General Consensus RE: Clones

[J i m m y]

If I were going to spring for a Wilson Bros. model it would have to be the one with the Jazzmaster/Jaguar vibrato unit. I absolutely loathe Strat-style vibratos in every possible way. (Luckily I'm not in the market for a new toy right now.)

[GTSP]

The only two "clones" I would ever consider buying are the Hallmarks or the Fillmore Mosrites. In my opinion, the Fillmore Mosrites are the best. A little pricey, but worth the investment & they hold their value. I don't really consider them "Clones", but to answer your question correctly, they need to be considered.

There are several threads on here talking about all kinda clones. Most of the others just have a cosmetic similarity to Mosrite, & the builder don't try to clone the sound of the vintage Morites. Hallmark & modern Mosrites by Fillmore do.

There are a few guitars that are more of a custom make, but you're gonna pay for them.

[GattonFan]

I currently have 2 Hallmark 60 Cs, 2 late 60s/early 70s Firstman/Fillmore MK Is, a Super Custom 65 (Kurokumo), a Fillmore Ranger (along with 3 60s Mosrites) - I would say that all of them are excellent copies - but with different characteristics. I could easily recommend any of them. Had a VM65 (Wilson Bros) - not so much - maybe their higher-end guitars are better.
Dennis

[64sunburst]

I have an Eastwood Sidejack that I got sometime in 2008. At first I was really digging the guitar, but it soon became obvious how unlike a Mosrite it is - the P90s don't sound anything like a Mosrite, the body shape is wider, and the German carve is a totally different design. Having said that, the guitar is nice - no issues with quality. But it doesn't come close to being a Mosrite clone. It's more of an "inspired by Mosrite" guitar.

Byron

[olrocknroller]

I currently have 2 Hallmark 60 Cs, 2 late 60s/early 70s Firstman/Fillmore MK Is, a Super Custom 65 (Kurokumo), a Fillmore Ranger (along with 3 60s Mosrites) - I would say that all of them are excellent copies - but with different characteristics. I could easily recommend any of them. Had a VM65 (Wilson Bros) - not so much - maybe their higher-end guitars are better.
Dennis

That's what I find...every well made guitar has its own characteristics, and it is almost impossible to duplicate any brand precisely. Being made of wood, I have even seen significant differences among examples of a specific model. Couple years back I found a tired old Univox Ripper, and completely rebuilt it. When I first played it, I discovered why it had been so completely worn out...it was awesome! Sadly, a young fellow crossed my palm with enough silver, and it went out the door.

[jfine]

I used to have a Wilson Bros. VCM2003. The workmanship and finish were top-notch, the pickups were killer, but the Jazzmaster bridge and trem were so problematic (lots of string buzz, strings popping out of the saddles, etc.) that I had to send it back--a Buzz-Stop wouldn't fit because the tailpiece was closer to the bridge than on a Jazzmaster. There was a VCM2001 that had a Moseley-style vibrato, but they were only available in Japan and Wilson Bros. couldn't get any more. A shame, as otherwise the VCM2003 was a great guitar. I now have a Hallmark 60 Custom that's very nice--the trem works a lot better. Does it sound like the Wilson Bros? Not really--the pickups are a little fatter, more like a Mosrite in fact, while the Wilson Bros. was more like a P-90 crossed with a Jazzmaster. The neck on the Wilson Bros. was a little bigger, which I like, but the Hallmark neck is fine too. Bob Shade has done a great job of trying to please both big-neck fans and Mosrite pencil-neck fans. I can't play a Mosrite neck, but I have no trouble with the Hallmark.

[TimR]

I have owned about 30 Semie made Mosrites, maybe 10 Japanese Mosrites (both Kurokumo and Fillmore), plus Univox, Wilson Bros, etc., clones. When I first started playing Mosrites, I loved the Ventures, but I wasn't very good. I was really impressed
by the thin necks, low frets and ridiculously low action. As the years passed, I got better, as a player. I began to see the advantage of wider necks and bigger frets. Now, I'm 62, and a pretty fair player -not only surfwise, but r & r, rock-a -billy & blues. Like some have mentioned, I despise Strat type tremeloes. I love Gretsch guitars and Bigsby tremeloes. However, I truly believe the best guitar ever made in the Mosrite vein, is the Hallmark C-60. I have one, and it is my favorite axe. Bob Shade brought it all together and did the important things that Semie never got around to. In my opinion, it's not a matter of which is the best clone. The Hallmark C-60 is better than the real thing -and for far less $$.

TR

[JimPage]

Hey--

I was over at Hallmark World Headquarters this weekend, to have Bob setup a (gasp) 1984 Tokai TST-62 Strat replica I had recently gotten on eBay, and Bob showed me an almost mint '64 Ventures-model Mosrite he had. The thing was beautiful, especially how the red in the black>red>yellow sunburst followed the edge of the fretboard binding.

But it was almost too small a neck, left-to-right and front-to-back, even for me.

Bob has managed, in his Hallmark guitars, to replicate the nice action all the way up the fingerboard that Mosrites have. You don't have to fight a Hallmark and that helps folks like me who need every advantage they can get from a guitar.

Rickenbackers, or at least the ones I used to have, can achieve a similar ease of playing, but mine usually took a little tweaking to get them there.

This Strat-copy I got will never have that quality, but it is pretty to look at and fun to play. Since I've been going through a Buddy Holly phase, it will be fun to play his songs on it, even though it has a rosewood, not a maple, neck. It does have that two-tone sunburst that his guitars had.

What impressed me watching Bob was how focused he was on setting up that Strat to achieve its full potential. It had never been set up at all, and I had gotten it fairly close to good, but Bob spent a lot of time until he was satisfied it was all it could be. It made a heck of a difference.

--Jim

[Haole Jim]

Bout 6 years ago, 'bought a Dillion VMD-75 which after fret dressing and filing and big pro setup became a darned playable git for about $425 into it. P-90s and a Bigsby imitation, sorta German-carve.

But it inspired purchase of a real one, so....

[Rob_J]

...However, I truly believe the best guitar ever made in the Mosrite vein, is the Hallmark C-60. I have one, and it is my favorite axe. Bob Shade brought it all together and did the important things that Semie never got around to. In my opinion, it's not a matter of which is the best clone. The Hallmark C-60 is better than the real thing -and for far less $$.

TR

+1

While I would love to own a genuine original Mosrite from the 60's, it would be more due to nostalgia than to having it as a player guitar. I once owned an Epiphone Casino with a very narrow neck and it was extremely hard to play. From all of the comments regarding the narrow necks of the Mosrites, I imagine I'd have the same problem.

My Hallmark Custom 60 totally satisfies my longings for a Mosrite. It IS a Mosrite as far as I'm concerned.