Artie's new acquisition

[dubtrub]

I received these photographs form Artie this evening to post on the forum. He just acquired this guitar and as you can tell by the pix it's in excellent condition. He feels that it is a 64 and most likely a prototype. Notice the molded soapbar pup covers, the screw cover neckplate, the spun knobs with the pin hole drilled in the skirt of the knob and pickguard as a volume and tone position marker. Comments are welcomed as maybe we can 'force' Artie into participating.

[ElTwang]

That's it! I'm moving to Bakersfield.
Do you know where he got it from?

[MWaldorf]

Wow - that's a beauty! Where does Artie find gems like this?!?

As an aside, the neck joint on these looks like a weak point; I wonder if these are prone to breaking at the neck joint the way SGs are. Maybe that's why they were redesigned with the deep neck inset?

[Dennisthe Menace]

...that's disgustingly sick...!! It's not how Artie keeps finding gems like these...it's how gems like these, keep finding Artie!!
Just about every Mosrite Collector knows who Front Porch Music is...Is there any 'story' behind this guitar?

He feels that it is a 64 and most likely a prototype. Notice the molded soapbar pup covers, the screw cover neckplate,
the spun knobs with the pin hole drilled in the skirt of the knob and pickguard as a volume and tone position marker.

I agree with Artie on this possibly being a prototype, because of the Sunburst finish and the Neck Screws. Everything else is
ALL Factory on the MARK II....but man-o-man!!!,Sunburst?!?!? This will make the "Burst Brothers" sweat over at (fill in the blank).
The ONLY OTHER S'Burst that I have seen on a MARK II, were on the Japanese Re-Issues, and I believe not that many were made as well.
We ALSO have a Member that joined the FORUM not to long ago, who has a "matched set" of a MARK I and II in S'burst .
The majority of Mark IIs, were either done in a Red, White or Blue. When the Mark Vs came out, The Sunburst finish was
just 'another color' added, that became available for the "Color Chart" in the Mosrite Catalog......
Mel posted:

As an aside, the neck joint on these looks like a weak point; I wonder if these are prone to breaking at the neck joint
the way SGs are. Maybe that's why they were redesigned with the deep neck inset?

Nope....Semie redesigned this Model (Ventures II) because he thought it looked too "plain looking" and also looked too much
like somebody's "other guitar." Can you say Mustang? I guess Semie was referring to the P'guard on the Bass Side of the body.
When Semie was done re-thinking and re-designing the guitar, this new model would now be called the Mark V although both
the MARK II and the MARK V were now sharing the same 'badge' ("the Ventures II Model")........
And as far as the Neck Joint being weak?....Probably Not....Although there were only a handful of MARK IIs made, I can't ever
remember reading any of these breaking. Now if you want to talk about the "Stress Cracks" where the paint would crack all
the way to the wood, that's possible, but neck breaking...nawh. I don't think "Johnny" would of put up with that....even if his
guitar DID only cost him $50

[Desert Surfer]

Wow, it is surely a rare find. Beautiful! I am glad there are people like Artie in the US are collecting these Mosrites.

[bakeoboy]

this Ventures II was taken care of by the family after the original owner died in a plane crash around 1970.Grandma kept in her house till last mo.
There is no date or # on it anywhere.grey case w. black edges.
Artie

[dubtrub]

Hey Artie,

Glad to see you join us here on the forum. Grey case with black edges, got any pix of the outside of the case?

If so, email them to me and I'll post them. These are great photo's for 'coming soon' photo album archive.

[MWaldorf]

Hey Artie, welcome aboard! I came through Bakersfield on Monday, I'm disappointed that I missed your shop. I'll have to make sure to get there when you're open next time!

Mel

[Dennisthe Menace]

Artie, Welcome to the Community! It's good to see ya post! I might be wrong, but I
believe this case was the same case that Fender used on their Musicmaster, Duo-Sonics,
and Mustangs. That case should have a little snap strap to hold the neck in place, and
there isn't a glove compartment either for the accessories....but I could be wrong .

[Bushers]

Thats the same case that I have with my early MKII, or is it Ventures II, or is it Mark V?? Cmon Dennis youre muddling things up here now!! LOL






j/k