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Re: Recently Acquired A 1965 Mark 5

Posted: Thu Feb 01, 2018 1:06 pm
by 101Volts
MozRite wrote:
101Volts wrote:
MozRite wrote:
Not sure. I can check when I get home the serial # when I get home. Not sure I want to take the neck off the body but whatever serial #s I see without taking off the neck I can post.


Thanks, looks good! BTW, your MK V is probably not a 1965 model; Mosrite still used the "Ventures II" name for this body style then. Even my early 1966 model is still a "Ventures II." This is likely, at earliest, a 1966 model; it still has the truss rod adjustment at the body end (they moved it to the headstock at least as early as 1967.)

- Austin


Thanks it's a great looking guitar true. I like the vibrant red color to it. I am not a fan of the B-52s as I only like a few of their songs (and I am an old school New Wave/New Romantic guy from the early '80s too) but with that said I love Ricky Wilson's work on Rock Lobster, Lava and so forth. Did he use one on Lava? I know on RL he did. With that said that Ink Blue version he had looks good but I like the red better and fortunately got red like I like.

From the serial # I think we can determine the exact year so I'll post it. I have visited that website that kind of is a registry of Mark II and Mark V models. Many people have registered their guitar there. Good website to seeing what's out there. Not all are on there though.


You're welcome. It sounds to me like Ricky used a Mosrite on Lava. He used bass strings on the blue MK V for Rock Lobster so maybe he used either his Sunburst MK V or his 1975 Sunburst MK I instead of replacing strings.

I've been to MaxKat's registry site, mine's recorded there. Mosrite's not the most consistent company for serail numbers, yours may have a lower serial number than mine (B670 with B641 filled in underneath) even though mine's a Ventures II that dates to Jan 1966 for the neck and March 1966 for the body.

- Austin

Re: Recently Acquired A 1965 Mark 5

Posted: Fri Feb 02, 2018 12:19 am
by MozRite
Okay this is the serial # on it. B860. So can anyone confirm the year of this? I thought it was a 1965 but then now from the other posting it seems like it's a 1966 or early 1967. I hope it's a 1967 since I was born in 1967. Late 1967 but 67 nevertheless.

All this Mark V business is getting me to listen to the B-52s. I guess from a 50 year old who was a new waver/new romantic type in the early '80s it may be surprising I'm not a fan of theirs. I did buy the album with Rock Lobster just for listens. I can respect Wilson's playing and the band's abilities but I only can get into a few of their songs.

I like -

"Lava"
"Rock Lobster"

Then later stuff minus Ricky Wilson since he passed away -

"Summer of Love"
"Roam"

A lot of people like "Love Shack" but that never appealed to me but of the two it's more popular. "Summer of Love" saved this band. They were going to break up but put out that song anyway and was a big hit and they continued on. Kind of like Duran Duran was essentially over then they put out "Ordinary World" which was a big hit and gave them new life. Sure it was not the original line up but the line up they had was good with Warren Cuccurullo. He was great with Missing Persons and I missed them the first time around in the '80s. I was a fan then but never saw them live. Almost did but missed. Well I was able to see Missing Persons reform with original members and Warren was amazing on guitar. Duran Duran I tried to see in 1984 for the Seven and the Ragged Tiger Tour but when I was in line for tickets it sold out in about 15 minutes. Only the first 10 people or so got tickets. There must have been tons of Ticket Tron locations out there to do that. This is the LA Market. This was years before the internet. So I was able to see them twice with all original members reformed. Once in 2002 and once 2004. Shortly after Andy Taylor left due to differences with them but at least I saw them live with all original members. They were great.

Sorry I regress and strayed from topic at hand.

That's it folks for the B-52 songs I like. I did see the B-52s in concert but that's much later than their original success. I saw them in 2000 I believe it was because they toured with The GoGos who I am a big fan of. I saw The GoGos again a year later in 2001. The Psychedelic Furs opened for them. I may have the opening acts years reversed as it was a long time ago.

Re: Recently Acquired A 1965 Mark 5

Posted: Fri Feb 02, 2018 12:19 pm
by 101Volts
B860? Nice. Maxkat's list doesn't have it, the closest one on it is B856 (which is also red) but that one doesn't have its date recorded; the closest one that does is B844 (a white one) and its neck is dated July 22, 1966. I can't say for sure what date yours is from here, however, as Mosrite's history isn't always linear; B949 dates to December 9, 1965 and B996 is dated to February 28, 1966. Mosrite did have a habit to just use whatever was on hand which may explain a late 1965 neck with such a high number. Even considering that, I still don't know whether or not those two necks have stamping errors on them.

As for the B52s, I like most of their first album and parts of their second album. Did you know in "There's a Moon in the Sky," while there are 2 guitars playing, Ricky's playing all of the airplane takeoff sound at the end? Cindy's playing some guitar in that song too, they're little accent parts though. I like their later material from a different perspective but none of it's quite the same as the first 2 albums.

- Austin

Re: Recently Acquired A 1965 Mark 5

Posted: Sun Feb 04, 2018 12:55 am
by MozRite
Austin,

Good trivia on Cindy Wilson playing guitar on the song. I had no idea she played on that. I know she played guitar because on some live videos from the Ricky Wilson era she is seen playing guitar on a few songs but I forgot which ones. Probably the one you mention and maybe another song or two. It's cool they had her play guitar on the studio version of the song you mention because everything is multi track recorded so her brother could have just played both parts but they let her play on it which means they felt she had something to offer creatively in terms of guitar and also because she was his sister! LOL.

Re: Recently Acquired A 1965 Mark 5

Posted: Wed Feb 07, 2018 5:30 am
by maxkat
Now it's in the list and it's definitely a 1966 ;)

Re: Recently Acquired A 1965 Mark 5

Posted: Thu Feb 08, 2018 12:54 am
by MozRite
maxkat thanks for adding it and confirming the year.
Austin thanks for your input on this and suggesting it is a 1966 too.

Re: Recently Acquired A 1965 Mark 5

Posted: Wed Apr 04, 2018 8:27 pm
by 101Volts
I'm replying awful late but you're welcome. Thanks for sharing, too.

- Austin

Re: Recently Acquired A 1965 Mark 5

Posted: Sat Jul 06, 2019 12:10 am
by MozRite
I know I'm adding to this tread I started when I first got my Mark V, so it's been some time but my Mark V does have a plastic pickup selector switch tip so I am under the impression this is not the original tip because it should be metal, right? I have searched for pics of Mark Vs all over the internet and only saw one other with a plastic tip.

So is it safe to say it's non-original pickup selector tip? I have seen I think Celebrities with either metal tip or plastic tip so wondering if those also were non-original tips or some of them did have plastic tips originally? Wonder if mine was replaced for some reason, maybe a previous owner lost the original tip and could only find a plastic tip or is it possible that a guitar builder at Mosrite saw a plastic tip available and threw it on. But that makes not much sense because it would be inconsistent with the way Mark V's were supposed to be made. Then again hopefully the selector itself is original and at worse the tip was replaced at one point.

Re: Recently Acquired A 1965 Mark 5

Posted: Sat Jul 06, 2019 12:41 pm
by Sarah93003
As far as I know the plastic tips are not original to any Mosrite model and it should be metal.

Re: Recently Acquired A 1965 Mark 5

Posted: Sat Jul 06, 2019 11:18 pm
by MozRite
Sarah93003 wrote:As far as I know the plastic tips are not original to any Mosrite model and it should be metal.


Sarah, thanks for the information. I just purchased off eBay a vintage '60s Mosrite tip. It looks convincingly real so I think it's true vintage. I hope it fits. It should fit since they are standard but that's if the original switch is vintage. I didn't see pics of the insides before I got it and didn't take it apart. The white switch tip looks actually pretty good with the white pickguard but I wanna keep it authentic, oh play authentic is Gibsons thing! But I want to try to keep it vintage if I can. If I ever sold the guitar, which I don't have plans, but if I ever sold it I'd disclose it's a vintage pickup selector tip but put on afterwards.