Westone Pantera Deluxe

I bought my Pantera Deluxe (X390) in 1987 from Victor Litz Music in Rockville, Maryland, for about $800. It's a 24-fret neck-through with an ebony fretboard. The body is petite and nicely contoured, with a deep metalic blue finish. It uses a Kahler-patented tremelo system that is more comfortable against the picking hand than Floyd Rose tremelos. Two humbucking pickups are controlled by a three-way switch, volume pot, and two push/pull tone pots for splitting coils. The guitar came with a Westone hard-shell case.

This guitar is especially suited for Jazz, given the clean, sweet tones it produces. However, with separate tone controls for each pickup and coil splitting, this model is very, very well rounded. I doubt there's anything one couldn't do with it. One drawback is that the petite body doesn't afford one much sustain; then again, that's why there are effects pedals & such.

Given the quality of craftsmanship evident, this is a very, very well made instrument. I'm not surprised when people compare them favorably to PRS guitars. This particular Kahler tremelo offers control over individual string height. I did file some of the nut's string slots slightly many years ago. The end result is a guitar with action lower than anything else I've ever played. When I set up other guitars, I strive to match the action & playability of this Westone. I can't match it, but I try like hell.

The only visible flaw in the guitar is one spot along the edge of the fretboard where the clear coat didn't seal against the wood properly. The paint is pretty, but thin, with a tendancy to chip. It's not the heavy, epoxy-based stuff one saw on other guitars in the same price range.

This is a solid guitar. The neck is thick and strong, so I've never had a tuning problem because of temperature or humidity changes. I've never once had to bother with the truss rod. One would want to protect the finish as much as possible, because it isn't all that tough. However, from the standpoint of tuning & playability, it is the most dependable guitar I have.

Never dealt with Westone or their affiliates, so I've no idea how good their support was. Of course, they're out of business now, so it doesn't matter.

I have five old Kramer guitars and another Westone; none are as playable or dependable as this Pantera Deluxe. Westone was reaching for a high-end market when they made it, so they made a hell of a good guitar. I could never give this guitar up; it's too well made and easy to play. These don't appear on sale at eBay the way the low-end Westones do, and there's a reason for that. If you had one, you wouldn't sell it, either.

Don't know when it was made. It's of course the 24 fret solid wood body connected to neck peice. I think it's maple?

I don't know a lot about guitars, but I know when I was looking for mine, the sound of this guitar was really clean, I had to have it.

Like I said the guitar sounds great, it has a really good feel to it(smooooth fret bar) and the finish is great no scuff marks, no scratches.

I haven't played it live, but my friend has and had no problems with it, really really liked it and he plays a $1700 PRS. really dependable.

haven't dealt with the company, haven't had to.

Iv'e been playing for about ten years, the only other gear I have is an acoustic guitar, nothing special. I like everything about the westone guitar and I think I got a pretty sweet deal on it. I've been offered a new fender strat and $500 for it and turned it down.

Neck-thru mahogany solidbody with flamed maple top (translucent amber), 24 fret Ebony fingerboard with m.o.p inlays, black hardware.
Two westone humbuckers - both replaced with DiMarzio, with volume tone and 3-way toggle.
Beautifully curved body and neck - very classy looking.

Rebuilt into 10-string one year ago

When I purchased this guitar (mainly because of the looks) I quite liked the clean sound, which was very rich, but it seemed to be a bit dull when overdriven. Then replaced the pickups with DiMarzio's, which did a lot on the drive thing but has made the clean lose sparkle.
Because of the 24 fret neck, the pickups are quite close together which makes the sound variety with a 3-way toggle quite narrowed down to a few (very thick) thick sounds.
It has always seemed to lack a bit on the high frequency resonance, which was why I decided to have it modded to 10 string. Exactly what it needed - most 10/12 strings tend to get overmuch jangly, but not this baby - the mahogany neck thru concept works excellently with the high octave strings and gives this axe all the definition and sparkle you'd ever wish for.... Downside: pickups are still too close together

Bought 2nd hand, in a small music store - setup wasn't bad.
Overall this guitar is a great looker - could compare with a PRS anyday - and the contoured body makes it a hell of a lot more comfortable to play!
Finish was - even 2nd hand without even the smallest scratch, and I have managed to keep it that way. Electronics work without any noise, all hardware works fine.

The original pickups screamed like hell in a live situation, otherwise it's a very sturdy guitar (even survived a stagehand standing on it without even detuning).
It's not my main axe - use it for some songs in the set only which require 10 string sound - but I don't carry a backup for this one.

Havent been able to contact these guys - no info on the manufacturer at all.

I'm playing guitar for over 12 years and have owned over 25 guitars. This one I bought seven years ago and haven't thought of selling it. Mainly because it looks very classy, comparable to a PRS with a more modern vibe.
Variety of sounds somewhat disappointing, could do with some single coil options (which I may have added).
Wisest thing I ever did to this guitar was have it customised to 10 string (neck was too slim for 12). The job was done by real craftsmen, and apart from losing the abalone logo on the headstock, there's not even a hint of this being a mod. It looks like the most expensive 10 string customshop guitar in the world, whereas the original basis was just a japanese budget guitar (although very well made!)

This originally had a regular bridge and I regretfully put a kahler tremolo on it. I also replaced the pickups with seymour duncans. 24 fret, neck through, curly maple body with ebony fingerboard. At the time I was considering a PRS but this bird was 450$ cheaper and looked as good.Heard they only made 500

I play this thing for all styles. The original pickups were a bit dead sounding. Now that its got a jb in the bridge and a stag mag in the neck, It has an amazing tonal range The sound gets a 10 with the new pickups
I usually use a mesa/boogie mark? with an old fet muff or craig anderton octave doubling fuzz, amoung other things. Really shows off that curly maple

This guitar has a great finish Excellent action and feel. I wore the frets down and had to get them filed. other than that its a dream....pretty good for an 80s korean manufacturer

This thing has withstood hell...and proved itself worthy The finish is thick and shiny, although she has some dings..

never had a prob with it...I think westone is long gone.

Although this thing is made by a company of questionable value and probably will never have collectability, this guitar is great looking, playing and sounding, which in the end is all that matters I would be in torment if this thing were lost.