Westone Guitars
Westone Guitars is a manufacturer of electric guitars and basses .
history
The history of the Westone brand began in the late 1970s with the Japanese company Matsumoku, which until then had been producing electric guitars and the like. a. for Epiphone , Washburn , Aria , Vantage , Westbury and Vox . In 1979 Matsumoku then decided to bring instruments to the market under the name Westone . The first original models were "Thunder" , "Concorde" and "Prestige" .
From 1981 Westone instruments were also available in Europe through various distributors for the musician. Matsumoku continuously expanded the model range and landed great successes with their manufacturing quality and innovative strength.
In 1984 the international rights to the Westone brand went to the St. Louis Music Company (SLM), a respected instrument distributor in America . Production remained at Matsumoku in Japan, but from then on, the decisions about marketing and model policy were in the hands of SLM. The original models were barely made and new models that fit the trend of the 1980s were developed. Guitar and bass models such as “Pantera” , “Spectrum” or “Raider” came onto the market.
In 1987 production was relocated to South Korea . From then on, Matsumoku no longer made the guitars. Most of the innovative instruments disappeared from the market. The factory building was believed to have been killed in an earthquake or fire and was never rebuilt.
SLM maintained production until the beginning of 1991, but did not manage to strengthen Westone against the increasing competition from brands and manufacturers. Production was discontinued and the brand name Westone was replaced by the Japanese brand "Alvarez" , in whose models many of Westone's ideas could still be found.
In the mid-1990s, the name Westone reappeared briefly in England , but with completely different models and a completely different direction, namely the production of hand-made instruments in limited numbers.
It was not until 2003 that the Westone brand was brought back to life in Germany and has been growing steadily since then in terms of the variety of models and offers.