Westone Spectrum LX

This is a 1986 guitar in blueburst. Looks kinda like an SG/Strat hybrid. Looks really mean. It has 22 frets, two volume controls, one master tone, three way toggle switch and coil taps. The pickups are in an HSH arrangement and the body is hard maple. The neck is painted maple with a rosewood board. Came with nothing as I only paid ??50 for it.

This guitar is so versatile with all of its features that it suits ALL styles of music. I play through a MArshall MG30DFX amp, Danelectro T-Bone distortion, Rocktek chorus and a Kimbara wah pedal. Sounds awesome. It is very bassy but also bright. Does incredibly accurate impression of a Tele, which is the only sound I use it for really. If you need it to, it can be a Les Paul, a Strat or even a Superstrat (Jackson, Charvel, Ibanez etc...)

I set this guitar up myself when I got it as it had been in an attic for about 10 years. It now plays beautifully and sounds awesome. Nothing wrong with it at all. Only thing is, it has this shitty floating - but non locking trem that goes out of tune if you just look at it. No good. It drives me nuts. Looks brand new, when I got it it had - and still has the factory stickers on the back.

This guitar is very solid (as you'd hope given the weight of the fucking thing) and could easily cope with live playing. The strap buttons are solid and won't come off any time soon and I could gig without a backup if I needed even though I would never do it from choice - it's tempting fate.

When I got this guitar last year, it was 20 years old and it hasn't yet gone wrong. The company don't exist any more but I hear they used to do an awesome lifetime warranty.

I've been for 3 or 4 years and own four other guitars:
Fender Standard Satin Stratocaster
Vintage VS6CG SG copy
1981 Gibson Hummingbird
Yamaha Pacifica 012 (my first guitar EVER)
I also have the amp and pedal rig mentioned before. Its actually my least used guitar because, altough I don't quite know why and despite its amazing tonal potential and playability, there's something I don't like about it. It's a blinding guitar but it just doesn't light my fire. Say I'm a tosser but I just don't get on with it! Sorry dudes!

looking at the serial number tells me my westone was built in 1985. It's japanese, very good quality. So . . 22 frets, bendmaster pro bridge (like a floyd rose but you don't cut the strings), HSH pickups with pull push knobs to activate the single coil and coil taps, 1 volume knob, 2 tone knobs, lovely black finish, solid maple body, hard maple satin black neck - nice and thin, rosewood fingerboard - im really impressed with this fingerboard, hardly any wear at all even at this age!!

I play metal/rock/punk/blues. This is mope suited for metal esp since i got it setup (more on that in a mo), but can handle punk if you use the coil taps. The pickups are quite hot i really notice when i compare it to my SG. Clean sounded a bit distorted, horrible, but since i had it professionally setup it sounds amazing, very bright but very bassy, sounds huge. I play through a marshall valvestate and use a behringer ultra distortion pedal, with the bass full, mid off, and treble full and the spectrum i have MY tone :D Sounds really heavy.

Action was good when i bought it (dunno wat it was like brand new) finish was scuffed and dented but its 20 years old and hasn't had a case so its actually in really good nick. I took the guitar to Trevor Durrant's guitar shop to have it professionally setup asking for drop Db but they got confused and put it in B!! mm never mind. Now this is the tits man!!! Plays soooooooooooooooooooo fast and the action is non-existent with no buzzing :D so can't complain there

I've taken this apart to have a look and the wiring is first class, hardware still looks newish even after 20 years of abuse doesn't stay in tune as well as i'd like but the previous owner lost the locking nut so thats why >:( strap buttons are a pain, the strap keeps coming off, sorted that with the plastic bit out of a grolsh bottle lid tho. Never gig without a backup, but i could depend on this without a backup if i needed to

they don't exist anymore so i don't think you'd get very far . . .

I've been playing 2 1/4 years and on this beast i can shred really really fast, im not that great but this guitar makes me great lmao. If it was stolen i would be really upset as i probably couldn't get another one very easily. I just wish it had a locking nut :( no fault of the guitar tho. I'm giving it a ten because i only paid #50!!! but even if i paid #200+ i think it would have been worth it

uh.. no idea what year it was made. based on some sources it's a japanese guitar.22 jumbo frets, 3 way selector switch, h/s/h. push pull pots for an assortment of sounds. passive pick ups heavy assed wood, neck, dunno. i've heard it could be graphite but i dont want to scratch the nice finish encapsullating it. it has black hardware, black finish, rosewood fingerboard. grover style tuners, and a non locking (why?) floating bridge thats a pain in the ass to tune. this happens to be my darkest guitar... it's so... BLACK!!! like everyone else said, it looks like a fender strat and a gibson sg mated and made this thing. pretty thin neck by the way (yay!)

uh.. it has all sorts of sounds. im using a fender frontman 15g amp and a boss me-30 pedal. the distortion is decent. sounds like decent distortion for punk. kinda has this dimarzio sound....the distortion could use a little work however. feedsback sometimes like a mother fucker.

i adjusted the bridge so now the action is virtually non exhistant... AND NO FRET BUZZ!!! i rule..anyway, the finish is like strong as hell. a long line of ownership and age (probably about 20??) produced only minor dings and nicks. i should probably polish it up... damned fingerprints...the selector switch, though stable feals like its gonna fall off. i can't figure out why. how decieving. but the action....wwwwooooowwwwwwww......

it looks like it will withstand some playing. alot of it. this baby is definately built to last. the strap buttons have some problems though. whose bright idea was it to place it on the top of the horn?????no i would not gig without a back up. thats just... stupid.

uhhh. i dont think they exhist anymore.

i've been playing for two years and i have a harmony dreadnaught acoustic, a bc rich warlock, m7 special, and uh... thats it..if it were stolen i'd kill the fucker cause this guitar is pretty rare (based on what i've heard) i sure wish it had some emg's... i'd compare it to... i dunno...

I GOT MINE IN SEPTEMBER 1987 AND I'M GUESSING IT WAS ONE OF THE LAST FEW AS THEY DISAPPEARED AFTER THAT. 22 FRET, H/S/H PICKUPS ALL WITH PUSS/PULL ACTION FOR VARIOUS PU OPTIONS, ROSEWOOD FINGERBOARD, AND ENOUGH WOOD ON THE MAIN BODY TO MAKE HALF A DOZEN IBANEZ. METALLIC RED FINISH WITH JET BLACK HARDWARE WHICH INCLUDED A LOCKING TREM THAT NEVER LET THE STRINGS GO. IF YOU DONT KNOW WHAT IT IS IMAGINE A SATRIANI WITH AN SG -ISH POINTINESS TO IT ..LOOKS GREAT BUT WEIGHS A TON. THERE IS NOTHING YOU CANNOT GET ON THIS GUITAR, YOU HAVE THE LOT!

I PLAY IN A FAIRLY HEAVY ROCK BAND NOWADAYS AND THE SOUND FROM THE LEAD HBUCKER WAS A MIGHT THINNER THAN I WANTED SO I REPLACED IT WITH A SEYMORE DUNCAN TREMBUCKER...OH MY GOD! THE HEAVY CONSTRUCTION TENDS TO GIVE THE GUITAR A FULL SOUND FROM MOST PU SELECTIONS . THE TAPPING AND PHASE OPTIONS JUST ENABLED YOU TO COPY ANYTHING YOU LIKED AND WHEN I WAS IN A COVERS BAND IT WAS EVERYTHING FROM A TELE TO A BARRETTA, AND I OWN THE PROPER ONES AND LET ME TELL YOU HOW CLOSE THIS THING COMES TO THEM. NOW IT HAS THE NEW LEAD PU... EVEN SPINAL TAP COULDNT GET MORE SUSTAIN

THIS WAS THE MAIN THING RIGHT FROM THE START. I ALWAYS DESCRIBE GUITARS AND THERE BUILD LIKE CARS EG RACER OR LEMON. THIS THING IS A TRUCK! AND IN THE BEST POSSIBLE WAY. I KNOW MINE WAS ONE OF THELAST AND ANY SLIGHT BUGS IN THE BUILD HAVE LONG SINCE BEEN IRONED OUT. THE ACTION IS FANTASTIC , BETTER THAN ANYTHING ELSE I'VE EVER OWNED (GO FIGURE)AND THE FINISH WAS FLAWLESS. STYRAIGHT OUT THE BOX PERFECT

I'VE PLAYED THIS THING LIVE IN MY ROCK BAND NOW FOR 12 YEARS AND THE ONLY REASON I EVER TAKE IT OFF FOR MY SPARE IS COS ITS SO DAMN HEAVY!
I HAVE HAD TO MAKE A FEW ADJUSTMENTS WHICH WERE NEEDED BECAUSE OF MY PLAYING STYLE. I BROKE THE TREM ARM ASSEMBLY BUT MANAGED TO GET A LOCAL ENGINEERING FIRM TO MAKE ME A STRONGER ONE, THE PICKUP I'VE MENTIONED AND ALSO FITTED LOCKING STRAP BUTTONS ONTO IT. THE FRETS ARE A LITTLE SOFT COMPARED TO MY OTHERS BUT IT HAS TAKEN MORE PUNISHMENT THAN IT DESERVED AND NEVER LET ME DOWN. I ALWAYS USE A BACK UP FOR GIGS COS YOU NEVER KNOW... AND I CAN BREAK ANY MAKE OF STRING YOU GIVE ME. NEEDS A RE FRET NOW BUT OTHER THAN THAT....

UNFORTUNATELY WESTONE DISAPPEARED NOT LONG AFTER I BOUGHT THIS, BUT I NEVER NEEDED THERE HELP ANYWAY!

I'VE BEEN PLAYING FOR 16 YEARS AND ITS BEEN WITH ME MOST OF THAT TIME. I PLAY THIS AND A KRAMER AT GIGS THROUGH A BOSS MULTI EFFECTS ME-6 AND A MARSHALL JCM 900 100W STACK(AS IT SHOULD BE!)AS YOU CAN IMAGINE , WHEN YOU HAVE OWNED A GUITAR FOR THIS LONG IT BECOMES PART OF YOU AND IS IRREPLACEABLE. I WILL BE HONEST AND SAY THAT I WILLPROBABLY SOON GET MYSELF ANOTHER KRAMER IF I CAN FIND ONE AND RETIRE THE WESTONE TO MY HOME( LIFE IN A GIGGING ROCK BAND IS NO PLACE FOR IT,AND THE WAY ROADIES THROW THINGS AROUND...)
YES ITS HEAVY AND YES THE FRETS ARE IN NEED OF REPLACING BUT FOR THE MONEY I PAID AND THE PRICE I SAW MY FRIENDS PAY FOR STRATS AND IBANEZ
LET ME TELL YOU ,I STILL LAUGH AT THEM.

Solid body, double cutaway guitar with 22 fret bolt on neck. Made in Japan. 25 1/2" scale neck with ebony stained rosewood board is 1 5/8" wide at the nut and slightly thinner than modern Fender necks. The body may be poplar or basswood (it is painted Midnight Blue) with Strat like contours on the back and on top. H-S-H Pickup configuration with 2 volume and 1 tone control. Gibson style treble/bass pickup switch. Push/pull pots at the volume/tone controls split of the two humbuckers, center single coil on/off, and reverse polarity of the bridge humbucker. Fine tuning tremolo bridge with locking clamp above nut.

The guitar is extremely versatile. Neck and bridge humbuckers are beefy (approaching Gibson tone) and center single coil is clean when used in combo with a coil tapped humbucker (Strat-like tones). The polarity reverse option allows Super-strat (Ibanez or Jackson) type sounds. This guitar sounds great through my Mesa/Boogie Subway Rocket.

The guitar is of high quality construction. Not a custom-shop or handmade piece, but as good or better construction than my American Standard Strat. The paint was flawless when I purchased it. The black finish on the hardware is starting to wear. The string action is nice and low.

I purchased this guitar new in 1985 and it has been a true work horse. I have gigged and practiced with it, especially when I did not want to drag my more expensive guitar out into the cold winter. I had a problem with the tremolo after 9 years (see Customer Support).

I had a problem with one of the string claw/saddles at the tremolo breaking in 1994, while the guitar was in my closet. I must not have set the ball end of a string properly during a restringing. St. Louis Music repaired it under warranty and sent a few extra saddles with the guitar! Unbelievable Lifetime Warranty.

I've been playing since 1979, and this way my first descent guitar. Now the frets are wearing, but the guitar still feels like an old friend. My only regret is that it doesn't have much collector appeal. I would buy a G&L ASAT Blues Boy Semi-Hollow to replace it today.

Not totally sure of the model, but i beleive this is the closest match! SOLID japanese made solidbody! Awesome action and fit, never goes outta tune, and is built like a peice rock hehe. Anyways...onto features. Starting with the "cosmetic" stuff, its a crimsen to lighter red sunburst with a general 2 horned looknig body (horns are a bit more "evil-devily" looking or somehting). After 18 years the finish is still nice and besides the few nicks, looks pretty much new. I beleive the tremolo has been replaced from some sort of other trem to an AWESOME Kahler locking-floating tremolo. I never use the bar, and the nut is always unlocked, so it stays in tune really well. Im almost sure it would stay in tune if i locked it and tried to rip the bar outta the body though. The pickups are in a h/s/h configuration with a volume, 2 tones, and a 3 way selector. The whole electronics system is unique because the 3 knobs pull out to engage coil taps, the middle pickup, and some other stuff...(not totally sure of all the details...) Ive played it live, as well as every day for 2 years straight, and have had to replace the 3 way, and resolder 1 ground wire in the back. The action is SUPER easy...like set your finger on the string easy. There is very little string buzz for how low the strings are. The neck itself is a bolt on with a rosewood fingerboard. Somewhere in my travels i heard the actual neck was graphite, but im unsure. It could well be...its finished in thick really fast paint if it is wood. The frets are big fat and easy to play on. The nut has never been relaced to my knowledge and is still in good shape. Theres a locking nut after the regular nut; never use it. Tuners are in good shape, are very smooth, and have a good "ratio" so its easy to tune dead on. (there are also fine tuners on the bridge.)

This guitar sounds great through many types of amps and settings. Right now i run it through a mesa studio preamp into a fender combo or a marshall 8008 and a mesa 2x12. I can get alot of sounds out of the actual guitar as well as the amps, and it has never failed me for the most part. The only thing that disapoints me is the really high ear=peircing at times high end you get at high gain. Its easily corrected though by turning the tone knob down a bit. Id recommend a new bridge pickup for that reason. Other than that it sounds fine.

Described above in features hehe. Fits me like a glove.

Its built like a prison, parts all fit with precision, generally very well made.

From what i have found, the westone (electra/westone?) went under in 1988. Im not positive though...

I would NEVER sell this guitar...ever. It was manufactured tha same year i was born (1983) and has obviolsy held up great all those years. Yea it has a few flaws, but for the most part this "cheap" guitar is great for all skill levels. Its easy to learn on ad even easier to excell on. Plays just as good as anything ive played yet (gibsons, fenders, epis, and losta other stuff)

I bought mine new in 1985. It is a 22 fret finger bord. I have no idea what kind of wood it was made from. It has 1 volume and two tones one for the bridge and one for the neck pickup all three are pull knobs the middle one turns on the center single coil. It has a HSH configuration. The origional pickups sounded great I would have never changed them if the bridge pick up hadn't started squeeling at hi volume. The finish was perl white sun burst to silver. The body is shaped like a strat with pionts at the ends. It has some tune-o-matic bend master whammy bar with locking nut. Im not so fond of the bridge as it tends to go out of tune. I do have a tendancy to bend the sh@t out of the strings and try to pull the handle off from time to time. The factory tuners are good quick and responsive. The neck is thin and fast

I play mostly a no name 100w 2x12 combo amp with a boss hm1 distortion. The westone responded well to distortion with its original pick up it has great clean sounds from tele to strat like it could even sound like a gibson SG. You would have to work with the tones and volume to help open the door for certian sounds. When I play my westone I feel like an out of tune E.V.H. I sound more like an out of tune Slim Whitman. Beside going out of tune I have no complaints.

When I pulled my Westone out of the box the first thing I did was change the strings and set the action. It played well from day one low on the neck. The finish was beautiful the neck fit the guitar well. It didn't look like it was thrown together. The strings fit the neck just right not to close to the edge on either E. Fifteen years have passed and everything still fits well and she still sounds and plays better than most of my other guitars.

Iv'e never played live with my westone but I have used in the stodio It does well in there. The black finish has started to pit on the tremolo but the rest of the guitar still looks and plays great.
It is still very solid nothing has started buckeling or falling off and the controls are still smooth with no static. I know I could use it for live gigs but I don't want to hear a bunch of what the heck is a Westone.

By the time my pickup started squeeling the company had closed up shop and everyone had gone home or started making walkmans.

I have been playing for some 20plus years I have owned many other guitars, Gibson, Epiphone, Fender, Ovation, ESP, etc. This is most likely the single most versitile guitar I've owned.

This guitar was made in the 80's in Japan. 22 Frets. I'm not sure what it's made of but it's a fairly heavy guitar. Much heavier than my strat. Bolt on neck. Three way selector controling 3 passive pickups H/S/H. It has twotone controls and one volume all are tap switches. Finish is satin cream color that goes slightly grey nearer the pickups. The body is similar to a strat but the tip are more pointed. The bridge is a common style floating bridge with a locking nut.

It has a good sound and fairly versatile but lends itself best to a hard rock sound. It's difficult to get a real clean sound especially when you try to get some volume. It takes some fiddling to get the sound you want but if you work at it hard enough you'll find what you need. Problem is I'm not patient.

The guitar plays well once it's set up properly. Action can be set surprisingly low without any problems. It's difficult to tune and goes out of tune when you use the tremelo bar too much. My solution was to put the bar away and unlocking the nut. Then I tune using the head pegs as opposed to the bridge pegs. It's too much work otherwise.

I've played the guitar for almost 15 years and never had a problem with it other than the tuning problems if I use the bar. The finnish still looks like new even though it's seen it's fair share of abuse. I've never had to have any work done on it other than the occasional set up.

I've never tried to have it repaired but I think the name was purchased by a larger Japanese guitar maker and discontinued.

I've been playing about 17 years and had this guitar for almost 15. I also own a Yamaha accoustic and a Mexican Squire Strat. I play through a Fender Power Chorus. I love the look and hate the bridge. I should have paid an extra few buck and bought a strat or something. I like my Squire as much and paid half as much for it.

I am gessing it is an 80's guitar. 22 frets. It is strat shaped but the horns have been sharpened to give it an evil look. H/S/H configuration. 3 way toggle switch. floating bridge. some sort of locking nut after the nut?? sort of a subtle dark blue sunburst finish. It has two tone and one volume all are push/pull knobs

I play mostly metal but this guitar fits all styles well. Cheap pickups sound surprisingly good clean and distorted. can get lots of sounds out of it with the knobs.

It is really comfortable to play. nice low action and comfortable neck. it has a few nicks and bruises but it is kinda old.

I have had it for 3 yrs now and still plays and sounds well. defijnately dependable

i dont even think they exist anymore

really surpised by its sound for not having heard of them prior. If anyone knows about the company or more on this guitar please contact me. I would buy this guitar again if I had to.