Westone Pantera X275

Beautiful cherry finish, built solid. Never played another guitar with such a cool neck.

I have several other, way more expensive guitars, this was my first and I've used it for... wow... 20 years! The sound is awesome, I haven't modified a thing. There's a little noise in the pick ups but not severe. The bridge pick up totally slays for rock and metal and the neck pick up is so freaking fat and warm. I've never played anything that allows you to do pinch harmonics so easily, it's a natural born screamer.

Haven't touched it at all, never had to tweak or adjust a thing. Good action and intonation ever since I brought it home.

I've played it live some and it's fine. I mostly use it for recording. It's lasted 20 freakin' years and has less dings on it than I do.

Never had a problem with it, glad I didn't buy a warranty...lol!

I've been playing for 24 years or so. This was my first electric guitar. I have a Peavey, a Fender Srat, a Gibson SG, and a Gretsch...the Westone Pantera is still my favorite over all. I'm really attached to this guitar. It's reliable, stays in tune, sounds great, looks awesome, hell... I love it. We've been through a lot together.

This awesome guitar was made in 85/86 by the japanese company Westone, which by now is history.

It was made in 3 different colors, ivory white vi (which I own), cherry shade cs and black bk.

Body: Carved maple top

Neck: Canadian hard rock maple

Fingerboard: Rosewood

String nut: Carbon Graphite

Scale/Frets: 25 1/2" 22F 18% nickel silver.
Machine heads: TSA (Tremolo system approved)

Pickups: Magnaflux III (neck position), Magnaflux III (center position) and Magnaflux I ubc, unbalanced coil (bridge position)

Controls: Master volume (pull for coil tap), 5 way pickup selector

Controlknob: Switchmaster

Bridge: Bendmaster FT tremolo

I mostly play metal, nu-metal and rock, and for this purpose this guitar rocks. The sound is amazing for fast metal licks with distortion as well as clean sound.

I bought the guitar used in good condition, and from day one it sounded great, no flaws what soever. Mine sample is as said in ivory white, and it looks awesome. I would say it fits in more in a metal band than a jazz band. :-)

This guitar would definatly rock any concert. I would not have any hesitation on playing live with this guitar, and I would even go as far as saying I thrust it som much that a back-up guitar is useless.

Have no idea, probably they do not have any customer support no longer, as the company do not exist, but what difference would it make?, when this guitar allready is 20 years old, I can not even imagine that anyone owing a gutar like this would need customer support. TOP GRADE GUITAR

I have been playing guitar since I was 13 years old, now 26.

Currently I own a Takamine accoustic, a Custom made ibanez les paul from the 70`s and a Ibanez in the rg series ( soon a js 1000, a jay turser jt200c and a scehter scorpion)

Over the past years I have played numerous guitars, like les paul, strat, several ibanez and more, but I must say nothing compares to the Westone Pantera x275vi. The guitar is very easy played, and if I was to compare to any other guitar, it would have benn Ibanez js1000 ( yeah I know this is an insane statement, but serious)

If this guitar were stolen I would travel around the world to get a new one, as they are quite uncommon these days. I love it more than my life ( as I have no wife). Higly recomended to both beginners and professionals, so if you ever get your hands on this guitar, BUY IT, it`s awesome and more.

1980s Made in Japan at the Matsumoku factory
22 fret, Solid Top, One volume knob and 5 way pickup switch
S/S/H As the humbucker I have a Dimebag Darrell Signature, A Hotrail single in the middle setup, and a lil' 59 as the top spot. All Seymour Duncan
Passive Electronics
Customer painted lightning, was all gloss black
Bridge was replaced with another licensed floyd rose, not the Bridgemaster thank god
Put a set up Planet Wave auto-trimming tuners
Nice Westone Hard Case

I mostly play metal and hard rock. Honestly the stock pickups all sucked, once i replaced them with the Seymour Duncans, GREAT sound! I'm currently using a Line6 Flextone III 2x12 combo. Nice full tone, that bridge pickup really brings out the brightness in it.

Plays like a dream, one of the easiest guitars I've ever played. Tried to play les pauls, strats, jacksons.... you name it, this Pantera plays better than them.
Like I said I put some custom paint on it that makes it look great, the original finish was just straight black and really took the 20+ years of abuse.

Haven't had a single problem with it. Haven't done any live gigs with it, but I've been playing on this thing for over 10 years and the guy before me won it in a Louisiana guitar competition and played it live.

Never had to use them, but their out of business anyways

I'm actually looking for another one to slap some active electronics in it to beef up the sound some more. Love it, never sell it, part of my heart forever!

Made in Japan.
I play this Guitar since many years. It looks still like new.
Very good quality. Tremolo is o.k.
To play like an Fender Strat.

Blues, Rock, Jazz
Good full sound with fine groove.
Clean an overdriven very good.

I had just to repair a nut cause of lot changing strings.
I bought it more than 20 years ago - it was my first E-Guitar - and it is still good in work.

it stays in tune all the years

No customizing in Switerland aviable specially for Westone.
No Warranty needed.
Sorry my english is pretty bad.
I am Swiss speaking german.

Really fine Guitar.
Greetings from Switzerland to you.

I have a Westone Pantera X275. Trevor Rabin did use a Pantera, but Westone (made by Alveraz) made a Trevor Rabin Signature Series also. Same basic shape only a little rounder, and has 24 frets as opposed to the 22 frets on the Pantera. I just purchased a Trevor Rabin Signature. On my Pantera, i replaced the Bendmaster tremolo which sucked, worst design i ever saw, I put a Kahler Floyd Rose on it, it fit perfectly on the Pantera i also put full EMG's, 2 SA (gold letters) single coils and one 81 (gold letters) humbucker. The Trevor Rabin i just purchased has a Floyd Rose liceinced tremolo. i will be replacing the pick-up with the same config of EMG's in it also, 2 sigle coils and 1 humbucker. the necks r the same except the Trevor Rabin has a 24 fret neck, both necks play real fast....and i think really make the guitar, the sloping edges of the body only enhance it's playability. if i see another i'll buy it also. The Panteracame with a single volume knob which i liked...and had push-pull for coil tap...i removed all of the electronics in favour of EMG

sounds awsome...has a great strat sound...perfect for any type honestly. im running a ART DST 80/80 processor thru a fender princton chorus 2X10 and a good ol dunlop wah wah....screams. of course i replaced all the electronics as i said....replacing the pick-ups for EMG's

the body is pretty much close to a strat style, but sloped o the edges really comfortable, and light the action is close and fast. of course i replaced the tremolo...the Bendmaster is the worst tremolo i have ever used..... it's total junk. but a floyd rose fits perfectly without any modification.

iv'e been playing mine for years.... it stays in tune, body is hard wood that seems to resist dentsno paint cracking or fractures

i've never had to deal with Westone or Alverez the real company behind the guitar....since i replaced most of the guitar i doubt it would do any good.

over all its a great guitar to customize. it's hard to rate this guitar because although the pick-ups r just ok and the tremolo is total junk. i'd give it a 5...but as for customizing it's a 10 all the way for me.....

Made in Japan in early 90s by Matsumoku company. I got it from a friend who are member in my band. At first, I just have a very good feeling about the finish, it looks extremely shining when I took it out from the case, even it had been there for years without polish or taken care of.What a finish !
The body is solid, maple and so heavy if you compare to many others. 22 jumbo frets with small abalon dots inlay which made the neck looks simple but cooler. Pick-up set S-S-H, there's one push/pull volume control with 5-way switch, this is very useful when you want to coil-tap, the volume's position is right on your hand. There's Floyd Roses look-alike bridge tremolo with the words Bend Master Deluxe on it, and it stays in tune once you have it setup properly. Mine' s lost tremolo bar, so I don't know if it work fine when I need to bend it over and over. The finish is candy red with many layers of lacquer on it, and it's an eye-caching to anyone who see it the first time, shining, alive- colour and lovely. It's even much more beautiful than my friend's American Deluxe Fender 2002 when we put them side by side. This's one of things about the Westone guitar that made me suprise, and it has been made for more than decade, the look is incredible. The neck,not too thin, not too fat, it's just right in your hand, and it make my speed increases long way since the day I got it.In my opinion, the neck is one of the best thing about Westone guitars.

I'm metal-head, and with the Westone, the sound is made for it, I think ! With 5-way switch, I can go from strat sound, to Acoustic ( with stomp-box ) to fat, full tone with lots of sustains. But the single-coil produce a litle bit 60 cycle-hum when you stand near the amp. The humbucker'sound is rich and rounded with high output. I run it through Boss GT-6 and 90 watts Fender Deluxe 90, the sound can make me sit hours and hours practising, I just can't help put it down. Last month, I decided to give it a try, not because it's humbucker not good enough, but I want to make a different better sound if it can, and I'm a lucky guy ! Put in an EMG 85 and a Seymour Duncan Cool-rail SC-1, The Westone Pantera became a totally different guitar. Now it creams like never before !! With some tweak in my GT-6, the sound of For the love of God ( Steve Vai ) or powerful rhymths of Metallica are easily come out. It's sustain for almost 40 seconds with SC-1 pickup, clean and very sweet. I guess it's because of the body's solid maple wood or something else of this babe. I tried SC-1 pickup at music store before I get it installed on the Pantera, but at the store, this pickup was not that sweet when it's on Jackson guitar and less sustain. To me, the sound of this guitar is killer, and if you make some changes in pu to your taste, it'll give you years of pleasure. Compare to many of high-end guitar out there ( Ibanez , Gibson, PRS...) it must be among one of them. It's sound is perfect for Metal, blues or pop. One thing I hate alots is the 60 cycle hum from the single coil that make me crazy sometime, but I guess it's because of the charactitic of most single coil pu's, so I can live with it.

I got it used so I really have no idea about it's factory setup, but after having it setup professionaly at L&M Quade music store, now it is what I want. I can set it up with extremely low action without buzz at all, and as I said above, the neck's very comfortable to play on, it makes me play faster than ever. The shape is beautiful, it fits nicely when you strap it on, as the body is full rounded especially at the cut-away. You wont't belive in how good is the Westone's finish till you see it, after years and years , its still extremely shining like just being made last month. May be my Westone hasn't been playing for long time ( as I said, it was inside in it's case almost 8 years in my friend's basement, nobody touched it since then, 'cause he's drummer ) but with it's ages, its just incredible !!! It's heavy, but that's why it produces such a heavy , rich sounds.

It's made for live playing for sure, but in my opinion, having some backup's always a smart choice. The hardware seems sturdy and are built to last, these guitars were made for lifetime warranty as Matsumoku stated on it's warranty paper. My Westone is more than 15 years old now, and everything's works and looks fine. The only thing I had to make a change is the nut locks which came loose a bit, may be because of so many time changing new strings, but not big deal anyway. The strap button's good enough, nothing wrong with it so far. Ofcourse I can depend on it, it always proves itself as a high end quality guitar as it is, and I bring it with me all the time whenever I gig, it gives me a good feeling really.

St. Louis Musical Instruments was long gone forever. I don't bother with this although it comes with life-time warranty. But when a product comes out on the market with life-time warranty, what'd you think it should be if not a very high quality product ?

I've been playing guitar for more than 22 years, and with many bands so far. I owned Ibanezs, Gibsons... ( just some ) but after all, I sold or trade -in all of them after I found out this lovely Westone, it's just the one I've looking for over many yrs, especially the action and the sound. Don't get me wrong, I'm fan of JEM ( 7VWH) and ESP too, but I can own more JEM and/or Tom Anderson in the future, but I will never apart this babe, some guitars're like your favorist instruments, and some are your best friends that go with you in your life to the end, and it's the one ! What can I say to you? These guitars seem very rare, 'cause they were limited run out of the company which gone forever, that means they'll never be made again, but if you see this, or someone wants to sell it, BUY IT, I mean it!!!

This guitar was made in Japan in the 80's for St. Louis Musical Instruments (as in Crate and Ampeg) by Matsumoku, who also made Washburns back then. This IS the Trevor Rabin model. My local Hard Rock Cafe has the exact same guitar hanging on the wall with his signature on it.
Wood: Solid Maple, cream-lacquered quasi-strat style body (much smoother lines). Maple neck, rosewood fingerboard, AND ebony (not plastic or bone) nut.
Electronics: Passive S/S/H configuration with 5-way switch and push-pull humbucker tap on volume knob. No tone controls at all. Sound variety comes from 5-way and tap combinations. This took some getting used to, but I can get many different sounds from the guitar. I still wish it had tone knobs though.
Bridge: This has a "Bendmaster Deluxe" Rose-type locking-nut/fine-tune bridge w/tremelo setup. It stays in tune and you can store the wrenches on the back of the neck.
Came with hard plush case w/Westone logo.

The out-of-phase front/middle single coils (position 4) is KILLER. I get a variety of strat-like sounds. Playing on one coil of the humbucker gets a tele sound. The humbucker by itself smokes for searing cut-through-the-rest-of-the-band leads. The front pickup is warm and friendly. The pickups are fairly high gain (I assume they're original), higher than my friend's Clapton model strat at least. I can't get anything close to the sound of a Les Paul's front pickup though. No tone controls limit the tonal variety...about my only complaint about this guitar, except that it isn't worth very much compard to other instruments I've had for 12 years.
I've played it through Deluxes, Twins, Boogies, Music Man HD130, Peavey Vintage, and a Vox AC30TB Super Twin Reverb (boy, do I ever regret selling that amp). Currently I use an ART SGX 2000 Express effects/preamp directly into the board or through a solid state stereo Peavey CS200 PA amp. driving two custom angled-top 2-12 caqbinets with celestions. The versatility of the SGX2000 makes up for the lack of tone knobs on the guitar. By the way, if you use an SGX2000, don't play it through a tube second stage; it will be too dirty and muddled.

I didn't buy this with factory setup, but mine plays beautifully. I needed to adjust the pickups and bridge to my liking, but that's all. The finish is beautiful--looks like many layers of cream white lacquer. Black Pantera logo. Neck is natural maple, fretboard rosewood is fine. Frets were fine when I got it, although they're due for some honing now.

Built like Fort Knox. It's not the only guitar I use, so I can't say I wouldn't use a backup because I always take two or three guitars with me. It's never failed me though and it stays in tune no matter what.

This thing supposedly came with a Lifetime guarantee, but I haven't contacted St. Louis Musical Instruments to see if they would honor the warranty. But then I haven't needed to, either.

I've been playing almost 30 years. I play keyboards and Bass, too. I have a Tak acoustic electric, a 73 LP Deluxe, and a no name nylon. I also have a Westone prototype bass (very hard to find) with the most incredible action and feel I've ever played on a bass.