Mosrite Dobro Bass

[MWaldorf]

There were some Celebrity basses with the 24.5" scale, so that doesn't throw me. The headstock ears are unusual, but everything else looks correct. Cool instrument!

[ChristoMephisto]

headstock ears? think he gave the dobro their own headstocks...

glad i can tell my friend it's a real Mosrite, and not a Partsrite

[zarfnober]

There were some Celebrity basses with the 24.5" scale, so that doesn't throw me. The headstock ears are unusual, but everything else looks correct. Cool instrument!

One of these days I'll post pictures of my Celebrity Bass with a short scale, same as a guitar.

Rocco

[bakeoboy]

First time I've seen a Dobro bass and then this most unusual Mosrite Bass Dobro -with guitar scale neck and duckfeet tuners to boot
I see Semie squeezed in the neck pickup up against the neck on this model too. I wonder how she sounds.

the neck is sinking towards the bridge as the body collapses

[LoveyX]

probably not the best design for a bass (i like the longer scales) but it sure looks cool

[ChristoMephisto]

Ran into my friend the other day who owns this, and he was telling my he read somewhere they only made 30 of these beauties.
A week after he recused it from someone's basement ( did i say attic before?) there was a flood and it would of been ruined

What strings and gauge do you use with a 24.5" bass? Using regular bass stings it doesn't intonate and its sharp by a step at the 12th
Playing around with DGBE (top 4 like a guitar, but down an octave) tuning using 56-44-34-24 and it has a great sound...

[jowston]

I have one of these too. It is serial number DC0075. I bought it from a collector in Chicago for $250.00 in 1975. The intonation is fine on mine; however, I have never been able to get the E string to sound right. Instead of ringing like it should, it sounds like a dead thud. I isolated the tailpiece from the resonator with a Popsicle stick and that helped some with some strange harmonics, but even with 6 string bass strings in a lighter gauge or round wound short scale Rotosound strings, it never sounded right. It is easy to play and the pick-up on the resonator has a bite to it, but it does feedback at high volumes. Since I a primarily a guitarist, the short scale makes transition to the bass much easier. My other bass is P-bass copy and it is fretless - so I am less likely to play it in a live situation.

Jim Owston

[jowston]

I noticed that some doubted whether this was a production instrument. It was and I have some photostats of the catalog it appeared in at the time. The Californian was available in three models - a six string, a 12 string, and the bass. I've always wondered how many of these there were. Glen Campbell owned a 12-string model. Typically, you usually see the 6-string configuration.

Jim

[jowston]

For those wishing to hear this instrument acoustically. Here's a sample of a song from one of my brother's CDs. Blues Like Midnight was recorded in 1975 with my brother on a National Resophonic and vocals and me on harmonica. I overdubbed the Dobro bass in 2005 for the album's re-release that year. http://www.niteowlblues.com/tunes/blues_like_midnight.mp3

The tune was not issued on the original album in 1975 and we included outtakes and other songs from the 1975 sessions on the 2005 CD version. This was and still is a little thin. It was thought that the bass would fatten the sound somewhat.

Jim