Any experience with westone basses?

In my experience Westone instruments are usually very solid and well made. This one has had the finish stripped off but it doesn't sound like that's a problem for you if you plan on painting it. The only thing I'd be concerned about is the size of those pickups. They don't look standard to me, so changing them could involve routing material out of the body.

I have no idea what the market for these is like in Europe. If this were in all original condition I'd expect to pay $200-ish, maybe a bit more. The way it is now I don't think it's worth much more than $100-$125 (USD).

 

Westone is a pretty decent bass for what it is, an 80s style MIJ bass. It's a very modern sounding bass, not sure if that's going to be a problem, it really depends on what you're looking for. Almost traded for one recently but it didn't have the right kind of sound I was looking for. There are probably quite a few other basses I would consider before this one.

 

That's a Korean build.

The 24 frets place it after August 1988,the Matsumoku factory closed 1987.

Not the widest neck so I'd be careful about adding a 5th string, the spacing would be very tight.

Apart from that it's not a bad price, Matsu Spectrums are normally in the £200 price range.

Westone was a widely known brand in the UK,with pro musicians using them regularly.

 

Obviously you have a plan for the "art project" side of this, but what do you want as far as the bass? (What tone, feel, weight, # of strings, those sort of things).

It may also be helpful to let us know what is available to you. I have no insight into what buying a bass in Italy is like. I know shipping there from the US can be really expensive.

 

Here's the Westones I've owned.

 

If for a project and want to go as inexpensive as possible, a used Ibanez GIO or an older Yamaha RBX bass would be better candidates imo. Parts are easier to replace, I don't know if there's an easy to find drop-in replacement for that particular Westone bass. Also a matter of personal taste but the body shape of let's say a Yamaha RBX is a little more interesting to turn into a paint job project.
Also as kodiakblair mentioned, I don't know about modding and adding a 5th string to most 4 string basses I know of, the necks are probably not wide enough to accommodate it.

 

I think the best thing to do is wait and find a 5 string fretless. As has already been suggested Ibanez and Yamaha make good quality options that are pretty affordable. If you do that, then you know the bass will function as its intended to (pulling frets can sometimes let the neck bow forward more than it should and there is a real risk of pull chunks of fretboard with them and having lots of annoy little repairs to do, even worse if its a maple fretboard). By starting with your preferred amount of strings and an instrument designed to be fretless you can focus on the visual aspect, and finding electronics that give you the tone you're after.

 

I'd say if you want a fretless 5 string, get a fretless 5 string. They aren't that much more in cost to begin with, and there's a much greater chance that you'll end up with a good instrument after your modifications.
I've seen too many ruined finger boards from people ripping out frets, and by the time you buy all the extra hardware to convert to 5 string you could have already gotten a playable bass.

 

Not necessarily, most fender basses have large plastic pickguards with body routing underneath (so no taking it off)

 

As Reedt2000 mentioned in the post above, some basses will be off the bat not good candidates for your project because of the routing underneath so I just randomly picked two inexpensive basses (even cheaper if you find them used) that don't have pickguards, there are more. The Yamaha actually has a pretty wide body and even more room to paint on. There's one GIO model with only a P pickup as opposed to a being a PJ and only two knobs. Much more minimal and more open space to showcase the artwork.

The Yamaha


The Ibanez GIO model Im thinking of.

 

That's so true. This how the Concord 1(natural with leather scratchplate picyured above) looked when I got it .

 

I've always wondered; is it West One or Wes Tone?

 

When I first encountered them near 40 year back it was "Wes Tone", never heard it said any different.

 

150€? Vai!
Buy it. Solid reliable basses. Made in Japan... 80's... OK.

 

Good Basses...

 

They were quite nice and well built.