Mosrite Players

[leonardblush]

I'm not sure if this goes into the Music Related forum. However it is more on topic with making music than gear.
My Excellent '65 is stuck in the UPS depot so I can't really answer this question myself.

It's been years since I played my buddies Excellent '65 and I realized the nut width was somewhat smaller than that on a Fender. But without any Mosrites around to try I'm just thinking. Probably over thinking...
I stand 6'2 and though I don't have monster hands I'd say they are atleast medium to large sized. My guitar of choice last go around in my surf band was a Fender Jaguar. Even though dimension wise different than the Mosrite, that had a really small neck on it as well and I somehow managed. I'm not so worried about double picking single notes. But more so the bending chicken picking "lead guitar" Nokie stuff. Any of you with larger hands have any trouble? Or is it just an adjustment period? That said, I never did much bending previously in my surf band. I had the Jag strung with heavy strings and that short scale was weird for bending. Now my surf band has a rhythm guitarist so its giving me some room to stretch out.

[jtr654]

If its like a original Mosrite,at the nut is 1 1/2 " X 1/2" to small for me to be comfortable. Thats why I now own a Hallmark.

[jfine]

I'm with jtr on this one. 1-1/2" is just too narrow for me, and I don't have particularly large hands. My Hallmark 60 Custom at 1-5/8" is about as narrow as I can go. However, Semie himself had large hands--he was over six feet tall--and he's the guy behind the narrow necks, so go figure! There's a clip on here of Semie playing a concert in Japan--he was a good player--and he didn't seem to have any trouble with the narrow neck, so I guess you can get used to anything! I just can't play those pencil necks, though...

[Haole Jim]

And Nokie Edwards introduced the Mosrite to the Ventures and he was a relatively big dude, too.

'Am average-hand-size and have no trouble, however, a bud who played the Mk I said, "Dang, this thing is TIGHT!" He did not like the narrow, shallow neck. Go figure....

[pikdude]

I have owned three Mosrites over the years. In 1966 when they first came out I got a candy apple red one with matching finish on the neck and headstock. It looked good enough to eat! I liked it but traded it for a Gibson ES-335 which I have to this day. Truly a great guitar. Then about 15 years ago (maybe more) I actually called Semie to order my custom dream guitar. Pearl white, three pickups. It looked awesome. It turned out to be a total dog! I asked him to make a standard size neck i.e. not narrow, he said OK but made it 1 1/2" at the nut anyway. There were dead spots, pickups sounded weird. Took them out and found what looked to be body filler in them! I got rid of it in disgust. Then I got a MIJ model on eBay in metallic blue which was gorgeous. Still the neck was too narrow for me, sold that and finally bought a Hallmark and I totally LOVE it! It's a dead on Mosrite done right. Pearl white, Gibson scale, 1 5/8" at the nut. It's got the sound, man.

I think Mosrites are the most beautiful looking guitars ever made, but very impractical for most people because of that darn neck. Now I am a happy camper thanks to Bob Shade the designer of the '60 Custom.

[TimR]

It may be unpopular on here, but I agree with this "pikdude" guy. I have owned over 50 Mosrites and think they are the most beautiful guitars ever made -plus my all time favorite band in the whole world is the Ventures. BUT -I am also a big guy (6' 1") with relatively large hands. The Mosrite necks are too skinny. I don't mind them being thin and the low frets, but I need more than 1 1/2" at the nut.
I had given up on owning and playing a Mosrite until Bob Shade came along. The only Mosrite I kept was the Bluesbender, which I still own, that has the wider neck. The Hallmark C-60 was what Semie should have made. If he had made that back in the 60's, the Ventures would have continued to play it, and it would have been recognized by now as one of the greatest guitars ever made.

[juan_10]

Well , this is for sure, a 'try before you buy' issue . One of the characteristics that you love or loathe .. I've been a strat player for mucho years and have to say I'm loving the neck on my Ranger . The combination of short scale and smaller neck width is just different .. and I like it.

We will never see an end to the debate. But the fact that Semie wouldn't do what Don suggested and make changes to his design is evidence of a certain stubborness that comes with deeply held convictions and self-reliance . Without that stubborness in him I doubt he would have persevered as he obviously did through good times and bad times , but it must have hurt as much as helped.

These days with all the electronic media, feedback is easier to 'hear', and I think he might well have 'come around'.

[Veenture]

Excellent discussion lads, on one of the most sensitive Mosrite subjects IMO. And there's no 'mud throwing' involved, what a great forum! Thanks for your input (no typo!).

[Sarah93003]

I think Semie was something like 6' 5" tall and undoubtedly had larger than average hands. Perhaps Andy or Dana happens to know why he was so driven to make the skinny necks. It might be simply just to set his guitar apart from others and if you play it long enough you get used to it. I have no idea really. It's too bad that there was not a variety offered since it would have been easy enough just to have different models with different features, including neck profile.

For me, being a rhythm player, the neck is perfect. What I find is that I can play barre chords for a much longer period of time before my hand gets fatigued. I attribute this to a combination of the neck profile and the speed frets which in turn allows the action to be lower than on any of my other guitars. There have been times when I've been playing for several hours and my hand is getting tired that I could still do a barre chord without even using my thumb on the back of the neck. I can't do that with any other guitar.

[TimR]

The neck profile has never been a problem for me -and I love the low action. The speed frets were OK too, depending on what you're playing. It was just, right at the nut, it needed another 1/8" in width, which the Hallmark has. It doesn't sound like much, but it opens things up. The really tough thing was that Semie even put the 12 string on the same width neck. Put an extra 6 strings in there and you're really cramped up. I could not even play a clear open C chord on a Mosrite 12 string, without my finger touching the high E strings. Rickenbackers are just as bad, though. I love Ric 12 strings, but the only one I could ever play was the Tom Petty model, as he had them make the neck wider, for the same reason. But I don't expect everyone to feel the same -that's just me ......................