I was the Alvarez/Electra/Westone Product Manager during that period and was responsible, along with the SLM team, for the design, marketing and product development of same. I can only say that I had VERY direct knowledge about Matsumoku, Westone and the Japanese guitar manufacturing from 1976 thru 1996/7. Hey Westone Team! If I had realized the interest in the guitars and the Westone brand in the 80s, I’d have done a better job at documentation.ġst, there are too many rumors and mis-conceptions to address here. Quality is dubious and it is best to avoid these instruments.Īn excellent historical perspective from Tom Presley on Westone: The Weston brand also appears on some poorly made Chinese copies which appear to be post-Korean era builds. They also tend to have position markers beyond the 12th fret located an the edge of the fretboard instead of the centre. Korean instruments are identified by checking the neck for a scarf joint. Dates and manufacturer are unknown but some may have been made by Samick. These tend to be Super Strat type copies rather than original designs and as near as we can determine the majority of better made guitars and basses were Korean made. We speculate that this was to avoid any potential copyright infringement at the time. We have seen instruments stamped with the Westone ‘bird’ logo accompanied by the word Weston. That should tell you all you need to know.Īvoid! (More info on Indian Westone in this Forum thread discussion ) Addendum April 2016 “Weston” brand (no “e”) This site also sold similar poor merchandise under bastardized versions of well known brands such as Givson and Fendar. These were cheap and somewhat gaudy looking acoustics and bear absolutely no resemblance to a Mats made instrument whatsoever. We’re also aware of the Westone brand that was featured on a now defunct Indian site selling guitars of dubious quality. They are considered to be inferior instruments and are definitely not covered here. ChineseĬhinese made “Westones” are also seen occasionally but are mostly copies of traditional American styles.
Our Best guess is that they were likely made in China but under relatively good quality control. The products in no way resemble the MIJ or MIK post-Mats models, but were copies of traditional guitar configurations. Germanįor a brief period, roughly late 2010 to early 2012, the Westone brand was revived by a German company, Musik-Meyer, which is still in business but no longer selling Westone guitars. While you may find a few early post-Mats Korean made instruments listed here, we do not feature them, concentrating primarily on the Japanese made Matsumoku’s. We are also gathering information on the range of Westone Prestige guitars designed by renowned British luthier Sid Poole and built by Status-Graphite in England in the late 1990’s. Here, you will find information, history, pictures and specifications of these amazing instruments.
Louis Music during a period of 10 years from 1981 to 1991.
Westone guitars and basses were made by Matsumoku (or “Uncle Mats” as we affectionately refer to it) in Japan and subsequently in Korea for St. The guitar legacy of Matsumoku Industrial Co.
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