In search of 'That Gospel sound' (need your help)

[Bonahalamora]

Really need your help, otherwise I think I'll lost in myths and aberrations.

My story is simple. At the end of last year I was introduced to the Mosrite sound by accident. It was the old Mark V from 60s, and I immediately felt in love with the character, "sunlight nature" of that guitar's sound. You can hear exactly that guitar in the video (just to understand what do I mean )

SO,

First of all, I can only buy guitar online from music stores in Tokyo, Japanesse yahoo auction and ebay. This fact makes me feel very uncomfortable (I never purchased guitar before without playing it for a couple of days at least.. ) but I have no other possibility.

At the moment I have several variants.

1) Japanesse Gospel reissue by Fillmore





It's quite unexpensive - 1300$ , but I'm afraid of bad tremolo and other mechanics, and most of all - I can't believe that it has the same amazing sound.. On the other hand I like the look a lot ))

2) Vintage Mark V from 1965 serial is B7XX







Nearly perfect but the price is high - 2580$. Also I'm not sure about condition (it looks clean, but.. ) and the seller don't answer my questions ( I asked him to upload video of the guitar- no reply.. ) .. hmmm...

3) Nearly perfect vintage Mosrite from Ed Roman

http://www.edroman.com/detail_sheets/mo ... _d585.html

Price is 2500 and it looks fantastic!

4) Another vintage Mark V



It's on the auction and now price is around 1200.. The strange thing about it is that the seller says - "the guitar is small! 3/4!" - how it could be? ))

5) Many other Mark I reissues for around 2000$ like this one
(on this one theres a "Mosrite of USA Standard model" logo on the head)



But I don't understand if they sound different from Mark V, and is it a really big difference?


So I'm completely lost in all those amazing guitars. Of course it would be better to buy unexpensive Japanesse Gospel, but only if it's not worse than others.. (but then why it's cheaper? ) I also play with vibrato a lot, so I want it to be a solid as possible and hope to have my guitar in tune all the time..

Sometimes vintage guitars have problems, so I'm not sure about those original Mark Vs.. But they looks like "real deal"...

OMG! I'm LOST! HELP!)

[maxkat]

Hello Bonahalamora,
yes, those Ventures II/Mark V Mosrites are great, my favorites, too...
My opinion:
1) I would never go for any of those Japanese reissues. If I want a Mosrite I'd go for a vintage USA-made original. The Japanese bought the name several times (and sometimes they didn't) and built copys of Mosrites. Something that is not USA-made and made after 1992/92 is not a Mosrite. The only exception I would accept is a guitar from Ed Elliott, I guess.
2) This Mark V is made in 1966 and looks pretty... I wouldn't be after that perfect condition, so I could save some money...
3) Pretty 1966 Mark V, too, but again: expensive. The pickups look strange, I don't think they should have that chrome logo...
4) Mark V made between 1966 and 1968 (serial number?) and I think the price is reasonable. The Ventures II/Mark V is often called 3/4 sized, but in fact it has the exact scale length of every Mosrite 6-string of that time. It's only around 5-7cm shorter than the Ventures/Mark I.
5) Same as 1)
If you have never had a Mosrite in your hands you should try to play one first, as the necks are really thin – some don't like that... If it's only for the sound there might be quite a lot alternatives to that Ventures II/Mark V – for me there's more...
Cheers, Max

[rog43win]

Hi Pavel......welcome to the forum......

As Jim has pointed out, perhaps you should not "rush" into a purchase until you've searched other possiblities......you might be surprised at what you can find for lower prices, and still get the sound and look that you want....

One alternative to a Mosrite is Hallmark....the custom 60 is a clone of the Mosrite and looks, sounds, and plays like one...for a much lower price.....I've had both a Mosrite and Hallmark and I'm very pleased with the Hallmark......a brand new one for under $1,000. .......

If you check out the threads in this forum, it will give you lots of ideas and even more options.....

Happy hunting!

[Bonahalamora]

Thank you for suggestions.. About Hallmark - I think Hallmarks sounds a little different (in a good way, but still different ). And the "touch of original Mosrite" in sound is very important for me. I don't know, maybe it's just an illusion, but I think it's even possible to hear that difference in demos on youtube. Maybe it's because of special 'secret' Mosrite pickups..

Anyway, at the moment I think I'll go for vintage Mark V (or Mark II ) from 60s.. Do you think 2300$-2500$ is a fair price for the instrument in good condition? Ogh.. It would be nice to spend less than 2000$.. but of course for me sound is the highest importance, and I see no reason to be greedy.

Sometimes people say that reissues sounds just like the originals.. not so warm, but 99% the same.. but there're a lot of reports about bad tremolos on Japanesse Mosrites (especially made after millenium.. ).. And for me it's a conundrum too, because at the moment I have no guitar with tremolo so Mosrite will be my main surf-tremolo-machine.. Or maybe it's better to get unexpensive Japanesse reissue just for the inimitable Mosrite sound, and get another guitar (Jazzmaster or Burns Apache/Marvin or even Gretsch Jet.. ) for tremolo, what do you think? Unfortunately I don't like Fenders too much, Burns looks and sounds beautiful, but too thin and 'special', and Gretsch Jets (like sound of it a lot!) have not really perfect bigsby tremolos just like Mosrites..

But ok.. it's offtopic..

Another thing I want to ask you - is there a difference in sound between Mark V/II and Mark I style guitars? Pickups looks different so I think = yes .. I'm not sure but to me Mark V/II has more depth, warmth in sounds, and doesn't have Mark I's "high-end crisp", but of course it's all very subjective..

[Bonahalamora]

hhmmm.. what do you think about this guitar?

http://cgi.ebay.com/Vintage-Mosrite-Ven ... _500wt_922

I think the color is super, but something in this guitar makes me feel a little suspicious. And there're a couple of SCREWS in the nut! What is that?! Is it dangerous and could it be restored?! I was trying to contact seller and asked him to record a video of the guitar and upload it to youtube, but still no response (2weeks)..

Please, let me know your opinion, because I think this one is nearly perfect for me (except SCREWS and suspiciousness )..

[dubtrub]

hhmmm.. what do you think about this guitar?

Please, let me know your opinion, because I think this one is nearly perfect for me (except SCREWS and suspiciousness )..

Those screws are there to hold the string guide/nut in place. They were originally glued in place. Apparently the owner found a more permanent fix by drilling and using screws. I don't see any problem with it.

[Bonahalamora]

Finally ended up with that vintage Mark V in blue.. Thanks all for your suggestions!

I'm going to change the nut on it. Does anybody know, where is possible to find one (possibly used or even original from 60s)?

[dubtrub]

Congratulations! Keep us updated once you get it in your hands.

[Veenture]

I'm going to change the nut on it. Does anybody know, where is possible to find one (possibly used or even original from 60s)?

There's a Mosrite string guide on ebay right now US dollars 19.95 and you can always ask the seller if he is willing to ship to your area.



http://cgi.ebay.com/Mosrite-String-Guid ... 45f912a12e

Congrats on the guitar!

[Elliot Easton]

I would like to weigh in here with an opinion. i have owned 2 mosrites built for me by semie mosely. i currently own 2 fillmore mark 1's and i have to disagree with the comments about the japanese quality. i'm only talking about fillmore because i don't know about the other copies but to me, mr. yusa at fillmore in japan builds real morites. i don't care what country they come from, they are at least as good as the ones semie built for me. i have no reason to say this other than this is my true opinion. i'd take a fillmore mosrite over a beat up rusty old usa model any day! i do have one question: why would anyone prefer a gospel to a mark I? they're not as sleek looking. is it the nirvana connection? does the word 'gospel' on there make you feel closer to god, whatever that is? i'm not criticizing, just curious...