Westone Dynasty

!983 or 84, made in Japan. Metal-looking "V" style guitar in dark graphite-gray. This is the XV3GR model without the extra horns on the back. Active pickups - H S H (I don't know who made them) with 1 volume and two tone knobs. Each knob can be pulled to either coil-tap, activate the middle single coil, or reverse phase. The knobs on mine are not so well suited to pulling (especially with or greasy fingers) so I plan on replacing them with some others from another Westone.

Unknown wood but good, solid paint job. Guitar is not too heavy and actually quite comfortable for long periods of playing - you have to stand up though since it doesn't rest easily on a leg due to the placement of the jack.

Non-locking tuners, small (rather too small) tuning pegs, bridge is standard Fender-style tremolo. Neck is somewhere between a Gibson and a Fender but quite comfortable. Flattens out toward the body of the guitar.

I got this guitar on Ebay and it came with only a non-matching tremolo bar.

This guitar is amazingly flexible. There are many combinations of sounds possible with all of the pickup settings. I am running it through a Mesa V-Twin to an older Kustom head and through a Mesa Boogie 2x12 slant cabinet. I find it helps to plug into a graphic EQ but I've been playing that way since long before this guitar came into my life. I play mostly funk and metal and it suits both well. One slight concern is that the bridge pickup (phase-reversed) is my chosen setting for the "E - B" metal power chord range and it doesn't have the same kind of body I'm used to from my SG. The neck pickup sounds a bit muddy down there and is reserved for solos and singing. That said, crank it up and turn on the single coil (tone turned down a bit) and this thing has the smoothest , creamiest sound up around the 12th fret and above. It also seems to sustain for a long time.

Played clean, you can get a variety of really funky sounds with lots of pop but also really smooth acoustic sound. The pickups are very honest so you can't really hide anywhere.

This guitar is 25 years old and has held up well. The guy who had it before me had the whole thing tuned to D so when I got it I had to do some adjusting. I have the action rather high right now. I have to say that this was a well-made guitar. It was clearly put together and built by someone with high quality standards in all the places that count. That person was also a little bit nuts. My biggest complaint about this guitar besides the slightly thin bridge pickup is the tuner knobs. They are small and somehow feel too close together. Once you get the guitar in tune, it tends to stay there but those heads have got to go. I am planning on replacing the bridge with a Kahler Pro and putting a lock on the nut.

This is a very rewarding guitar to play. It responds well to the hands and isn't heavy or off-balance.

Will it withstand live playing? That depends on what you do onstage. I would have no compunction about taking it onstage without a back-up - I could easily depend on it. The finish is in great condition for a guitar its age and, barring the occasional ding, should last.

Pretty sure Westone is no longer in Japan and I have no interest in Korean-made instruments or their advice/repair.

I have been playing for 17 years and am very, very happy with this guitar. I own or have owned a Gibson SG Junior (my number 1), an Aria ZZ Bladerunner, a Guild Detonator, and a variety of cheapo guitars for various projects. You have to hand it to the Japanese in the 80s - they really built quality instruments.

I love the look and shape of this instrument. I wish it was black and I wish I had a good hard-case for it. It is a little smaller than a Flying V and so won't easily fit into a V case (in case anyone had one without a Gibson inside it!). If it were stolen, I would be heartbroken and look for another.

In the coming months I plan on experimenting with another bridge and bridge pick-up but I can live with what's on there.

Bought new , white w/ red pin stripes h/s/h/ pick up con. fig. w/ duel, position pots for phase splitting the pick ups . The guitar when it was brand new was sent to The infamous Ken Hoover, creater of The infamous Zion Guitars for the very first set up , which incl.complete fret board dress, neck scalopping the sides of the fretboard for that 20 years old played feel that only can be described as tha-sh-t, then balancing , and unbalancing the pole pieces of each individual pick up to obtain the most incredible variations of sounds, finally reset the action,and intonation Perfection is the only way to describe it. This 1st set up is still just that good even after 20 plus years of play with only the three way switch being replaced 2 years ago! Ken was master luthier with degrees from Fender, and told me later that some of the things that where used in the construction of this guitar would be later used in his completely hand built customs like grafite locking headstocks,aged rock maple necks, 17 to 1 tunning machines , also ultra fine tunners at the bridge. Lastly super hot! pick-ups, passive at that.The body and neck are aged rock maple which was hand finished with what was a aircraft epoxy. ALL THESE GUITARS WERE HAND MADE AND NEVER MASS PRODUCED at the Matsumako guitar plant in Japan!!!! They are the pre-cussor IBANEZ GUITARS THAT TODAY ARE TOTALLY INDORSED BY COUNTLESS MUSICIANS FROM Steve Vai to Herman Lee of Dragon Force@ just to name a few. Do the math!!!

The bridge pick up sounds like Les Paul@, thick and warm. The single coil the the middle sounds like a vintage Stratacaster from the early 60's at lower volumns , but when cranked up like the EMG 81 that Wylds likes . Lastly the bridge is very, augh sounding like Paul Gilbert describes as his favorite tone quality, with lots of bite, long sustain, screaming highs that ring almost like a Tele on steroids!

The factory set up was the absolute worst !It was high in string heigth,tuned up ok but the intonation wasn't exactly right . The finish was super flawless! The hardware was in perfect condition. Everything was there like Ken said but it was just needing some good ol' southern care, ( A PROFESSIONAL SET UP). The hardshell case is still in very good shape,I added 2 solid brass small double direction folding hinges this past year to maintain a tight sealed case, the lock still works perfectly! NOT bad for 27 years wouldn't you say??

Let me just say this , i have (2) 2003 Les Paul standards, an Americam strat standard with a custom rock - flammed maple neck a 1966 original Fender mustang, a Supernatural an16 Takamine, a erridescent swril blue Jackson 06' and a RG370 white Ibanezjust name a few of the favs, and i'll put hte guitar up aganist all of them for versatillty, sound varation, and espicially tonal quality! I think that says it all!!!!

NEVER NEEDED CUSTOMER SUPPORT EVER!~ NOTHING HAS EVER FRIGGIN BROKE!

I sincerely hope that everyone that reads this hates westones Dynasty guitars, that way i can aquire all of them that are still available at very low prices lololololo!

I love this guitar it was the very first one I bought about 12 years ago. Others have come and gone but this one stays the features are excellent

I play Metal/hardrock and it kicks butt It screams The only electronics mod I made was to put in a dimazzio super distortion humbucker in the bridge position, I only use the bridge position unless I play blues or acoustically (acousticlly is all three push pulls up and middle selected on the switch. I play through a fender reverb amp and use the factory distortion it screams when the gain/contour is cranked thinking about putting in an active distortion circuit just to try it out the guitar sounds deadly through a marshall stack but hey what doesn't.

The guitar was set up pretty good from the factory the action is excellent. The pickups were alright except the single coil the tone is too sharp. The bridge is a piece of crap I had to block it just to keep it in tune so no whammy dives any more it's too breakage prone. Love the neck it`s perfect, speed metal and riffs are easy to do with this guitar. Endplug jack fails once a year or so but no big deal.

Never liked the factory white with red pinstripe paintjob so I had it painted cobalt blue with black and orange/red flames. The hardware is alright except for the bridge being weak and I broke the endplug jack plate 6 years ago so before I painted it I redrilled it to accept a Gibson style plate and it looks even better than the original. As far as playing it live it's my baby it`s only let me down once and that was when a saddle broke on the high E but I found a parts bridge that was close and rebuilt it the new saddles are more like bass saddles but they work well seem stronger too. The strap buttons sucked from the factory so I fitted larger ones on now it`s fine

Getting parts for this guitar is a nightmare they`re made of a very rare metal called unobtainium (LOL) and I think the warranty probably ran out in 1985 when it was new

I've been playing for 12 years. I currently have only this guitar and a Mexican Strat that`s getting airbrushed and customized right now if it were ever stolen or lost i`d quit playing guitar the only thing i wish it had is a floyd rose

First off, I felt the need to write a review for this great guitar because Westone deserves some recognition for making top quality metal guitars in the 80's. Hopefully by people reading these reviews, they will try to search them out.

I have two of these so far, a red one and a black one. I'm working on tracking down a white one as well. These were made in the mid 80's, 22 frets, 3 passive but powerful pickups H/S/H which all have coil tapping, locking tremolo, toggle switch, and a very unique take on the Flying V body style shape. I don't know what else you could manage to even fit on this guitar.

I bought mine used, but the pickups in both of them are stock, from the factory. If you run the guitar through an amp with a good gain drive to it, you can get a nice thrash sound out of the bridge pickup. I usually pull the knob out on the tone knob for some extra boost in there. The other pickups sound ok too, but I mainly play simple thrash, and the bridge pickip is cool with me.

Messing around with the knobs gets you the most variation of any guitar I have heard. Minimal feedback unless you use a ton of gain.. Not the quietest pickups ever, but great nonetheless.

I'm giving this a 10 because both of mine are obviously over 20 years old, have been played a LOT, and still hold up like day one.

The company has been gone for a long long time, but they sure did make some unique and awesome shredder guitars. I would always bring a backup because of the locking tremolo system, but these guitars are reliable, no doubt.

Good luck!

I play old school Death Metal, 80's thrash, and old Napalm Death style grindcore, and Westone guitars can pull it off no problem.

I have 25 guitars, ranging from Charvel Avengers to Jackson Kellystars to BC Rich Ironbirds and obviously a ton more. I have these two Westone Dynasty's and a Westone Dimension IV as well. Considering I got them all for less than $250 a piece, I would have to rate them an EXCELLENT value and able to stand up against any custom shop Jackson and they'll beat the hell out of any BC Rich.

If you see one for cheap, GET IT.

Check my other reviews: Charvel Avenger, Jackson Kellystar, Fender MH-500 Metalhead, Marshall Lead 20, Peavey Transtube Supreme, Peavey XXX

My Westone Dynasty as far as i know was made between 83-84 in japan by Matsumoku. specs are
- 2 humbucking pickups and 1 singlecoil (H/S/H)
- 3 position switch for humbuckers
- push/pull knobs for singlecoil pickup
- coil splitters for both humbuckers
- phase adjust for bridge humbucker
- 22 fret maple neck w/rosewood fingerboard
- Westone floating bridge
- double-locking tremolo system
i got the case, and strap.

I play a misture or music, blues, alt, hardcore, ect. my usuall setup is a fender amp and a grunge fx69 pedal.

At 20 yrs old (i've had it for 10) it only has as few small scrathes and the black gloss paint still hasn't aged a day. I've never had to adjust the tuning keys or replace any electrics, and the neck is still straight. The only thing i had was in the floating bridge where the strings hook in 2 retaining teeth broke, 1 one 2 different strings.

baught it from a pawn shop.

Out of the guitars ive owned/played in the past 11 yrs, this one is my baby. Looks almost like a Bc Rich Warlock mixed with a Flying V. Its unusuall which is what first atracted me to it. As far as if it were stolen or lost.. if that happened id probably cry. The only thing i don't like is that it's very hard to find replacement parts as to no one knows it because its so old. (ie.. floating bridge or the things that hold down the strings at the head to hold the tune) I wouldnt trade it for any other guitar.

This guitar is a metal heads best friend. It has a H/S/H pickup layout. It has a 5 piece alder body and a 3 way humbucker selector with push/pull pots for the single coil. The shape is odd ,but it comes across all metal. It is uncomfortable to play sitting, but it is alright standing up due to its flying v (on steroids) look. The neck has 22 frets. A 24 fret neck would be a good investment for lead guitarists. The bridge is an out dated tremelo style. I dont care for it but it is easy to string.

The westone has a good stock sound, it is easily upgraded. It is definately a metal guitar. I have an EMG on the bridge, an EMG in the center and an invader on the neck. It wasnt a needed improvement, but it has improved the guitar alot.

I aquired the guitar used, so I dont know how perfect it was right out of the factory. There were no mods , but it was old so I am not sure.

This is my party guitar. iI am the the only person I know with one like it and I get alot of comments on it. I trust it enough to play it at a party, but i bring my moded Ibanez RG or my Fender if the set has any importance. It has never failed me, but it is old. The pickups are new, but the electronics are stock.

I have have played many guitars, this is not the best, but it not the worst by far. If you can find one get it for a project. It will pay off in the end. The looks make up for any other problems that may occur. Factory replacement parts are hard to find. It is easier to upgrade.

Its an 1984-5 Dybasty, made in japan, 22 fret, solid top. It has 1 volume 2 tone controls with push/pull technology that is as solid as it was the day it left the factory. It has H/S/H pick up configuration, although the single coil can be a little screachy sometimes it sounds pretty good for a bolt on neck non locking floyd rose style tremelo w/locking nut. Black finish that is in fair condition a few nicks here and there. I am not sure of the wood the body or neck are made of, but it is a speedy neck. thin fretted.

It is an awesome metal/ hard rock guitar. Which is what i play mostly. I use a Fender roc-pro and a Randall 4x12 cab, with my signal going through a Boss GT-3 processor. The only thing I think is bad about the sound is when you phase the single coil pick up, it gets all screachy and bites at your ears a bit.You phase the pick ups by pulling or pushing the volume and tone controls. Anything from eddie to maiden sounds cool on it.

I set the action my self being as i bought it used. Its great now. Ialso set the pick ups.the routings were all good. some minor dings on the body it was used.

It is a good axe but I wouldn't rely on it as a first choice instrument. I would use it as a back up guitar though. The trem is not locking so you can't really use the whammy bar with out it going all whacky on ya.

The company that produced this guitar is no longer makeing them so customer support is not possible.Bummer.

about 4 years I also own a Epiphone 7-string V, and a Jackson King-V, and another westone that is not in so great a shape.I wish It had a locking trem and a humbucker in stead of a single coil in the center possition

This 24 fret monster of a bass guitar has quickly become one of my favorite. Bought from a local music store on an exchange, this guitar has proven its worth one-hundred times over. Though bought in a fairly damaged state, the paint was chipped and the bridge painbt wore completely off. The guitar has an amazing late 80's look. Sort of like a Gibson Flying V but with a heavy metal edge. It has what looks like a P-pickup that has a humbucker cover. Also a jagged head unit. The color is a warm red and it looks awesome. I was told by a bass player friend of mine that the sound that I got from this bass was better that the sound he had heard on more expensive basses. If you can fing this rare bass I advise you to play it, and be ready for offer after offer to buy it from you because there is just something about this guitar that makes people love it. Also it has an amazing on stage look, it stands out form other basses.

I tend to play heavy metal music and the fat sound that this bass provides suit my playing perfectly. The sound matches the killer looks of this bass guitar

The bass has no falws except for the occassional string hitting the fret board causing a nasty sound. This could be avoided by using thicker strings tuned higher.

This guitar can survive live playing and anything else it has to face. It is a rugged guitar and has proved to me, an aggressive player, that this can stand what ever stress I put on it.

I have not needed to contact anyone about it, and probably could not find them because there is no phone number or serial number on it. I cannot rate this category because I never had to use it before

Overall this bass was the best musical investment I have ever made and I advise that if you can find this model to buy one because it will be worth your while

It's a year 2000 model. It was made in Japan. It looks like a mix between a Jackson Kelly and a Flying V. It has 22 frets. It's got a solid top. It has one Volume and two Tone knobs. It's pickup configuration goes H-S-H. The pickups are Dimazio's. The body is Alder wood. The Finish is satin. The bridge is a Floyd Rose. It has Grover locking tuners. The neck is maple wood. It comes with a hard case.

It is a strictly heavy metal guitar. I am using a Marshall TSL100 head with two 4*12 Marshall cabinets.It has a nice full sound. It will sound better if you get some better pickups installed, like some EMG's or Seymour Duncans. The guitar can bust out some nice harmonics. Overall it is a damn good guitar.

The guitar has a white paint job with red lines going down the countours of the axe. The pickups were adjusted very well. The bridge is very well routed. The guitar didn't have any flaws. It just needs some better pickups.

The guitar is great for live preformances. I use it all the time. The hardware is great. The finish is pretty durable. The strap buttons need some work (I suggest getting a strap lock). It's very dependable. It can be used at a gig without needing a backup guitar.

I have been playing about 4 years. I own a Marshall Stack, an Ibanez Soundgear bass, an Ampeg bass Cabinet, and a Washburn Dimebahg Stealth. If the guitar was stolen I would buy a new one. I love the body shape, it's unique. My favorite feature is the Floyd Rose tremelo.

A rather funny metal-looking guitar, but quite good for other things. Made presumably sometime in the 80s in Japan, mine had a maple neck with rosewood fingerboard with 22 frets and plastic dot inlays. The neck was painted black on the back, and flatsawn. The body was 5 pieces of alder and shaped kind of like a small Flying V with a waist, which made it possible if not comfortable to play sitting down. This had a candy apple red lacquer finish over it. Also had a H/S/H pickup combo with master volume, a tone for each humbucker, 3-position humbucker switch, and push-pull pots for the middle single coil, coil splitting both humbuckers, and phase on the bridge pickup. Also had a Westone single-locking trem with fine tuners, with really tiny saddles, and stock tuners that needed a locking nut to stay in tune even with no vibrato action. I took this guitar apart entirely and modified it extensively - got a bit experimental and put a piece of oak over the trem cavity and used parts of the trem to make a fixed bridge, sawed the top off one of the wings and made it semihollow, and got my girlfriend to carve odd designs in the body and refinish it. The fixed bridge improved the tone a good deal, especially when I replaced the original saddles with much heavier modern Tele-style ones. The hardware and pickups were rather cheap, the control layout a bit odd, and the woods second-rate, but the number of features (if not their quality) was quite good.

It looked extremely metal (and extremely silly after my girlfriend got done carving it up, but that's another story...) but with the alder body it sounded more like a Strat with fat humbuckers. With the later modifications, it sounded even more vintage, especially when the tone chamber was routed and some of the mids were scooped out. It could still get a great chunky death metal tone, but the clean sounds were quite nice. I don't care much for the wiring scheme (in retrospect, I should have rewired it with separete coil split for each pickup and gotten rid of the phase switch) but as long as you don't pull the wrong pots, it could be very good. The coil-split mode was quite useful, though, and even more Stratlike (but I like the neck humbucker/bridge single combination on other guitars, and with the wiring scheme it was not obtainable...) It was noisy only on some single-coil modes. It lacked sustain, though, even with the improvement of the fixed bridge. It also didn't have as much attack sensitivity as I'd like. Still, many good tones, a lot more than the looks would imply. The person I sold it to compared it head to head against his friend's Les Paul Studio, and said the clean tones were about equally good, and the distortion far fuller and chunkier.

It needed a complete setup when I got it (as well as a refinish, knobs and wiring repairs...), but it could be set up fairly low. Very low action would start to cause buzzes, but that can be easily blamed on the uneven fret wear. The neck had actually more of a vintage profile. Maybe with a fret job it could be set up to be fairy fast, but as it was it only had about the playability of a Strat. With adjustment, pickup balance was fine. Flaws included: the neck wood was slightly off from being flatsawn, the fret ends weren't filed very well, one of the E strings missed its polepiece on the neck pickup, the wood wasn't exactly first-rate, neck fit was decent but not great, the rosewood fingerboard was rather ugly, and some of the dot markers had very visible sanding marks. The pickups were also not wax potted, and not very tightly mounted, adding up to bad microphonic feedback.

To be fair, this guitar suffered from neglect and abuse before I got it, but its reliability was poor. The finish was fairly thick, but someone had attempted to strip it and gave up halfway through. The knobs were gone and one of the pots was rattling around freely, but all the wiring was done very poorly and broke in other places as well. The black hardware was oxidixing, and seemed to have been simply spraypainted mild steel. The plastic jack plate was cracked. I hate to say it was an unreliable or poorly made guitar, but it certainly didn't withstand the abuse it suffered.

The company disappeared and has now reappeared and moved its manufacturing to Britain. Never contacted them, but I doubt they would want to have much to do with such unfashionable metal designs.

A great project guitar, and really not half bad. Of the various 80s metal designs, this is really one of the better ones, since its clean tones are very much usable. Not exactly first quality, but I don't think it was ever expensive. The total cost of parts and materials for fixing it up was under $40, and though a lot of work went into it, it was mostly fairly strange modifications, not repair work, so it was an unquestionably great deal. The only major weakness was really the hardware. It would also be worth the $100-200 range that Westones usually go for, assuming you're not concerned with sporting something so metal-looking, and can do your own simple repairs if need be. I ended up selling this, though it was to a friend so I chose not to make a profit, since I already have a Gibson RD Artist which suits my style much better, and didn't need another solidbody 6-string. But it was great fun to mess around with and turn an abused and unfashionable instrument into something unique and usable.