New Combo project!

[FritzCat]

I bought an old Combo body on ebay, lousy washed-out pics HERE The seller was a luthier school in Arizona, so who knows what's been done to it. It has the name "Helen" in red in the neck pocket (similar to the Celebrity prototype that Sarah has) so I'm sure it's really a mid-60's Combo body, but there are almost no screw holes anywhere, the only screw holes I see are in the neck pocket area where it would have been hung for painting, and where the strap buttons would go. I suppose it's possible that the front and/or back have been replaced at one point, but I don't think so, all the wood looks about the same age to me. Maybe it was a reject that never got completed? Bought at one of the bankruptcy auctions? I'll probably never know. In any event I'll keep posting to this thread as the project progresses, my aim is to recreate the guitar in the pic below:



I'm sure I'll have plenty of questions along the way, like how do you replace the binding in the f-hole? What's the right way to glue down any binding that's coming off? How do you mask off binding when painting? How do I find the correct position for the bridge and tailpiece, and should this be done before painting? Anyone know of a good source for a pickguard? Thanks to everyone in advance for their help and support!

[Veenture]

A sweet challenge. Good luck FritzCat!

[MWaldorf]

Great project! That blue Combo is a beaut, and a fine target for reproduction. Keep us in the loop as the project progresses!

[Mr. Bill]

I saw that on eBay, congrats and good luck.

Roberto Venn has some sort of history with Semie Moseley, as I think I remember reading that Semie went to the school to use the shop after one of the factory fires or closings. It may be something left from his time there or it may not be related at all.

In any case great project for you.

[raygun85]

I like that Premier amp sitting next to the guitar in that photo....

[MWaldorf]

There was also a sunburst body cut for a middle pickup unfortunately it had a split in the wood between the pickups and was in generally poor condition, so I passed.

[FritzCat]

Googling Roberto Venn and Semie Mosely together brings up a lot of info, I found a post by dorkrockrecords on this very forum: "I do not know if Semie was his mentor or if Bob Venn ever worked at Mosrite, but they certainly were friends from Bakersfield. When Bob moved from Bakersfield to Arizona, he brought with him a parts cache of hundreds of Mosrite bodies that was unfortunately destroyed in an arson fire at the school. " And HERE'S a thread on another forum with a pic of a bunch of Mosrite bodies. I wonder how long ago this pic was taken, and if any other parts are left?

[oipunkguy]

hey fritz, from my understanding the F hole binding was made as a plastic mold and then glued in. sarah was gone on at length on this topic before. it might be possible to find one maybe, but I wouldn't know where. I'd ask sarah as she's the go to person on combos and celebrities. hope this helps.

as for the missing holes, I would just assume they were filled over before painting.

[KRamone27]

The name Helen was in the neck pocket of the 12-string body I had. It also had the name Novalla in the pickup route.