Identifying weird guitars

[headtheball]

Anyone know of a good website for help identifying a junky looking old guitar of uncertain provenance?

A load of thumbnail pictures of odd-bods is what I'm after, really.

[Ian Price]

Post some pics of it here and this may be the website you need! (unless you are looking for a particular guitar rather than trying to identify one you have)

[headtheball]

Fairy nuff. this is she...



A mate has just restored/madea  proper job of it. It's mid eighties, Oriental, but other than that, I know nothing.

[PhilKing]

Is is a westone? http://www.westone.info/thunder1.html

[maverickf1jockey]

Looks like Ed Winn, of Ozric Tentacles', guitar...

[headtheball]

My first thought too, Phil. I had a thunder 1A bass many moons ago. It's not that, though.

[Ratrod]

What does it say on the headstock?

[PhilKing]

I think it is Artist

[WezV]

my first thought was westone but i couldnt back it up with any pics

[AndyR]

Is is a westone? http://www.westone.info/thunder1.html

What's the guitar in the pic you posted Phil? The stuff in the link are definitely Westones, but I don't recognise the westone1.jpg at all.

HTB's is no westone though.

I was a big Westone fan. I had a Thunder IA with the brass saddles, passed up on a second-hand Thunder IIIA with the through neck. A couple of bassists I worked with had Thunders as well. I also had a Rainbow (335-a-like), possibly one of the first in the UK, mine didn't have a number, they were later Rainbow I etc. My Thunder was my first serious guitar, the Rainbow was the first guitar I bought myself (rather than relatives buying them!)

I was coming very close to getting their strat-type, Concord I think it was(?), and I was also looking at the Paduak(?) The Concord sounded pretty good but wasn't a strat :(, and then my JV Squier appeared in the shop "unused" from a part xchange deal - they did it at ridiculous price for me and I never looked back :D

[WezV]

i am not so sure andy. the bridge looks just like a westone one - look at the two screws on the front edge of the bridge, not seen many hardtails with those but a lot of th earlier westones on that website have them

the construction and wiring layout is also very similar, if that aint a westone i would say its very closely related - the headstock is only slightly different

we really need a back pic

[AndyR]

Wow! what a stunning site - been all over it now. And yes, Phil, I see where you got that pic from now "... is probably a Matsumoku model, and seems to be a precursor of the Thunder series".

I still don't think HTBs is a "westone" though Wez, it just looks more "round" than most of their solid body leanings.

And by the way, now I've seen a picture of the Concord II that I nearly bought... What was I thinking?!!! I do remember my band were far from keen, but I wanted that sound and couldn't afford a strat :lol:

[gwEm]

some sort of hondo?

they made vs and pauls with that construction method, no idea about that shape

[headtheball]

A back pic? No bother...



And here it is, post restoration/complete redesign.



My spider-sense is indicating it's maybe one of these, is a slightly different guise, but that's kinda how these factories worked, eh?

Just to clear up, It's not mine, and I didn't do the work, mores the pity. It's right up my alley in most ways.

[WezV]

thats definately it - few small changes but definately the same guitar design

and from the same factory as the westones... as well as aria pro's which are the other make i was thinking of... and it looks like they made epiphone crestwoods which is the shape i was thinking of.