At long last I have a Celebrity!!

[Strat-o-rama]

Great, Sarah. It oozes personality right thru the monitor. Look forward to your comments once it's set up properly and you've spent some time playing it. Would love to hear your comparisons with the Gretsch.

[Sarah93003]

After work I stopped by my guitar techs shop and picked up my Celebrity. He totally dialed it in. There were a couple of guitar players there, one with a Gibson L4 signed by B.B. King which was pretty neat, and when Tim opened the cover they all ooo'ed and ahh'ed. They were looking at me saying, "is that YOUR guitar". You betcha!

Tim plugged it into a Vox amp and I sat down and played it a bit. Oh man does this thing oooze cool! Everyone was standing around grinning and thank God I didn't mess up while I was picking around. I asked the others if they wanted to play and they almost killed each other in the stampede to be first. The action on this guitar is phenominal. It is such a treat to play. In fact, I have a three day weekend coming up where all I am doing is staying home and playing it. We are having a major bonding experience!

My guitar tech said he thought this was older than a 1970, and he is right. I did a bunch of reading on Tym's website and have determined that the people who I bought it from were wrong. It is not a 1970 but is an early 1966 model. There are three things that lead me to think this. In 1965 they added a block under the bridge to replace some trestle bracing, mine has this. There are also the "Hat" knobs that are numbered 1 through 5 with the letters "V" and "T". One paragraph I read said that in 1966 they removed the V & T, another paragraph said they removed them in 1967. Mine has the V & T on the knobs. In 1965 they replaced the Vibramute with the Moseley tremelo and mine has the Moseley "half" tremelo that was optional on Celebrity's. Also, in 1966 the smooth pickup covers had the "circle R" added after the name.

Bonus: my Celebrity has an interesting blemish on the back. About the middle of the back where the sunburst is it's lightest color there is a mark about the size of a fingerprint that looks like someone may have touched it and not sanded it back off. It is definately under the nitro finish. So, my story is that it's Semie's fingerprint and I'm gonna stick to it!

So, my Celebrity could be a 1965 or a 1966 but I am leaning toward a 1966. If anyone has any other ideas that I can use to verify this, that would be very much appreciated!

I'll post a review this weekend on the playability, etc.!

[Veenture]

What a wonderful account Sarah,... full of enthusiasm AND surprises, I really enjoyed reading it!
Thanks for sharing.

(Reckon you must be a true 'Mosrite Girl' now)

[Mr. Bill]

Sarah:
In a lot of mid-sixties Mosrites, the neck and body are rubber stamped with a production date. Maybe one of the guys here will know for sure if the Celebrity's are stamped in the neck pocket area like the Venture's models were. If your's is stamped, it will certainly help you in dating your guitar.

Did you check the pots for a date code?

Also, in addition to removing the T&V marking on the control knobs, the center dome section of the knobs got taller as well.

Congrats on a great guitar!

[Sarah93003]

Well I think I've come up with a pretty accurate profile of this guitar. I am 99.9% sure it is a 1966. Someday I may have my guitar tech check the neck pocket. For now, I am satisfied knowing it's a 1966. Below is what I've come up with. For the rest of this weekend I will be jamming every day on this baby!

1966 Mosrite Celebrity III, Mark I, Model 220
Serial number: K0772
Made in Bakersfield, CA

Thinline body with binding (1965’s did not have binding)
Two piece maple neck
Rosewood fretboard
Kluson Deluxe tuners with pearl oval (white plastic) buttons
“M” knobs with V and T on them (sometime in 1966 the V&T came off and the knob is taller)
Mosrite pickups with “Circle R” (not on 1965 pickups)
Mosrite roller bridge
Moseley “half” tremolo (optional on Celebrity’s) (mid ‘65 availability)
Bridge bracing block under the bridge
Mosrite of California, logo

[Konk of Sweden]

I bought a Celebrity III body and neck (nothing else) about 10 years ago, and the neck has been used for my Ramones-tribute custom build. The body is in my mothers basement because I'm pacing for a move... But I am 99% sure there is no writing in the neck pocket on it. Serial on the neck is K2183 and it has the bracing block under the bridge. The neck bolts with 4 bolts, not three like yours. Just thought I'd mention all this so you won't get your hopes up about finding something in the neck pocket. But they seem to be a bit apart, so you never know...

[Sarah93003]

Well folks, here is my first report. On Friday we had practise so played the Celebrity for about four hours. Then, last night our lead guitarist came over to my house and we jammed for about three hours working on a couple of tunes.

The first thing I noticed was the amazing tones that ooze out of this guitar. On Friday I was running it through a Fender Blues Deluxe and I just loved the tones. For Rockabilly I like the switch in it's lowest position (all the way down) and for Country either in the middle or all the way up. For Rockabilly it was just giving out monster tones. I love it! Our lead player plays a new Gretsch White Falcon and coupled with the Celebrity it was sounding fantastic. We were all grinning from ear to ear! When she came over last night she brought her little Fender Vibro Champ for the Falcon and I ran the Mosrite through the Bose L1. It's a much cleaner sound as I don't have any effects pedals at this time but it still sounded great.

I really like the thinner neck. It feels very comfortable in my hands and I can move very easy up and down the neck. I also really like the low frets. It almost feels like a fretless guitar and of course the action is amazingly low. It takes little to no effort to push on the strings. And, because of that, I can play for four hours without my fingertips being sore. Bonus!

I would say that the Celebrity will be taking over the #1 position in my lineup. I have a few guitars and my Gretsch Annie was my #1. I would say they are equal in many respects. The Annie is from Gretsch's pro line and it is an outstanding guitar to play. Mine has TV Jones pickups so it also has some great tones. But these guitars are so different in their tone that I really plan to play them equal amounts. The Mosrite just oozes mojo though. It has such character and everyone wants to see it. I also think the Celebrity is lighter than my Annie and that is a plus. I like the thinner body very much as well.

I have to say that the Mosrite Celebrity is unlike any other hollow bodied guitar I've ever played. It stands out in the look and it stands out in the tone. I am so very happy to finally have one. I fell in love with these guitars in 1987 and it was worth the wait!

[moaimen]

Here's the one I used to have

[Sarah93003]

Wow! That's in awesome condition!