thank you! I read in the site you linked that the factory was destroyed by an earthquake in the late 80's... the westone pantera should be one of the latter productions in matsumoku if i got it right
great thread!
Really
! I didn't know that about the factory.
It's funny, I've been thinking about Matsumoko basses a lot this week and wondering what made them suddenly stop producing basses - an earthquake would certainly do it
!
Anyway, the
reason that I've been thinking about Matsumoko basses this week, is that I've been waiting for a rather special bass to turn up on my doorstep and today ... it did
!
As you can see, it's a
Westone Thunder 1A bass.
So, why is it "special"
? Well, a few couple of reasons, really. First off, it was made in
1981* (the very first year of production, I believe) and is in unbelievable condition for a
27 year old instrument !
*EDIT: I was wrong about this, it was made in 1983. I just learned how to read Westone serial numbers 
.
Secondly, it was a nostalgia purchase
. My very first bass was a Thunder 1A, from 1985, in all black finish. In fact,
here it is 
....
I was really curious to see how it feel to go back to playing one of these after so many years (and so many other basses
), so when this one came along, I just had to buy it and find out.
The first thing that surprised me, after I'd unpacked it, was the build quality of the thing
. Everything was well engineered, with some high quality woods and very costly looking brass hardware and electronics - this was no "budget", budget instrument (if you follow me
).
After I'd given it a good clean up (including polishing lots of corrosion off the bridge (
the "after" picture is below ), I set it up and gave it a punt.
The playability was wonderful. The neck really felt like "home" to me, perhaps not surprisingly, as it was all I had for the first two years of playing
. It turned out to be surprisingly good for slapping too (although I'm not really much good at it
).
I'd like to say that the sounds blew me a way too, but if I did, I'd be lying
. It
was very good in active mode with little or no bass or treble boost, but it has a strange "left/right" rotary control that allows you to boost
either bass or treble (but not both simultaneously
) and that really does limit things. Also, there's a very slight "wooliness" to the overall sound, which sounded pretty familiar to me, as I remember thinking that about my first one
. I reckon it's the pickup, to be honest! It looks well enough made and wound ....
... but the bass doesn't seem to produce as "dynamic" a sound when amplified, as it does "acoustically", so I don't think that it's anything to do with the tone of the wood etc. Don't get me wrong, I'm certainly not complaining, it's a fantastic instrument for what it cost - I'm just being cautious not to make any extravagent claims about it, just because it's "my new bass"
.
Anyway, I'm not going to modify it (despite having several tasty P Bass pickups in my box o' bits, at present
- it would be a crime to interfere with this lovely, original bass at this stage in it's history.
In fact, I think that I was the
first person to have taken this bass to bits
. This is what I found in the neckpocket ...
... wood shavings
.
Speaking of wood, there' some really nice timber on this guitar, as you can see. From the crazy-grained ash
, through the dark, tight-grained rosewood of the 'board, to the flame maple centre section of the 3-ply maple neck, it's quality all the way
! Here's a couple of outdoor pics (from the seller), which better shows off the bright red clour of the translucent lacquer
.
OK, I think that you get the idea now
.
It's an early Matsumoko bass and it's a corker!!!!
Problem is, it's got me GASsing for a
Thunder IIIA .
