Westone Rainbow I

Built circa 1985. List price new at the time #240.00 a lot of money back then. As listed in other entries its got all you would expect from a 335 look a like. Its definately one of those guitars that makes you feel good just holding it. I bought a hard case, putting this baby in a gig bag would be extreme cruelty.

I spent months prowling numerous guitar shops looking for a second hand semi. I knew the sound I wanted, thick rich lows, but didn't have the budget to match. The Rainbow 1 has it in bucket loads with balanced mid and high tones if needed. I play it through a Behringer BX1200 bass combo with a digitech RP100 to a little reverb and echo.

I'm strictly a chord strumer, there is a little fret buzz on the 5th and 6th strings but this is probably my fingering not the guitar. Its in A1 condition' a few scratches on the back possibly caused by a belt buckle,and the pick guard was loose, but what would you expect from a 20 year old guitar.

Everything that was on it from new is still there and functions as it should, just like a second hand Japanese car really. It's a heavy bugger so I have a good wide strap and used the Grolsch bottle seal trick on the strap buttons for safety. It cost all I had so a back up isn't an option. My 1960's Burns Sonic is to fragile for anything other than occasional home use.

None

Been playing (badly) for twenty years. If I lost it I would scour the country for another. Even tried some new stuff before I bought it, Ibanez Artcore, Supanova's, Samic's but it beats them hands down, but then it's all a matter of personal taste.

The guitar is a natural (mahogany colour)wood finish, set neck, 335-style semi-hollowbody made in Japan in late 70s early eighties. The horns are much slimmer than a 335 (larger custaways) and give better access to high frets. The company (Matsumoko) made the Electra and Aria lines as well. The headstock shape is almost identical to Aria Pro IIs from 1981. Features:

a) sealed chrome "Westone" tuners
b) brass nut
c) black plastic truss rod cover with "Rainbow I" in gold script
d) Mother of Pearl inlayed "Westone" in headstock (semi-circle shape)
e) slim 3-piece maple neck, rosewood fretboard, Mother of pearl dot fret markers, 22 medium jumbo frets
f) Cream binding on neck and body
g) laminated body with arched front and back
h) two pickup, chrome pickup covers each with 12 individual , adjustable polepieces - approx 9.5K Ohm
i) 2 Vol, 2 Tone, Black speed knobs, black 3-way selector switch, input on face of guitar
j) "Made in Japan L.P" chrome tunomatic bridge (tailpiece on mine replaced with Bigsby)
k) SHIELDED POTS!@!! - each pot has a rear cover for shielding - high end!! Wish my 335 had that!!
l) large strap buttons.
m) 7-digit serial number on back of headstock in Gold ink.
n) 2" tan paper label inside upper f-hole with "plays right WESTONE stays Right", the model "Rainbow I" in pen
o) 3-ply black plastic pickguard
p) high gloss polyeurothane finish

The sound is good and similar to my 335. It does a great BB King tone. The pickups are lacking in sparkle (highs) and while they appear to be good quality, they rate a 5 or 6 of 10 compared to Seymour Duncans or older Gibsons.

Quiet and well shielded.

The action is excellent. Good neck construction and comfortable heel. Much easier to play in upper registers than my 335. Mine had bad fretwear on lower frets but after recrowning plays well.

Pots are difficult to clean due to shielding covers. Well finished

The guitar is well made and solid and should hold up well. It has two major flaws that are easily corrected.

1) The stock bridge saddles have three large grooves to hold the string (in theory allows you to optimize where the string crosses the saddle and the crosses the pickup poles. The strings sit too far down in the slots and this causes excessive friction and tuning problems. The wound strings should never be more than 50% down in the grooves and the unwound slots should be no deeper than the sting diameter.

The slots were to deep and causing binding of the string after bending (string-saddle friction preventing the string from returning to same tension as before the bend).

This was corrected with "Graph Tech" replacement saddles which are direct tunomatic replacements and prevent string binding. They cost $35 Cdn and are essential to curing the tuning problems associated with the stock saddles. The existing screws and springs fit the graph-tech saddle threads.

2) The Brass nut - While all the rage in '78, nobody uses brass anymore for nuts because the metal on metal friction causes "microgrooves" that prevent the string from returning to its original tension/note after bending. Again, a "Graph Tech Jumbo Blank" was used as it is the right thickness (beware the "Trem nut" blanks -too thin)

Once these "catch points" were changed, the tone and tuning improved significantly

Westone is gone (apparently name now leased to some firm) but any competent repairperson could fix most problems with the guitar. The quality is there and parts are readily interchanged if needed.

If you ever plan to try and get inside the guitar to access electronics - TAPE THE F-HOLE EDGES TO AVOID SCRATCHES. Go in through the rear pickup hole.

Great guitar overall - good value and easier to access high frets than a 335. The shielding on the pots is a high-end touch. Looks great too!

Solve the bridge and nut problems and you have a real winner with the Rainbow I (Who came up with that name anyway??)

Basically a restyled ES 335 copy which actually runs the real thing very, very close. Well put together from what seems like good quality timber, reasonable pick ups and hardware. I`ve had mine about 17 years and its stood up pretty well.

It works well as a very versatile guitar for most styles, but wind it up through a decent valve stack and its an absolute monster! Playing it at proper volume with a band I`ve felt the whole guitar resonating. Lovely stuff! Being critical it doesn`t have the absolute tonal quality of an 81 Les Paul standard I`m lucky enough to own, but its actually better than a lot of more recent Gibsons Ive tried. I`ve recently dug the rainbow out of its case, and I`m thinking of trying some decent aftermarket pickups in it.Anyone else tried this /got any recommendations?

The important things like action, intonation and adjustments were all pretty good when I bought the guitar secondhand . My only criticism is the finish on my example. Mines a white one, and as I`ve never come across another I`m wondering if its been refinished as the paintwork meeting the binding is pretty ropey.

I`ve just started to get a few problems with the jackplug socket connection, but I`m sure it just needs a quick session with a soldering iron. The finish on the bridge has gone very crinkly, but I`m thinking about replacing the bridge and tailpiece with good quality stuff.I`ve used the rainbow alongside my Les Paul at gigs for 17 years , and it has never failed me.

customer support does not exist

For the money paid it is an amazing guitar . The basic construction of the guitar is excelent, and despite years of abuse I`ve never even had to have it set up , surely a sign of quality timber. Its budget origins are betrayed I think by the hardware and to a much lesser extent the pick ups. I am actually thinking of turning it into a project guitar , replacing the above items, as I think it deserves it.At the moment old westones seem to be almost worthless, but I haven`t seen a rainbow for sale anywhere since I bought mine in`86.
if one came up cheap I would probably buy it, and I wouldn`t be surprised if one day they do become sought after, as it is a seriously good instrument.

Made in Japan by Mitsumoku? in mid eighties. ES-335 style semi-accoustic, Serial No. 2084310.
Moulded/pressed top & back. Judging from the inside the body appears to all maple with a transparent finish which varies in colour depending on light from a dark brown almost purple to black.
2 humbuckers, 2 vol, 2 tone contols, 3 way switch, tun-o-matic bridge
all chrome hardware.
Neck is 3 piece maple with rosewood fretboard, 22 frets with dot markers, body neck headboard & F-holes all bound in ivory coloured
binding. (The elephant must have been a heavy smoker, it is almost
yellow)

Guitar was quite well set up when purchased about 2 years ago, I have since fine tuned the set up to my own taste - jazz, country etc.-
definitely no headbanging.
I use it mainly with a Ross Fame series 50R chorus, which gives plenty of oomph from smoky jazzy stuff to quacky country Tele type
sounds.

Finish on guitar is excellent. Never having been well heeled enough
to own a Gibbo or PRS but only to admire and fondle, I would surmise that the only things that sets them above this instrument are the accountants.

As an enthusiastic amateur, I can't comment on prolonged live playing,
but the overall quality of the guitar looks good for many years to come.

Unfortunately this seems to be the only forum for information on
these guitars.

The only quibble I have is on the personal comfort level, I find the
body a bit bulky to sit with, compared to my favourite plaything,
an '84 Ibanez Blazer. The fretboard however is a dream so hay! ho!
cant have everything.

This instrument has humber pickups, which give it a smooth sound. I bought a Gibson 335 replacement scratch plate from "all parts" and fitted it on. It gave it the final touch and i didn't have to worry about scratching the woodwork anymore. Free playing to my hearts content!

I have some gibson B.B.King strings which, thankfully, were available at my local store. The Guitar gives a very melow bleus type sound. However it can be good when in the middle of a beatles riff. good all round backing sound with a confident soloing attitude. This sound can lapse when wrong strings are fitted.

The only flaw that i could find was the fact that the hole was mis-placed in the body of the guitar. This then made me drill (unfortunately)into the body tomake the right hole!

Very hardwaring. it is a very solid wood and eill last for a lot.

No connections or numbers to go by

It has everything i want in a blues-playing guitar. No regrets.

The instrument is labelled Matsumoku Company of Japan and according to " The Blues Book of Electric Guitars Sixth Edition" they were manufactured from circa late 1970 to mid 1980. I hope this information is of assistance to Lars from Holland who has also placed a review. The guitar is a copy of the Gibson ES-335 and plays equally as good. The body and neck are made from Maple the neck being 3 pieces. Two Humbucker pickups 2 volume and two tone controls and a switch. The bridge is a tunamatic type. The headstock has 3 aside pegheads. There are 22 frets on a rosewood fret board.

Plays extremely well plenty of flexability from the pickups. You can go from a mellow jaz sound to a harsh twang for the rock and roll or heavy metal. I have a choice of two amps a solid state Marshall 30 Reverb and a Laney all valve sound. There is simply nothing I can find to dislike about this guitar.

I bought the Guitar second hand from Frailers Bango's and Guitars and it is in mint condition.

I would definately gig without a backup guitar...

As I only bought this guitar in 2001 and Matsumoku finished producing in Japan in 1987 when it switched all it production to Korea I cannot coment on customer support.

I was considering buying a Gibson ES-335 to add to my collection but when you consider that a 1970's 335 would have cost me 1500 / 2000 pounds sterling depending on the condition I got a real gem with the Westone and for as little as 250 pounds. If you get a chance to buy on ...DO IT.

I think its a begin 80's guitar. A Gibson es-335 copy but with a own design. The body is much smaller and more a modern design. It has 2 humbuckers with a normal circuit like a les paul. It has a normal Gibson tailpiece; a tune-o-matic style bridge. A real nice guitar to see. The body is all maple with a dark finish with a couple of colors depending on the type and direction of the light source. It sometimes is black sometimes real dark purple and the finish is "see true". The maple is very beautiful normal plain maple. The neck is maple too; made of 3 pieces, got some flames and quiltes in it very beautiful too!! This guitar has the Gibson scale (I think this would be like 628mm??)

It is my first guitar, and after this one 6 have cross my way. I now own 3 electrick guitars. A Godin, a Carvin, and this Westone Rainbow 1 Althought its an Japanese (yes Japanese, build BEFORE westone had moved to Korea and had started to build instruments wich are not very good,...they suck!!) I know my way in good guitars! and in good tone; I play a Rivera m60 amp. And this guitars kicks some major american butt, what I mean is that there are American made guitars (even Gibson) wich are loosing from a $500 Japanese guitar!!! (I bought it second hand for $250!!)

I once had a problem with the grounding for the strings, now repared. A very very durable guitar!..

I never had ANY CONTACT with westone at all, Westone isn't building any guitars anymore since 5 or 6 years I believe... The old import service BMI who sold them here in Holland doesn't say a word about the Westone guitars, it seems that they trew all the old papers away and fire ALL the old staff, I don't get it, and sometime really get pissed of by it !$%$#%, THIS IS A CRY FOR HELP, IF SOMEONE KNOWS ANYTHING ABOUT WESTONE, OR HAS A RAINBOW GUITAR TOO, PLEAS CONTACT ME!!!

VERY GOOD JAPANESE GUITAR!!