The Electra Forums

Can anyone tell me how to work out how old my Thunder 1A bass is? I have seen some info somewhere but have forgotten where I saw it!

Most Westone's where made in the 80's, so the first number is the most important.

Example
My Westone Thunder I-A Serial Number = 4090991 = made in 1984

There are 6 number serials as well they also follow the same rules

I have also heard of serial numbers that start with 87 that means 1987 although I have never seen an example.

Oh! and there is a link on this site as well
http://www.therathole.org/guitars/models/serial_no.html

Thanks for that. I knew I had seen info somewhere.

My serial is 4101190 so it was made in '84 around the same time as your's then.

Do you think the next two numbers refer to the month maybe? i.e. your's Sept and mine Oct.

Hey Zach you may be on to something.

I've had a look at the serial numbers of the Westone guitars I have owned......
Thunder IA - 4052086
Session II - 6083143
Thunder IA - 4013567
Concord I - 2100317
Concord I - 4081548

Mmmm.. The second and third digits never seem to form a number larger than 12. If this is a "month" indicator then this would suggest a maximum production quota of 10000 guitars and basses a month (that is, serial numbers YMM0000 to YMM9999).

I've done a little research in to dating early Squier guitars, the production quotas for Japan and Europe in 1982 were 3500 per month. So 10000/m for Westone at this time would not seem unreasonable. It seems from the dating/serial number information found elsewhere on this site that other brands made by Matsumoku used other numbering systems.

If any one knows any different let us know, if not, Zach gets the prize!

It would be interesting to be able to confirm this. I am not sure what purpose a month indicator would serve the manufacturer, but it may have been of some use to jobber or retailer. IIRC though I have seen 6-digit serials upon occasion, and even a few with a letter prefix. Just at quick glance, none here seem to exceed 12 for the 2nd and 3rd digits. My Aria Pro II TA-70 and PE-450, and my Vantage Ghost and VSH 455 have 6 digits.

Here is my Westone serial number list

Bass Guitars
Thunder I
2112077
Thunder IA
4090991
Thunder IA Fretless
5051487
Quantum
505132

Maybe the month theory might not hold water. I just noticed I had left out one guitar. The PE-450 has a serial beginning with 128 (or maybe 126 as the third digit is a bit smeared).

I was thinking about Westone branded guitars and basses.

Are there any Westones with the second and third digits of the serial number making a number bigger than 12 out there?

Maybe Matsumoku never made more than 129999 guitars/basses using the seven figure serial number sequence in any year.

Tele

I could not say with any certainty, but I suspect the Matsumoku serial numbef scheme would most likely be for the most part global and foremost an asset to production and factory warranty management.

Very interesting! I'll check my Westones tonight.

There are also Westone guitars with 6 figure serial numbers, Quantum, Rail, Superheadless, there may be others, also there is one on ebay uk at the moment with an unusual serial number of C810428 which I gather is 1981, which is similar to some Aria Pro II serial numbers.

im just throwing this in for fun:

my westone dimension iv's serial number is : 5071467

so, if i remember right (and our assumptioins are true) that would make my westone a 1985 made in july.

I have a bought another Thunder 1a bass serial No. 6050206.
So this still fits the date YMMXXXX system!

I've been going through mine as well- 80's Electras and SLM Westones. In every case, the second and third digit are a number 01 through 12, without exception. It looks to me like Electras and Westones are following a rule that maybe the other brands aren't.

the earliest Phoenix I have is an 81, with a serial starting 103 and then three more digits. It appears to me that at some point production exceeded 1000 per month and the numbers went to seven digits. I haven't tried to track when that happened, or if it went back and forth at all.

I don't want to jump to conclusions either, and it's good that we're taking in a lot of samples. It's very interesting that the suggested system seems to definitely not hold true for some brands but does fit for others.