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NICE! I WAS WATCHING THAT ONE! GOOD PRICE TOO! LOOKS BETTER THAN MY FIRSTMAN!

Congrats Veenture!!! looks great... will be waiting for the review.

Congrats Veenture!!! The sunburst is way cool. The Super Excellent is a super excellent guitar--do enjoy!!!!!

Thanks all! I'm expecting it to arrive on my doorstep any day now. I phoned Customs this morning and was told that it had been cleared on Aug. 26.
The import duty is Euro 253.37 (about US$360)!!!
(Man, I need to come to the US of A)

Veenture wrote:The import duty is Euro 253.37 (about US$360)!!!

OUCH!!!

Oh the anxiety! That's worse than waiting on Christmas. At least you know what it will come.

Congrats Paul! I almost put a bid in on that very Mosrite the first time it was listed. Still holding off for a Combo and a few other things, Glad you got it, enjoy!

The Super Excellent arrived on my doorstep yesterday; all in one piece and what I saw after unpacking was no disappointment! I love the burst finish with that typical 60's yellow in it. The paint job is stunningly good and smooth and the German Carve just perfect and soft.

OK, here's the rundown so far.
It's a player but in very good nick. We soon became acquainted and the expected 'narrow-neck-scare' turned out to be NO scare, at all, thank goodness! It is only about 1mm. narrower at the zero fret than my Hallmark 60 Custom's. The distance between the zero- and last fret is about 2-1/2 mm shorter than on the H60C. I took it right out of the case and had no problem playing it.

Sound:
The pups are a little brighter and snappier (toggle: mid position) than what I hear on my H60C. The Super Excellent has an impressive punch and growl; the sound that I like so much. I could keep on playing but wanted to address some matters first.

Yup, this one had some of the familiar Mosrite issues too but all have been remedied by me since it's arrival, without any problems. After a good looking-over, I cleaned it and started getting her in shape the way I envisaged her to be.

Tuning issue:
First, I removed the socket from the trem-arm that had made it into a hard tail and put back the original spring that came with it. The spring turned out to be too weak for the new set of Ernie Ball Slinky's (10-46) that I installed. Dive bombs were fine but coming down from an upward move left the strings almost half a tone sharp! Replacing it with my Hallmark's reserve (heavier gauge) spring proved to be a good solution…job done!

The tuning keys are nice and tight. The zero fret shows signs of strings having carved out small narrow grooves into it but is not a problem. A couple of frets show honest play wear and if it ever needs re-fretting, I shall opt for a speed fret job (i.e. just dressing them). The binding on the fret board is very thin (about 1mm.) whereas on my Hallmark they are almost double that.

Dangling Trem arm:
Just needed some tightening and I know where to find my Loc-tite, if need be.

Loose jack plug:
I popped the pick guard (a nice mint green one!) in order to tighten the jack plug nut and noticed the two pots; "yay, both are 500K" !

Toggle switch:
The threaded shaft was sticking out like a sore thumb about 10mm. above pick guard-level. Adding washers underneath the 'guard took care of that! It works fine but I have to say the toggle switch on my H60C is of a higher quality.

The Volume- and Tone knobs are perfect (heavy: they weigh about 20 grams each!) and are very similar to the Hallmark knobs. I removed the black tape that had been wound around them (for better grip) and fitted a pair of rubber O-rings on each one, much the same way I did on my Hallmark.

See topic viewtopic.php?f=20&t=1280&p=12043&hilit=groovy+grip#p12043

Loose binding:
The end of one strip of binding at the neck was starting to peel. A drop of glue/kit quickly fixed that. Man, how I love that peanut-shape neck plate.

I ended my enjoyable labors with a complete setup (intonation, bridge height adjustment etc.). I raised both pups, leaving about 1/8 inch clearance between strings and pole pieces with strings pressed down at the last fret. There is a serial number stamped on the last fret: # 3510

The hardshell case is fine (by G&G) but the Hallmark case offers a better (snug) fit.

Both guitars are fine animals and shall stay companions while under my care.
Oh yeah, my Mosrite’s strap buttons are now sporting Fender felt washers around their necks

Anybody know where I can buy a white decal "The Ventures model"... to put on the headstock?
Thanks! –Paul

Congratulations Paul - sounds like you've got the guitar set up "rite"!

Hey, Paul!

That was a great report and very informative. I'm glad you were able to get such a great guitar!

I don't know who it was on this forum that first mentioned that O-ring idea for the speed knobs, but I have done it on all my speed-knob-fitted guitars since reading about the idea and it is a wonderful upgrade. On the HC60, I used thin red-rubber washers, believe it or not, because it seemed to match the color of the guitar better, and they work just as well as the O-rings.

Of course, wacky is my rule and guide.

Sorry that customs fees were so pricey; I sold a couple of guitars to some fellows in Europe and felt bad about the shipping and customs they had to pay to get nice American guitars. One fellow was in Holland, and he was nice enough to send photos of his family and home after he bought a Rickenbacker bass from me on eBay. Swell guy.

The other fellow bought a Martin 0-sized acoustic on eBay from me and actually let me know about a cousin of his who lived near me in Maryland, and she and I were an acoustic duo in local coffee houses for a while. Wonderful voice and she had been a super-close friend of Danny Gatton, as it turned out. She gave me one of his picks, which some punk swiped at a gig.

Anyway, GOOD ON YOU for that guitar acquisition and I hope you provide some more comparisons to your other guitars.

--Jim

Great report Paul!