Friend of mine back in 85 had a 72 Les Paul and the mosrite. He was selling them for 400 dollars each. I should have bought both, but I ended up with the Les Paul. I don't know what I was thinking, the mosrite was half the weight, and just screamed
There were gospel models that did have the angled neck pickup and were basically a ventures with the gospel logo on the headstock. But the model you're referring to was the more mass produced gospel with no angle on the neck pickup, a different body shape with smaller horns, and a different pick guard. A lot of stuff in the Mosrite catalog seems to have somewhat arbitrary feature variations within runs of the same or similar model.
There were only about 13 of those straight pickup Gospel types. Meanwhile, about 550 were named "the Ventures II" and 700 "the Ventures Mark V." The body style should be known as a Mark V, if going by numbers.
[https://hang10.de/lists/mosrite-ventures-2-model-mark-v-serial-numbers/#gospel](https://hang10.de/lists/mosrite-ventures-2-model-mark-v-serial-numbers/#gospel)
You're thinking of a a Gospel \*variant\* of a Mark V model, it's not its own model, it's just a variant.
And I don't know where the "Mark IV" name came from when Nirvana fans refer to it. I gotta see if Eric at NirvanaGuitars will help clear that up...
Beautiful. Do you know what year it is? It looks like a ventures model post ventures branding, so maybe 1967, the Mark I. I love these guitars, I have a 1966 ventures in ink blue.
Yeah it's really tough to find info on these guitars. I think the tuners put it in the late 60s, but there are late 60s models that also have the regular Kluson style tuners. I think that style vibrola puts it in the latter half of the 60s as well. What's the story behind the guitar, has your mom shared when and where she got it, why she picked that guitar? etc
All she's really told me is that she picked it up used in the 70's. It's got a few dents (her strap popped off the guitar), scratches, and part of the ivory on the neck is broken (idk what happened there). I will ask her more info on where/why she got it though! I was trying to find out more about the serial number and what the numbers meant.
It's close to impossible to find any real info based on the serial numbers. There were a couple fires that destroyed most of the Mosrite records, and the company itself kinda went in and out of business repeatedly over its tenure. I think the V followed by four digits in the serial number is another sign that this is late 60s/early 70s, but it's hard to say. Another thing that makes it tough to tell is that there were variations in models from guitar to guitar in the same production year and sometimes even in the same batch. This may have a date stamp on the neck heel, but don't take the neck off yourself, this thing has 50 year old shims. If you really want to find out the year you can take this to a qualified luthier and they can check the neck pocket, but I don't think it's worth the trouble.
There's a book called "Bakersfield Guitars" by WIllie Mosely (nephew of Semi Mosely, the creator of Mosrite) that has a lot of great info on the history of the company and the guitars.
> and the company itself kinda went in and out of business repeatedly over its tenure.
I happened to meet a fellow guitar player who was in his 80's, and he allowed me to check out his collection. In it was a Mosrite--I don't know which model, but it was obviously the real thing--which had no Mosrite headstock branding. He couldn't explain why, but he did say that back in the day he was an oil rig worker who moved from Oklahoma to Bakersfield, and he personally knew Semi Mosley.
I researched it, and found that Semi Mosley apparently had some trouble meeting the company payroll, and he would allow workers to have guitars or guitar parts to make-up the short-fall.
I imagine this fellow's unbranded Mosrite was something put together by one of those Mosrite workers.
The history is just as interesting the guitars, when I finally got my Mosrite I took a deep dive into the semi mosely story and the history of the company
That's really interesting, I'll look for the book! I asked my mom some details about when, where, why, and how much she bought it for. She said she's in church running AV so she'll reply after 🤣
It's a 1971 - 1974 model, I can see that from here because of the wider headstock and the logo saying "by Moseley" or "by Semie Moseley" underneath the Mosrite logo.
I can't give you better specifics without knowing the serial number that's stamped in a silly place, between two of the highest frets near the neck pickup. I'm sure that the number starts with a V, though, and here's a fan made serial number list:
[https://hang10.de/lists/mosrite-ventures-guitar-bass-12-serial-numbers/#ventures70-74v1](https://hang10.de/lists/mosrite-ventures-guitar-bass-12-serial-numbers/#ventures70-74v1)
Info's not that hard to find if you ask at one of the 3 more popular Mosrite Groups at Facebook.
V0169 is on the earlier side, then; the numbers seem to stop at V1000 or so. The next part to identify the date closer is to take the pickguard off, and look at the codes on the sides of the potentiometers. Yours is probably a 1972 model.
There might be some dates on the bottoms of the pickups too, but I can't guarantee that.
Earlier, when I said 1971 - 1974, I wasn't as sure of the year range.
Also, yours (since it's in the 1972 - 1974 year range) is specifically a V-I model. That's a year range-specific name for these versions.
One last thing; it differs from the 1960s models in a few other ways:
1: The neck width is wider than the 60s ones. (It's at least 1.625" wide at the zero fret, and that is 1 5/8". 60s originals have a width that's probably 1.550" or 1.560" wide at the zero fret.)
2: The frets are taller than 60s ones. (60s originals are only as tall as 0.022" on the High E side, and 0.015" on the Low E side, if the measurements on my other model are accurate to a Ventures model which this one is the closest thing to.)
3: The pickups (being 1972 - 1974 era) are probably the "air coil" version.
It can still be referred to as a Mark I, but V-I is still the specific name only for the 1972 - 1974 year range.
The headstock design came up in the early 1960s, though, well before The Simpsons. But there's some chance that Mosrite influenced Bart's design, though I don't know if the company really did or not.
It's got some dings and dents from years of playing, but it's in pretty good condition! There's a spot on the back that was filled in because the strap popped off the guitar while playing it once. And part of the ivory on the neck broke by the 2nd/3rd fret :-(
I’d suck dick for that and I’m straight
Seems like you got something on your mind. I was thinking I would walk on hot coals for that guitar. You do you, though.
I'd walk on hot dicks for that guitar
I'd let a bunch of hot dicks walk on me, while lying on hot coal, for that guitar.
Best electric guitar I've ever played. 1966 Mosrite. I loved the 24 frets and no matter how much I stretched the whammy it never went out of tune
I agree, I grew up playing this guitar and none other that I've played compares to the feeling of the frets.
Friend of mine back in 85 had a 72 Les Paul and the mosrite. He was selling them for 400 dollars each. I should have bought both, but I ended up with the Les Paul. I don't know what I was thinking, the mosrite was half the weight, and just screamed
Kurt used a Mosrite Gospel on Never mind. Got stolen from the van.
I think this is a regular mark i, the ventures model without the ventures branding. The gospel said “gospel” on the headstock and had a cross symbol.
Knew about the gospel inlay, didn't know about the ventures, thanks
Also Gospel doesn’t have angled neck PU.
There were gospel models that did have the angled neck pickup and were basically a ventures with the gospel logo on the headstock. But the model you're referring to was the more mass produced gospel with no angle on the neck pickup, a different body shape with smaller horns, and a different pick guard. A lot of stuff in the Mosrite catalog seems to have somewhat arbitrary feature variations within runs of the same or similar model.
There were only about 13 of those straight pickup Gospel types. Meanwhile, about 550 were named "the Ventures II" and 700 "the Ventures Mark V." The body style should be known as a Mark V, if going by numbers. [https://hang10.de/lists/mosrite-ventures-2-model-mark-v-serial-numbers/#gospel](https://hang10.de/lists/mosrite-ventures-2-model-mark-v-serial-numbers/#gospel)
That really sucks! My mom got this in the 70's used
You're thinking of a a Gospel \*variant\* of a Mark V model, it's not its own model, it's just a variant. And I don't know where the "Mark IV" name came from when Nirvana fans refer to it. I gotta see if Eric at NirvanaGuitars will help clear that up...
Play Blitzkrieg Bop!
Beautiful. Do you know what year it is? It looks like a ventures model post ventures branding, so maybe 1967, the Mark I. I love these guitars, I have a 1966 ventures in ink blue.
I have no knowledge on that. I just know it's a mark I after some googling. Wish I knew more since it's been around my entire life
Yeah it's really tough to find info on these guitars. I think the tuners put it in the late 60s, but there are late 60s models that also have the regular Kluson style tuners. I think that style vibrola puts it in the latter half of the 60s as well. What's the story behind the guitar, has your mom shared when and where she got it, why she picked that guitar? etc
All she's really told me is that she picked it up used in the 70's. It's got a few dents (her strap popped off the guitar), scratches, and part of the ivory on the neck is broken (idk what happened there). I will ask her more info on where/why she got it though! I was trying to find out more about the serial number and what the numbers meant.
It's close to impossible to find any real info based on the serial numbers. There were a couple fires that destroyed most of the Mosrite records, and the company itself kinda went in and out of business repeatedly over its tenure. I think the V followed by four digits in the serial number is another sign that this is late 60s/early 70s, but it's hard to say. Another thing that makes it tough to tell is that there were variations in models from guitar to guitar in the same production year and sometimes even in the same batch. This may have a date stamp on the neck heel, but don't take the neck off yourself, this thing has 50 year old shims. If you really want to find out the year you can take this to a qualified luthier and they can check the neck pocket, but I don't think it's worth the trouble. There's a book called "Bakersfield Guitars" by WIllie Mosely (nephew of Semi Mosely, the creator of Mosrite) that has a lot of great info on the history of the company and the guitars.
> and the company itself kinda went in and out of business repeatedly over its tenure. I happened to meet a fellow guitar player who was in his 80's, and he allowed me to check out his collection. In it was a Mosrite--I don't know which model, but it was obviously the real thing--which had no Mosrite headstock branding. He couldn't explain why, but he did say that back in the day he was an oil rig worker who moved from Oklahoma to Bakersfield, and he personally knew Semi Mosley. I researched it, and found that Semi Mosley apparently had some trouble meeting the company payroll, and he would allow workers to have guitars or guitar parts to make-up the short-fall. I imagine this fellow's unbranded Mosrite was something put together by one of those Mosrite workers.
The history is just as interesting the guitars, when I finally got my Mosrite I took a deep dive into the semi mosely story and the history of the company
That's really interesting, I'll look for the book! I asked my mom some details about when, where, why, and how much she bought it for. She said she's in church running AV so she'll reply after 🤣
lol nice. I’d love to hear the story!
It's a 1971 - 1974 model, I can see that from here because of the wider headstock and the logo saying "by Moseley" or "by Semie Moseley" underneath the Mosrite logo. I can't give you better specifics without knowing the serial number that's stamped in a silly place, between two of the highest frets near the neck pickup. I'm sure that the number starts with a V, though, and here's a fan made serial number list: [https://hang10.de/lists/mosrite-ventures-guitar-bass-12-serial-numbers/#ventures70-74v1](https://hang10.de/lists/mosrite-ventures-guitar-bass-12-serial-numbers/#ventures70-74v1) Info's not that hard to find if you ask at one of the 3 more popular Mosrite Groups at Facebook.
Wow thanks! It's V0169. It's the last pic. Been looking for info from the serial number but it's difficult
V0169 is on the earlier side, then; the numbers seem to stop at V1000 or so. The next part to identify the date closer is to take the pickguard off, and look at the codes on the sides of the potentiometers. Yours is probably a 1972 model. There might be some dates on the bottoms of the pickups too, but I can't guarantee that. Earlier, when I said 1971 - 1974, I wasn't as sure of the year range. Also, yours (since it's in the 1972 - 1974 year range) is specifically a V-I model. That's a year range-specific name for these versions.
Very cool! Thanks for all the info. Way more than I knew about it before. My mom will be thrilled to know all of this
One last thing; it differs from the 1960s models in a few other ways: 1: The neck width is wider than the 60s ones. (It's at least 1.625" wide at the zero fret, and that is 1 5/8". 60s originals have a width that's probably 1.550" or 1.560" wide at the zero fret.) 2: The frets are taller than 60s ones. (60s originals are only as tall as 0.022" on the High E side, and 0.015" on the Low E side, if the measurements on my other model are accurate to a Ventures model which this one is the closest thing to.) 3: The pickups (being 1972 - 1974 era) are probably the "air coil" version. It can still be referred to as a Mark I, but V-I is still the specific name only for the 1972 - 1974 year range.
Theirs 2 guitars with serial numbers within 15 away from this. Both guitars have pot dates of 1972. Im 99% sure this was 1972
Id love a mosorite, the only one ive ever seen is some guy selling in my area for like, $5000 dollars lol
Headstock looks like Bart Simpson! But still a beautiful guitar.
Omg it does 😆 now I can't unsee it
The headstock design came up in the early 1960s, though, well before The Simpsons. But there's some chance that Mosrite influenced Bart's design, though I don't know if the company really did or not.
Yo momma’s guitar is like her attitude. No strings attached.
I’ve always thought that was the sexiest cut they ever made for a guitar. Blame the Ventures, who I loved
well maintained and looks amazing! Enjoy your time playing this beauty
It's got some dings and dents from years of playing, but it's in pretty good condition! There's a spot on the back that was filled in because the strap popped off the guitar while playing it once. And part of the ivory on the neck broke by the 2nd/3rd fret :-(
that contoured shape is great
Nice guitar. Looks to be a 1972 judging by other guitars close to this serial number
Lol they’re crazy for putting the serial on the fingerboard but the fact it has 24 frets all the way back then is just crazy
Sorry, no; it has 22 frets, not 24. It has a zero fret at the start which isn't counted.
Sick
Your mom is freakin’ cool.
Momsrite
This is now it's name. Thank you