Can you help me identify this copy of Japanese Mosrite

[davewire]

Hello, I would like to have some advice. I am currently in the process of purchasing a Mosrite MK1 guitar manufactured by the Japanese company Firstman between 1973 and 1974. The guitar is priced at 1600 euros, I wanted to make sure that everything was in order by sending you photos and the person's ad. Does the price seem correct to you in relation to the model. Initially, I was looking for a 1966 USA MK5 in theory but it is not the same budget and especially very difficult to find in France. I know that the pickups are different but do you think I could find a similar grain? Thank you for your answers here is the content of the ad:

Here are the photos of the guitar on the reddit forum : https://www.reddit.com/r/Mosrite/commen ... pan_legit/

For sale a Mosrite The Ventures, Firstman model
from 1973/74 in EXCELLENT condition. This mosrite was produced in Japan in the
1970s following an agreement between Semie Moseley and the Firstman company.
Unlike the majority of Mosrite Firstman based on the Avenger model, this one
takes up the iconic characteristics of the Ventures Model Mosrite from the
1960s.

All the characteristics of the classic Mosrite
design are present:

• Ash body with German Carve

• A pair of singlecoil (US mosrite)
microphones. Rich and with a lot of attack, these microphones are wound in 9.7k
ohms. They offer a wide range of sound, “surfy” highs, wide and ample mids and
deep bass.

• Moseley vibrato.

• THE NECK So on this The Venture model, a neck
less thick and less wide than on an Avenger model. This one is made of maple
with a C profile, ultra fast to play and with a low action. Almost constant
thickness of the neck: 1.98 cm at the first fret, 2.5 cm at the 12th fret. The
neck has a width of 3.9 cm at the zero fret, 4.8 cm at the 12th fret and 5.1 at
the 22nd fret. Length of 45 cm between the 1st and 22nd fret. The neck table is
made of rosewood, very smooth, with thin frets, a binding and a zero fret in
metal. Truss-rod perfectly adjusted the neck is true from the 1st to the 22nd fret.

• The Kluson-style tuners turn smoothly and
maintain precise tuning.

• The electronics work perfectly, with a
three-way selector and Volume and Tone knobs.

• The Sunburst finish and varnish are in
excellent condition, highlighting the texture of the ash wood. With just 2
small chips and a few scratches on the lower edge of the body. The gloss finish
on the back of the neck is perfect. The original case is included. Black tolex
with gold “plush” interior and embossed Mosrite logo.

• This guitar weighs 4.3 kilos.
EVERYTHING IS ORIGINAL EXCEPT:

The wiring of the electronics, the volume tone
pots (CTS) the covers (vintage Mosrite pre-66), the selector and the jack
socket (Switchcraft).

The Vibrato rod.

The bridge replaced identically with the famous
Mosrite “roller” bridge

The wiring harness includes modern premium
components, including CTS pots and a Switchcraft selector and jack.

The pickguard

[ EDIT ] In the meantime I contacted Tim from Tym Guitars who has a very interesting section on the history of the Mosrites here is his response

The guitar linked to in the Reddit link is not a Firstman. As discussed on my site Firstman closed in 1969 and was taken over by another company with no association to Firstman. This guitar in this Reddit link was made by Kurokumo probably in the 80's. There's no real way of dating any of the Japanese Mosrite copies except from features like hardware, headstock logos and sometimes original Japanese pots.

The pots and wiring are not original. The aluminium backed pickups were made for Kurokumo in the 80's and 90's. The early versions had a matt finish cover. These are NOT US Mosrite as mentioned in the listing.

The bridge is a "Performance" replacement (https://performancemusic.co/product/mos ... tar-bridge) as the string spacing is too wide.

As also stated on my site there was never any agreement between Mosrite/Semie and ANY Japanese company to make "official" Mosrites, as mentioned in the Reddit thread.

These are nice guitars and (the real) Mosrite never made ash body Ventures models so they're quite unique in the Mosrite world.

I hope this helps.

Do you agree with this feedback?
I think the seller is not lying in his ad but was not properly advised on the product because of the lack of serial number. The seller sells it for 1600 euros (France), what do you think?
How much is this guitar worth?
In terms of quality what is it worth and are Kurokumo pickups of quality and are they similar to good copies of US pickups?
As a fan of Kurt Cobain, I was initially looking for a Mosrite that was similar to that of Cobain like the Mosrite Gospel MK4 / MK5, could I find similar sounds with this Japanese model?
This Japanese model copies which American model? MK1?

Thank you very much for your help