Hopefully, you are here because you are a Westone fan, you are in the market for a Westone or you are trying to sell a Westone. Whatever the reason, there are some things you should know about your guitar.
Westone does not have an official website, because the brand no longer exists. So, we try to handle it here.
It is very important to know that Westone began life as its own company, likely in Europe, though details are very limited. When Westone production began in the late 1970s, the line was available through several distributors only in Europe and Australia. Early models included original-design guitars like Thunder, Concorde and Prestige.
In 1982, Westone reached the U.S. market with the establishment of a division in Garden City Park, NY. The division, who operated under the Westone name, targeted the Japanese guitar manufacturer, Matsumoko, for production of U.S. versions of the Westone models. European models had been produced by other manufacturers, but it would be Matsumoko who would establish Westone as a player in the international marketplace.
All international rights to the Westone brand were sold in 1984 to St. Louis Music Company (SLM), a well-respected instrument distributor. SLM consolidated all of Westone's international activity into an internal division, and SLM wisely retained Matsumoko for manufacturing. Today, you can find SLM as the distributor for Crate amplifiers, Alvarez acoustic guitars, Ampeg amplifiers and Austin guitars.
SLM, now armed with exclusive rights to the name, co-branded Westone with their other guitar line Electra, as Electra-Westone. However, the Electra brand was fading quickly, and the prefix was soon dropped, leaving Westone as the sole name.
SLM radically changed the Westone line. Pre-1984 models had used fairly traditional shapes and varying wood stains. Although SLM continued limited production of the Concorde and Thunder, they began launching new models like the Dynasty, Pantera and Spectrum. The paint schemes were a little more radical and the body styles featured sharper angles. By 1986, the earlier Westone models were completely phased out of production. It was also 1986 when SLM introduced the phoenix-style logo you will see featured throughout this website.
In 1987, Matsumoko dropped guitar manufacturing and SLM was forced to move Westone production to Korea. There are two stories to explain the change. One says that the factory caught fire and was never rebuilt. The other theory, which seems to be more believable, is that the factory was sold to sewing machine manufacturer, Singer. Regardless, Westone only survived a few more years, with SLM ceasing production sometime in early 1991.
SLM immediately replaced the Westone line with the Japanese-made Alvarez line, which remains one of the top sellers for the company. Originally, Alvarez included electric guitars (some of which had been Westone models), but has now shifted to acoustic lines only.
Westone fell victim to the rise of Ibanez, Jackson/Charvel, B.C. Rich and a host of other manufacturers who established themselves during the guitar explosion of the late 1980s. SLM did an impressive job at trying to adapt Westone's designs to the marketplace, but it was probably too late.
Sometime in the early 1990s, Westone reappeared in England with a completely new model line and direction. Musik-Meyer of Germany had bought the rights to the Westone name and tried to revive the line, much as SLM did in 1984. They partnered with FCN Music. The attempts by Musik-Meyer/FCN appeared to be geared towards higher-end consumers, but it is hard to say. The re-birth attempt vanished as quickly as it came.
Today, Westone is a brand without a home..
GUITAR AND BASS MODELS