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1968 Mosrite Amplifier, Model 1000

Posted: Thu Feb 19, 2015 2:54 pm
by christill1
Hello! Greetings from a first-time poster. Yesterday, I bought a 1968 Mosrite amp, model 1000. It is huge. I can find zero information on it. The serial number is M 003. It was given to the organist for the Lemon Pipers as part of an endorsement deal in '68. Other Lemon Pipers also got amps as well as guitars, including a dobro bass (yes, that is correct). I bought it from original owner. This thing has been gigged across America and back and across America and back. The Fuzz Rite does not work, nor did it ever work. Does anyone have schematics for the Fuzz Rite circuit? Pretty please! And can anyone tell me anything about this amp? Is it part of the Ventures-Award-bad-Mosrite-amp family or the good-Mosrite-amp family? Many thanks, Chris Till

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Re: 1968 Mosrite Amplifier, Model 1000

Posted: Thu Feb 19, 2015 11:46 pm
by Mr. Bill
Welcome to the place. Your amp was not one of the Award models, and was probably made in Bakersfield California. As far as I know, the Fuzzrite circuit is the same circuit that was used in the footpedals and was switched in and out with a relay. The ones that I have seen were sort of like the Vox and Acoustic amps that were popular around the same time period. Very basic solid state designs that are very serviceable, with really basic parts.

The Lemon Pipers! There's a name I haven't heard in a few years. I wonder how many times Green Tambourine was played through that amp.

I think that the schematics were on the web somewhere. I'll see if I have anything in my files.

Re: 1968 Mosrite Amplifier, Model 1000

Posted: Fri Feb 20, 2015 7:26 am
by zarfnober
Very cool!

Rocco

Re: 1968 Mosrite Amplifier, Model 1000

Posted: Fri Feb 20, 2015 12:28 pm
by FrankJames
Welcome to the forum !!

Re: 1968 Mosrite Amplifier, Model 1000

Posted: Fri Feb 20, 2015 7:22 pm
by christill1
Gracias for the warm salutations. I finally googled 'Mosrite Fuzz Rite schematics' and found all kinds of stuff. That was easy, I think. Unfortunately, I don't work on this kind of stuff though. I just want to download the schematics to give to my repair guy, to make it easy for him. Can someone specifically recommend one of the schematics on the Web? Plus, I'm aiming to touch on Mosrite amps in a book I'm working on. Is there someone recognized as Mr. Mosrite Amp Expert Numero Uno that I could briefly interview? All the best, Chris

Re: 1968 Mosrite Amplifier, Model 1000

Posted: Fri Feb 20, 2015 11:06 pm
by Mr. Bill
If everything else in the amp works, the Fuzzrite circuit is all mounted on a small pc board on the front panel. The two controls are holding the board on. The wiring is just like it was an outboard pedal, but it is switched in and out of circuit by a relay.

Ed Sanner was probably involved in the design of your amp. See if you get in contact with him.

Re: 1968 Mosrite Amplifier, Model 1000

Posted: Sat Feb 21, 2015 11:06 am
by christill1
Ed Sanner! I just googled him. For the book, he'd be perfect. I can't find any contact info for him on the web, though, so just wrote to him care of Hallmark Guitars.

Re: 1968 Mosrite Amplifier, Model 1000

Posted: Sat Feb 21, 2015 7:44 pm
by christill1
Besides the Award series, how many amp models did Mosrite put out? There was a SS-550, a Model 450, a Model 600, and a Model 900 in that era. I have a Model 1000. That makes five. These are all the Dumble/Sanner designs, I think, right? Are all the Ventures/Award amps prefixed BG? I've found the 1967 catalog that lists three amps. One is certainly a Model 400 and the other two are... I can't tell. The '67 Catalog states 'For specifications of each, see page 16," but it's only a 12 page catalog... So... I just splurged and paid $34.11 on Ebay for what purports to be the 1967 Mosrite price guide catalog. Hopefully, it has specifications on the amp line of that era. Many thanks for any help, Chris Till 937-767-2326

Re: 1968 Mosrite Amplifier, Model 1000

Posted: Sun Feb 22, 2015 3:13 pm
by Mr. Bill
I doubt that Dumble had anything to do with any of the solid state amps. As far as I know, he built/designed a tube amp, early on and that was it.

Somebody here had an amp that could have been one of these, but I don't know if he ever was able to verify that fact. Maybe the thread is still around.

Ed Sanner will probably have all of the answers to your questions. I've never talked to him, but I've heard that he was open to discussing his memories of the old days. Somebody should document the history of these guys before they are no longer able to themselves.

Re: 1968 Mosrite Amplifier, Model 1000

Posted: Sun Feb 22, 2015 6:14 pm
by zarfnober
The Dumble Mosrite amp was authenticated by none other than HAD. Want to have some fun? Go to The Gear Page and look up Dumble discussions. Now go ahead and. Call me crazy, but none of the famous Dumble players really excite me. They're all great players, but I'm just not excited by them. And any one of them can make a SS amp sound great.

I found a model 200(I think) a couple years ago, cool amp with verb and swanky Mosrite knobs.

Rocco