the U.S. Mosrite Celebrity Club

[eltuce]

Thanks! That's about what I figured price wise. There's a red one that just showed up on ebay but it's starting at $1299 which seems a bit high. Sadly, I don't have a single Mosrite with speed frets. My V88 was refretted before I got it, booo! I need to get some more hollow bodies in the collection. Right now it's just the Gretsch Anniversary Jr, G6120, and the semi-hollow Starfire IV. Life is rough, one should have such problems. Gee, maybe I should make that my signature?

[JimPage]

Eltuce, Sarah is, of course, the guru of Mosrite Celebrities and she is the person who piqued my interest in them. I bought mine from Forum moderator Dennis the Menace, and the price was right in the range that Sarah indicates. Of course, she has tracked dozens of sales and knows with exactitude.

Oddly enough, the Celebrities when new-- at least at the time my 1972 one was made-- cost hundreds more than the solid-body Mosrites and now they cost hundreds less!

That is lucky for us because we can get modern, updated versions of the solid-body Mosrites at reasonable prices, if we are constrained by budget, and still be able to afford what was the top-of-the-line Mosrite, the Celebrity I.

I do love the speed frets. They are most comfortable when played in combination with flatwounds, though not everyone plays the way I do (lucky for them) and they bend strings more than I do. So they are not as wild over the speed frets.

It's all good. Sounds like you have quite a nice collection of music gear. Funny how quickly it accumulates, huh?

--Jim

[eltuce]

I think I might be looking for something other than sunburst in a Celebrity, probably red just because I don't have a red Mosrite yet. That might affect the price a bit but still these are great guitars going for a very fair price. Ugh, yeah, it does accumulate! Last year I reorganized my closet to accommodate more guitars and now I can't get to what's hanging in there. How does one fit 30+ guitars in an 1100 square foot household? Again, one should have such problems, life is rough! We were going to move last year but once we decided not to, in came more guitar stuff.

[JimPage]

A couple of years ago, my wife instituted a "Can't bring in another guitar unless one goes out" policy at our little house. I tried to accommodate her little rule, though I didn't consider autoharps and such as guitars!

This year she has tried to institute a "Can't bring in another guitar unless two go out" policy, but I put the kibosh on that silly notion.

I mean, I was living in an apartment crammed full of guitars, basses, and amps when I met her, for chrissakes. At least I don't have a ton of scuba gear and hand guns around any more!!! That is SOME improvement.

--Jim

[eltuce]

HAHA! YES! I always get excited when I let one go but it seems to always mean one out, two in. I did good, nothing for a couple of months and then in less than a week I got that Silvertone amp in case deal, mint, museum quality, and the Hallmark, oops! She now says I have to narrow it down to just 10 guitars, ok, let's see, Crestwood Deluxe, V88, Hallmark Deke El Tuce fretboard, cardinal red melody maker, SG MM pelham blue, '65 SG Jr. white, Billy Zoom Custom shop silver jet, red sparkle Starfire IV, G6120, Rick 450, Les Paul Jr. TV Yellow, '64 Mustang, '55 duo Jet tenor, Hallmark Sheena, MKI '65 reissue, wait, I think I passed 10, oops!

[Sarah93003]

Thanks! That's about what I figured price wise. There's a red one that just showed up on ebay but it's starting at $1299 which seems a bit high. Sadly, I don't have a single Mosrite with speed frets. My V88 was refretted before I got it, booo! I need to get some more hollow bodies in the collection. Right now it's just the Gretsch Anniversary Jr, G6120, and the semi-hollow Starfire IV. Life is rough, one should have such problems. Gee, maybe I should make that my signature?

I agree their starting price is pretty high. It's been on eBay at least once before, maybe twice. I believe it is a Celebrity-III which was the model with the economical features. It doesn't have binding on the neck, nor the mulit-layered binding on the body. It also has the inexpensive tuners that I've heard they put on guitars that they gave away to churches. It looks very clean and does not seem to have buckle rash on the back. Everything looks in order. You might make them an offer in the $700-$800 range and see if they bite.

Now if you want a project, check out this one! It used to be red according to the owner.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... K:MEWAX:IT


Sad, sad story really. I can't believe what some people will do to a guitar. I'm thinking they were related to Hankeroo. It is a fairly early model from the large F holes, pickup switch on the treble side horn, and there is no "circle R" after "Mosrite" on the pickups. They claim it is a Celebrity-I but I'm thinking it is more likely a Celebrity-II or simply Archtop, as some of the early ones were designated. I can't tell if it's a full size or thinline body, but the tuners don't look right for a CE-I either. Hopefully this one escapes Hankeroo's radar. It seems worth restoring to me.

So, Eltuce, it sounds like you have some great guitars. I'd like to know more about your Annie JR. I have a 120th Anniversary in Bamboo Yellow and I love it.

[bakeoboy]

We all had a great time at Trouts on Thursday,and it was fun playing and meeting forum members there,and for those of you that couldn't make it to the event,there is a Mosrite Celeberity club meeting sceduled every 3rd Thursday of the month! Same time-same place.
Artie

[bakeoboy]

Wow! That's all I can say. Last night was incredible. It took 2 1/2 hours to drive to Bakersfield but it was totally worth it. I finally got to meet forum member TerryTNM. What a treat. Terry is a very nice man and looks great in a Stetson!

I also got to meet Dana Mosely and see a display of her guitars. She got up on stage and talked a little about resurrecting Mosrite guitars and distributing them worldwide. I am now a proud ownder of a Mosrite T-shirt and membership in the Mosrite Celebrity Club. Cool!

The first person I ran into about thirty seconds after I arrived was Brian Lonbeck. He is such a nice guy and totally personable. Once the festivites began he got on stage and did some awesome picking from The Ventures, to Joe Maphis, to Merle Travis. Fantastic music. Artie (another forum member) was kickin' it on drums. This man can play the skins, big time! Unfortunately I can not remember the man who played bass for everyone during the evening but he did a very fine job. That was Jean Michael on bass

We were treated with a man who played some very nice blues tunes on a black Mosrite Lanny Ray and then a group called Iron Outlaws came up and played some Psychobilly tunes. Fast and loud!

They had a great surprise for everyone there. A very nice young man from Australia named Joe Robinson was in attendance. He is only 18 years old and the most amazing guitar player I've ever seen. I would encourage you to check him out on YouTube. He won the Australia version of Idol this past year. After he amazed everyone with his skills, he and Brian Lonbeck treated us to some more extremely fine picking. My face muscles were aching from grinning so hard.

After the first set, the man who was running it asked me if I was ready to go on. I said sure. After the break I went on stage with my friend Vicki to do a couple of songs. We did "Trying To Get To You" by Elvis, and "Gunpowder And Lead" by Miranda Lambert. I was fine until I got on stage to find out that Brian Lonbeck and Joe Robinson were going to accompany me. Holy Moly! So, there I was standing in between these two incredible guitar players with my Mosrite Celebrity strapped up. Somehow I made it through that without passing out! Terry was kind enough to take a couple of pictures so I will post them as soon as I have them.

So, to put it mildly I had the time of my life and will always remember this little adventure!

[Veenture]

...Unfortunately I can not remember the man who played bass for everyone during the evening but he did a very fine job. That was Jean Michael on bass*

... * = Artie's edit

[eltuce]

Thanks! That's about what I figured price wise. There's a red one that just showed up on ebay but it's starting at $1299 which seems a bit high. Sadly, I don't have a single Mosrite with speed frets. My V88 was refretted before I got it, booo! I need to get some more hollow bodies in the collection. Right now it's just the Gretsch Anniversary Jr, G6120, and the semi-hollow Starfire IV. Life is rough, one should have such problems. Gee, maybe I should make that my signature?

I agree their starting price is pretty high. It's been on eBay at least once before, maybe twice. I believe it is a Celebrity-III which was the model with the economical features. It doesn't have binding on the neck, nor the mulit-layered binding on the body. It also has the inexpensive tuners that I've heard they put on guitars that they gave away to churches. It looks very clean and does not seem to have buckle rash on the back. Everything looks in order. You might make them an offer in the $700-$800 range and see if they bite.

Now if you want a project, check out this one! It used to be red according to the owner.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... K:MEWAX:IT


Sad, sad story really. I can't believe what some people will do to a guitar. I'm thinking they were related to Hankeroo. It is a fairly early model from the large F holes, pickup switch on the treble side horn, and there is no "circle R" after "Mosrite" on the pickups. They claim it is a Celebrity-I but I'm thinking it is more likely a Celebrity-II or simply Archtop, as some of the early ones were designated. I can't tell if it's a full size or thinline body, but the tuners don't look right for a CE-I either. Hopefully this one escapes Hankeroo's radar. It seems worth restoring to me.

So, Eltuce, it sounds like you have some great guitars. I'd like to know more about your Annie JR. I have a 120th Anniversary in Bamboo Yellow and I love it.

Here it is, although I don't play it much since I got the G6120W. Not sure how many of you are familiar with The Cramps but my band played as them for Halloween. I'm the drummer in the band but wound up supplying two Gretsch guitars for the show, go figure.

Funny that you all have noticed our buddy Hankeroo on ebay too. I've been trying for the life of me to remember what he had that I once asked him about. Thanks again for more Celebrity info. Up until somewhat recently I didn't know a darn thing about them since I tended to focus more on the solid bodies.