Dennis, is the above comparison what you're talking about? If so, I'm fairly familar with the transition from the earliest time to latter years of the Celebrity models and maybe it's the case of you say "tomatoe" and I say "tomatoe". Okay, that doesn't work well when typed, how about you say "toe-may-toe" and I say "toe-mah-toe".
It is my understanding, as I was informed, that in the very beginning Semie simply went to some warehouse in LA and bought a batch of guitar hollow bodies, put a neck on them and called them "Celebrity" or "Archtop". These earliest ones had big F holes, no control plate, etc. I recall Andy Moseley telling me he was there when the cut apart the first one to look inside.
Then, I believe, the next phase was Semie bought bodies from a couple of manufacturers, one being Framus. And, I think the Framus bodies also had big F holes. Eventually, Semie bought tops, bottoms, and sides. By selecting a different "side" he could vary the depth of the bout and achieve a CE-I, or CE-II, -III, Gospel, Dobro, etc.
I don't know if we will ever be able to assign delineators such as "Generation 1", etc. with so much lost history. And, as it was pointed out to me, there is no "rule of thumb" when it comes to Mosrite.
I would love to tap into the knowledge of the forum members here so that I can provide the most accurate information possible when it comes to this model. My website has been a labor of love for me and believe me I had no idea how much labor would be involved. I've put hundreds of hours into it if not more. It has over 2,000 photos, 32 pages, and over 1 GB in size. With all of this effort I want to be as accurate and complete as I can.
I greatly appreciate any and all information anyone is able to provide.
I would love to generate a discussion here on what is the "original" Celebrity, if there is such a thing. Were they only thinlines (1 7/8") or also the thicker archtop (2 3/4"), or both? Does it just refer to the controls layout and big F holes? Were they all serial numbered, if so, was there a series, or were the first ones just made and sold as is?
Thanks!
......... 