardware includes Deluxe Close Ratio tuning machines, custom-matched DiMarzio DUAL SOUND pickups, a 3 position pickup selector and a 6-position Pickup Programmer for single, double coil pickup combinations as well as ?out of phase? modes. The Custom-S was accompanied with a Long-travel adjustable bridge with a stud tailpiece. Oh yeah, the hardware is gold plated brass. The top of the Custom-S is arched and carved and the rear is cut with a hip contour for comfort. It came in Cherry Sunburst (W-2313) and a Tobacco Sunburst (W-2312) and sold for about $615.00 and was available from 1979 through 1982.

I have played everthing from pop, country, classic rock to thrash metal on this guitar and it performs perfect with everthing you throw at it. WHAT'S NOT TO LIKE!!!

The action on this ax is low and fast. I have no probelm cruising up and down the fret board on this guitar. The binding is lifting a little in the cut aways right at the nack joint, but this in no way affects the playability of this monster. Tuners are top notch along with the electronics.

What can I say 27 years old and it still can out play a L.P. any day.

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I started playing when I was around 14 so 30 years or so I guess I've been playing. Well the story behind this guitar is, I bought a Custom back in 1980 new and owned it for years. In 1996 I fell into some hard times and sold it for peanuts and have been kicking myself in the _ _ _ for years. I set out on a quest to find one in the same shape as the one I sold and after 2 years I found a Custom S for sale on ebay that was in great condtion. Well I paid almost the same for it 28 yrs later as when I bought the custom new in 1980, so I would say they hold their value pretty good. I will go to my grave with this one!

My Westbury Classic was made in 1978. It is Tobacco Sunburst. I believe the pickups are Dimarzio's

I bought my Westbury in 1978 in New York. I have owned many Les Pauls, STrats, etc. and this is right up there withem as far as sound and playability. I will never get rid of my Westbury. I can play funk, hard rock, country, and jazz tunes with this guitar

Plays like butter and still looks great after 28 years. THe guitar played and looked great right off the shelf.

I once had to rewire the 6 way rotary switch, but it is still rock solid. This was my main gigging axe for years.

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I have been playing for 30 years. I am lokking to buy another one, just to have as a backup.

I also own a 1977 Les Paul Custom, 1976 Les Paul Deluxe with factory full size humbuckers, 1987 Strat Plus, 2002 Strat, and a Larivee 03 Electric. My main amp is a Peavey JSX

I found my westbury custom in a pawn shop. This guitar is truly amazing. It was made in 1980 at the Mat factory in japan. It has two pickups, dimarzio dual tones I think, with gold covers that have "westbury" stamped on them. Two volume and two tone, pickup selector plus a really cool 6-way selector knob for coil splitting (this kicks serious butt!!)

I've been playing professionally for over twenty five years. I've played in rock, country, and variety bands and am currently performing as a solo fingerstyle player. This guitar would be great for any style of music. There are many many many different sounds possible whith this guitar. . There was no way that I could pass it up . A true pawn shop prize! If I had to find one thing that is a little weak it would have to be the single coil settings. Not bad though.

The action on this guitar was as low as it could possibly be. A very fast neck. The electonics were a bit scratchy since it apparently hadn't been played in years. I cleaned up the electronics with contact cleaner. The 6 way selector was a bit stubborn because it's a sealed pot, but i still managed to get a little contact cleaner inside of it by taking the pot out, holding the bottom of it while pulling up on the turning part then spraying it.It still pops a little bit when I click it from one setting to the next, but I can live with it. It was cutting in and out completely before I cleaned it. I wouldn't recommend counter-sinking the hole that the six-way is mounted in, like the other reviewer did. THE WOOD IS VERY THIN THERE AND I DON,T THINK IT HAS ANYTHING TO DO with THE THING MAKING CONTACT.DON'T RISK IT! PUT THE DRILL DOWN!!! Since I,m using this guitar for solo fingerstyle, I had to raise the action a bit and I also put some medium flat wounds on it so that I could dig in a bit. You can't finger pick on electric lites, it doesn't work. The guitar now plays fantastic. It,s fat and warm tones are killer!

It's built to last. Rock solid. Heavy guitar. Don't get drunk and drop it on your toe...you will break it.(your toe, that is.)

SOmebody bought the company name.I'm still waiting for them to complete their web site. I hope they make them as well as this one's made. They can't miss if they do.westburyguitars.com Im especially looking forward to the vintage section of their web site.

I own a lot of guitars including several custom electric guitars. This is hands down the most versatile. If you find a used westbury custom, I would suggest that you purchase it immediately and then give it to me.(immediately!)

This guitar is the cream of the crop. I went to the music store to get some strings the day i bought it & played all the high end Gibsons, Fenders, Rickenbacker, etc...& this guitar is up there with them. it has 2 humbuckers with a 3 way selector knob (of course). it also has a 6 way selector knob to change the p-ups from humbucking, to single, and out of phase, all which sound beautiful. the finish is also top notch! it's a transparent honeyburst finish, and you can see the wood grain under it! great tuners and the neck is untouchable!!

as stated b4, the guitar is a tonal monster. it can do ANYTHING you want & then some. the sound is very full & very smooth in whatever configuration you have it set at.

...the guitar is at least 20 years old, and it's still getting a "10" raiting in this catagory. the finsih aged wonderfully. the double symmetrical cutaways are also especially nice in this axe. kinda like an SG's cutaways. action is still perfect after 20 years too!

yes, this guitar is rock solid. since i've gotten it i havent put it down. i'd definately gig it, and without a backup. it's a quality instrument, through & through. it's lasted 20 years so far & has many many lives left.

Westbury/Univox is no more, but i wont need it. this guitar is built to last!

i've been playing seriously about 4 years & this is my weapon of choice. if it were stolen, i'd get another in a heartbeat (if i could find another). if you come across one, no matter the cost, buy this guitar!!!

I'll keep this simple. I've had mine for 25 years and I still love it. It is simply the best guitar I've ever owned and I've owned many including Fenders, Gibsons, Peavy's and Hagstroms. My son had the low end version of a Westbury and it too was great. If you can find one used, don't hesitate to grab it.

18 different available tones. In Phase and out of phase. Single and dual coil.

Still looks new after 25 years except for gold plating on the bridge and pickup which has worn off and pitted.

Never had a problem and I've played thousands of gigs.

Only made for 3 or 4 years.

I've been playing 48 years. I also play a Ketron keyboard synthesizer. I also own an Ovation accoustic electric and a Peavy Telecaster clone. I would but this guitar again in a heart beat. check out my web site for further info.
http://www.angelfire.com/ms/synthmuzic/bobsynth.html

In 1978, the Unicord company stopped making Univox guitars, largely because of 'copy' lawsuits. They switched to an original brand of guitars, called "Westbury" (named after their distribution house in Westbury, NY). These guitars were made in the Matsumoku factory in Japan, which was also the maker of Aria and Westone guitars. This guitar is a Westbury Super Custom. Super Customs were made from 1979 to 1982.

It has a symmetrical double cutaway, and a carved-top three-piece maple body, with a "German carve" around the edges. The finish is what Gibson calls 'honeyburst', which is a very pretty fade from natural finish to light brown. (This may be due to fading of a normal sunburst - I'm not sure.) The set neck is also three-piece maple, with a bound ebony fingerboard and mother of pearl crown inlays. It has small frets and what Gibson would call a 'slim taper' neck shape.

The two humbuckers are rumored to be DiMarzio Duals with 'Westbury' stamped covers, but I have yet to pull them out to check. The controls are the standard 4-knob bridge volume & tone, neck volume & tone, with a three-way selector directly behind the bridge (much handier than on the upper top of the body - why is that industry standard?). Also has a VERY cool 6-position rotary tone selector - activates coil tap and puts pickups in and out of phase. The positions from counterclockwise in neck/bridge format are H/H, S/S, H/S, S/H, out of phase H/H, out of phase S/S.

The tuners appear to be Schallers with the Westbury W on them. The bridge is like a tune-o-matic, but it's a big honkin' rectangle. Bridges similar to this appeared on SGs and some Les Pauls of about the same vintage. Has a standard stop tailpiece. All hardware is goldplated.

This guitar sounds great! My playing style ranges everywhere from funk to jazz to country, but is largely based in blues and blues-based rock, and this guitar provides good solid tones for all these applications. The humbuckers sound great. With some fairly heavy distortion, the bridge pickup has lots of bite, but doesn't sound shrill. With a good clean tone, both pickups as humbuckers provides a great rhythm tone. The single coil tones aren't the best, but they are very useful, especially if you need a single-coil part in the middle of a song and can't switch guitars. The neck pickup on single-coil especially gives some hint of that woody, Strat neck pickup sound. One of the coolest sounds you can dial up on this guitar is the out-of-phase sound. With a really good clean tone, it has a neat, hollow funk sound, and it's a cool alternative to a standard solo or rhythm sound. The humbucker out-of-phase sounds best - with single coils, it sounds a little TOO hollow.

This guitar really seems to have met its perfect partners in my '66 Twin (last of the blackfaces, baby!) and a Mesa/Boogie V-Twin preamp. After having used several other amps and pedals, including a deep-cab Marshall Bluesbreaker and a Traynor YBA-1, I find that this is the best combination. The Twin perfectly complements the best parts of the Westbury's sound, especially with strong mids and reasonable bass response.

I bought this guitar used - VERY used. It has all kinds of minor dings and chips (most not on the face of the guitar, luckily). Also, the gold plating is wearing off, and is starting to bubble lightly on the tailpiece.The action was lower than I usually like it, but a screwdriver had that fixed in no time.

There were two major hardware problems when I bought it. First, the rotary tone switch did not screw in as far as it needed to in order to make all the connections properly. This is a humongous multi-throw switch in a rat's-nest of a wiring cavity, so this made the switch sound very scratchy, and caused pickups to go on and off and in and out of phase pretty much at random. Pulling the switch out and countersinking its mounting hole a little deeper made everything pull into line, and now the switch is nearly silent, and everything works as it should.

The other problem, which I have yet to fix, is a non-functioning neck tone knob - it sounds like it's on 10, no matter where it's set. This isn't a big deal for me since that's usually the way I set the tone knobs, but anyone who played jazz would probably find this to be a problem.

The nut is cut fine, and I was able to put .11s in without a problem. The truss rod works as it should, and the tuners are very smooth.

I'm not one to beat up my gear, but even if I was, this guitar is built to take it. The hardware is all very solid, the wiring looks good, the jack is solid, etc. etc. The thing is solid maple, so it weighs a ton too. I have had no problems with it so far, and I regularly gig with it without backup.

Univox and Wesbury are long gone. (Too bad too...)

I have been playing seriously for a little over six years. My other gear, other than the amps listed in the Sound section, include a '96 American Standard Tele, a '98 American Standard Strat, a mid-'90s Hohner acoustic, a '70s plywood Antares strat copy (trashed electronics - a project guitar), a Fender Champ 12 (a dinky practice amp), and an Ibanez Soundtank Tube Screamer. This Westbury is the Pawn Shop Special from heaven. Cheap, well made, good electronics, and very versatile. If it were ever stolen, I would most definitely buy another. In fact, I'm still keeping an eye out for another one as a backup. When I was looking for a two-humbucker guitar, I was also considering various Les Paul copies, a '70s Ibanez Performer, and the Gibson Les Paul Junior Special. The reason I picked the Wesbury was initially because I LOVED the neck, and I could tell its electronics would be cool when they were fixed. Sure enough - it turned out to be the best-playing, most versatile guitar I could find (that I could afford, anyway). At under $450 for something like this - how can you go wrong?