How did you fall in love with Mosrite?

[fuzzrite69]

That's a great story halfblank. Cool that you still have that guitar. Thanks for sharing that!

[popper]

Playing a gibson 175 with P90s & worn frets (HS friend traded for a tape looper and some lighting I made). Another group had a Mosrite I tried. Neck just fit my hand great. Traded the Gibson for a new '66 no venture logo at the local music store (only one they had or had seen. IIRC $400 minus trade). V&T with roller bridge trem. Sold it to a student in the late '70s for $90. Saw one at the DFW show for $5k. Traded for the dual showman but couldn't get the kid to let go of the 12 Rick. Play a Epi LP now. Long ways from a Silvertone.

[StevieSTL]

Traded the Gibson for a new '66 no venture logo at the local music store (only one they had or had seen. IIRC $400 minus trade). V&T with roller bridge trem. Sold it to a student in the late '70s for $90.

[MozRite]

Way back about 2002 I bought a Dillion Mosrite-like guitar. It wasn't because I was into Mosrite, because I was not. I just liked it. It didn't make me like Mosrites although I knew what they were. At Guitar Center a few years earlier they had a vintage one in black for sale but wasn't into it, I didn't take it serious. I played it for a minute but didn't appreciate it. Well since I sold the Dillion about 2006 I started like Mosrite.

I'm a serious Ventures fan and have been for years and love their music but was more into their Jazzmaster/Tele/Strat tones but over the years appreciated their Mosrite years sound. Not sure how I got into loving Mosrite but I do. I recently pulled the trigger on a vintage model. A 1965 Mark V which is older than me by 2 years. I put on weight but the guitar has not . Now when I watch videos of various surf bands playing Mosrites I really dig the sound. The Mostite has surpassed my love for Jazzmasters. I love JMs too still but Mosrites are my favorite "surf" guitar. I think Strats for example are so far different than Mosrites they can't be compared but if you ask me the Mosrite surpasses the Strat in my book and I like Strats too. I guess you can play anything on a Mosrite but I don't think that say, Mark Knopfler would sound good playing Dire Straits on one even tho Mosrites are awesome. It might sound good but not right. Different animals if you will.

So bottom-line is, no not sure how did I fall in love with Mosrite.

[MozRite]

OK. What's a real thing? One with all original parts, original finish and without any alternation?? Someone told me on the forum.

I started to look for the "real things" at local guitar shops, Craigslist, and eBay. Not an easy task to find the right product at the right price.

Then I found this candy red Mosrite guitar on Craigslist; a 1965 Mosrite Ventures model, Mark II guitar!! It is fairly good condition and the seller said it was with original parts, in original finish...

Guitar was located about 1 1/2 hours away. Without second thoughts, I jumped into my car right away and went for it. Those were the crazy days...







Love to hear your stories too.

[To be continues]

I just bought the same guitar as you. Mine must be yours long lost twin brother because same year, same color.

[AZ Mike]

For me, it was the most beautiful guitar in the world. I was 16 and got the '65 Ventures Model as a Christmas gift. The most amazing thing was that later the band I was in started playing '60s R&B songs. So there I was, playing Temptations songs on a twangy, surf guitar. But I didn't care. It was still the most beautiful guitar in the world. Sold it in '70, but a few months ago bought another '65 Ventures model, and with Bob Shade's help, turned it into an exact duplicate of what I had from '65-70. Easier to play than my Strat? No. But still my go-to guitar!

[VincentW]

Hi again from Europe!

I think this is the best topic to start to show my Mosrite collection. So here's how I fell in love...
One evening I ended up on the Fretted Americana website. At the time they had a big collection of Mosrites for sale. I hadn't heard much about the mark before, as here in Europe Mosrites are very rare. Only thing I knew was that my favourite guitarist Rory Gallagher had had a white Mosrite double neck.

While going through the collection for sale at Fretted Americana, I was struck by the sheer beauty of this 1990 Mosrite Gospel prototype. I had never seen a more beautiful guitar before. The fact that the guitar came from mr. Moseley's personal collection and was also signed by him at the back of the headstock made it even more desirable.

The Gospel prototype has push-pull knobs, a triple bound body, a double pickguard, a side jack and a slightly scalloped fretboard. Interesting enough there is no serial number. Here's the best shot I took this far.

[StevieSTL]

-- VincentW, that is one sweet guitar. Kudos to you and to Fretted Americana! I'll bet there is a cool story there...