Westone Thunder IIA

1983 Made in Japan. Left Handed Model.

22 frets.

Master Volume. Master Tone. Equalizer Tone. Coil Tap Switch. Phase Switch. By-pass Switch. 3-way Pickup Selector.

2 x Super Twin Humbuckers

Active/Passive Electronics

Body: Solid Maple, Neck: Maple 3-ply

Finish: Midnight Blue (Metallic)

The body is a cross between a Les Paul and a Strat, with smooth edges.

Long Travel Tune-O-Matic Bridge & Swiftlok Tailpiece

Standard Non-locking Machine Heads (Not sure of Brand)

24.75" Scale Neck (Heelless built in) Rosewood Fingerboard. Medium Frets. Quite a chunky neck profile.

Chrome Hardware, Brass Roller Knobs, Bone Nut

I (atempt to) play everything from heavily detuned Death Metal to Sparse Jazz and Post-Rock. It handles it all rather well when it's properly set up and has a great variety of tone/sounds thanks to the active electronics and Tap/Phase Switches.

The overall tone leans towards the rich/warm side with loads of sustain. The sound can become a little overpowering if the Active Equalizer is set with too much bass.

There is some hum noise with certain Pickup/Tap/Phase combinations, but I'm not entirely sure which switch is the tap, and which is the phase to be honest. At least you don't get that horible scratchy/clicking sound when using the P/up selector, and I think it adds character to the sound.

I'm currently using this guitar though a Marshall Valvestate Combo with a Korg AX1500g effects unit and I'm well chuffed with the array of sickening noises I can create with it. This guitar exels with crunchy distortion, and is none to shabby with your traditional twang either.

I got this second hand from eBay, and the action and set up were a shambles. The strings weren't even in the right order?

Once the relevant adjustments were made, it was like a different guitar. Considering it's age (1983) its in top condition. I don't think it's been played much, as the frets are hardly worn (and only buzz with a stupidly low action).

There are a few chips dents as to be expected, and the brass knobs are now tarnished. Boo-hoo!

The neck doesn't play as smooth or fast as some guitars, but this isn't really a shredders guitar (especially not in my hands). You may encouter problems if you get particularly sweaty hands, as the finish on the neck (and body) is quite glossy.

I haven't used it live yet, so I can't really comment on reliabilty, but the hardware seems solid and well made. This guitar is actually built to a higher standard than my Ibanez, which cost nearly four times as much!

The finish looks as though I could possibly survive a nuclear blast. The front strap button is sort of 'under' the top cutaway, which is a bit annoying if you've got strap-locks, as they end up at a spazzy angle.

This guitar is pretty heavy (especially when fitted with 2 x 9-volt batteries required for the active electronics) so a comfy strap may be in order.

I can depend on this instument, as it's always there for me, no matter how badly I treat it, or go out with with other guitars.

I'm not even sure if Westone still exist.

I've been playing for six years now. Left handers will no that it's difficult to obtain a well built guitar, as they always seem to have annoying little (or big) niggles. I haven't found anything wrong with this one. (yet)

The only thing which lets this guitar down a little is the standard tuners, which I'll probably replace. If it was stolen or lost, I'd try my best to get another one. The tonal flexibily of this guitar alone make this a bargain in my eyes.

Mid-late 80s (I think); loads of features (4 switches, three knobs!) which are- 3 way PU selector; coil-tap; out-of-phase switch; active electronics on/off switch; plus a volume, passive tone contorl, and active tone control.
Twin humbuckers; them and other hardware is chrome; bridge is TOM/ST.
Body style- imagine a guitar whose mum was a strat, but its dad was a LP so the basic strat shape is more rounded, and much heavier. Makes for nice playing and great sustain.
Not sure of the woods used, but seems solid anyway. Finish is a thick coating of something white and plasticky, which is nice and smooth. Neck join is FANTASTIC! Orgasmically smooth!! Might be through-neck, or more likely set, I don't know.
Tuners are fine as as far as standard kit goes, headstock is three-a-side. Neck profile quite chunky.

Perfect guitar for me, easy to play with a very vewrsatile sound courtesy of all those knobs! Haven't had a chance to try it through a pedal yet but that doesn't really matter. Sound ranges from strat-ish (with coil tap on) to heavy, full, rich LP.
Basically this can produce whatever sound you want!

2nd hand so can't comment on factory finish/setup.
Currently has a fair few chips in the resilient coating.

Very durable, would gig without worrying at all. Has suffered a few dings which were obviously caused by falling off the back of a train or something, since the finish is pretty tough. Strap buttons are fine.

Been playing bass for about 5/6 yrs, this is the first 6-string I've owned (although I learnt on a friends's squier). The Westone's definately a quality piece of kit.

Bought for #100 off e-bay - what a bargain...

Don't know the year, probably early to mid 80's I'd guess, and allegedly Japanese. Neck-thru construction, 22 frets on rosewood fingerboard. Don't know what wood the body's made from but it's light-coloured so not mahogany. Double cutaway, slightly offset body, somewhere between strat and LP. Mine's finished in a kind of metal flake blue-green, with chrome hardware.

Three knobs, at least one of which is volume, I reckon the other two are tone (but they don't seem to work on my guitar so who cares?), three mini-toggles for active electronics (which also don't work, happily), three-way pup selector, two humbuckers (chrome covered with 12 adjustable poles), TOM/STP bridge. Nice tuners, smooth and efficient.

Okay, the real point: FAT NECK! yup, it's lovely and chunky, just the thing for putting on a set of 12's and tuning to B. Having played a strat for years and suffered regular cramp in the left hand, I picked this baby up and it just felt RIGHT - comfy, smooth, and no cramp at all. The neck joint is so unobtrusive you barely notice it's existence at all. Plus sustain for DAYS, dude.

So an 8 overall - would have been higher without active electronics, but apparently the active shit is rather good when it works, so wtf?

My music style: doom/stoner/metal, and this thing rocks! Big fat neck + big fat strings + humbuckers = Heavy! I'm going for the greg anderson/goatsnake kind of sound - I'm never going to get it exactly since he uses P90's and I've got hb's, but it's fat and dirty nonetheless.

I'm running it into a Digitech RP300 >> the clean channel on an amp, when I get access to one! So I can't really provide a decent comment on the sounds as yet, except to say: FAT. I'm giving it a 6, cos I reckon the pups are better than the average Jap crap.

"How well was the guitar set-up at the factory? (How was the action?)" - hehe, no idea! the setup I got was okay, but it's going straight into the repair shop anyway for the electrics and general setup. there's a bunch of dings, scratches and dents from the previous owner, but I can't see anything on it that you'd call a problem from the factory.

Will this guitar withstand live playing? Does the hardware seem like it will last? I reckon so, but then it'd have to be pretty shitty to not, wouldn't it? I guess it's somewhere in the ballpark of 20-25 years old already and it's still going strong, so let's just say yeah.

Is the finish good enough to last, or does it seem thin and easy to wear off with lots of playing? The finish is a big fat layer of PU, so it'll last. Although having said that, it's got a bit chipped here and there. The strap buttons aren't a matching pair, so I'll guess that they weren't that solid and one needed replacing.

Can't depend on it yet cos the elctrics are sketchy! Once it's sorted out I'd say so. Never ever gig without a backup, just don't do it, it's asking for trouble.

N/A

hehe - it would have to have the longest warranty ever...

Been playing for around 18 years off and on, only ever owned cheap guitars - until now. This is going to be my main guitar as soon as it's set up and sorted out, most certainly. I wanted an affordable alternative to the ubiquitous LP and I found it - even if I have to replace the pups, that's still gonna be under #350 for a fantastic fat-necked riff monster, and you've gotta be happy with that...

Apparently 70's or so, 22 frets, solid top, rosewood fretboard, a volume, 2 tone controls, 3 two way switches for phasing pickups, a 3way switch for pickup selection, dual humbuckers with 12 pole pieces on each pickup, active electronics, smokey white pearl color body, strat style body, tune o matice bridge with stop tailpiece, Westone tuner heads, oval neck radius.

very versatile guitar, many different sounds, marshall jtm-60 amp, very thick rip the air metal raunch, or vey clean.
I like this guitar, its really quite a treasure.

action fit and finish is great, though it has a few dents that I am responsible for.

very durable, well built, and it is 30 years old already, very dependable

no company contact

I wish I knew more about these guitars and anything anybody can email me about I would be grateful