Original or fake?

[kpblc]

I have Mosrite The Ventures model (with changed pickups.) The problem is that i`m not sure that my mosrite is original. Here are some photos of this guitar. Can you tell me about it smth? Is it original or just a fake.
Serial is 2072, and there is a stamp "USA" on the last fret. Seller told me that it`s american and was made in 90`s. But i`m not sure.
https://www.dropbox.com/sh/5wn8cncb3rj60n1/YsFxTdIW7-

[MWaldorf]

Looks like a Japanese Mosrite to me. A couple of reasons:
USA Mosrites will have "of California" under the logo on the headstock
The SN stamp font is wrong
The knob, vibrato and neck plate are Japanese parts (look like Fillmore to me)
I also think it's been refretted, probably at the same time the other modifications where done.

That being said, Fillmore Mosrites are very nice guitars and nothing to complain about.

[dorkrockrecords]

It's not a Fillmore, but a Kurokumo (also Japanese).
Cheers,
Adam

[kpblc]

and what about "USA" stamp? That`s someone`s idea to make this mosrite look more expensive?

[MWaldorf]

DorkRockRecords is right - it's a Kurokumo. I was thrown by the "Moseley" tailpiece as I know Fillmore used them but hadn't seen Kurokumos with them. But the knob and neck plate do look like the parts on the Kurokumo I used to have (it was a great guitar, btw)

My guess is that the "USA" stamp was added later, perhaps when the modifications were done (maybe in the US?) The stamp letters are a different size than the serial number.

In general, keep in mind that even with vintage US guitars, there's some wiggle as to what it actually from the factory, as Mosrite went out of business several times and a number of guitars were made from factory parts purchased through bankruptcy proceedings. These are informally known as "Parts-rites" Depending on how far along the parts were in the manufacturing process, some of these are essentially factory guitars. Others are more homespun affairs, like the one I built.