NGD...getting out of hand now

[Greg_L]

It pays to constantly search...or I should say I pay to constantly search.

Found this little gem in Dallas.












What you're looking at here is an actual Mosrite Mark 1...but it's not vintage. This is actually pretty new. I'm not sure of the year as it has no serial number but I'm guessing it's from this decade. How is that possible? Well it's Japanese. Two Japanese companies - Kurokumo and Fillimore - hold the rights and ownership of Mosrite and this is one of them. This one is a Kurokumo.

And here's the new one with it's way older brother.

[JD01]

Cool - that's a really accurate recreation. So, with your Hallmark you now have 3 Mosrites?
When I started scrolling through the pics of that I was thinking holy shit, that's immaculate! Was expecting it to be about 10 grands worth!

So... you're an amp guy... not a guitar guy... with 3 Mosrites, 2 Les Pauls, 2 SGs, a Jr and don't forget the strat!

[Lt. Bob]

nice man! That thing looks killer!
How's it sound/

[WhiskeyJack]

Those right there are a couple of sick little rigs. Can't wait to hear it in action!!!

[JD01]

I'd like to hear them back to back to see how close they are.

[Greg_L]

So... you're an amp guy... not a guitar guy... with 3 Mosrites, 2 Les Pauls, 2 SGs, a Jr and don't forget the strat!

Lol. Three SGs...and the Rivolta.

Thanks dudes. They sound pretty close. The new one has an advantage in that the pickups are way less microphonic so loud higher gain stuff works better with the new Mosrite. There are three main differences that I've found so far.
1) The vintage Mosrite seems noticeably heavier.
2) The new Mosrite has a brighter more resonant overall sound.
3) The vintage neck profile is chunkier.

Besides the slimmer neck on the new guitar, the overall size and specs are identical. The neck is narrow and the string spacing is tight like the vintage version. The vibrato and bridge is perfect. The vintage Mosrite is the standard for clean fat plucky surfy tones though. So in that regard the new one is a little brighter if we're using the vintage one as the benchmark. But with gain they sound pretty much identical. There is an airy hollowness to the midrange in the new one, just like the old one, so that's great. Those Japs have done a nice job keeping these guitars going.

And in comparing it to the Hallmark, I'd say the Hallmark is the outlier. The two Mosrites are more similar to each other than the Hallmark is to either of them. But the Hallmark is intentionally different. And the weight of the Hallmark is way more than either Mosrite. The Hallmark has a bigger neck and a set neck, but dimensionally it's right on point. The Hallmark and new Mosrite are pretty close in sound in that they're both brighter than the vintage Mosrite. I still firmly believe that the Hallmarks are the best non-Mosrite Mosrites going right now.

[Lt. Bob]

. I still firmly believe that the Hallmarks are the best non-Mosrite Mosrites going right now.

I know mine is ..... but back-breakingly heavy!

You sir, are the only musician I know with a wifey as supportive of your gear lust as my wife is ........ and you don't even do it for a living!!

[JD01]

So... you're an amp guy... not a guitar guy... with 3 Mosrites, 2 Les Pauls, 2 SGs, a Jr and don't forget the strat!

Lol. Three SGs...and the Rivolta.

Thanks dudes. They sound pretty close. The new one has an advantage in that the pickups are way less microphonic so loud higher gain stuff works better with the new Mosrite. There are three main differences that I've found so far.
1) The vintage Mosrite seems noticeably heavier.
2) The new Mosrite has a brighter more resonant overall sound.
3) The vintage neck profile is chunkier.

Besides the slimmer neck on the new guitar, the overall size and specs are identical. The neck is narrow and the string spacing is tight like the vintage version. The vibrato and bridge is perfect. The vintage Mosrite is the standard for clean fat plucky surfy tones though. So in that regard the new one is a little brighter if we're using the vintage one as the benchmark. But with gain they sound pretty much identical. There is an airy hollowness to the midrange in the new one, just like the old one, so that's great. Those Japs have done a nice job keeping these guitars going.

And in comparing it to the Hallmark, I'd say the Hallmark is the outlier. The two Mosrites are more similar to each other than the Hallmark is to either of them. But the Hallmark is intentionally different. And the weight of the Hallmark is way more than either Mosrite. The Hallmark has a bigger neck and a set neck, but dimensionally it's right on point. The Hallmark and new Mosrite are pretty close in sound in that they're both brighter than the vintage Mosrite. I still firmly believe that the Hallmarks are the best non-Mosrite Mosrites going right now.

Ah, I forgot about the Rivolta! Cool guitar.
Sounds like you have a good bunch of Mosrites and guitars generally there. I know it probably seems mental to some people but the vintage 2nd hand stuff is basically like savings really isn't it? Unless you really pay over the odds you'll be able to get your money back out if you really need it and possibly even turn a profit.... the way you're going you'll be needing a lawyer soon!

[Greg_L]

I know mine is ..... but back-breakingly heavy!

You sir, are the only musician I know with a wifey as supportive of your gear lust as my wife is ........ and you don't even do it for a living!!

Ha yeah the Hallmark is 70s Les Paul heavy.

The way I came across this one is that I started itching for another Hallmark. Then I thought "well I have a Hallmark, let me look for a Japanese Mosrite". So the search was on. There are a bunch out there but most of them still live in Japan. I want a real Mosrite that I can take out live and beat on. I love the look and feel and sound, and no one else fucking has one.

The wife got on board pretty easy because she's awesome like that. When I told her that the Japanese models don't cost anywhere near the vintage models, and about the same as a Hallmark, she was like "just find one and get it because you're never gonna shut up about it".

[Lt. Bob]

The wife got on board pretty easy because she's awesome like that. When I told her that the Japanese models don't cost anywhere near the vintage models, and about the same as a Hallmark, she was like "just find one and get it because you're never gonna shut up about it".

[Greg_L]

Ah, I forgot about the Rivolta! Cool guitar.
Sounds like you have a good bunch of Mosrites and guitars generally there. I know it probably seems mental to some people but the vintage 2nd hand stuff is basically like savings really isn't it? Unless you really pay over the odds you'll be able to get your money back out if you really need it and possibly even turn a profit.... the way you're going you'll be needing a lawyer soon!

I don't really think of them as investments, but I do have three that could turn big profits right now.
78 LP Custom - right now these are going for about 2 grand more than I paid for mine
65 Mosrite Mark 1 Ventures - I could sell this one right now also for about two grand more than I paid for it.
2013 Gibson Angus SG - these haven't rocketed in value, but I stole mine so even if I ask retail price I'll make a huge profit.

The rest are all workhorses that probably won't ever be especially valuable. Maybe in 30 years my SGs or Goldtop might have some value, but they're not particularly special in any way.

[CrowsofFritz]

That’s pretty!

[muttley]

That looks terrible. You need to send it to me immediately so I can age it 25 years. That should take about......25 years.


Nice I love the black, that's always been my favorite solid colour and that looks nicely done. You also now have a test bed for us to build some replica pickups. Win/win.

[muttley]

. I still firmly believe that the Hallmarks are the best non-Mosrite Mosrites going right now.

I know mine is ..... but back-breakingly heavy!

You sir, are the only musician I know with a wifey as supportive of your gear lust as my wife is ........ and you don't even do it for a living!!

My wifey doesnt moan and I have about 30 or 40 kicking about. Only around a dozen in the living spaces though....

I think she assumes some are other peoples that I need to work on.

[Greg_L]

That looks terrible. You need to send it to me immediately so I can age it 25 years. That should take about......25 years.


Nice I love the black, that's always been my favorite solid colour and that looks nicely done. You also now have a test bed for us to build some replica pickups. Win/win.

Ha yeah black is usually my least favorite guitar color. But you can't be too picky with these things. You gotta just accept what you can get when you can get it and what you can afford. But I'm okay with it. It looks nice. Like I said I don't know when it was made but there's not a mark on it. It looks like it's never been played at all. No fret wear no pick scratches no nothing.

And yeah I've been meaning to pop these pickups out anyway just to see if I can make any kind of determinations about them. I'll let you know what I find if you wanna try some Mosrite replicas.

[Armistice]

Am I imagining it or is the jack position slightly different on the two guitars - perhaps it's the angle of the picture. Looks a smidge closer to the bridge and further from the pot on Blackie. Similarly the shape of the pickguard seems ever so slightly different down near the bridge. Again, maybe it's the picture angle - they'd be strange details not to get exactly correct, or perhaps there are variations in the original Mosrites and they've copied a different one.

Nice score though.

[Tadpui]

Heck yeah, that looks great! I like the black, it's just classy looking. You've got some twangy riffs in your near future!

[Lt. Bob]

Am I imagining it or is the jack position slightly different on the two guitars - perhaps it's the angle of the picture. Looks a smidge closer to the bridge and further from the pot on Blackie. Similarly the shape of the pickguard seems ever so slightly different down near the bridge. Again, maybe it's the picture angle - they'd be strange details not to get exactly correct, or perhaps there are variations in the original Mosrites and they've copied a different one.

Nice score though.

red one definitely has a different shape to the curve below the neck p'up ..... and to me that jack does look a little further from the knob .... could be the angle on that pic though.

They both look like I need them!

[WhiskeyJack]

Am i crazy or is that trem bar on your new one blocking some access to the volume knob.


I forgot to chime in with my semi annual "i love the microdot fret inlays" I really do quite like that and if i ever do a ground up build on a guitar it will have the eensiest of teensiest dots on the fret board. I think it looks elegant.

[Greg_L]

Am i crazy or is that trem bar on your new one blocking some access to the volume knob.

It is, but it moves. You can swing it out of the way.

Sitting here with both of them on my lap...yall are partially right. The jack location is slightly different on the new one, and the pickguard on the new one goes to more of a point under the neck pickup. But the shape and contours are the same. Even the screw holes are seemingly the same. I think I could swap the pickguards no problem. I think the blackness of the new guitar and the angle of the pic makes them seem more different than they are. The vintage model has one less pickguard screw near the neck joint. And that's a common thing with old Mosrites. "7 hole" and "8 hole" pickguards are a thing with mid-60s Mosrites. Mine happens to be a 65 with a 7-hole pickguard, but there are 8-hole 65s out there. It's typical Mosrite inconsistency. He used what he had laying around. The Japanese obviously patterned the new pickguard after the 8-hole version.

One of the few consistent bits of Mosrite history you can use to date Mark 1/Ventures models is the truss rod adjustment location. In 1966 Mosrite necks switched to having the truss rod adjustment in the headstock under a little plate, like a Gibson. If you ever see a Mosrite with a truss rod cover on the headstock you can probably bet that it's a 1966 or later. Everything before that had the truss rod adjustment in the neck heel under the neck pickup. So this new one is obviously a 64-65 type reissue.