59 Custom

[mosriteforever]

Hi All,
We have been busy at Hallmark working on the new Double-neck for Larry Collins (based on the Barris Kustom Car, Fireball 500) as well as a hollow body for Lorrie Collins. I have been reading the site, but have not had a chance to write till now. I have spent the last couple of days polishing parts for the 59 Custom and we appreciate the questions and interest in the 59 Custom as well as the Hallmark II which we are calling the Sheena model at this point. The design is not finalized for the 59 Custom, but we are working feverishly on the prototype so we can get pictures up so everyone knows what the future will bring for Hallmark. I can tell you the 59 Custom will have the early vibrato tailpiece with the flip-mute ( ours will stay in place and will not have to be held in place with your pinky finger) like on Damons 63 double-neck. We currently, do not plan to recess the plate in the body, but it will have the "mistake plate". We are also planning for the sidejack, but want to make it smaller so it does not crack and is stronger than the original. Also, the plan is for the white, black, white binding closer to the early ones than the 60 Custom. We are currently discussing, whether it should have the early 1/2 round string guide, or the fretwire slotted to hold the strings, above the zero fret for a string guide. These questions are in the air now, and Bob and I would welcome your input as we are committed to making the guitars with the vintage features players want, but with the improvements players demand so that these will be guitars you want to play at every gig, not just a wall hanger!! The neck is currently slated to be like the 60 Custom, with the slightly wider neck at the string guide and the same fretboard radius as the 60 Custom, rather than the very round radius and skinny neck on the earliest models of this design. The pickups will still be the same as the 60 Custom and the standard color will be 3 tone Sunburst as the originals. Of course, we can custom build whatever you want.

I also wanted to speak to the threads comparing Hallmark pickups to the original. Both Bob Shade and I have dissected numerous original pickups from the 60's, 70's, and 80's and have rewound numerous pickups for vintage guitars. There are many things that account for tone, including the wood, players touch, amp, and scale length. The primary difference between Hallmark pickups, and the originals, are Hallmark pickups are wax potted. Bob Shade went this way as the original pickup design was highly microphonic as it was never properly potted save for the slab body Ventures II pickups that Johnny Ramone used which had no screw pole pieces which they could fill with epoxy all the way with no leakage thru the polepiece holes. This explains why Johnny was able to get that chainsaw sound with stock vintage pickups, but when he needed to replace them, he couldn't use the adjustable pole piece pickups as the Ventures II ( potted pickups), were no longer available until now! On the originals, you can reduce feedback at high distortion/volume levels by having the volume at 3.5 to 4. With the Hallmarks or the original Ventures II, just crank it up and go for broke as the windings are fully encased. It was done this way on the Hallmarks to make the guitars more versatile for more than just Surf or Rockabilly. Once again, we want these guitars to be your go to weapon of choice for all your musical endeavors, not just one or two songs or styles!

On to Bob's bridge designs. The original Hallmark bridges are not direct replacements for the original bridges. These are few and far between. Bob redesigned the bridge to be a direct replacement for the original vintage bridges and improved on the design by adding the lock screws on the bottom of the bridge plate as there was an occasional problem with buzzing (as referenced in another thread) in the vintage bridges as well as the 1st run Hallmarks. By being able to lock down the bridge saddles, buzz problem solved!

We are gearing up for the Deke Fest and I am not sure if the prototype images will be up before or after the Deke Fest, but we are looking forward to seeing as many of you there that can make it, and will be ready to answer all your questions in person at the show.

Again, thanks for all your kind words and support and as always.......... Mosrite ( and Hallmark) Forever!!!

[gplayer]

The 59 Custom sounds like it'll be a winner, too. Looking forward to seeing the pics. Have you guys thought about a lefty version of the Custom series? Also, I'm curious.. how is it you can copy the original Mosrite so close without getting Mr. Roman's lawyers all fired up? Does he only have rights to the name and not the design? How does that work?

[dorkrockrecords]

Hey John -
Looking forward to seeing you and Bob in a couple weeks!
In regards to gplayer's question, to the best of my knowledge Ed Roman is simply the US distributor for Fillmore, and given my conversations with the Yusa family in the past, I believe that is one deal they regret making.
Cheers,
Adam

[gplayer]

Hey John -
Looking forward to seeing you and Bob in a couple weeks!
In regards to gplayer's question, to the best of my knowledge Ed Roman is simply the US distributor for Fillmore, and given my conversations with the Yusa family in the past, I believe that is one deal they regret making.
Cheers,
Adam

That makes more sense. The thought of Roman having any rights to Mosrite always irked me.

[dubtrub]

We currently, do not plan to recess the plate in the body, but it will have the "mistake plate".

Personally I wouldn't recommend that. The mistake plate was an essential item on the original but putting it on simply for appearance would be nothing more than a 'Hollywood' cosmetic that serves no purpose. I think it would lessen the image of an otherwise great guitar. Stay with historical correct appointments through out the design and you'll have a winner.

[GattonFan]

+1 on Danny's comments - I don't think the "mistake plates" add anything aesthetically, and probably detract from the design. IMHO ... Thanks!

[MWaldorf]

If you must, put the mistake plate in the case with some double sided glue so the people who want to can put it on and the others (myself included) can leave it off.

Otherwise, I'd go with pickups somehow different from the 60 Custom - maybe not potted? Since this guitar seems like it's aimed more at "purists" than the 60 Custom, the more vintage correct pickups would be more appropriate. This would also give 60 Custom owners who want a more vintage sound a pickup to upgrade to, and vice versa with a 59 Custom owner seeking to get a more modern sound.

Really, the question is what Hallmark seeks to accomplish with this model. Is the 59 Custom essentially a side-jack 60 Custom? Is the thought that someone would own one or the other, or would the guitars be different enough to convince the potential owner (and the potential owner's better half) that they should buy both? I think there should be substantial play and tone differentiation.

Given that the 60 Custom has modern "enhancement" features such as a wider neck and potted pickups, I'd like to see a 59 Custom more "vintage correct" with a narrower, or at least thinner, neck and non-potted pickups. I think a functioning mute is a great thing as it's one of the features I miss from my Jaguar, and it would be cool if you also did a full sized vibrato plate that goes all the way under the bridge. If the part retrofits onto the 60 Custom so much the better for players who want to upgrade their guitars to a more vintage look.

In essence, are the 59 Custom and 60 Custom related like a 60s Buick and Oldsmobile (same general shape, but different body lines, different engines and suspensions) or like 80s ones, the same car with a different grill?

Mel

PS. make sure there's room for a middle pickup to be installed

[dubtrub]

For those not familiar with the mistake plate, it is a cover that dresses up the edges of the vibrato where it is counter sunk into the body. Here's a photo of Bob K's 'mistake plate' Mosrite. If you look close you can see the vibrato recessed about 1/4" below the surface of the body.



Here's a photo of Damon's double neck with the mistake plate around the vibrato.

[mosriteforever]

Hi All, and thanks for your responses and input on this topic.

With this guitar, we are trying to appeal to those who want the early style but with added playability. As it is a set neck, we do not have a lot of flexiblity with the neck. We are a little concerned about making the neck in the early slimmer and more radiused fretboard design. I know a couple of you have these, but I have never heard anything but complaints about this design. There is a reason the necks got wider through the decades and with a flatter fretboard. Of course, this is my opinion and feel free to continue with the input. It has not been finalized yet.

As for the mistake plate, we can easily offer this how each individual wants, installed or not. We do realize this is cosmetic, but when you get down to it, so is a sidejack vs. a topjack and the binding as well.

With the pickups (maybe this should be on the website), we can offer handwound non potted pickups for the 59 custom or even the 60 custom for those who want that feature. Just e-mail the Hallmark website for details. We have even had a couple of customers who wanted a tortoise shell pickguard on a sunburst. It looked very cool.

We do offer whatever customizations we can to the production models and try to keep the price down within reason. The custom shop, as well, can build whatever you want, but the time is longer and the price, higher.

Thanks again for all your input, kind words, and support!

John

[vibramute]

John,

I'm excited about the '59 Custom and thanks for posting updates. I look forward to seeing pictures of the proto's. Personally, I dig the mistake plate, but I could see myself going through phases were I'd want it 'mistake plate free'. Attaching it with double sided tape might be a good idea for those on the fence. It could easily be a piece of 'case candy' left up to owner to install if he/she so chooses. I hope you can nail that early burst like the first picture Dubtrub posted. If you can get that burst and have those super early Maphis/Venture appointments, I'm gonna have to order one

PS...any word on when you'll have more Deke Sig Guitars in stock with chrome hardware? I'm jonesing