Questions About Purchasing & Dating late 60's Mark I ??

[MWaldorf]

A couple of thoughts -
there have been other tuners on this guitar - you can see the screw holes.
the vol/tone knobs are the "small hat" with V/T and numbers. I'm pretty sure they should be the later "tall hat" kind with numbers only.
The switch tip appears to have tape wrapped around it; unclear if it's the correct type.
As Fritz mentioned, the bridge should have roller saddles.
The pickguard has a curve at the top where it meets the neck pickup; I think it should still be the kind with the sharp point at the top.

So, there are inconsistencies. This could be a 68 body and neck with some later parts, or a mish-mash of parts from different years, or a guitar assembled from parts sold at the bankruptcy auction.

All that being said, if the price is "rite", it's still all Mosrite parts, and if it plays rite and sounds rite, it might be worth it anyhow.

[dagogo]

Well thanks everyone for the input. I guess there is no definitive answer but the consensus seems to be 68/69. I was also considering a different mark I from the same era on ebay but that one appeared to have more fret wear and I wasn't crazy about the color. All things being equal, most of the replaced or non-original parts don't really bother me as I'd rather have a guitar that I like to look at with more fret life for less money.

If the neck is decent, the pickups sound right and the trem is ok I will be happy. No way to tell until it gets here sometime next week. I will be sure and post some photos after I receive it.

[olrocknroller]

the other place I would look is in the neck pocket and pickup pockets, many Mosrites have dates there. As for some of the "oddball" features, I think they're normal. Mosrite went thru several changes as they went in and out of business, bridges and tuners obviously were used as needed with stock on hand. I wouldn't worry about pots being changed, as for pickguard screws, I don't know. but this guitar looks pretty darn original to me as far as patina, etc. is concerned.

Rocco

+1 on that. I confess, I'd never make a good collector of vintage items, I'm just not detail oriented enough to worry about things like pots and screws... My attitude is that things wear out, and I'd rather see a good guitar kept in good playing condition, even so far as having things like refrets done to keep it in fine condition. I play my HitchHikers regularly, and if the day comes to sell them, I'll have to find a customer who appreciates them for the fine instruments they are, in "played" and "well maintained" condition.

You know the old saying, "Don't sweat the petty things, and don't pet the sweaty things!"

[dagogo]

Ok, the Mark I arrived. I like the neck, the frets are good and it plays well. The only problem I have is with the bridge and the vibe arm.

1. Regarding the bridge...does having a roller bridge vs the one on this guitar affect the sound? The reason I ask is that it doesn't seem that I can get that somewhat percussive, metallic, playing at the bridge, "mosrite" sound that I expected. The combo I tried recently had that sound as you picked at the bridge but this guitar doesn't? I can't really understand why. Even the eastwood sidejack (with a bigsby) I had could mimic that tone nicely. On this guitar it just seems like it get extremely thin and "plasticy" (from the pick) rather than metallic as I play right up on the bridge.

2. The vibe arm is nearly unusable to me as it's currently installed. It is about 1.5" too high (far away from the guitar) at the point where I would normally grab it to play while holding it. In other words, I can not play while holding the vibe arm. I don't know if this is the nature of this particular vibe system, or the wrong spring, or arm? I guess I could remove the arm and take it to my machinist friend and we could bend in inwards and maybe I could find a less "tall" spring but this seems a little drastic. On the combo I had (briefly), the position of the vibe arm was absolutely perfect for my style of playing, but that was a different vibrato... I don't know if they made Mark I's with that system.

I will try and post a photo showing the vibe arm and bridge.

Ultimately, I am a little confused. Everything I was worried about before I received the guitar is fine...and everything that I assumed would be great is kind of off. I would appreciate any comments as I have to make a quick decision on this guitar.

Brandt

[dagogo]

Here is a close up photo for what it's worth of the bridge/vibe.

[FritzCat]

Different springs are available, you probably have the one intended for heavier strings. They're almost always available on ebay, just don't get the heavier version. And if that doesn't work, you can probably find the right one somewhere else. As to the bridge it looks like the strings are touching the portion nearest the pickup, if so just tilt it to make it more parallel to the body, that may help with the sound.

[dagogo]

Thanks for the tip on the spring, i guess that will solve the height of the arm issue.

As for the bridge, it was tilted, but the strings were not touching the left edge of the bridge (though it looks that way in the photo). I loosened the string tension a bit and realigned it. I played a minute and rechecked and it had tilted back a bit. I pulled it foward again but it almost immediately rocked back a little. So now it's better that it appears in the photo, but there is play in the angle of the bridge. While it was fairly straight I didn't really hear a change in the tone. It's strange, the guitar just doesn't seem to have that resonant twang that I expect to hear.

[Dennisthe Menace]

Brandt, to get that percussive twang with maybe a little bit of aggressiveness sound, I would try raising the Bridge P'up,
in which there is a LOT of space between your p'up and strings. Bringing the p'up closer to the strings will help in the tone
of the guitar that you are use to hearing....

[dagogo]

Yes, that's a good idea...there is a lot of space...I should raise the pickup and I'm sure that will help.

The weird thing is that there is actually very little acoustic twang...without the guitar even plugged in. We all know how when you play closer to the bridge it gets more metallic and twangy, but on this guitar, the effect is very subtle. The note just chokes and dies when you play at the bridge, but as you move away from the bridge there doesn't seem to be that twangy zone...it sounds almost the same when you play 1/2" from the bridge as 1-1/2" from the bridge.

I'm curious...does anybody know...is this actually a mosrite bridge?

[GattonFan]

It appears to be a Mosrite non-roller bridge. I have never experienced one of these, but it seems that with the string lying on that flat surface, without having a "break" point, it would affect the sound - much like the effect of a flat fret ... just a theory.
Dennis