Westone Prestige 150

Built in '82 by the fine craftsmen of Matsumoku, Japan. Mahogany body with Hard Maple top, Rosewood fingerboard with brass nut, 3-ply Maple neck set heel-less in the body. 24.75 inch scale, 22 big fat frets. Two humbuckers (Black) with chrome hardware. Two volume and two PEQ tone controls. The man who sold the guitar to me, told me that the pick-ups were Gibson Paf's (pat.no. 2.737.842). Got the pickups out and guess what! They were.. Three way selector, two volume pots and two tone stacked pots with a center. An earlier reviewer explained it better than I so take look there.
The Finish used on this Prestige is gorgeous Black transparent. The form of the guitar is Westone's own design, and follows roughly the lines of an Ibanez Artist with the double cut except the top cutaway sticks out more like a strat. Sort of a mix between a sg and a strat. The hardware is all Westone own design. The beautiful curved bridge, the brass bridge saddles and nut. Westone tuners and, yes, lucky me! The original reddish brown case. For some it may be a too heavy guitar, but I like the weight. A real looker this one, with a tone to die for, but thats for later..

Here is where most Matsomukus shine, the sound. They have real warm sustain. I suspect the Mahogany body with Hard Maple top has something to do with that thick Les Paul sound. The Paf pickups give it a warm, maybe dark tone. Clean it sings on the neck pickup and gives a nice balsy tone on the bridge pickup. Dirty sounds are just out of this world on this guitar. It screams! I know the stock pickups from Westone are killers too, but these pafs.. Excelent blues-tones, and dynamite for classic rock. I can even crank out some metallic riffs on the CMOS rectifier setting. I like the full creamy blues tone, but its a bit of a one trick pony. My Pantera X275 with TB-11 SD Pickup has far more variety in sounds.

I don't know how the guitar was set at factory, because I bought it this year. Well, it plays very well, low action and a typical fast Westone neck. It was all set by earlier users and they did a fine job with the top and bridge.
The hardware is a bit oxidized after years of hard playing (very vintage!) but nothing serious. There are a few dents here and there but the very, very hard and glossy finish is strong like teflon.

The fact that this instrument still looks beautiful and plays like a dream says it all: build like a tank. The paint doesn't show weak spots. Only the (plastic?) bindings around the body dont fit the wood. It is as if the wood had shrunk a tiny bit, except the bindings. That's the only flaw. The switch lost its plastic knob but that was easily replaced with a new one (Japanese size.. difficult..)
You should never gig without a backup. Just got it so I don't know about reliability. I owned a Westone Thunder and that thing is unbreakeble so..

Alas, the company doesn't exist anymore.

This is one of the finer guitars I have ever got my hands on. Maybe I will someday change the pickups because of the typical darkbrown paf sound. The strong features are the sound and the typical body shape. If it was stolen I will hunt the thief down and smack his head with my Thunder..not the Prestige.. ;)
Westone guitars are not underrated anymore, but they are still cheap and have a growing community of devotees. This Prestige is a gem in my guitar collection.

1983, Japan, built by Matsumoku. Typical Prestige 150 construction of three piece maple neck set in heel-less fashion into a 2 piece mahogany body with carved, bound maple top. 22 frets on a Gibson scale rosewood fingerboard. All gloss finished to a perfect standard.

This is my 4th 150 and possibly my thousandth Westone so I can tell you that earlier guitars have bigger frets, a brass nut and a slightly longer headstock. Later guitars have a bone nut and the "bird" W logo.

Twin alnico humbuckers are original equipment, tamed by three way selector and two vol, two tone pots. The tones are stacked pots with a centre notch, so centre position is full humbucking, full tone...swing the know one way and the tone rolls off, swing it the other and the pickup changes from series to parallel wiring (sort of like a humbucker but with more grunt).

Westone's own make bridge, tailpiece and tuners complete the setup. The bridge is a nice item with brass saddles.

The sound of the factory pickups is quite pure and a little middly. Having owned Prestige 250s (mahogany neck) and 150s (maple neck), I prefer the tone of the 150. I think the stiffer maple neck gives a brighter, more focused tone that suits the rather hi-fi sounding pickups. There's no noise, and the sound isn't immediately raunchy but there's plenty of output and it excels at driving effects pedals. Earlier guitars usually sound brighter, louder and more earthy, maybe due to the brass nut and extra headstock mass. The graduated series/parallel feature is a real bonus.

All the Westones I've owned have been very old and often quite abused. They're been played, which shows they're good instruments. I know enough about guitars to be able to see the quality in them and these guitars are as good as anything else in terms of materials, finish, attention to detail and sheer craftsmanship.

This one I'm looking at is 23 years old and ready to rock. Like a dancer, it's graceful but tough.

This incarnation of Westone ceased to exist in 1987.

I've been playing thirty five years and have owned them all. I deal to feed my passion for instruments and have owned hundreds of Westones. I buy every one I can afford. they're astonishingly wonderful guitars that are appreciating rapidly. If you see an early example with brass nut, DON'T buy it...email me!

I think this guitar is a 76 model. Black throuhout, one piece with a white trim dressing on the body. The body is solid mahagony throughout and heavy, heavy. The original pickups are still in the guitar and they scream, i worked the bridge pickup a little and now it sound like a monster.Also an interesting feature is on the tone pots the twin humbuckers can be changed to create a single coil sound, very interesting, i didnt know this when i purchased but a friend pointed it out to me while looking at the electrics. It has a shcaller bridge and chrome features throughout. The body stle is somewhere between a les paul and an sg and like i said, heavy, thick. The neck is fast and rosewood. I bought this guitar in a Pawn shop for $350 australian and this guitar outplays any Gibson I have played on. I wouldnt sell it for $1500 australian. It will outlive me i think! I gave it a 9 because the design is not my favourite but still that is my only fault.

Perfect for my music. I play in a 4 piece rock outfit which is acoustic driven. The guitar gives me the big Les paul tone i need to rock and the sustain is for ever due to the body. The single coil feature is a bonus for the clean funkier groves. It sounds big through a marshall and big through a Fender amp also. I have a Boss GT 6 which im still learning to use but even through a marshall with no effects this guitar is sound quality fantastic. Very bright, full.

Heavy but I dont mind im a stong guy! Action is fast due to a nice neck, not a thick as a gibson. Pickups took a slight adj to make them scream which they now do much to the dismay of my neighbours and venues with noise limits! I have read that the jack output gives trouble sometimes. I havent had it long enough to have any trouble yet. Nice finish, its not the prestige 250 gold hardware but im sure sounds just the same.

This guitar will outlive me. Its a heavy guitar hopefully the strap buttons will go the distance.
I need a backup for the amount of strings i break but i think i would trust it. However it is 25 years old so maybe Ill carry a backup just in case

havent needed any help yet

this is the best guitar ive ever owned!