Wonderbar!!!

[Bob Johnson]

yeah, the wonderbar is hideous and looks particularly bad on this guitar.  the guitar will look a lot nicer without it

so the plan is to get the westone back into original shape - maybe with some double cream humbuckers i have here.  and then make something crazier for the big ugly wonderbar

i always liked the westone thunder basses so expect a similar solidly built budget guitar

Would that make a WEZtone?

[WezV]

i should register that ;) :)

[HairyChris]

Ooh, my brother had a Thunder I in natural, and I used to have a IA in black. Bought it off a mate's brother because I hated my Squire Bullet so much. My actives packed up so I used as a kill switch.

His got sold on, mine ended up lent to one of his friends and, last I heard, it had a neck a bit like a rollercoaster.

EDIT: Both of ours were string thru body.

[WezV]

it turned up today and i am over the moon with it.   Its not playing perfectly yet but nothing a fret dress and set-up wont sort... and its got at least another level before the frets are too low which is a pleasant surprise, might change them for something bigger anyway

it sounds pretty good, the active tone circuit adds quite a boost, hardly transparent but sounds good.  although very ice picky with the treble turned up.   split and phase switch are uninspiring but pickups are not too bad

the wonderbar is in perfect condition apart from some corrosion on the bar and a missing screw on the lock nut.  i will leave it on this guitar till i have it all figured out... it seems it can be set for in tune divebombs ala transtrem...although it doesnt lock in different positions the way that can.   it doesnt have the greatest range but seems to work accurately... it feels somewhere between a floyd and a kahler in terms of tension/fight

[AndyR]

Nice one :D

it sounds pretty good, the active tone circuit adds quite a boost, hardly transparent but sounds good.  although very ice picky with the treble turned up.   split and phase switch are uninspiring but pickups are not too bad

That's my memory of a Thunder IA

I used the boost early on, through an HH VS-Musician 100w tranny combo - with "valve-sound"! Through a tranny amp, the boost nearly took you through the ceiling :lol:

The split and phase switching I did use, but it was what led me to a strat. An "old" geezer (I'm a couple of years older now than he was then...) explained to me that what I was reaching for was the sound of a strat... and he was right! :lol:

[WezV]

its not too heavy, unless you count 9 lbs as heavy for a guitar not much bigger than an N4 ;)

it is very well made.  i have just taken it apart to see what i am dealing with

album here:
http://s36.photobucket.com/albums/e31/WezV/WESTONE%20WONDERBAR/

the trem:



the original bridge;


the old brass parts are a bit gunky looking but brass does clean up great.  I have two screw holes to fill which wont disapear completely but wont be noticeable unless you are looking for them and i will have to rebuff the bridge area to get the colour more even

[sgmypod]

nice find a bit odd, but remember friend having one of these and a aria pro 2

[Philly Q]

Interesting seeing the shielded control compartment - nice touch on a budget guiyar, unless it was done by a previous owner.

[WezV]

nah, its all original in the cavity -  we often talk about budget guitars being made better now than ever before and for the most part its true... these things are the exception


I was impressed by the cavity, full size pots, nice switches and threaded inserts on the battery cover screws since they will need to be removed more often ... although the shielding may have been needed because of the pre-amp which is a very basic design.  The only dissapointing bit was the box type 3-way on the upper horn - but its still working well

[AndyR]

It's making me want to get mine back! :lol:

That's an original Westone case as well isn't it? D'uh... didn't notice the album at first... yeah, I can see it now under the D'Addario sticker!

On the budget guitar thing- yep, I think I can say I haven't owned a guitar as well made as that one was, really, well not ever since!! I remember all that shielding, and the thread inserts :D

The neck-headstock junction is a bit weak on them though. I buggered both the Thunder and a Rainbow. The Rainbow fell off a strap in a soundcheck (the strap pulled off the strap lock!! I gave up buying them and switched to home-made devices). The Thunder incident was a bit more rock'n'roll - I put it through the venue's ceiling (er, deliberately :roll:) at the end of a particularly exciting set...

In both cases it was a visible split both sides, but the string tension held it on. I got the Rainbow repaired, but never touched the Thunder - and it's still going apparently.

[WezV]

i dont know of many angled headstocked guitars that would survive being put through a ceiling andy, thats what fenders are built for ;)

i knew it was coming with a case but didnt expect it to be original.  tbh i would have preferred a generic case as i could nick it for something else :)

[AndyR]

i dont know of many angled headstocked guitars that would survive being put through a ceiling andy, thats what fenders are built for ;)

Ah, mebbe that's why I like them so much :lol:

To be fair to myself, I should state that it wasn't a proper, solid ceiling... it was a a false one, a sort of slatted affair... and it had vague evidence of previous, similar attentions - my hole was slightly bigger though...

The rest of the band hadn't even noticed, but the crew were sh1tting themselves that someone-who-gave-a-damn had seen me do it and might not want us to leave the venue with our expensive gear (and more importantly, their PA) without making some sort of restitution first...