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Educational opportunity: Mark II or V?
Posted: Mon Jun 08, 2009 7:50 pm
by handbrake
Re: Educational opportunity? Mark II or V?
Posted: Mon Jun 08, 2009 8:47 pm
by 101Volts
$1,800 Doesn't seem too bad of a starting price. I jumped in my seat when I saw this on eBay, Not sure why I did that for this one in particular but... Well...

Re: Educational opportunity? Mark II or V?
Posted: Mon Jun 08, 2009 9:15 pm
by Dennisthe Menace
Handbrake posted:
I say Mark V.
And you would be right. I'm guessing you thought he was suggesting that this might be a MARK II,
but he only specified that this was a "Ventures II." However, it is definitely a MARK V

.
Re: Educational opportunity? Mark II or V?
Posted: Mon Jun 08, 2009 9:40 pm
by handbrake
I'm guessing you thought he was suggesting that this might be a MARK II,
but he only specified that this was a "Ventures II." However, it is definitely a MARK V

.
Yeah, that's true. I saw "II" and imediately thought "V". It would be correct, then, to say that Ventures II were made up of Mark IIs and Vs?
Price-wise, didn't a Mark V with red/white/blue color scheme go for $1200+ recently? Maybe it was the condition, since that one looked well used.
Re: Educational opportunity? Mark II or V?
Posted: Mon Jun 08, 2009 9:52 pm
by dorkrockrecords
Correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe the nomenclature goes like this:
-Slab body (a la Johnny Ramone) = Mark II
-German carve = The Ventures II Model OR The Ventures Mark V (depending on the logo)


Re: Educational opportunity? Mark II or V?
Posted: Tue Jun 09, 2009 12:50 am
by handbrake
Hmm. I've tried to be a good student about the Ventures II/Mark II/Mark V confusion. The problem: Ventures II is three-times ambiguous because it could be either a Mark II (slab or german carve) or Mark V body style.
I came to the conclusion that the body style was the key, despite what the headstock might read.
dorkrockrecords wrote:-Slab body (a la Johnny Ramone) = Mark II
-German carve = The Ventures II Model OR The Ventures Mark V (depending on the logo)
I agree with you on the slab. But that still leaves two other body styles marketed as Ventures II. Note the depth of the pickguard under the neck pickup (long=Mark II, short=Mark V).

Re: Educational opportunity? Mark II or V?
Posted: Tue Jun 09, 2009 1:41 am
by dorkrockrecords
Is Mark II even an official name, or has it simply entered the Mosrite vernacular the same way VIII has? I'm pretty sure the name Mark I didn't even come into existence until the post-Ventures era. And where the heck did "Mark IV" come from (usually used in reference to Kurt Cobain's Gospel)? Does anyone have any concrete documentation on what these blasted things are supposed to be called?
Re: Educational opportunity? Mark II or V?
Posted: Tue Jun 09, 2009 12:02 pm
by Dennisthe Menace
Adam had posted:
dorkrockrecords wrote: I'm pretty sure the name Mark I didn't even come into existence until the post-Ventures era.
Adam,
They did have the "MARK SERIES" along with the Ventures Model
in the 1966 Catalog or Flyer or whatever they were calling it back then

Is Mark II even an official name, or has it simply entered the Mosrite vernacular the same way VIII has?
darn good question! All I know is I had learned about the MARK IIs way back when,
and accepted them as being a MARK II, predecessor to the MARK Vs
Re: Educational opportunity? Mark II or V?
Posted: Tue Jun 09, 2009 12:35 pm
by MWaldorf
Wow. I hadn't noticed the difference in neck pocket depth before - which one came first? It would seem to be that the shorter neck pocket would be the more playable guitar, at least for shmoes like me who can't reach the high registers beyond the cutaway.
Re: Educational opportunity? Mark II or V?
Posted: Tue Jun 09, 2009 1:14 pm
by Dennisthe Menace
MWaldorf wrote:Wow. I hadn't noticed the difference in neck pocket depth before - which one came first? It would seem to be that the shorter neck pocket would be the more playable guitar, at least for shmoes like me who can't reach the high registers beyond the cutaway.
Mel, that would be the first gen Mark IIs (Johnny's Model) and I prefer the looks of
that one as well as like you said, being able to go up higher on the neck.

Actually, I was referred to the difference between the blue and red guitars Adam posted above. They both have the german carve body, but the blue guitar has a shorter neck pocket and a different pickguard than the more common red body shape.