I suppose the story of these is reasonably well known. The Westones had been made in Japan at Matsumoku until the mid 80s
and then in Korea. The standard in Korea was not as good as Japan by 1991 the brand has gone.
The Europe and UK rights to the name were owned by Music-Meyer of Germany who distributed in the UK via FCN music. In 1998
FCN decided to revive the name and collaborated with the well respected luthier Sid Poole and used the manufacturing facilities
of Status Graphite to make four new models. Status Graphite were an English manufacturer predominantly known for the production
of Graphite neck headless bass guitars.
Sid also made his own hand made guitars branded in his own name some of which sell for thousands of pounds now. Sid died in 2001.
The Westones were made in limited numbers for a short time and despite the obvious quality can sometimes be picked up for about
£300 or so.
After these guitars the Westone brand ceased until Music Meyer produced some strat, telecaster and Les Paul copies using the
Westone name around 2010-2012 possibly made in China.
The Models
There were 4 models the Corsair was a HSS model and the Cutlass a HS model both came in Classic and Custom versions.
| Cutlass Classic | Cutlass Custom | Corsair Classic | Corsair Custom | |
| Body | 2 piece Alder Aged Satin Finish | 2 piece Poplar Gloss Polyester | 2 piece Light Ash Aged Satin Finish | 2 piece Light Ash Vintage Finish |
| Neck | 4 bolt Hard Rock Maple Dual Action Truss Rod Total Access to 22nd Fret | 4 bolt Hard Rock Maple Dual Action Truss Rod Total Access to 22nd Fret | 4 bolt Hard Rock Maple Dual Action Truss Rod Total Access to 22nd Fret | 4 bolt Hard Rock Maple Dual Action Truss Rod Total Access to 22nd Fret |
| Fretboard | Rosewood 12" radius 22 medium frets 25" Scale | Rosewood 12" radius 22 medium frets 25" Scale | Rosewood 12" radius 22 medium frets 25" Scale | Rosewood or Maple 12" radius 22 medium frets 25" Scale |
| Headstock | Back Angled no string tree Black | Back Angled no string tree Black | Back Angled no string tree Black | Back Angled no string tree Natural |
| Headstock Markings | Front Westone in Gold Script Back Prestige Series Serial Number and Made in England | Front Westone in Gold Script Back Prestige Series Serial Number and Made in England | Front Westone in Gold Script Back Prestige Series Serial Number and Made in England | Front Westone in Black Script Back Prestige Series Serial Number and Made in England |
| Tuners | Gotoh Chrome 3 a side straight string pull | Gotoh Chrome 3 a side straight string pull | Gotoh Chrome 3 a side straight string pull | Gotoh Chrome 3 a side straight string pull |
| Pickups | Gotoh Black High output Humbucker at Bridge Gotoh Black Vintage Single Coil at Neck | Gotoh Black High output Humbucker at Bridge Gotoh Black Vintage Single Coil at Neck | Gotoh Chrome Vintage Humbucker at Bridge 2 black Gotoh Vintage single coils | Gotoh Chrome Vintage Humbucker at Bridge 2 black Gotoh Vintage single coils |
| Controls | Black speed dial 1 volume and 1 tone 3 way switch | Black speed dial 1 volume and 1 tone 3 way switch | Black speed dial 1 volume and 1 tone 5 way switch | Black speed dial 1 volume and 1 tone 5 way switch |
| Nut | 43mms Graph Tec | 43mms Graph Tec | 43mms Graph Tec | 43mms Graph Tec |
| Hardware | Chrome | Chrome | Chrome | Chrome |
| Bridge | Gotoh Vintage Trem with Sprung Arms | Gotoh Vintage Trem with Sprung Arms | Gotoh Vintage Trem with Sprung Arms | Gotoh Vintage Trem with Sprung Arms |
| Pickguard | Black Laminated Strat Style | Black Laminated Strat Style | Black Laminated Strat Style | Black Laminated Strat Style |
| Colours | Natural | Black, Faded Blue or Aged White Opaque | Natural | Twintone Burst |
The Cutlass has a 3-way lever switch to control its two pickups.
Position 1 – Bridge humbucker*
Position 2 – Neck facing single-coil of bridge humbucker and neck single-coil*
Position 3 – Neck single-coil
The Corsair has a 5-way lever switch to control its three pickups.
Position 1 – Bridge humbucker*
Position 2 – Neck facing single-coil of bridge humbucker and middle single coil*
Position 3 – Middle single-coil
Position 4 – Middle and neck single-coils*
Position 5 – Neck single-coil
*In any combined coil position the two coils act as a hum-cancelling pair.
