Micro-Frets Spacetone!!!

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eltuce
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Micro-Frets Spacetone!!!

Postby eltuce » Sat Sep 18, 2010 6:11 pm

Oddly enough two of these showed up in the Boston area in one week, one was half the price of the other. Guess which one I bought. I sold my '65 SG Junior which I'm still kinda kicking myself a bit over but wound up buying this one within 24 hours, oops! Very cool guitars that seem to slip under the radar. These pickups sound really amazing, very Mosrite-ish and it plays very well. I love the original paperwork that came with it, UPS was much cheaper in '71! I also like that the guitar was born the same year I was.

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Veenture
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Re: Micro-Frets Spacetone!!!

Postby Veenture » Sun Sep 19, 2010 2:26 am

Never seen or heard of this brand before. Interesting headstock. First time I've seen an adjustable "intonation nut"! (my own quote :oops: ).
It seems a down-to-earth guitar but with attention to detail on some of the features, nonetheless. Have many happy hours with it, eltuce!
(Dare I ask what the asking price was?)

-Paul

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Dennisthe Menace
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Re: Micro-Frets Spacetone!!!

Postby Dennisthe Menace » Sun Sep 19, 2010 5:54 am

Congrats eltuce ;) I believe those p'ups were built by a young Bill Lawrence back then :) .
make the Mos' of it, choose the 'rite stuff.
.........Owner of 9 Mosrites...
.....proud owner and documented:
1963 "the Ventures" Model s/n #0038
http://www.thevintagerockproject.com/

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101Volts
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Re: Micro-Frets Spacetone!!!

Postby 101Volts » Sun Sep 19, 2010 7:22 am

Congrats on the purchase, I never noticed that Microfrets guitars had roller/adjustable nuts before. Wasn't this brand of guitar the very first to have a wireless feature?

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1966 Ventures II (German Carved, B670.)
1970s "Not a Blues Bender" Bodies: 2.
1976 Brass Rail Deluxe #10.
2013 Fender Pawn Shop Bass VI.

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eltuce
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Re: Micro-Frets Spacetone!!!

Postby eltuce » Sun Sep 19, 2010 1:03 pm

Why yes, the pickups were made by Bill Lawrence and yes, I believe they were the first to go wireless but had some issues. The one on consignment here is marked at $2000 and the guy selling it paid $2500. I scored mine for just over $1000.

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Re: Micro-Frets Spacetone!!!

Postby JimPage » Sun Sep 19, 2010 1:48 pm

Tommy, those Micro-Frets were made in Northern Maryland and I used to see used ones for sale. By the time I realized what they were, so had others and the prices jumped up!

If I remember correctly, Carl Perkins played those for a while through solid-state Kustom Lead amps (after the rolled-and-pleated ones). I scored one of those Kustom amps a couple of weeks ago and my Hallmarks and Mosrite sound fine through it.

I wonder if the Micro-Frets adjustable-nut feature shares something with that Buzz Feiten Tuning System. Anyone know?

--Jim
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• '99 Martin D-41
• '67 Mosrite Celebrity II
• '72 Mosrite Celebrity III
• '83 Tokai TST56
• '10 Hallmark Barris Krest
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• Basses: Ashbory, Hofner, 51RI Precision, 5-string, fretless

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eltuce
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Re: Micro-Frets Spacetone!!!

Postby eltuce » Sun Sep 19, 2010 3:12 pm

Yep, and so did a bunch of other country players. Also, Mark Farner of Grand Funk. I'd say at $1000 it's still a great deal.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kz1Y1ekH ... 1&index=33

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Re: Micro-Frets Spacetone!!!

Postby Veenture » Sun Sep 19, 2010 3:37 pm

eltuce wrote:I scored mine for just over $1000.
I'm rather surprised at that and feel a bit embarrassed having asked eltuce :oops: , ...I was thinking of it's value being in the $500 - $700 level or so :o
However, it's USA-made and a genuine piece of American guitar history and the internet certainly is helping getting people aware of some guitars' rareness, congrats!

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eltuce
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Re: Micro-Frets Spacetone!!!

Postby eltuce » Sun Sep 19, 2010 3:54 pm

That's alright, no worries. For a real deal USA made vintage I still think that's pretty decent. I believe the going rate for these is somewhere in the $700-$1100 range so I did wind up on the higher end but I'm alright with it. I guess after what I have spent on some other guitars $1000 seems fairly cheap.

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Re: Micro-Frets Spacetone!!!

Postby Dennisthe Menace » Sun Sep 19, 2010 4:02 pm

Eltuce, you did just fine ;) .
make the Mos' of it, choose the 'rite stuff.
.........Owner of 9 Mosrites...
.....proud owner and documented:
1963 "the Ventures" Model s/n #0038
http://www.thevintagerockproject.com/


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