Westone Dynasty XV2SW

Mark Wein

Mark Wein

Grand Poobah
Staff member
Going to a friends funeral today. Chris was in some of my earliest bands and he loved pointy guitars. His first REALLY pointy guitar was this Westone model followed by a couple of BC Rich Warlocks.

RIP Saz.

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Westone – Reborn To Kill Again
May 16, 2012




On the bench today we had a Westone Dynasty XV2SW. The customer had this pup sitting in a room full of gear for years and decided it was time to breathe new life into it. This is one of those guitars that would have been ridiculed in the 90’s after lipstick metal had gone the way of the doe, but now it’s so old it’s cool again. The year of production on this guitar dates between ’85-’87, and was made in Matsumoku Japan.

After removing the old strings and giving the guitar a proper cleaning we installed a new nut, re-strung, tweaked the trussrod, and gave it a full setup. Then we plugged it in to see if any challenges were left. A quick play told me the jack was shot, which is common with these older guitars that used cheaper quality jacks. We swapped out the old jack with a new Switchcraft. After another listen it was obvious the 3-way switch was also in need of replacement, so that was done as well.

The end result is a 27 year-old guitar that plays and functions as good as new (and has one hell of a paint job!).
 
I had a Westone Spectrum III (IIRC, it's the first year of MIK), and it was a very smooth-playing, really cool superstrat. Sorry to hear about your friend.
 
A buddy of mine at work says he had a Westone Pantera and it was one of the best guitars he's ever owned. And he's owned Strats, Les Pauls, etc. not just cheap stuff.
 
I remember Westones. I didn't care for the way they looked, but they did make some pretty decent guitars. My sympathies for the loss of your friend.
 
Thanks everyone.

Honestly I hated the Westone but he loved it. Then he tried to put the neck from a BC Rich Warlock on it at one point IIRC. It was kind of a mess.
 
I remember occasionally running into several marginal Westones and a few oddball Westones over the years. But, the strangest Westone I ever saw was a well-used Steinberger-like contraption for $999 at Mars Music, which had an adjustable pickup on rails. It was missing parts and seemed pathetic.
 
vonbladet said:
The dreaded rail! $999 seems a bit steep, though.
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That is exactly it in the video (red, 4-string bass)! It rotted away for a couple of years in the used gear department, until I noticed during my usual weekend visit at that particular Mars Music location that it had mysteriously vanished. Not much later, Mars Music -- which was a large music store chain in the US -- went out of business.

I kinda faintly recall that Dave Brock of Hawkwind was an endorser and player of Westone super-strat guitars.
 
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