Hallmark 60 custom or Fillmore ranger? Need input!

[jtr654]

I bought a Hallmark 60 Custom and have no GAS for a guitar with Mosrite written on it. These guitars sound great and to pay 2x + $$$ just to have Mosrite on it seems a waste. Hallmark have set necks like you like and the neck are very comfortable the frets are higher but not as big as fender frets or even close. Bob Shade is a joy to work with. John.

[MOSDAN]

My 2 cents,
I have never played a Hallmark but they appear to be well worth the price being asked so I'll write about the Fillmore products. I have 2 Dana made Mosrite Originals and 3 Semie Moseley made Mosrites. For anyone that follows my posts I bought a Blue Sparkle Dana made Original at the Dallas Guitar Fair 2009 and I bought a Ink Blue Dana Original and a '65 bass at the Arlington 2009 Guitar Fair--all 3 bought directly from Dana. The Dana made Originals are made by Fillmore and then sent for finishing and assembly. Dana installs electronics and her own pickups. The hardware is made by Fillmore. The necks on the Dana made guitars are right on the money for the original profile. However, the frets on the Dana made guitars are higher than her father's guitars. She has told me if a person wants the lower frets(Speed Frets) she would dress the frets down to the same height as the guitars her father built when she builds the guitar. As for the big difference between the Ranger and Dana's Originals, Dana puts higher quality electrical components in the Originals. At the Dallas guitar show I compared a Ranger with the Dana made guitar and found small details in the Ranger were not as good. For instance I noticed the neck binding on the Ranger was not totally correct in height. When you ran your finger from the painted portion of the neck to the binding there was a very small bump at the interface between the binding and the neck. The Dana Original was perfect and your finger went from the binding to the painted neck without any notice of difference in height. Small detail but does demonstrate a difference in quality. I hope this helps a little on the difference between the Dana made Originals and the Rangers. I wish I could give input about the Hallmark--maybe at a later date after I either own one or have taken one for a test.

[Dennisthe Menace]

MOSDAN,
You gave a very accurate description.....and that's what this Forum is all about.....Thank You Sir! .

[Strat-o-rama]

MOSDAN,
Which Dana-made Originals did you get? How would you compare the overall feel and sound of the Originals as compared to the vintage Mosrites you own?

[MOSDAN]

Strat-o-rama,
I purchased the Mark1 1964 Reissue, Mark1 1965 Reissue-both 6 string guitars and then I purchased the Mark1 1965 Reissue bass. All 3 of these are Dana made Originals with her electrics. The sound of the Dana made Mosrites is very comparable to the Semie made Mosrites. I bought the second Dana made Mark 1 because the neck pickup had a different sound than all my other Mosrites-almost Jazzy and real smooth. Dana could also hear the difference. She mentioned that no two of her pickups sound exactly alike because she winds them by hand not using the usual pickup winding machinery. This leads to differing pickup resistances and thus imparts unique sound profiles for each pickup. In fact I played some jazz on it at the guitar show and Dana almost started crying because it reminded her of some of the music style Semie use to play when she was a little girl. She really loved her Dad and misses him tremendously. When I switch back to both pickups there is the familiar Mosrite tone and good-bye to the Gibson L-5 tone. I purely love the variety of sound I can get from this one guitar. As to the feel of playing, the neck profile is right on as I mentioned earlier but the frets are higher so it is easier to do bends than on the Semie made Mosrites. My hands are not large so I find the neck profile very comfortable and have no trouble playing the neck. The body size is mirror image to the Semie made. The only complaints I have about the Dana made guitars is that they go out of tune very easily if you use the vibrato. I have been in verbal and written communication(Email) with Dana about this problem and have used my Engineering training to help her resolve this issue. She is truely concerned about it and has assured me that she and her husband will keep on this issue with Fillmore until a resolution to this problem is achieved. Wow!! I guess I wright books when answering questions--I hope this answers your questions. Overall I love all my Mosrites!!!!!!

[Strat-o-rama]

MOSDAN,
Thanks. That was very informative and helpful, especially the part about the pick-up variations. Any other comments you may have, I'm listening!

[Jazm]

Thanks for all the information guys!

I have sent an email to front porch music, stating my intrest in one of their Dana Moseley Fillmore Mosrite '66 reissue guiars, along with some questions. This was yesterday and i'm hoping for a reply soon.
I'm hoping we can work out a deal, since i rather don't want to order from Ed Roman. I haven't talked to him personally, but from those that have, it seems like rather an unpleasant experience. And it just raises all the red flags with me, and his prices are out of my range as well.

If it somehow proves impossible for me to get a Fillmore '66 reissue, i do have supreme confidence in that a Hallmark 60 custom would be my other best option. So i'm waiting anxiously to see how this pans out.

And once again, thanks for all the information you guys have posted! I could really not have narrowed it down to these two great options i have now without the help from you guys, i was getting a headache from trying to make sense of the wast world of Mosrite reproductions on my own.

And like Strat-o-rama, i would be glad to hear more about your thought's and experiences regarding Mosrites, i'm here to learn about these great guitars and their modern reproductions, and it's always fun reading:)

Thanks!

[Jazm]

Well, i have now set up my budget for the coming months, and in it is one Mosrite '66 reissue from Artie and just after that, a Hallmark mark II "sheena".
As i am convinced this will be my only prescription for the raging Mosrite fever i have been struggling with of late.
Other nice things and gizmo's will just have to wait, and i just got an A+ as my standing Social Sciences Course grade, so this will be my own great big pat on the back, while I'm telling my self "you have earned the right to get a Mosrite, oh, A+ you say? Then get two!"

But seriously guys, thanks for all the info!:)

[MWaldorf]

I think you've just been conducting a Social Science experiment on incentives. Let's see, if a Mosrite and a Hallmark gets you an A+, what grades would you get with, say, a Fuzzrite as incentive? Or a Mark XII?

[brutus]

I would suggest if you have Mosrite fever buy an actual Mosrite. By all accounts the Hallmark is a great guitar but it is not a Mosrite. If I was dying for a Les Paul an Epi Les Paul wouldn't cure me although my fever would be lowered.