LPboco Posted December 27, 2007 Report Share Posted December 27, 2007 (edited) hey guyz i found a westone dynasty in white( with red stripes from 86-87 around a hundred bucks) it's a bit banged up and i would refinish it and upgrade it( pickups bridge etc...) is it worth it? i can't find much good info on them or prices. thx Connor Edited December 27, 2007 by LPboco Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
avengers63 Posted December 27, 2007 Report Share Posted December 27, 2007 That entirely depends on a few things. The main consideration is what you want to get out of it. If you're looking to turn a pawn shop special into an ax comparable to a $10,000 custom, or even a high quality off the rack ax, it just isn't happening. The basic materials you have to work with, the neck & body, aren't high end enough. That being said, I have a Westone bass, and it's a fine instrument. The basic quality is enough to turn it into a decent instrument. I always thought Westones were at least on par with Squire or low end Peavey & Ibanez guitars. If, however, you're looking to get your feet wet with refinishing & rebuilding, or to practice your technique, this would be a great place to start. In fact, I'm currently doing this exact thing with my current project. You won't have a major financial investment, so that won't be a great loss. The ax clearly isn't a high end model, so if you screw it up, there's no big loss there either. Something to look out for on these cheap guitars is the cheap materials they used. A lot of the bodies are plywood. BUT... the one I'm currently learning refinishing on is plywood. It has it's place and uses. My best advice is to decide what your intentions are first: polish or practice. In any event, I wouldn't spend much on the parts. Even used or low end stuff you can find on eBay would be an upgrade on a Westone. Good luck and kep us up to date with some pics! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vinny Posted December 27, 2007 Report Share Posted December 27, 2007 Squier strats and teles are hanging on the rack at Guitar Center for $99. A westone Ive never heard of. -Vinny Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
avengers63 Posted December 27, 2007 Report Share Posted December 27, 2007 Squier strats and teles are hanging on the rack at Guitar Center for $99. A westone Ive never heard of. -Vinny Westone was an entry level line of guitars & basses through St. Louis Music (SLM) in the 80's & early 90's. They focused their attention on the young aspiring hair metal players, like myself. I'm guessing they were made in Asia, but I'm not sure. SLM also mady Alvarez, Alvarez/Yairi, and Crate amps. I seem to remember them having something else, but I'm not sure what. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
djhollowman Posted December 27, 2007 Report Share Posted December 27, 2007 That entirely depends on a few things. The main consideration is what you want to get out of it. If you're looking to turn a pawn shop special into an ax comparable to a $10,000 custom, or even a high quality off the rack ax, it just isn't happening. The basic materials you have to work with, the neck & body, aren't high end enough. That being said, I have a Westone bass, and it's a fine instrument. The basic quality is enough to turn it into a decent instrument. I always thought Westones were at least on par with Squire or low end Peavey & Ibanez guitars. If, however, you're looking to get your feet wet with refinishing & rebuilding, or to practice your technique, this would be a great place to start. In fact, I'm currently doing this exact thing with my current project. You won't have a major financial investment, so that won't be a great loss. The ax clearly isn't a high end model, so if you screw it up, there's no big loss there either. Something to look out for on these cheap guitars is the cheap materials they used. A lot of the bodies are plywood. BUT... the one I'm currently learning refinishing on is plywood. It has it's place and uses. My best advice is to decide what your intentions are first: polish or practice. In any event, I wouldn't spend much on the parts. Even used or low end stuff you can find on eBay would be an upgrade on a Westone. Good luck and kep us up to date with some pics! Although I certainly wouldn't argue the sense in your comments (and indeed, I quite agree with many - especially from a financial viewpoint!), I would like to make the following points for consideration: Westone guitars from the 1980's were mostly made at the reputable Matsumoku factory in Japan, and are well-crafted instruments actually!! Many are still quite sought-after even today. I have a Westone Spectrum LX from 1985, and in it's day it was a reasonably well-spec'd guitar. It has as standard: solid mahogany body, hard maple neck, rosewood fingerboard, graphite nut, metallic paintjob, coil-tap on both bridge and neck humbuckers, and a centre single coil pickup. It cost $575 in 1986, making it quite pricey I thought! Here's some info: http://www.westone.info/spectrumlx.html Now, I bought mine as beat-up banger in 1992 for £30 ($55-60US) tell me that ain't a bargain!!! I've spent some money on it over the years, maybe £100 in total, but it has given me years of rewarding service and I would never part with it! It badly needs a re-fret now though! I've replaced the pickups, nut, tuners, jack, pots and knobs - some for mechanical or cosmetic purposes, others just for fun! In the end, I have a perfectly serviceable, nicely spec'd instrument for very little money! The pickups would be very easy to replace/upgrade (although the original ones in mine were surprisingly good), but the bridge is another story altogether! The studs are not the same spacing as eg. a Floyd, making a straight swap-out impossible, so some thought would have to go into that. According to this page - http://www.westone.info/dynasty.html - your Dynasty will have a maple body. Me? I would go for it! Just an opinion, but that's why we're all here right? Good luck, and yeah I'm interested to see how you get on! DJ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
orgmorg Posted December 27, 2007 Report Share Posted December 27, 2007 Yep, made in Japan, and actually pretty decent quality. Not just for newbs, either. Rick Derringer, Peter Frampton, and of course, Leslie West endorsed and played them. $100 is probably about what they tend to go for these days. The Dynasty was a weird one. Pretty unique shape. Could be a fun project. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
djhollowman Posted December 27, 2007 Report Share Posted December 27, 2007 Squier strats and teles are hanging on the rack at Guitar Center for $99. A westone Ive never heard of. -Vinny Westone was an entry level line of guitars & basses through St. Louis Music (SLM) in the 80's & early 90's. They focused their attention on the young aspiring hair metal players, like myself. I'm guessing they were made in Asia, but I'm not sure. SLM also mady Alvarez, Alvarez/Yairi, and Crate amps. I seem to remember them having something else, but I'm not sure what. you thinking of Aria maybe? DJ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
avengers63 Posted December 27, 2007 Report Share Posted December 27, 2007 Hey, I'm totally OK with being wrong about their quality grade back in the day. Knowing now that they weren't all cheap junk, maybe I'll look for one too. Looking at the catalog on the page that was linked to, I remember seeing some of those hanging in the store I hung out in. Good times. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
djhollowman Posted December 27, 2007 Report Share Posted December 27, 2007 Yup, you can't really go wrong with an old Westone warhorse! And I certainly wouldn't part with mine for only $100, no way.... Dave Brock of Hawkwind played a Westone Spectrum too..........I know, I know, you're all going "WHO??" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marksound Posted December 27, 2007 Report Share Posted December 27, 2007 Westone from that era, IIRC, was made in the Matsumoto plant. Westbury, Aria, Electra, et al were all made there and the quality was very good. I had a Westbury guitar and an Electra/Westone bass back in the 80s. Good stuff. If that guitar is in decent shape I'd buy it in a heartbeat. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LPboco Posted December 27, 2007 Author Report Share Posted December 27, 2007 (edited) guys i can't thank you enough for all the info, cause i'm 14 and really new to this area and am just knida starting. i've already done 2 sagas and the next step before building a guitar was fixing a battered one up, so yes it is mostly for practice. it looks really interesting to start out on and i think i might try and go for it. as for the wood, i believe it is still the original( maple). the biggest problem on it is probably the finish. it's okay but there are a lot of dings that the seller just covered up with white paint. Thanks again so much,( if i go for it i'll post pics for sure) Connor Edited December 27, 2007 by LPboco Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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