NGD- 1983 Westone Thunder 1A.

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NippleWrestler
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NGD- 1983 Westone Thunder 1A.

Post by NippleWrestler »

A lot of info incoming.

Made in Japan. 24.75" scale. Gotoh tuners (westone branded), very nice rosewood fingerboard, perfect fretwork, solid brass hardware, and some clever circuitry for an exceptionally well made and versatile guitar that plays fantastically well.

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It's not a neck-thru, it just looks that way. You've got ash wings around a maple and walnut core. The neck is 3 piece maple with a rosewood baord. It weighs exactly 8lbs according to my home scales. The balance is great on the strap. It's a small thing, about 2 inches shorter than my LP.

All the hardware is solid brass (except the tuners). Lovely machined stuff that over the 40 years has softened on the edges. It's weird, but it's like using a nice tool (arf arf) after using cheap crap, there's just something about the solidity of better quality things. Brass knobs, man. Whodathunk.

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There's some interesting stuff going on here.

You got your obligatory master vol/tone, then on the switches you've got coil tap and phase switch. The bottom set is really cool - the switch is the on/off for the active circuitry which is an EQ and boost. The EQ knob is a centre indent pot (so it softly clicks in the centre position) and rolling it to the side select either a bass boost/treble cut, or treble boost/bass cut. Essentially I've been using this like an in built boost/OD pedal in the guitar. If you're already dirty you can do the TS thing by tightening up the low end, you can do instant doom metal by having huge fat sludgey riffs, or if you're clean you can just get a bit louder with some control over the EQ. I find that rather innovative and actually usable.

The gubbins run off 2 x 9v batteries nicely located in the back. The A in the model designation stands for Active. They did make a regular Thunder 1 that didn't have this stuff in there.

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And I like how they used machine screws for the cavity cover to avoid stripped screws. Nice touch. Another nice touch is the retainer bar thing back there instead of individual string ferrules. I use these bars in my own builds as ferrules are, well, outdated as a better/cheaper/quicker/cleaner option exists. You can get brass ones of these but this one looks to be steel.

And look at this, it comes with free spaghetti:

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The neck is a 3 piece maple affair with a reversed centre strip for protection against warpage and twisting. There's even a bit of flamage happening near the nut.

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Speaking of nuts (arf arf), this one is solid brass:

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And here's the headstock. They call it the Eagle, I think it's more like a rubber ducky:

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It didn't come with the truss rod cover so I made one today from an offcut of a neck I made. It'll do.

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Pickups are MMK45s. Matrumoku used these in everything and gavce them a hundred different (very 80s) names. They're supposedly based on the DiMarzio Super Distortion but, to my ears, are clearer. They're also not wound as hot and come out around the 12k mark in both positions. It might be one of the only times in my guitar buying experience I don't want to change them out right away. They sound really good for what I play.

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Seriously good guitars guys. Everything I read about them has been proven true. I'd like more of them.

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Re: NGD- 1983 Westone Thunder 1A.

Post by jeremyb »

Nice! I like!
Slowy wrote: That's the problem; everything rewarding is just such hard work. Regret takes much less effort.

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Re: NGD- 1983 Westone Thunder 1A.

Post by captainfruitbat »

I had one of those brand new in the 80s. Mine was trans black. One of a handful of the many guitars I've owned that I regret selling. Great guitar

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Re: NGD- 1983 Westone Thunder 1A.

Post by JoeBlow »

Cool shape, and nice switching options. Nicely thought out guitar 👌

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Re: NGD- 1983 Westone Thunder 1A.

Post by Bg »

Westone did some great guitars, even the shredders :)
So, is that low alcohol or no alcohol at all? mmmm, no alcohol, do you want to try it? Noooooooooo.

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Re: NGD- 1983 Westone Thunder 1A.

Post by captainfruitbat »

197039_1019323133999_5508_n.jpg
197039_1019323133999_5508_n.jpg (54.28 KiB) Viewed 687 times
Knew I had a pic somewhere. Me with my Thunder 1a, mid-80s, with my UK band "the Storm".

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Re: NGD- 1983 Westone Thunder 1A.

Post by NippleWrestler »

That's a nice looking guitar. The thunder III in black is one sexy beast.

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