I picked up this oddity recently, I thought it might be a prototype or production example because of a number of inconsistencies it has. I emailed McB about it, who correctly guessed that it was a refin. It appears to be a Westone LX with a later (1985+) body with the larger control cavity cover and side drilled output jack, as well as a Westone neck plate, reverse taper knobs and a Bendmaster FT tremolo:
It has been refinished, although whoever stripped it did a pretty nice job, no burn marks or terrible sanding spots on it. Unfortunately they did a hack job on the electronics with a bunch of splices instead of desoldering the pickups like any normal person would do. Currently the phase switch does not work, but I'll try to get that straightened out eventually.
At this time frame in late Electra/early Westone production, the neck would normally be painted black, and most likely be a multi-laminated piece, but this one as you can see is a solid piece of highly flamed Maple, and the biggest reason I had to jump on it. The jury is still out whether this is an actual Matsumoku neck or some kind of aftermarket affair, and I welcome your thoughts on this. The profile seems to me a little beefier than a phoenix or spectrum neck, although I haven't got any measuring devices out yet. Sports the tiny abalone dot markers, I think most aftermarket necks would have standard sized black fret markers. Check out the dazzling flame:
The truss rod adjustment is at the body, so my immediate feelings were that it was a aftermarket neck, but as you can see, the headstock shape looks pretty accurate. There is a faint shadow of a sticker on the front of the headstock, but not in the Westone shape or location.
No sign of any Serial Number on the back of the Headstock, the tuners are Gotoh, no extra holes that I can see. The flame goes all the way across the front and back with no indication of a lamination for the extra width of the headstock:
The Maple looks pretty nice in Natural, and weighs in at a reasonable 7.5 lbs. The action is a little high, and I'll try to get that better if I can find a tool to fit the funky truss rod at the body. I'm not sure if I'm going to keep it, just one of those things I had to get a closer look at! Would like to hear your thoughts, and if you're interested drop me a line. Cheers, Mike.
