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The guitar legacy of Matsumoku Industrial Co. Ltd.

Used c1976 Univox U1987 “Gimme” serial number 1028268. This guitar is in good condition, neck and frets are fine. Cosmetically showing playing time without abuse. These Univox “traditional” style guitars, (not mentioning names), are really quite nice instruments. There is something very cool about this guitar.

• Univox was a musical instrument brand of Unicord Corporation from the early 1960s, when they purchased the Amplifier Corporation of America of Westbury, New York and began to market a line of guitar amplifiers.Univox also distributed guitars by Matsumoku, effects units by Shin-Ei Companion, and synthesizers by Crumar and Korg. In 1985, Unicord Corporation was purchased by Korg, and the.
• The only writing on it is Westbury and custom (on the truss rod cover) and a serial number which is 109057. Any other info gratefully accepted. I can supply a photo if I had an address.
• That same year Unicord abruptly gave its employees a single days notice that the company would move its facility to Westbury. By 1977 Unicord came out with the Univox Westbury Performer. This was a precursor to 1978, when the Univox name was dropped in favor of the Westbury brand of guitars. Westbury guitars were sold through 1981.

Westone guitars and basses were made by Matsumoku (or “Uncle Mats” as we affectionately refer to it) in Japan and subsequently in Korea for St. Louis Music during a period of 10 years from 1981 to 1991. Here, you will find information, history, pictures and specifications of these amazing instruments.

We are also gathering information on the range of Westone Prestige guitars designed by renowned British luthier Sid Poole and built by Status-Graphite in England in the late 1990’s.

Korean

While you may find a few early post-Mats Korean made instruments listed here, we do not feature them, concentrating primarily on the Japanese made Matsumoku’s.

German

For a brief period, roughly late 2010 to early 2012, the Westone brand was revived by a German company, Musik-Meyer, which is still in business but no longer selling Westone guitars. The products in no way resemble the MIJ or MIK post-Mats models, but were copies of traditional guitar configurations.

Our Best guess is that they were likely made in China but under relatively good quality control.

Chinese

Chinese made “Westones” are also seen occasionally but are mostly copies of traditional American styles. They are considered to be inferior instruments and are definitely not covered here. Our advice is to avoid them!

Indian

We’re also aware of the Westone brand that was featured on a now defunct Indian site selling guitars of dubious quality. These were cheap and somewhat gaudy looking acoustics and bear absolutely no resemblance to a Mats made instrument whatsoever.

This site also sold similar poor merchandise under bastardized versions of well known brands such as Givson and Fendar. That should tell you all you need to know.
Avoid!

(More info on Indian Westone in this Forum thread discussion )

Addendum April 2016

“Weston” brand (no “e”)

We have seen instruments stamped with the Westone ‘bird’ logo accompanied by the word Weston. We speculate that this was to avoid any potential copyright infringement at the time. These tend to be Super Strat type copies rather than original designs and as near as we can determine the majority of better made guitars and basses were Korean made. Dates and manufacturer are unknown but some may have been made by Samick.

Korean instruments are identified by checking the neck for a scarf joint. They also tend to have position markers beyond the 12th fret located an the edge of the fretboard instead of the centre.

The Weston brand also appears on some poorly made Chinese copies which appear to be post-Korean era builds. Quality is dubious and it is best to avoid these instruments.

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Westone Guitar Forum

If you’re an active collector, player or enthusiast be sure to visit the Westone Guitar Forum the definitive authority on the current state of all things Westone.

There, you can discuss your instruments, recommend places to buy them, and learn how to look after them. Whether you have a missing trem arm, or need to completely rebuild your guitar, the Westone Guitar Forum is the place to go!

If you love Westone, become a member today!

How old is my guitar?

This is one of the two most frequently asked questions on the Forum.
Most Matsumoku Westones can be dated by the serial number, usually found on the back of the headstock, but some early 80’s models have the serial number on the neck plate.

7-digit serials are the most common:

The first digit = the year it was made

For example: a serial number beginning with 2 indicates a guitar made in 1982
It is possible that the second and third digits give the month.

Addendum November 2014:

6-digit serial numbers:

Several Westone forum members have recently presented guitars with 6 digit numbers. Although not as common they do exist.
Looking at dating information compiled by our friends at the Matsumoku Forum we note that 6 digits was in use until mid to late 1981.

We presume that the interpretation for those instruments is the same for early Westones, until the 7 digit scheme was applied:

The first digit (0 or 1) = the year
The next 2 digits = the month

5-digit serials appear on some models:

The first two digits = the year
The last two = the month

It is important to note that these are not really serial numbers, just production dates, and are not unique…84009 is extremely common!

8 digit serial numbers:

These appear from late 1987, in the format NN NN NNNN (eg 87 10 0001).
We think that:

the first two digits = the year
the second two = the month

Any guitar with this sort of number was probably made in Korea.
Later models (1987 onwards) have no obvious serial number and may have originally been on a sticker on the guitar.
These are also Korean made.

Letters in the serial number

Many early 80’s models are also seen with a letter prefixing the number.
These represent the production month and are interpreted as:

So, a serial number like D810040 would indicate that the guitar was manufactured in April 1981.

What is it worth?

This is the most frequently asked question on the Forum, and one we wish people would stop asking, for two reasons:

1. We’re Westone enthusiasts and players; we’re not merchants.
2. Fundamentally, there’s no real answer to the question.

If you are selling:
Try selling it. When someone buys it, you’ll know how much it is worth!

If you are buying:
How much are you prepared to pay?

There are too many variables to be able to give an accurate figure. The value depends on the desirability of the model, how many are available, the condition of the guitar, whether or not it has been modified or has parts missing, what country the seller is in, etc.

A rough idea can be obtained by searching completed listings on Ebay. These prices are what people actually paid. Even then, that will only give you a very rough idea. The best you can hope for is a range of prices.

There is really no way to predict a price for any model (So please don’t ask!)

Before buying or selling a guitar, knowing it's value is important. Guitar values can range from practically nothing to an astronomical sum for the right guitar - and to an untrained eye, guitars at either end of the spectrum can look very similar. Once you have correctly identified your guitar, you can look up a suggested value in the books above. But even when you have a ballpark value, selling the instrument at that price is more than just a formality. Have a look at our guide on selling vintage guitars online for some ideas on getting the best price for your vintage guitar.

Westbury Guitar Serial Numbers

The Official Vintage Guitar Magazine Price Guide continues to be the industry-leading reference for values on vintage and collectible guitars, basses, lap steels, mandolins, ukuleles, banjos, amps, and effects. The 2017 edition spans 624 pages and includes detailed information aswell as current pricing (in $US) on more than 2000 brands and more than 1,300 photos, plus a detailed look at the hows and whys of the collectible instrument market. This guide is the only such work to cover all this in one very affordable volume!

How accurate are the guitar price guides?

The price guides above give a good ballpark figure for many models - however these are very much the authors opinion - and naturally their opinion is based on their locality and experience with the instrument in question. An unusual guitar in the US might be commonplace in Japan, or Europe. Likewise, collectors of certain guitars are not equally spread around the world. Such factors have to be considered. There are other places to get vintage guitar valuations, and some of these may be more relevant, especially if you don't live in a major US city. Any notional value will relate to the price a dealer can sell it for. Having said this, the Vintage Guitar magazine guide is internationally recognised, and although it is intended to report prices it does have a hand in setting them to.

Vintage guitar values can go down aswell as up

Vintage guitar collecting, like anything else is subject to fashion. If you already own an older edition of this book, you can not get a current price, simply by adjusting for inflation. Collectors who grew up in the 1950s often want different guitars to those that grew up in the 1980s. As demographics change, so do the guitars that people collect. Likewise the financial status of a country can massively impact values. Pre-2008 high end guitars truly had high end prices. If somebody paid $10000 for a vintage guitar in 2007, they may well struggle to get their money back today. True a 50s strat or Les Paul will always be valuable, but precisely how valuable will be subject to various factors. Vintage guitar values are NEVER absolute. Never.

Please note, This site gets a lot of valuation questions, and we will freely give our opinion if asked - however, we can only respond to requests made on the vintage guitar forum - please also post images of your instrument.

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