Oddly enough two of these showed up in the Boston area in one week, one was half the price of the other. Guess which one I bought. I sold my '65 SG Junior which I'm still kinda kicking myself a bit over but wound up buying this one within 24 hours, oops! Very cool guitars that seem to slip under the radar. These pickups sound really amazing, very Mosrite-ish and it plays very well. I love the original paperwork that came with it, UPS was much cheaper in '71! I also like that the guitar was born the same year I was.
Never seen or heard of this brand before. Interesting headstock. First time I've seen an adjustable "intonation nut"! (my own quote ). It seems a down-to-earth guitar but with attention to detail on some of the features, nonetheless. Have many happy hours with it, eltuce! (Dare I ask what the asking price was?)
Congrats eltuce I believe those p'ups were built by a young Bill Lawrence back then .
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/
Congrats on the purchase, I never noticed that Microfrets guitars had roller/adjustable nuts before. Wasn't this brand of guitar the very first to have a wireless feature?
Austin
1966 Ventures II (German Carved, B670.) 1970s "Not a Blues Bender" Bodies: 2. 1976 Brass Rail Deluxe #10. 2013 Fender Pawn Shop Bass VI.
Why yes, the pickups were made by Bill Lawrence and yes, I believe they were the first to go wireless but had some issues. The one on consignment here is marked at $2000 and the guy selling it paid $2500. I scored mine for just over $1000.
Tommy, those Micro-Frets were made in Northern Maryland and I used to see used ones for sale. By the time I realized what they were, so had others and the prices jumped up!
If I remember correctly, Carl Perkins played those for a while through solid-state Kustom Lead amps (after the rolled-and-pleated ones). I scored one of those Kustom amps a couple of weeks ago and my Hallmarks and Mosrite sound fine through it.
I wonder if the Micro-Frets adjustable-nut feature shares something with that Buzz Feiten Tuning System. Anyone know?
I'm rather surprised at that and feel a bit embarrassed having asked eltuce , ...I was thinking of it's value being in the $500 - $700 level or so However, it's USA-made and a genuine piece of American guitar history and the internet certainly is helping getting people aware of some guitars' rareness, congrats!
That's alright, no worries. For a real deal USA made vintage I still think that's pretty decent. I believe the going rate for these is somewhere in the $700-$1100 range so I did wind up on the higher end but I'm alright with it. I guess after what I have spent on some other guitars $1000 seems fairly cheap.
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/