My wife and son are out of town for the holidays, so I thought I would post some pictures of my newest Mosrite acquisition - a 1966 Candy Apple Red Mosrite Combo bass. It's funny, but I wasn't really in the market for a bass. I was actually looking a for a guitar (incidentally, which I'm still on the hunt for - does anyone have a matching CAR combo?!), but being a former bass player, I couldn't pass this one up. (I currently have an early 1980s Fender Jazz bass and what I think is a late 1960s Gibson Melody Maker bass, though I've never seen one exactly like it. I got rid of my Hofner Beatle bass a few years ago. Great sound, but I found it a bit hard to play).
The combo is in pretty good condition. No finish checking, with only a couple of dings here and there. There is very little tarnish on the hardware. The neck is super clean and the frets have very little wear. The serial number on both the neck and the label is R0033, which I assumed meant that it was a pretty early one. Interestingly, there are no date stamps on the neck or body, but the same serial number is imprinted in the body. This made me a little nervous, but I doubt anyone was knocking off combo basses. At least I hope not. To add to the mystery, the f hole is not bound (which I though was typical of late 65 early 66 combos), but the pots date it to late 66 (51st week). You've got to love the mysterious nature of Mosrites.
The only quirky thing about the bass is that it is somewhat out of balance, as the weight of the neck (relative to the body) causes it to tip down. The former owner installed a strap button on the heal of neck (see picture), so that helps. I was wondering if this is also an issue on the combo guitars?
I put some new flatwounds on it, and it sounds great! I've never played a solid body Mosrite bass, but the sound on this one is phenomenal. I feel that I get the best of both worlds - the hollow body sound of the Hofner plus that great Ventures sound. I couldn't be happier. In fact, I can't put it down. Good thing the wife and child are on vacation!
Happy Playing!
