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Mosrite Identification points. Mosrite and Semie Moseley made so many one offs and custom orders it is almost impossible to list them accurately. This page is and attempt to help people who may have "weird" or strange Mosrites they can not identify from the previous pages. When Semie started in the early 50's he was working from "workshops" and sheds wherever he could find space. All through the Mosrite history there are stories of Semie using "whatever he could get hold of at the time", because of this , some models are very hard to identify or confirm as original. Using the tables from pages 2 and 5 together with this page should hopefully help you to an end. Knobs. Mosrite used many different types of knobs although the most common and recognizable are the "top hat" knobs with M in the top. The earliest knobs were the cream colored knobs with no markings on them that Semie ordered from Carvin, which was the only company at the time (mid 50's) selling guitar parts to aspiring builders. Joe Maphis model (Ventures shape) used clear plastic knobs that may have been used by Guild. Only about 5 of these actual guitars were made. See history dating table. Early Ventures prototypes and production models had a black plastic or Bakelite knob that is referred to as the "Guild" knob since these were used on Guild guitars of the time. They are black with silver tops with a serrated edge and numbers 1 - 9 with either volume or tone written on them. The Guild ones had the Guild symbol in the silver top. These may have been used again in the early 70's at a time when Semie ran out of knobs. Next came the "spun" knobs. These were metal (probably chrome or nickel plated brass) with two machined grooves in the side for grip. They matched the grooves in the strap buttons and switch tips. These ran from '63 through to early '65. Then the famous M top hat knob. Numbered 1 - 5 with a big M embossed on the top. These replaced the spun knob as an instant product identification and were used from early '65 to late '66. They were chrome plated brass as far as I know. In late '66 the M knob , for some reason was changed to a knob that looks very similar but is significantly higher. These ran through the '70's and 80's until production ceased in the '90's. Some early '70's Mosrites have turned up with black plastic knobs the same as the early Mosrite Award amps used. This was probably due to financial problems and low stock levels. Some Brassrails and 300/350 models have also had "generic" plastic knobs available at electronics stores. The bottom line is , don't change them if you're not sure , they might be original.
Pick ups. The earliest pick ups were the Carvin AP-6 cream colored pickups, which again Semie ordered from carvin. These were the pickups on the Joe Maphis doubleneck and many other famous Mosrites. It wasn't until about 1959 that Semie experimented with making his own pickups, first with a crude P-90 soapbar type pickup that was covered in what look like tinfoil stretched over a plastic cover mounted into a hole in the pickguard or some had pickup surrounds. The next series of homemade pickups were like a P-90 dog ear pickup, with a tab sticking out on each end to which Semie affixed his screws directly into the body. The last of the homemade pickups were the ones on the 1962-63 era guitars, that essentially looked like the later Mosrite pickups, with the black surround and squared off features of the pickup itself, but much cruder than the mass produced pickups of 1964 on. Early Ventures models (inc. prototypes) had Mosrite manufactured "smooth" cover pick ups. These were black plastic covers with 6 cross head pole pieces (4 for bass) and no writing or embossing on them. These were used until early 1965.
In 1965 another pick up was introduced to the Mosrite range. These were only used on the slab bodied Mk II's. They were a thin black single coil with a distinctive sound. The next pick ups for all guitars except the newly introduced Mk II/Mk V range looked essentially the same but had Mosrite of California embossed into the plastic cover. This appears to have been part of the die and not "branded in" afterwards like a lot of people think.
In 1966 the pick up had an R in a circle (registered trademark) added after the Mosrite. These were used for the remainder of the Mosrite production until the 90's. They changed slightly in size over the years, but looked essentially the same. This year also saw the MK II/Mk V pick up with no exposed pole pieces introduced. This was only used on the Mk II/Mk V and Celebrity II and III range of "entry level" Mosrites and would have been cheaper to manufacture. 1966 also saw the Dobro/Californian model get 1 or 2 pick ups that looked allot like a standard fender style single coil. I believe, but can't confirm these were Mosrite manufactured. All '60's Mosrites had the Ventures style pick up except the ones noted above.
Mosrite started making humbuckers from 1972. These were the single coil covers with two rows of poles pieces. One row is drilled through the Mosrite of California embossing. These are sometimes mistaken for 12 string pick ups. The New Mosrite of California guitars had humbuckers with no exposed pole pieces and some of these had the embossed logo painted silver or white. These would date from around 1975/76. Mosrite used different epoxy's and resins to assemble their pick ups over the years. This is NOT a certain dating method , but here's an outline.
White bottoms with clear, red or black epoxy (60's) page 1 - page 2 - page 3 - page 4 - page 5 - page 6 - page 7 |
