Rich121's green Celebrity

[Rich121]

Hey Rich,

I would love to see more pictures of your green Celebrity. I am very intrigued by the two extra knobs on the control plate. I have never seen four knobs on a Celebrity-III nor any other Celebrity of that time period with the "apostrophe" shaped control plate. That arrangement looks like the control plate for the early Gospels.

Please share........

Sorry I'm slow Sarah. I went to Tahoe for a few days and then got slammed with work.
I'll get back on operation elusive photo tomorrow. I have read the instructions for the Nikon now. Its about as complicated as the manual for ProTools but I think its in English.

If I can, I'll pull the control plate. I've only done that once before, a long time ago, and seem to remember that its a real tight fit catching between the toggle and far pot. I'd pull the neck but I've got a new set of test strings on it. But I'm not loving the half rounds so maybe I can snap a neck date.

Rich

[Sarah93003]

Hey Rich,

I would love to see more pictures of your green Celebrity. I am very intrigued by the two extra knobs on the control plate. I have never seen four knobs on a Celebrity-III nor any other Celebrity of that time period with the "apostrophe" shaped control plate. That arrangement looks like the control plate for the early Gospels.

Please share........

Sorry I'm slow Sarah. I went to Tahoe for a few days and then got slammed with work.
I'll get back on operation elusive photo tomorrow. I have read the instructions for the Nikon now. Its about as complicated as the manual for ProTools but I think its in English.

If I can, I'll pull the control plate. I've only done that once before, a long time ago, and seem to remember that its a real tight fit catching between the toggle and far pot. I'd pull the neck but I've got a new set of test strings on it. But I'm not loving the half rounds so maybe I can snap a neck date.

Rich

Hey Rich, I don't know if you've taken the neck off before, but I've looked at three Celebrities so far and none of them had a date in the neck pocket and only one had the serial number stamped there. I am very curious about yours thought because all of the features are Celebrity-III except the control plate. I'll find an image of a Gospel to show you.

[Rich121]

Well 458 pictures and I still stink.

If they had come out OK I'd spin a new thread, but as is I'll just spam this one. I'll try pulling the neck and control plate this week end.

[Sarah93003]

You're startin' to get the hang of it Rich! It's difficult to tell from the pictures, but if you look at the pickups and after the word "Mosrite" do you see a "circle R"? I'm still intriqued with the two extra knobs! This is the first Celebrity-III I've seen with this control set up. I'd love to know the story!

[Rich121]

You're startin' to get the hang of it Rich! It's difficult to tell from the pictures, but if you look at the pickups and after the word "Mosrite" do you see a "circle R"? I'm still intriqued with the two extra knobs! This is the first Celebrity-III I've seen with this control set up. I'd love to know the story!

[Rich121]

Well best I can do on the TCs.
I had a Tpot freeze up in the 80's I think (only time I had pulled the plate). I appears that I may have done a bit more than add WD40 . I'm pretty sure that the orange drop cap (.1) was added at that time. Hey I was young and still stupid then.

Pots: 1346815,1346815,1346815,1346814



Rich
aka camera challenged

[Sarah93003]

Excellent shot Rich! From the pot codes you can tell that the pots were made the 14th and 15th week of 1968.

For example: 1346814

134 = Central Lab, Inc (Manufactuer)
68 = the year
14 = the week (week of April1, 1968) and 15 = (week of April 8)

So, you now know your guitar was likely made after April of 1968. I think production had ended by the end of 1968 or early 1969 when Semie filed for BK.

How long have you owned this guitar and did it always have four pots?

[Rich121]

Well, I bought it my first year at Cal Poly, so that would be Sept 70 - June 71. Bought it from a guy in Paso Robles (so it had only made it 90 miles from Bakersfield). He was a country swing type and they generally don't do much to a guitar. It had the pots when I got it . But who knows what happened in the couple years since it was born. It looked new before I got my hands on it.

[Sarah93003]

Well, I bought it my first year at Cal Poly, so that would be Sept 70 - June 71. Bought it from a guy in Paso Robles (so it had only made it 90 miles from Bakersfield). He was a country swing type and they generally don't do much to a guitar. It had the pots when I got it . But who knows what happened in the couple years since it was born. It looked new before I got my hands on it.

I'm thinking it may have been a special order. The control layout is right for a Gospel guitar of that period. I doubt if it was a mistake and now that I think about it, the pots codes are so similar in date and they are exactly the type used by Mosrite at that time. I would think this left the factory in that configuration, which is pretty cool and may be a one of a kind.

Oh yeah, keep me in mind if you ever sell this baby!

[dubtrub]

That big orange drop Sprague capacitor is a newer replacement and looks to be added on over the top of the original ceramic disc.