Semi - Mosrite?

[Dennisthe Menace]

Dennis,
Well, you may be crazy but I'll give you an "A" for effort.
As for the "Century" model, or Tord Backman, I can't find any record of their existence on the web. If those 50 Centuries ever got made they're well hidden by this point.
Searching "Mosrite Victory" did pull up an article from the Blue Book of Guitars:
http://books.google.com/books?id=ERpMwa0e3zkC&pg=PA777&lpg=PA777&dq=%22Mosrite+victory%22&source=web&ots=Qbz8t0tqqG&sig=CPkvBMjJrBIjjv-GKH_WdgOHwWs&hl=en
Mel

Mel, I have no idea if 50 of the Century Models were ever made although the Father and Son from Sweden supposedly ordered 50. All I know is when the Wife and I were up there in Jonas Ridge, before Semie and Loretta moved to Booneville AK, He had plans for the Century Series. The Victory Series was already in motion. However, the Vls and the Vlls you are looking at in the Bluebook actually represented the Ventures model without the Logo. Plus you could update it with the Humbuckers, etc, and if you noticed, there weren't any Vllls listed either. I also saw a sh*t load of errors in the descriptions of the guitars AND the Basses, but that's another "L O N G" story.
But the Vl, Vll, and Vllls I'm referring to came out in the late 80s (BTW,they are not listed in the Bluebook) and the pickup casings were in Black or White. I'm not sure if this was the first time that Semie started making the P'up casings in White. What I am having trouble remembering, is whether there was a pic of the Victory Series with the 3 Pickups..........

Well guys, I don't know what to say....I FINALLY found the Victory Catalog I was so desperately looking for ...........
and it TOTALLY CONTRADICTS EVERYTHING I swore I thought I remembered as FACT......

the GOSPEL SERIES-(Description from the 2 page Flyer).

The "Victory" Models are hand-made; each pick-up is hand-wound with the option
of one, two, or three pickups; color options are Gold, Pearl White, Diamondized Ebony,
Mosrite original Sunburst, Transparent Blonde, and Transparent Cherry Red, Curly Maple
is also available. For the smoothest tremelo action, stay in tune with Roller Bridge-
Mosrite Vibrato. Built by Semie Moseley, the Originator and Creator of The World Famous
MOSRITE Guitar.
..VICTORY I - German Carve, Humbucking P'ups in WHITE Casings, Vibramute,
................VOL AND TONE Controls, GROVER Tuners, No Pick Guard, Body Binding.
.VICTORY II - German Carve, S.Coils w/adj/Screws in White Casings, Vibramute,
................V&T knobs, GROVER Tuners, Tortoise Pickguard, No Body Binding.
VICTORY III - No German Carve or Binding, S. Coils (no adj/screws), Rosewood
..................Stop Tailpiece like on Bass/12 str. models, No Roller Bridge, Kluson
..................Tuners, W/B/W P/Guard, This is the only Model w/no Binding on
...................the neck.

I don't understand, I JUST DON'T GET IT!! I can remember this WHOLE Scenario with Semie like it was yesterday....
I DON'T REMEMBER these as being GOSPEL Series......unless he was planning on re-introducing them under the
"Mosrite "Brand" and possibly change the Electronics setup??? OK, now I'm guessing, I don't know. AND THE VICTORY's
(I and III) are reversed as far as which one the Flagship should be. However, the Victory III sort of matches the
Celebrity III as far as a no roller bridge, cheaper cosmetics, electronics, etc. I remember Semie telling me he was
coming out with a new Series along with the new "Combo Series" (in which the body was somewhat smaller
than the Original Combo).
But as far as the Victorys go, let alone the Century(?) Models, I guess I just don't remember.......
I just don't know guys......this SUCKS (pardon my Italian) ......

p.s. So, now I WOULD LIKE TO KNOW......what the heck is a V-III????

[dubtrub]

Well, Dennis, Welcome to the world of Semie Moseley.

You are trying to put stuff in chronological order as others have done with Leo Fender and his mass production models. It didn't happen that way. Semie, although was a production or assembly line builder at times, he was still a 'one man band' as for as research and design. Go to the shop, drink a cup of coffee and design your next project. At least for the day. Semie went through so many different ideas and designs, I doubt if even he could tell you 'what went with what'. The only thing that was truly in chronological order was the P street factory years. After that, 90% of everything is speculation. That's what Mosrites so interesting.

[brutus]

I have some of those catalogs with the victory models. i dug them up to see i could shed any light.. but i just can't stop drooling over the victory 1 gold with white pickups... Semi sure looks proud holding it. has anyone ever seen one for sale lately? brutus

[Dennisthe Menace]

I have some of those catalogs with the victory models. i dug them up to see i could shed any light.. but i just can't stop drooling over the victory 1 gold with white pickups... Semi sure looks proud holding it. has anyone ever seen one for sale lately? brutus

heck, I'm still looking for V-IIIs, and I don't even have a clue what they are...........??????

[zak]

So, what kind of tape do you use to hold the binding for trimming - masking tape? that blue painter's tape? a measuring tape?
Mel

I have painter's tape (green not blue) but it's not sticky enough, if it's even slightly humid the stuff just comes right off. Masking tape will work just fine, and something stronger would possibly pull some wood fibers off an unfinished neck if you pull it off the wrong way, so I'd say use masking tape. I'm extra paranoid because 99% of the stuff I've been playing with is from the 20s and 30s and REALLY fragile and dry. Shouldn't really be a reason for concern on a newer maple neck but one thing I'm learning is having good work habits never hurts.

The measuring tape will come in handy too, but it's not very adhesive hahaha.

[Dennisthe Menace]

http://cgi.ebay.com/Mosrite-V3-Sunburst-Body-Neck-Project-3-Pickup-Rare_W0QQitemZ320264088111QQihZ011QQcategoryZ2384QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem#ebayphotohosting
Well, I can't seem to leave well enough alone....Adam had an interesting observation, about maybe the stamp "C-93" inside the neck cavity might represent Mosrite of Canada. However, I recall a "few" other Mosrite of Canada that were on E-Bay, but the body was more of the Ventures Model Body than a Victory/Century(?) model. Another words, they did not have the body routed for the mini switches, and they had a Vol and Tone Controls as well as the pickguard. This one on E-Bay has the stamp C-93, but the Headstock DOES NOT say Mosrite
of Canada, rather it DOES SAY "of California."
I am not trying to create a 'rumble' here, other than I just want to know what this missing link means. I swear I recall Semie mentioning a 'Victory' and 'Century' Series in '88. This darn thing is eating me alive.....

[dubtrub]

I am not trying to create a 'rumble' here, other than I just want to know what this missing link means. I swear I recall Semie mentioning a 'Victory' and 'Century' Series in '88. This darn thing is eating me alive.....

It would be my guess that only Loretta would know the rightful answer. Andy might know but I'm not sure how much involvement he had with Semie's later ventures. What we need now is to have both Andy and Loretta join the forum.

[MWaldorf]

For what it's worth, the C-93 body and neck I'm getting are from the cache in Canada. According to the couple selling the parts, a Canadian investor in Mosrite got paid off in parts when the business failed, left the stuff in storage for a long time, and now they've got them. They're under the impression these are Jonas Ridge parts, but maybe they're from Booneville as Adam suggested in the V-3 thread. I'm not sure how many parts they've got left, they seems to have at least two of these three pickup bodies and multiple necks in various states of completion. The neck I'm getting is screened "Mosrite of California".
Mel

[dorkrockrecords]

Hey Dennis -
No need to play Mosrite archeologist with the Canadian spare parts. The stockpile of remaindered Booneville parts included bits and pieces of all the models from around 1984 to 1992 or so. Curtis Muldoon (the fellow up in Canada with the parts) just mixes and matches what he has left and boxes 'em up. That neck is most likely for a V88, and the body is of course a VIII/American model. He also has the old silkscreens for the "Mosrite of California" and "Gospel" logos. So remember, the next time you see that taxidermied Jackelope in your corner bar, no need to ask yourself about that missing link either.

[MWaldorf]

OK, the parts cache has arrived. Unfortunately the neck appears to have been damaged in transit (twisted, some frets lifting and an area where the fretboard is separating from the maple) probably from rough handling and maybe the change of humidity and temperature conditions? Thankfully Curtis is being super helpful and is going to replace the neck. It's a shame this neck got tweaked because the profile is classic super-slim Mosrite and the frets are nice and tiny. It feels really comfortable to hold, but it's far beyond my skill level to fix.

On the brighter side, the body is as nice looking in real life as in the pictures - the target burst is really sharp. Interestingly, in the center of the area where the finish is rubbed through there's a dowel plug repair - it looks like when they were drilling the channel to run from the neck pickup pocket to the control cavity they missed and went right through the front of the guitar! Now, that's a piece of history right there; I might have to keep it as it is.

Other observations - the "upgraded" 80s style Mosrite bridge is odd, with non-rolling rollers aligned at an angle to strings. Also the vibrato string guide piece is cast without the spring holding lip on the underside (does that make sense?) - apparently the spring is held in place by washers on the arm bolt.

Also, I received the three pickups I ordered from EF Elliot. First let me say his packaging is incredible - each pickup is individually wrapped and labelled neck, middle and bridge (though I'm not sure what the difference is, I'll have to email him and ask) I've only examined one pickup so far but all the plastic and metal parts look brand new and the pickup construction looks correct. It reads 12.91K on my ohm meter.

I'll try and take some more pictures as this progresses.

Mel