The Ventures' Mosrites

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MWaldorf
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The Ventures' Mosrites

Postby MWaldorf » Tue May 05, 2009 4:36 pm

OK, in order not to bog down a different topic, I thought this might be a good place to have a discussion of the actual guitars used by the Ventures.

There's this publicity photo of them with sunburst sidejacks. The vibratos on the guitars have no cast "Mosrite" in the black accent, the bass has one pickup, and all instruments appear to have the black guild knobs. These would be some of the earliest Ventures models.
Image

Here's the next one. Notice that while Don seems to be playing the same guitar from above, Nokie's has the "Mosrite" on the vibrato and the "Jewel/Spun" knobs. Bob's bass, still a single pickup model, is a solid color. I'm guessing red, based on the next photo, although this could be the blue bass on "Knock Me Out".
Image

This picture is apparently from the January 1965 tour of Japan. Nokie and Don are holding sidejacks, whereas Bob has a topjack two pickup bass with three knobs and no selector switch. This control layout is different than what was used on the later factory two pickup basses.
Image

The summer 1965 Japan tour was done with white topjacks, Bob again with a single pickup model:
Image

In 1966 they had matching red guitars on their Japan tour.
Image

Later they had combo models (sunburst and red) as well. Were there others? It would be great to have a photo collection of the Ventures' mosrites here!
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Re: The Ventures' Mosrites

Postby gplayer » Tue May 05, 2009 6:03 pm

Isn't there someone on this forum who communicates with Nokie? Maybe they could get Don and him to post some of their pics. I'm sure they have some pics of their guitars, after all those years of playing.

Then again...maybe not. :)

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Re: The Ventures' Mosrites

Postby Dennisthe Menace » Tue May 05, 2009 6:17 pm

Mel, the FIRST PIC you posted actually shows Nokie playing his VERY EARLY Mo' with the Neck P'up which is not flush against the Neck Cavity.....
Image

Gplayer,there might be a few on here that have PIX, but I don't want to put them on the spot.
make the Mos' of it, choose the 'rite stuff.
.........Owner of 9 Mosrites...
.....proud owner and documented:
1963 "the Ventures" Model s/n #0038
http://www.thevintagerockproject.com/

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Re: The Ventures' Mosrites

Postby gplayer » Tue May 05, 2009 6:44 pm

Dennisthe Menace wrote:Mel, the FIRST PIC you posted actually shows Nokie playing his VERY EARLY Mo' with the Neck P'up which is not flush against the Neck Cavity.....

Gplayer,there might be a few on here that have PIX, but I don't want to put them on the spot.
Dennisthe Menace wrote:Mel, the FIRST PIC you posted actually shows Nokie playing his VERY EARLY Mo' with the Neck P'up which is not flush against the Neck Cavity.....

Gplayer,there might be a few on here that have PIX, but I don't want to put them on the spot.


You just did. ;)

Alright ante up the pics, guys. :P

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Re: The Ventures' Mosrites

Postby Scotstandard » Tue May 05, 2009 10:42 pm

lets not forget the two brown blonde showmans and the blonde bassman live in japan!
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Re: The Ventures' Mosrites

Postby MWaldorf » Tue May 05, 2009 10:48 pm

Scotstandard wrote:lets not forget the two brown blonde showmans and the blonde bassman live in japan!


I haven't forgotten, but that's worthy of its own topic!
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Re: The Ventures' Mosrites

Postby Dennisthe Menace » Wed May 06, 2009 4:56 am

Scotstandard wrote:lets not forget the two brown blonde showmans and the blonde bassman live in japan!

Well, if you're gonna have the right type of cake.......ya' better have the right type of icing :mrgreen:
make the Mos' of it, choose the 'rite stuff.
.........Owner of 9 Mosrites...
.....proud owner and documented:
1963 "the Ventures" Model s/n #0038
http://www.thevintagerockproject.com/

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Re: The Ventures' Mosrites

Postby Strat-o-rama » Wed May 06, 2009 6:09 am

So Don had at least two sidejacks, a 'burst and a CAR, and even though it appears Nokie has two sidejack bursts, could it be that Semie upgraded the hardware on the one guitar? It appears that for every tour, they got a new set of matching Mosrites.
As for the amps, Zak mentioned that on the 'Live Japan 65' recordings they were not using the Fender amps, but were playing thru Guyatone amps. Nokie used a Guyatone GA-950, which is a piggy back style but not the same circuit as a Showman.
Thanks Mel for starting this thread. I never knew Don had a CAR sidejack!

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Re: The Ventures' Mosrites

Postby Dennisthe Menace » Wed May 06, 2009 7:52 am

Strat-o-rama wrote:So Don had at least two sidejacks, a 'burst and a CAR, and even though it appears Nokie has two sidejack bursts, could it be that Semie upgraded the hardware on the one guitar? It appears that for every tour, they got a new set of matching Mosrites.
As for the amps, Zak mentioned that on the 'Live Japan 65' recordings they were not using the Fender amps, but were playing thru Guyatone amps. Nokie used a Guyatone GA-950, which is a piggy back style but not the same circuit as a Showman.
Thanks Mel for starting this thread. I never knew Don had a CAR sidejack!

Don MOST DEFINITELY had a C.A.R. I would think that the most recognized PIC would be that of WDR '64 VOL II. When one of my older cousins had given me the Album sometime around '69-'70, I was only like 10 or 11. I was just learning how to play, and when I looked at that Album,
I assumed that the Lead Guitarist was SUPPOSED to play a Sunburst, Rhythm Guitarist was to play Red, and the Bassist to play Blue. :shock: . Hey, how was I suppose to know!? (LOL).

But on that WDR '64 Album, it shows the group with Don's C.A.R. Mo.'
Image
make the Mos' of it, choose the 'rite stuff.
.........Owner of 9 Mosrites...
.....proud owner and documented:
1963 "the Ventures" Model s/n #0038
http://www.thevintagerockproject.com/

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Re: The Ventures' Mosrites

Postby Veenture » Wed May 06, 2009 11:01 am

Hey, nice pictures showing the Mo’s in action!
I like the second (b/w) picture …haven’t seen that one before. I also see Mel with a new model too –made in Japan- ;) …sorry, back to the Ventures’ Mosrites again.
Here’s my contribution to the thread with just a handful of Ventures’ album icons that I feel deserve an airing here too:
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........................Who’s next? :roll:


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