281X (Vintage Guitar)
The 218X Series was a series of four guitars sold during Westheimer corp. era of the early 2000's. They were basically an updated, more-standardized version of the old H804 model that was made between 1989 and 1999. The last digit of the model number indicates the color. 2813 = White with Black Pickguard, 2814 = Black with White Pickguard, 2815 = Sunburst with White Pickguard. It seems these were produced between 2003 and 2010.
SPECIFICATIONS
NECK: Maple Neck with dyed/baked 21 fret fretboard (simulated rosewood), medium "C" profile, regular strat-sized neck heel, 21 medium frets, 25.5" Scale, plastic nut, 2x butterfly clip string guides with metal spacers, diamondback machine heads.
BODY: Plywood 281X style body. Swimming pool route, no contours (slab)
PICKUPS: 2x Samick x13 Style "Strat-Type" Single Coils, Ceramic Magnets, 6.4K Ohms each
CONTROLS: 1 Volume, 1 Tone, Output jack (Pickups wired in parallel RWRP, always on)
BRIDGE/TAILPIECE: Stamped "claw" tailpiece w/ stamped action-adjustable bridge assembly
PICKGUARD: 11 Screw White or black single ply, H804 style w/ Stratocaster style knobs matching the pickguard and pickups
HOW THESE DIFFER FROM AN H804
A common misconception when people are selling these online is getting them confused with the earlier H804 model, and the H804 confused with these. This is totally forgivable though due to how similar they are, however, there are some seriously different differences in the design.
No Zero Fret - The 281X series had a regular plastic nut and not a Zero Fret setup like the H804 and older did
Strat Style Neckplate and Neck Heel - The 281X uses a regular neck, probably the same as the Westheimer era strat copies did, with a regular, Fender-style 4-bolt neckplate with a plastic body protector installed between
Pickguard Screws properly inset - The H804 had the pickguard screws, which were smaller, and black, sticking out of the pickguard, the 218X models had them properly inset like on a Strat or Tele copy
Swimming Pool Route - The H804 had a holdover from the H802 model, 2 large pickup routs for the "No-Foil" pickups in it. By this point, Harmony made it a big swimming pool route. This was probably for two reasons I surmise - first, it made the guitar louder "acoustically" even though it's a solidbody, and secondly, it made the guitar lighter, ideal for kids and people starting out.
No Contours - The H801/802/803/804/805 all had a arm contour on the bottom corner of the body, this was omitted on the 218X models, making them effectively "slab bodies".
Diamondback Machine Heads - These used the popular budget-style "Diamondback" covered machine heads that were all separate, instead of the "six on a strip" heads found on the original H802-H805 models.
Stamped Tailpiece and Bridge - The H80X came with a Bridge and Tailpiece that were CAST metal, meaning the bridge base, bridge saddle, and the "claw" tailpiece, were all cast out of inexpensive metal and chrome plated. The 281X featured a STAMPED bridge and tailpiece, with a stamped saddle, stamped base, and a stamped "claw" tailpiece, which had open sides which probably made restringing the guitar much easier than the older, higher mass design. Strangely, you can still buy the original high mass design from the H804 but not this version, leading me to believe this particular bridge/tailpiece design was made in-house by Westheimer's building house of choice, and not an outside vendor part.