By 1987 or 1988 Singer Sewing Machines had bought Matsumoku and killed guitar production. By the beginning of 1984, the brand became Electra-Westone and by the end of 1984 just Westone.

In the fall of 1983, the Electra Brand becomes Electra Phoenix. Some Korean production began in the early 80's. By around 1981 ties with Matsumoku further solidified and decision eventually made to merge SLM's Electra brand with Matsumoku's Westone brand. Open-book headstocks changed to wave or fan shape by 1978. In 1975 the Tree-of-Life guitars debut with a leaf pattern carved into the top, and the Electra line expanded to 25 models. The first guitar, simply called The Electra, was a copy of the Ampeg Dan Armstrong lucite guitar and issued in 1971, followed quickly by a variety of bolt-neck copies of other brands. The Electra line replaces SLM's Japanese made Apollo and US made Custom Kraft lines. Most of the instruments were made by Matsumoku in Matsumoto Japan. Here's a site with a bit more information and pictures.Įlectra guitars were imported from Japan by St. Pickups - Magnaflux I UBC (Unbalanced coil)Ĭontrols - volume, tone (Push/pull switch for coil tap) Machine heads - Gotoh TSA (Tremolo System Approved) These Westone guitars are a great deal for the price and if you come across one, pick it up!ġ985-1987 Matsumoku built Westone Spectrum ST X135 It's a great sounding guitar and has plenty of tonal options with the coil tap switch. I found out it was made in 1985-1987 by the Matsumoku plant in Japan. I picked up this guitar in January of 2009 and it has a market value of $78.00.

Electra westone guitar price