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Just in case you did not read the thread about the inside of Celebrity-III, S/N K0772, here is a link:

viewtopic.php?f=6&t=2089

I've recently acquired another Celebrity-III, S/N K0426. It is a beautiful red in extremely nice condition. The downside is that it has Gibson pickups,knobs, and a non original selector switch. I have no idea how old the Gibson pickups are, but they do have the patent number stamped on the back.

I find it very interesting how different these two Celebrity-III's are considering they are only 346 pieces apart. K0772 is a model with the Moseley tremelo, K0426 has the trapese tailpiece. K0772 has a 1 X 3 block under the bridge and a similar block at the end of the guitar, presumably the two piece sides come together as well as the rear strap pin. K0426 is very different.

K0426 I believe to be a mid 1966 build. The pots are dated for the 3rd week of February, 1966. I don't know how much inventory Semie kept on hand and what his buying habits were as far as quantity, etc. I hope to learn that some day. This guitar does not have the two blocks that I found in K0772, but it does have a bar running along the bottom of the guitar for the full length of the bout. I also has two bars running along the top of the guitar for the full length of the bout. At the tail end of the guitar, there is a block approximately 1/2" X 3" X 5" attached to the top of the guitar and spanning between the two upper bars.


Until I can study more guitars from this era I can only speculate as to the differences found here. It could simply be that in the beginning they had these "tone bars" and sometime in 1966 Semie decided on a design change either for ease of production, cost savings, or some other purpose. I also wonder if this body was originally slated to be a Dobro body and got used for a Celebrity-III. I'll have to see if Artie will let me take a peak inside his Dobros.

So, have a look inside this baby and let me know what ya'll think.



This image shows the neck pocket. The serial number K0426 is also stamped here. You can see the bottom bar.



From this angle you can see a little bit of the top bar. These two bars run along each side of the pickups for the full length.



This image shows the rear of the guitar. You can see the bottom bar as well as the upper left bar and the block that spans across the two.



In this image you can see all three "tone" bars as well as the block that spans across the top.



Here we can see the bottom bar where it comes up to the neck pocket area. You can see the end of the neck, in the pocket.



Here we can see the upper tone bar as well as the neck pocket area.



This is my favorite image. It shows all three bars very clearly. The daylight you see is from the neck pocket.

Incredible pics Sarah, you'd never know what they are if you hadn't told us of this yet another inside tour of a Celebrity. Any plans for restoring it to it's original specs? Thanks for sharing

Great pictures, Sarah. Is this one of the guitars with the imported bodies, or a factory in-house build?

If you're going to replace the pickups, I can highly recommend both Elliott and M3 models.

Hey Paul, yes my intentions are to totally restore it to original specifications as it is a beautiful guitar. I have original pots and switch so I will only need to find two knobs (V & T) and two smooth pickups. I would like to find out if the Gibson pickups and knobs are vintage and if so, I could sell them to fund the parts that I need.

Mel, I don't know how to tell the difference between all of the body options. I'm pretty sure that the bodies with the large F holes were imported. Artie told me that Semie had two sources for bodies. I think he said one was from Japan and the other from Sweden (possibly IKEA). He also told me that Semie imported tops, bottoms and two piece sides to build the bodies. The dimention of the sides changed depending if they wanted a Celebrity-I or Celebrity-II's and -III's. I've been dying to speak with former employees to better understand how all of this came about.

This guitar does not have the larger F holes. Interestingly the truss rod covers are different between these two serial numbers. I'm not sure when that change occured either. The latter guitar, K0722 has a larger but much thinner plastic TRC. K0426's TRC is smaller and much thicker. See below.



The TRC on the left is from K0426 and the one on the right is from K0772. I would love to determine when this change occured. I'm pretty sure that for some time they had both of these being used as I see them mixed up between serial numbers.

Thanks Adam for posting that link. There was some very good information there. So, the early bodies came from Germany and Italy. Any idea where the ones that followed came from? And, I think that's the era when he got tops, bottoms and sides so he could build his bodies. As for the mention of Framus, is that something Bill Gruggett said or is that your hunch? Thanks!!

Hey, Sarah!

Cool info and photos, as always. This stuff fascinates me.

Now, I know Bob Shade has one working smooth Mosrite Celebrity pickup, because he swapped it for the logo-embossed one now living on my Celebrity (THANKS, BOB!!!). Bob did that so both pickups match.

Those Mosrite pickups really sound swank, in my opinion. I swear that there is some undefined quality to them, and I guess that is Semie-soul.

Now, the discussion about where the bodies come from make me wonder what the scoop is on the 1972 Celebrity I have? Made in Bakersfield? Imported?

Sarah, your Celebrity Website is much anticipated by me. I can't wait to see it!!!

--Jim

Mosrite used the German bodies; Epcor and Hallmark used the Italian bodies.

Ovation used the exact same German bodies for their Tornado model, and according to Ovation those bodies were of Framus origin.

JimPage wrote:Hey, Sarah!

Cool info and photos, as always. This stuff fascinates me.

Now, I know Bob Shade has one working smooth Mosrite Celebrity pickup, because he swapped it for the logo-embossed one now living on my Celebrity (THANKS, BOB!!!). Bob did that so both pickups match.

Those Mosrite pickups really sound swank, in my opinion. I swear that there is some undefined quality to them, and I guess that is Semie-soul.

Now, the discussion about where the bodies come from make me wonder what the scoop is on the 1972 Celebrity I have? Made in Bakersfield? Imported?

Sarah, your Celebrity Website is much anticipated by me. I can't wait to see it!!!

--Jim

Jim, as far as I've been able to ascertain speaking to several people is that Mosrite was located in Bakersfield during the years that the Celebrities were made. I'm pretty certain that yours was not an import body and would have been made in Bakersfield from the body componants that Semi bought, ie top, bottom and two sides.

I'm really working hard and long to get my website up. I put in 1-2 hours per night on it so you can bet it's going to be very large and quite extensive. My #1 priority is that it reflect accurate information so I sure hope folks correct me if I display something that is not correct.

Sarah,
Look forward to seeing your new acquisition restored! You're gonna have to give her a name. With that nail polish red finish she's a real siren.