RRP £245
Another fine looking Westone product, the GT Bass (the only bass sampled in this multi-test) is every inch the typical modern Japanese production instrument. Featuring a bolt-on neck, the workmanship in our sample was flawless and the bass looked very handsome indeed in its Candy Red finish (Metallic Black being the only available option). A solid maple body with a four bolt jointed maple neck and a stained black rosewood fingerboard, plus a high overall standard of finishing, gives the Westone a quality image, but in reality it has nothing so very special in either its design or construction to offer. It's very much what it looks, a typical modern Japanese bass, but none the worse for that.
The matt black mini-machines work as well as Japanese machines always seem to, and the provision of a graphite nut helps make accurate and smooth tuning extremely easy, as does a 'frictionless' string guide for the D and G strings. All the hardware, by the way, is satin finished. The Westone's bridge is a solid affair which lets you choose either to fasten the ball ends through the back of the baseplate or down through the slots in its base - hence affording you the choice of two different string tensions. From there, the strings pass over adjustable saddles. Locked against side-to-side movement by raised edges, the Westone's bridge is sturdy and should provide good sustain and harmonic transference. It's simple but it works effectively.
The pickups comprise Westone's own designed Magnabass III and IV types, the neck one a humbucker, the bridge a split 'P-Bass' type. Controlling them are a master volume (with a push/pull arrangement for in/out of phase settings), two tone controls and a pickup selector. Overall, our sample looked fine and was perfectly set-up.
Playing the Westone
With a medium/light weight and a well contoured body, the Westone was a comfortable instrument to handle, even on those long sets when so many basses begin to feel like dead weights. The neck is very typical of the average modern MIJ. bass - quite fast, quite comfortable and shallow, with a noticeably cambered profile. Not exceptional in any respect, no bass player should feel alienated by its shape, feel or long (34", 22 fret) scale.
The Sound
Both sustain and harmonic content from our sample were of a good average, but there was nothing about either aspect to indicate why this bass was a fair bit more expensive than some of the original Westones of a few years back, or even some of the newer low-cost competition. The pickups have a healthy output and there's a reasonable amount of sustain, the sort of note duration which would be excellent on a bass selling for below £200, but which is about par for the course on a bass of this price. Being able to alter the pickup phasing, however, provides a useful extra, and the pickups are each individual-sounding enough to deliver a very versatile range of sounds, suitable to more or less any style from slap and pop to heavy metal riffs. Versatility of tone, in fact, seems to be this Westone's major claim to fame. Without going to an active bass, it takes you through a lot of possible styles and effects, whilst retaining the 'natural wood' sound of a passive.
The Verdict
An easy bass to play, with well made hardware and a quality finish and feel, the Westone Spectrum GT bass is a bit of a case of a 'jack of all trades, master of none'.
It doesn't have a great deal of character, but it's perfectly acceptable in any role. Our views on its value for money rating were a bit ambiguous. There's nothing at all wrong with the Spectrum, but it does have a lot of competition and it's not exceptional in any respect. Probably the fairest conclusion would be that it represents an average in almost every department, including value.
What a rig!
