Electra/Westone club

[rojo412]

It's not as perfect as the pic shows, but it's a shining example of a nice one. A lot of these end up beat to crap, but I guess that's a form of love.

What I'm thinking about doing is rewiring it a bit to tame some of the "hairiness". That, and a Lawrence Q Filter (which is like a passive mid control, to some degree).
I do, however, want to put it through some effects and see how that works, because I bet it freaks those out quite well.

 

[Porkbun]

Porkbun,
I don't have much experiance with the Spectrum other than to say I have played them quite a few times years ago and loved them then.There are 8 models of Spectrums with different pickup combinations.As for the Panteras, I own and gig the x750PWfrom january of 87 and I think it's one great bass.The headstocks and bodies are different as are the woods used in the bodies but both have the magnabass pickups.Mine has the Magnabass III in the neck and Magnabass IV in the bridge position.These are some of the best bass pickups on the planet for my ears. Truly I work in a very diverse band ,we cover country,classic rock,blues,show tunes,and originals and I only need my Pantera.I'm not going to say that it will do the new Modern sound well,my Pantera is passive, So if I'm going to play that style I have my Tobias Growler. I hope this helps and maybe some of the others on here can help you out even more. One more thing for you is the first number of the serial number is the year of manufacture.Westones made between 1 and 7 were made in the Matsomuko factory in Japan after 7 they were made in korea. Japaneese models are reguarded as being the sought after basses and guitars.

The hunt begins!

 

[rojo412]

I just PMd you some recon for your hunt.

 

[wolfmancharlie]

Whats hapening? Iwas just thinking about how good the Westone Pantera sounded at practice the other day. Did a bit of adjusting on my Yorkville Bassmaster400 head and went into bass heaven. Just a great combination.

 

[johnbassdoherty]

Sorry for the delay in posting pics (I hope this works)

 

[wolfmancharlie]

Nice Thunder II. It is good to have Thunder in your hands isn't it?

 

[johnbassdoherty]

Nice Thunder II. It is good to have Thunder in your hands isn't it?

Thanks wolfmancharlie, this one is in great condition for a 30 yr old bass, took me 4 yrs of hunting through for sale ads but it was all worth it

 

[mcbrat]

here's my latest revival...

got it off eBay. all electronics were gone. finish had seen better days...

Sanded and refinished the body in a green burst (black edges), with a Poly top-coat.
Replaced the chinese neck pickup with one I picked up from someone else's X-640 part out.
The neck pup is the original one for the X-640, but one coil of the double wound pup is bad (outer coil) so it's just wired as the single coil (inner)

Added an Artec EX3 EQ Boost. 9V system.
V-V-T knob set-up using vintage MIJ pots, 2 Electra, 1 other. X-640 knobs.
The switches are (new):
-Series/Parallel (when both pups selected)
-Hi-Lo Boost (Expand) / Flat Boost (Natural / Mid-Boost (Peak)
-EQ Off/On

pickup selector is Electra X-640 also.
G tuner bushing was missing. I ended up making one for it. not a perfect match, but will keep the machine aligned now.



Before

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After

Full Build thread here...
The Electra Forums • View topic - Electra X640N Bass restoration candidate

 

[Spectrum]

Nice, I like green burst. If I was ever to build my own bass I would think of building a Westone-style body in some sort of green scheme.

 

[wolfmancharlie]

Yeah, that. Weston's in green is sweet.

 

[tabdog]

Very nice MC Brat,

Here's my X640N with an 18 volt preamp.
I bought it new in mid 1980's. It's stock
except the thumb rest,

Best bass I ever played,

Tabdog

 

[Bornagnhooligan]

Just got her today , and she plays and sounds 10x what I thought....shes a keeper

 

[magichand]

happy player here, got my spectrum lx couple month ago from cl. wrote about some comments and some audio samples here
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can i get a number?

 

[wolfmancharlie]

Bornagnhooligan, Welcome to the club.Looks like a cool bass, It has to be a lot of fun to play.Looks like you are number 32. Let us know how you like it when you have a chance to gig with it. Bet you will love it on longer gigs.

 

[TRichardsbass]

Just got her today , and she plays and sounds 10x what I thought....shes a keeper

Was that the one on eBay not long ago? I love the Super Headless in the red and black!

 

[wolfmancharlie]

magichand, Welcome to the club and you will be number 33. Verynice bass you have there. Westones just can't be beat. Nice to see you guys juoining up.

 

[Spectrum]

happy player here, got my spectrum lx couple month ago from cl. wrote about some comments and some audio samples here
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can i get a number?

I watched the video, sweet bass. I gather the LX is like an active version of the GT, plus you get a coil tap.

On top of that, I've never seen a fretless Spectrum, very cool.

 

[embellisher]

On top of that, I've never seen a fretless Spectrum, very cool.

I have one. Mine came with a fretted and fretless neck, and a special case that had a spot for the second neck. The fretted neck was on another Spectrum I owned that was stolen by a crackhead.

 

[oldrookie]

Local shop has a Spectrum GT. Pretty decent shape. Some belt buckle rash and one minor scuff on the neck (can't feel, but can see it.) Bridge pickup works fine as does the push/pull volume.

Neck pickup seems not to work. Have no experience with Westones, but this looks like a pretty decent survivor. Price is very attractive, but if the pickup is shot...

What is the most likely problem? Wiring to the switch? Bad pickup?

Best guesses please.

 

[embellisher]

None of mine have ever failed. I have an Electra, an Electra-Westone, and a Westone. All of the pickups are functional. I have heard of them failing on other basses, but I don't think that it is a common issue. Only way to know is to test the pickups for impedance and continuity.