Westone Thunder I

I bought this guitar second hand when I was 17 years old. I'm 44 now and I still have it. It's completely original, I haven't changed anything since buying it.

The sound of the guitar is great in combination with my LAB7 amplifier. I can make it sound dirty and distorted and clean and sweet just by switching channels of my amplifier.

Perfect!

This guitar holds up very well when playing live. I never bothered to take a back up guitar with me when playing live.

I've been playing it for 27 years one and off and it has never let me down. I grew up with the guitar and probably wont ever part with it. However, I might consider giving it to my younger brother if there ever comes a day when I cannot play it anymore. But he has to promise to give give it to one of my two sons when he's through with it so it wont leave the family.

It's one of the best guitars I've ever had. Everyone who has a go offers to buy it off me, but I won't part with it. It's so easy to drift off with it as it's so comfortable to play & it sounds sweet as a nut. Same as below, if you see one of these, don't think twice, buy it.

Everything is said about it and I agree.
I have a 1983 Westone Thunder 1 , natural one , with an Ash/Maple/walnut body and hard maple neck. Copper nut and bridge.
It looks gorgeous to me

WOW!!!! WOW !!!!
Unbelivable and great sound , this one can beat any Gibson LP and other high priced guitar, but......... for a fraction of the price.
High output coils with lots of upper harmonics and low ends
If you are in blues,rock or actually any other stuff this is it.

Bought second hand and the action it had was a little high for me so I adjusted it and now it has a great low action without any fret buzz.
Neck strait as can be.
This is a natural one

No problems at all till now on.

Don't know , the original Japanese plant is no longer there.

I play for more than 300 years.
I can only say , look around you..... if you can find one GRAB IT without any hesitation.
These guitars still do around 200/250 euro's , ridiculess for such a fine instrument.

This is a Westone Thunder 1-T (for tremolo) made in Japan in 1983.

H/H configuration - I think they're the original Westone Hammer humbuckers. Both pickups can be coiled tapped via a small toggle switch. The controls are one volume and two tones (one for each pickup).

It's a 24.75" scale guitar, rosewood fingerboard on a three ply laminate maple neck (with the centre laminate grain at 90 degrees to the outer two laminates, very clever). The headstock is also set at a 7-degree angle Gibson-style, but carved from the laminate, not glued on like a Gibson - even cleverer. The 22 frets are superfat and low.

The body is (apparently) maple. I say apparently because it's covered in a couple of millimetres of black lacquer. Therefore no idea how the body is layed out internally. Body layout is an offset double cutaway.

The tremolo is a Strat type, helf in place by three very stiff springs (it's much stiffer than my similarly equipped Strat). Tuners are Westone own brand, non-locking. The nut is the original bone.

It's relatively heavy, somewhere between a Telecaster and a Gibson ES335 (the backache guitar).

Cor! The humbuckers produce a very confident and rich sound, but with plenty of upper harmonics. Even on the neck pickup the sound is clear. Very Les Paul.

The single coil sound is (so far) less compelling. It's not a Fender twang, which I was surprised about given that the tremelo and bridge arre straight out of a Strat, but it is "hollower" than the humbucking config. Suspect it'll just stay on the neck humbucker, which is stellar. I have had some noise on single coil which suggests the shielding isn't doing its job.

It's 24 years old so I've no idea how the factory set it up. As it came to me the action is possibly a little high. I'm not planning to abuse the tremelo (and as it's a strat type, you probably wouldn't want to) so I'm going to try lowering it.

This guitar wants to play live. It's built more solidly than a telecaster and anyone who's ever thrown a tele across a stage (as I have) knows what that means.

The *real* Westone is long gone; the factory burnt down some tiem in the 80s.

I've been playing for over 20 years. I have a Jap Fender tele, a Squier Strat and a Gibson ES335. The fairest comparison is between this and the 335 and at the moment (possibly I'm still in my honeymoon period) it's better than the ES335. It feels more competently put together (I won't bore you with the story of the low E saddle on my tunomatic bridge, but suffice to say that Gibson seem to think hammers are suitable tools to use for setting intonation) and more importantly it sounds nicer. And for a tenth of the price!

In truth it's most like the Tele: it's a solid working guitar without too many frills, put together by Japanese craftsmen. Now I've got one (and I've waited 24 years) I'm not going to part with it. If I lost it I'd probably sell the Gibson to buy another (although I might hunt for a Thunder 2 which has a 25.5" scale length - could the tone be even better?)

the features are great. it has a brass bridge and brass knobs. looks smaller compared to my fender, but i think it looks way better..nice and easy frets to play on.

sound is great on the westone thunder 1.I use it to play rock, a little blues and everything else..i started out playing my fender strat, but after switching to the westone, its been the main guitar for me now..real nice sound

mines was given to my dad by my uncle. he bought it used already. then ofcourse me now...but everything is quite nice with the natural wood look and everything else..i adjusted the neck and the bridge to try and make it easier for me to play...it was a long time ago but i wish i never had adjusted it..nothings wrong but its that i just wanted the original adjustings...

this guitaris really reliable. really heavy too. after playing this guitar for a while, it can really hurt your shoulders..but ive gotten use to it.its been the only guitar ive used for gigs...no back ups...again this guitar was purchased long time ago...and it still works and sounds nice..

ive never had to deal with any repairs, i didnt need to.

this is a great guitar. even though heavy the nice sound and quality should make up for it. overall its a great guitar!
ill never give or sell this guitar away.

i think it was made in the 1980's in japan. forget how many frets.... it came with a realy cool case. Id love to have a whammy bar on it, but if i did, itd just be there for me to look at it....

It suits any style, iv played all sorts on it and its a very versatile guitar. I use a overdrive pedal and realy messed up fender up with it and it only hums a little, which is probaly all from the amp. It has a very nice sound. Its so good half the time i dont bother turning on the amp its so loud. I like the versatility of it.

I know nothing of how it was set up out of the factory as its 2nd or 3rd hand. Its great to play and it good for fast solo's particuly. It has absolutely no flaws on it, and youd expect it to pick some up by now.

Its very strong, iv seen it be dropped from waist height ( i bought it off someone i already knew so had seen it played many times ). Everything feels very sturdy and strong. None of the finish has worn off which is a wonder at this age. The strap buttons are very solid. Its a very dependable guitar. id probaly have a backup guitar at a gig, purely for the strings, as i find them strangely easy to break, but i would alway rely on the guitar itself.

never dealt with them.

Iv been playing awhile, but i only own this guitar and an acoustic, but iv played gibsons and other very expensive guitars owned by my freinds and but i by far prefer this one. One of its wonders is its rarity, if i owned a strat or something itd be no fun as everyones seen one of those.

Usual matsumoku job
1983ish .As others have already gone through the details ,I'll suffice to say its a 2 humbucker with a coil tap , with through body strings.

I play jazz. blues and sometimes country flat type picking (an odd mix ) so mainly use the single pickup options .It has a very good sound for this,with good volume and depth . .Sometimes I wind up the overdrive ,cut in the humbuckers and rock and it will do this very well.it has great sustain and will play like an acoustic.I used to play through a 80's Peavey and hated it but its a changed guitar with an old Marshall .I'm no expert on electric guitars and many of the finer points just go over my head

I thought it was not very well set up but it was originally bought from a mail order catalogue which is hardly a good place to buy a well set up guitar .after I played around with its intonation its now fine.i like the fret board a lot ,nice hard rosewood withna tight grain ,very smooth and very quick .i would prefer the neck a bit thinner as I have small hands and fingers but its OK .It stays in tune and will not go out of tune very easily even with drastic string bending .The bridge ,nut and knobs are brass and tarnish very easily .i replaced them with chrome versions .The wood now has a fine satin sheen that comes from polishing it lightly for 23 years.it has chrome tuners .

it seems as solid as a rock and there is no finish to wear off , its just all natural wood with not much else .I replaced the strap buttons with Schallers .its good enough to gig with ,bury your granny with ,or invade a minor irritating country with.

no experience

been playing since early Elvis,Cliff and Hank . First guitar a cricket bat ,great sustain but people kept throwing balls at me ,various Hofners that still make me shudder (necks like tree trunks ) played in early Shadows type bands and then .... went acoustic for 20 years playing round UK folk clubs ,blues clubs ,a bit of bluegrass style .Bought a JV Fender strat 62 and played a bit of country for a while and then gave up after having to sell the JV and sulked for 20 years until I started playing the Westone ,which my daughter bought .I prefered the JV strat at first but not sure now ,the Westone is a good versatile guitar but if any wants to swap for a JV white 62 Strat .I''m willing to swap .If I lost it I would look for another but be very careful it had a fret board as good,its half the greatness of this guitar .If you can get one I would try it as its got some very sweet tones hiding in the vibes .

I bought mine from a pawn broker in the mid eighties. When I first saw it I thought it was made for country music - NOT. Excellent pickup variation. I wish it had a whammy bar though. Mines probably the rarest Thunder 1 on the planet - its a lefty configured for a right hander (yes I got the strings inverted as I play a right handed guitar left handed).

I used to play live with it but now I'm an old fart, I use it to record straight through my sound card and I let the PC do the effects work for me.

I can get really smooth jazz feels from it or I can thrash it to death

Like everyone else has noticed, it weighs a ton, but that contributes to the depth of sound. Very low action and really comfortable up and down the neck.

I have only 1 ding in it where the strap goes, and that was there when I bought it. Very little fret wear after all these years, so I get minor fret buzz over a few notes. The neck is a straight as a die. I get a bit of earthing when I choose all pickups - it probably just needs a rewire

I'll never sell it. When I quit playing, it will be the family heirloom.

Im not sure where my Thunder I was born, or what year. It is solid Ash with 22 frets, a rosewood fretboard and all the original controls (volume, neck and bridge pickup tone), pickups and switches (neck, both, bridge) and isolator (single coil / humbucker). I've kept the original brass bridge, which wears smooth unlike ferrous bridges which wear sharp, and the last set of strings lasted for three years.
I've got the original case which has been bashed a bit, but is absoloutely fine
It's

I play everything from pentatonic thrash / speed metal to very mellow Dinner Jazz and the instrument can do everything I ask of it.
When my humbuckers are on single switch mode they buzz a bit from a poor earth, but I don't tend to use that tone anyway.

The solid body and brass bridge give a realy warm tone when I'm chilling out, and tonnes of sustain when the gain gets cranked up...

I use a 30W Gorilla practice amp (which is a bit of a joke, to be honest) and a double 12" cone 50W RMS Marshall Master Lead Combo to perform, which has a gorgeous tone with this guitar.

The only thing I dont like is that the pickups are a bit wimpy on single coil, buy like I said, I don't realy use that setting.

No faults at all. I didn't get it new, so I don't know about the factory settings, but after re-setting the bridge height and harmonics, it plays at 100 miles an hour.

The solid ash finish still looks great and if I lost my hands She'd be hung up as a piece of artwork in my livingroom. Absoloutely beautiful.

The strap buttons look like I could bungee off them. The Hardware is solid (I still don't understand why more guitars don't have brass bridges)but I wouldn't use it at a gig without backup. This is only because I keep my strings for so long that you never know how long theyve got left.

The thing weighs a tonne, but if you can cope with that, it's a top noth piece of kit.

I have no experience of Westone, so I can't comment.

I've been playing for eleven years and play using a Marshall Master Lead Combo and sometimes a BOSS Super American Metal pedal.

The only thing I might have changed would be to have a Floyd rose trem fited, but I'm worried about changing the tone. I compared it to various Ibanez, Gibson, Fender and "lesser" makes and models and it came out top in terms of playability, tone, versatility and apperance.

At first the look of the guitar to me was a bit dissapointing after a few years playin an SG but now i think its a good piece of kit

I use marshall amps set to what Clapton used in the 60s with the Bluesbreakers... an when i plugged it in...MY GOD!!!! The sustain was amazing and using the top 3 stings on the 12th fret made it squeal like sumthin i never heard before

The action on the guitar is great and the original pickups a godsend but i fitted in Di Marzios on to it and its even better... its a shame about the stripes on the guitar and just the plain look of it but still pretty good in total though!

The guitar is good live with the right settings but the standard stings that were on it were a bit crap to be honest... so i put on Ernie ball Extra Slinky's to give it more of a bend action on the fretboard... those strings have been on the guitar for a pretty long time and none have snapped!!!

I've been playing for over 3 years, and own a Gibson SG Standard, Les Paul Classic and a Marshall JCM 800 stack.
I play the westone more than the others because its more lightweight than a les paul and more durable than an SG and the sound is perfect.
The only thing i wish it had though is a Floyd Rose Locking trem and then it would have been perfect

it's japaniese made, in 1980, first series model. Features laminated body (varnish, not laquer) of Ash, Maple and Walnut. 3piece ply maple neck, with rosewood fingerboard, brass nut and hardware, PreciseTuner2 machine heads, 2 Hammer 1 Humbuckers, string-thru hardtail bridge with Master Volume, 2 tone controls, coil tap and 3 way pickup selector. It's pretty heavy, heavier than my Les Paul anyways.

This Guitar has a killer tone, i replaced the pickups with EMG HZ's, but the original pickups still had fantastic tone, superb with lots of distortion (i run it through a marshall jackhammer, into a peavey XXL amp) you can hear every single note perfectly clear, with rich harmonics. the clean tone is pretty lush too, especially when you use the pickups as single coils, you get that sort of strat clean tone, this guitar is very versitle. i don't have a single dislike about it.

I brought the guitar second hand, and well, considering it was made before i was even born, i wasn't suprised to find the intonation and action a little problem, but it was easily solved. it's a pleasure to play, nice low action, very fast neck. the guitar being 23 or so years old, is in superb condition, not a scratch or dent on the body, it's been dropped a few times and still is perfect, the tuners do a fine job too. wiring is in perfect condition too. only downside is it's weight.

This is my main stage guitar, and it get's absolute thrashed. i tend to jump around and stuff and this guitar copes absolutely fine with it. it's certainly built to last. the neck has no sign of warp or anything, and the strap buttons are certainly better to those you'd find on modern guitars. i can totally depend on this guitar

never had to deal with westone, tho the original company was taken over by Aria in 1985. the guitars westone make today are nothing like this, if you want a proper westone, you'll have to hunt around for the original ones.

i've had this guitar for almost 2 years now and it's my pride and joy, i use it more than my gibson les paul. it was a godsend when i brought it, but once i fitted the EMG's to it, it became probably the best piece of kit i've ever owned. i never plan to replace this guitar, it's unique to me, as i've never seen anyone else using them!

I`ve had this guitar so long I can`t remember where I got it nor how much I paid for it. I bought it second hand and it`s got the number 3030905 on the back of the headstock.

It`s got the same same number of frets and switches as all the other 6 string Thunder ones decribed on this site. The body is the blonde coloured one (I think there were two colours red being the other, anyone seen any other colours?)

I think the string point about the features is that there is a lot of flexibilty given by the pickup configuration and switchgear.

The sound is great, I use it with a Vox AC30 and I can get a clean sound all the way through to a bloody war! I also have been known to use it with a bagfull of pedals to add to the general confusion but I think the character of the guitar itself always rings through.

As I got it second hand I have no idea what the set-up was like but eversince I have had it it`s been fantastic. The action is low and there is not a buzz to be heard anywhere on the fretboard. It hardly ever needs tuning as everyone else has said it`s pretty solidly built.
Mine is in pretty good condition, the back is patinated from years of belt buckle marking and the front is dullish from grubby fingers (mine) but I think it could easily be polished up.
The plating on the brassware is disappearing.

This guitar is as tough as old boots, I would use it to gig without a backup. The only thing I have noticed is that the strap button at the bottom revolves whilst the one at the top of the body doesn`t, I do not know if this is deliberate and if it is what is the point.

I don`t think anyone would need customer support which is a good job as they went bust years ago.

I have been playing for over thirty years, I own several guitars including a Gibson ES347 an Aria Pro bass and a couple of classical guitars. I use a Vox AC30 amp and Garage band on an Applemac.

If something happenend to this guitar I would get another it is my favourite guitar far better than the Gibson

I bought this new in 1982 for #150.Made in Japan and very well made. Really nice looking instrument with natural light coloured body with darker strips under the strings. Master volume and two tone controls with coil tap switch on twin humbuckers enabling sounds ranging from thin jangly to fat screaming.I don't know the make of the pickups but they are very powerful. Body style is twin cutaway and a bit different from the usual strat/les paul styles, I think it looks very smart. I have found this guitar easy to play up to the 15th fret but quite difficult beyond there but this could be down to my stubby fingers. Also I have never been able to get the intonation on the high E and B strings set up despite taking it to a professional guitar repairer. I compensate by tuning the E and B slightly high. I have an epiphone riviera and a les paul gold top and these guitars can't match the westone's versatility in the sound department. The guitar is looking quite shabby having been dropped a few times but it still works fine. Overall I like this guitar and would hate to part with it in spite of its minor flaws. It is also very rare, will it ever be collectable? I don't know.

This guitar is packed for a passive one, with only two pickups. It has a tone control each, a volume control, a pickup selector at the top (very useful for mid song changing) and a switch which (depending who you belive) either puts the pickups in series/parallel, or otherwise is a coil tap, making the humbuckers into single coil. Whatever it does, in one position you get a less bassy, quiter sound and in the other, of course more bassy.

It has a thru-body solid bridge, no trem, and i think 21 frets. The neck is ahs with a rosewood fretboard. It was made in Japan, has a solid ash body. Its body is a bit like a spiky strat, but not really, its hard to describe...

This guitar has an amazing sound - espescially at the price. It is really powerfull by default, but you can tweak it to create a really treble jangly sound or make it as muddy as you like. It does get a bit hummy if you use the "mystery switch" for the less bassy sound, but that could just be the interference from my computer and the telly.

It is perfect for that loud, white stripes style rock, but can also play just about anything else (voodo chile and layla also sound great on it)

The set up on this guitar was perfect, i got it second hand, so i dont know what it was like new, but when i recieved it it was already in tune and worked straight off. The action is medium-low, but on mine if you lower it much more you get a buzz on the pickup casing. Otherwise, however, it is perfectly set up.

It is also really pretty, its natural wood (i think ash) with dark (possible rosewood) stripes running through the center, in a line from the neck. It is a really origional look.

This guitar is built like a brick. It is totally solid. I dropped it onto a stone floor, and aside from a small dent (which im really annoyed about) nothing chnaged, it didn't even detune. Solid, solid solid.

N/A

If it were lost or stolen i would (aside from crying myself to sleep) definatly buy another. I love the stripes through the centre as well - a very nice touch.

It is just so good.

Westone Guitars were made by the Matsumoko company, from Japan. They made most of their guitars during the 1980's, but went bust in the early 90's (the company name has been revived since, but i dont know much about that)

The Thunder is a fairly standard electric guitar; its got 22 frets, 2 humbuckers, rosewood thin neck, 2 tone 1 volume controls, pretty much the usual.

I dont know what sort of wood mine is made out of, but looks great and gives the guitar a lovely resonance.

The thing that really sets this guitar apart is the sound quality. Its incredible. It makes such a special tone that just makes you think WOW.

The best thing is the versatility; it can produce beautiful pure clean sounds, or a throbbing disto, or a jangly "the coral" style, and you can almost perfectly recreate the eric clapton Layla sound by just switching to the bridge humbucker on the distortion.

There are several different pickup options, so you can really change the sound easily. (also, the toggle for the pickups is in just the right place for changing when your playing, which is very useful)

The Thunder is a great guitar for me, because I play such a wide range of stuff.

The Thunder is beautifully finnished (ok, i sound like a salesman), mine is in plain wood, with the trademark rosewood strips down the centre.

I wouldn't really be able to coment on how well it was set up in the factory, because i bought mine used, but I wouldn't want to change the set up.

The action is nice and smooth, but not annoyingly so, its all good.

Totaly solid, these things could be carved out of stone they're so strong.
Mines about 20 years old and there's not a fault. There are a few scatches on the body, but hey, its about 20 years old, so it's expected.

Erm, They went bust in the early 90's.

But these guitars are so reliable you dont need the customer service!

I think I've fallen in love with my guitar. Its amazing;it looks and sounds amazing, and its got something that most guitars dont have; Character.

I would quite like to have a trem on it, but to be quite honest i wouldn't use that anyway.

i bought this guitar second-hand for 139 pounds at my local guitar shop its maple with a rosewood neck and 4 rosewood stripes through the main guitars body. it also has twin humbuckers and two tone pots and one volume it says ''a matsumoko product'' and ''made in japan'' on a metal plate on the back of the guitar

it sounds real good and real noisy. i like to play it with just the rear humbucker on with the treblle up on my amp, it makes a really messy punk sound that way

its well made with no original flaws, but i bought it second hand so its a lil' beat up. i replaced most of the brass hardware

this guitar is hard as nails, i replaces the strap butoons with fender straplocks

i have no idea

its really good to play and looks great, i have a photo of it on my computer if anyone wants a copy e-mailed to them.

I got this guitar for my 12th birthday and that was 7years ago. Frankly, this is an incredible guitar for the money. I've owned quite a few guitars since i was 12 but i have always come crawling to my westone. The illusive makers, Matsumoku are hard to track down but i believe this guitar to be around 15-17 years old. it has: 2 coil tapped humbuckers, brass hardware, 2 tone controls and one volume, 2 cutaway transparent ash body, maple neck and schaller style tuners. The scope for creativity is huge with all the pickup combinations.

The 2 meaty humbuckers are a vital part of my sound. I play in a rock band and the pickups really cut through for me. I bought an ibanez SA160 a year ago and put a Duncan Distortion in at the bridge but the westone still blows it out of the water. I use a Marshall VS100 cab with various effects. The one problem for me is that the single coils are pretty noisy but this does very little to undermine the quality of this guitar

This guitar was made back in the day when cheap guitars were given a good degree of TLC in the factory. The varnished ash looks a dream with strips of maple and rosewood running up the middle thru the pickups and the contouring of the body was designed with the player in mind. The action has been superb since the day i bought it and so has the intonation. one small pain in the ass however is the socket placement for it it is situated on the top of the body and comes loose a lot as a result

This guitar has been through a hell of a lot over the years and has still kept its playability and asthetics. I use it a lot on stage and i'd be happy to use it without backup.

No way. Matsumoku went bust in the early nineties. It seems that they have disappeared off the face of the planet.

Personally, i think this guitar is up there competing with ur epiphones and other mid-range guitars. The range of sounds availabe is astounding and for the price you definitely cant go wrong. If it were stolen i'd cry and probly end up selling my gran to get another one. Another good thing about a guitar this old is that it feels nice and warm. There's nothing like a vintage instrument.

It was made in Japan, but when...?
I found it on a garbageheap. I liked the double humbuggers, and the (non original) schaller bridge and -tuners and was planning to replace the bridge (singlecoil) pickup of my Strat by one of the humbuggingpickups of the Westone to get a fatter sound.
But after cleaning, repairing the electronics and putting on a new set of strings I like it even better than my good old Strat.
It is solid, well trimmed and very sturdy.

I'm stuck in the sixty's and it is unbeatable for 'heavy' sounds.
And afte switching to 'single coil' it gives a (rather soft) transparant sound, very much like the Strat.

After spending (how long?) time on the garbageheap in rain and wind it was still in good playable condition. After readjusting it to my way of playing it plays like a dream.

See above. Everything just had to be cleaned up, and worked. I think it can withstand everything.

I play the guitar for some 30 years. I own a Fender Stratocaster for many years. This Westone I found one month ago, but I use it more then the Fender. If I would loose it, I would definitly go looking for another one.
I like the sound, and the playability, and it scratched and battered body shows its heavy life.
Maybe a third pickup would be nice, but on the other hand.. Why bother

My dad bought it around 1983 and then it was second hand. it has 22 frets and i think a solid top. It has the 2 tone controls, and one volume. a 3 way pickup switch and wot i think is a tone switch. It is a dual humbucker guitar. It has a natural wood finish which i think looks good but the use of a pick on it has scratched the softer wood away abouve the bottom e string.i think its a rosewood neck and fret board.

it ROX!! i play on a peavey pacer amp (150 watt). sounds quite weak with no effects but add overdrive and i dont think u can beat it. i also use a zoom 505ii effects box. The guitar works well with this and gives a clean, loud sound. Excellent.

All Very nice. the fretboard is smooth even after 25 years or so of play. one thing though. the connection to the amp cable comes very loose.

The guitar is excellen live especially with a good amp. the pickups are Amazing!!. they are as good as the day it was made. I would reccomend it as an excellent gig guitar.

never needed any

i have been playing for almost a year now and i wouldn't swap the guitar for the world. Its just so smooth and the sound is just so good. in the future i would love to refurnish the guitar to its former aesthetic glory. Overall its has to be one of the finest guitars of its time.

My Thunder I is a 6 string model made by Matsumoku Made in Japan. Serial #2050291 I bought it in 1997 from a private owner and am unsure of its age.
The neck has 22 frets on a rosewood fingerboard. The neck is a 3 piece maple I belive.
The body is a 9 piece laminate changing from natural maple to rosewood.
The hardware is the classic 3 control pot with 3 way toggle at the top horn and a tap near the volume.
There are two humbuckers in black.

The only drawback I've found with the guitar is its sound. Although this seems like a huge problem under normal circumstances, I've found that I can compensate for it with a compressor and effects pedals. The major drawback is that the humbuckers seem a bit too muddy for me. The overall tone is quite low end. There isn't much brightness at all on its own.

The actual assembly of the guitar is great. However I would have added a better set of pickups with a bit more growl. The action is good and I've been using a set of 9's on it with no buzz. The nut and bridge saddles are brass so this aids a slight bit in tone but again, the pickups ruin the setup.
The bookmatching is perfect and I wouldn't change a thing.
Since I bought the guitar used, there are many flaws but nothing really worth mentioning. The drawback here has to do with the type of finish the guitar came with. It was more of a natural finish that allows the grain to be felt. Unfortunately, where the grain is soft, picks have gouged the surface. I've been in the process of refinishing the instrument to fix this issue.

The guitar is very reliable and has never broke down.
With any luck the pick ups will die soon and give me a good excuse to replace them.
The finish is lousy and I'm refinishing it.
The strap buttons are not even slightly loose. Fortunately, the previous owner didn't abuse it.
I generally use a second guitar when I'm playing out as my other guitar is a Schecter Telecater style and its about 30 years old. It's a far better guitar for my needs.

LOL

As a picky guitar owner, appearance isnt always the biggest deciding factor. The playability is usually the thing that gets me. However it's a very attractive guitar with many possibilities. The design problems with the finish and the pickups are minor when you look at the overall quality. The guitar was well built and has survived so far. After making the adjustments I'd like, It'll remain in my arsernal.

Bought this guitar new in 1983(Chas. Hutton & Sons, St. Johns, Nf.) for $350 Cdn. Made in Japan. My Thunder 1 was recently lost in a fire along with my 50 amp Tagus tube amp. Trying to replace both these is going to be like replacing my left arm. The guitar was a natural maple construction with a laminate running the length of the body and neck. Absolutely beautiful. It had the basic volume and tone control but that's all it needed. It had 2 humbucker pickups, make u/k and the brass fittings (slightly tarnished after 18 years). It also had a loose conection at the plug input. Westone brand tuners with a sticky 3rd string. I'm going to miss the old girl.

The sound quality was unlike any bass I've tried before or since owning the Westone. I looked at trading it a couple years back but decided against that after testing some of the newer guitars. There was no comparison to the deep rich bass available right up to the highs with no problem. I used it with a Tagus 50 watt tube job that was about 25 years old. Reliable and strong, both heavy as lead by the way.

No factory tuning required. Th action was always smooth and easy to discover new sounds. After 18 years there was not a solitary scratch on this piece, but now it's just fire debris.

This guitar lasted for 18 years with no problem. I'm convinced I could have passed it on to my son (which was the plan) in another 18 years and it would have looked and sounded as good as it did when I last played it the day before the fire.

Never had a warranty issue and only found out a couple years ago the company had gone out of business. Found out the guitar was actually worth more than I had originally paid for it.

I've been playing about 25 years, all my gear was destroyed in a fire at the Church I play at. I's only after it's gone do you realize how much an instrument can mean to you. This thing is irreplaceable. Anyone wanting to sell one of these let me know.

I got this guitar new in '82. It was made in Japan and has a h/h pickup configuration with passive electronics. It has kind of a combination strat/sg style body and it has a natural wood finish. It has some kind of composite wood thing down the middle of the body. Kind of like the old aria pro's around the same time. The neck is the same wood as the body a light wood of some sort. The bridge is a string-through the body type. Everything is stock on it except I replaced the strap locks with a Dimarzio clip-lock strap system. It came with an allen wrench and a hard case. The neck has 22 frets on it and the fingerboard is rosewood, I think. I have the standard pickup selector toggle switch as well as a switch that switches the pickups from single to double-coil which is really nice. It has one volume knob and one tone knob for each pickup.

I use it with a Peavey Studio-Pro 40 and a Zoom 505 multi-effect unit and it sounds great. This guitar can go from a full humbucking Gibson sound to a thin Fender sound. I like the variety of tones I can get out of it. You can get a nice jazz chorus sound out of it on one song and go to a great distorted sound the next. I have found it to be an extremely versatile guitar. I even simulate an acoustic-electric guitar with it via the Zoom.

The set-up was great when I got it new and still is except for a slight ring I'm getting now on the high e string. The hardware is brass and over the years has subsequently accumulated a bit of tarnish over the years. The high e-string is the only area I have noticed that needs to be adjusted. Overall, having had this guitar for more than 16 years I would say it has been fantastic in terms of action and durability.

This is the only electric guitar I own so subsequently I don't have a backup and have never needed one. This guitar is great for live playing as well as recording. I have done home recording with it and it sounds great. The strap is very secure thanks to the Dimarzio strap I installed on it. Unquestionably reliable.

Westone as far as I know, (and I've tried to research this) is not in business any longer. So even if my guitar was under warranty I would be hard-pressed to find anyone to service it. My guitar has never needed repaired (only rescued, when it was stolen and I had to buy it back for $40 at a pawn shop). It was definitely worth the $40.

I have had comments about my guitar from other guitar players when I played live. I was surprised when any of them told me that they had heard of Westone. But most of them were impressed with the sound I got out of it. Of course there have been some guitar purists who have turned their nose up to it because it didn't have Gibson or Fender on the headstock but I'd never trade mine. I can only imagine how great the Thunder IA sounds with the active electronics installed on it. If anyone has a Thunder IA I would be interested in hearing what you think about it?