Sidejack, no binding?

[MWaldorf]

I think we're just talkin' prototype city with the Mosrites in these back cover photos. I don't know that any sidejack Ventures model went into production without binding. The vibromutes don't yet have the Mosrite logo. You'll also notice on the back of "WDR Vol. 2", that came out a few months after this, a close-up of Nokie's Mosrite where the angle of the fretboard at the base of the neck is not yet cut to match the angle of the neck pick-up.
-Marty

You can see the neck heel / neck pickup angle mismatch in the picture above, too. What I find so interesting is that I've never seen another Joe Maphis / Ventures guitar from this era without binding. The student guitar with one pickup and a smaller body didn't have binding. So while these were prototypes, it seems like Semie would have had to go out of his way to make a sidejack with no body or neck binding.

If this guitar still exists somewhere, it will be pretty easy to identify as I doubt there are any others like it!

[Nokie]

I think we're just talkin' prototype city with the Mosrites in these back cover photos. I don't know that any sidejack Ventures model went into production without binding. The vibromutes don't yet have the Mosrite logo. You'll also notice on the back of "WDR Vol. 2", that came out a few months after this, a close-up of Nokie's Mosrite where the angle of the fretboard at the base of the neck is not yet cut to match the angle of the neck pick-up.
-Marty

You can see the neck heel / neck pickup angle mismatch in the picture above, too. What I find so interesting is that I've never seen another Joe Maphis / Ventures guitar from this era without binding. The student guitar with one pickup and a smaller body didn't have binding. So while these were prototypes, it seems like Semie would have had to go out of his way to make a sidejack with no body or neck binding.

If this guitar still exists somewhere, it will be pretty easy to identify as I doubt there are any others like it!

Ok Mel, but would it really be more work for Semie to make the one without binding? I'm under the impression he would just forego the additional routing stage to the neck and body construction. It would indeed be interesting to know what ever happened to the guitar Don holds in those pics.
-Marty

[MWaldorf]

Ok Mel, but would it really be more work for Semie to make the one without binding? I'm under the impression he would just forego the additional routing stage to the neck and body construction. It would indeed be interesting to know what ever happened to the guitar Don holds in those pics.
-Marty

No, not more work, just a decision to do things differently than normal. Whether it was a conscious decision, a request on Don's part, or a matter of expediency, well, that's the interesting thing to me.

[Edwyn]

I bought my sidejack (serial #0083) new at Whitey Lunzar's shop here in Columbus in August 1965. It was hanging on a wall flanked by a single pickup bass and unbound guitar. All 3 instruments were new at the time, and I assumed the unbound model was meant to be a rhythm instrument and the bound one a fancier "lead" model. That's the only set neck unbound Ventures model I ever saw.

[Nokie]

I bought my sidejack (serial #0083) new at Whitey Lunzar's shop here in Columbus in August 1965. It was hanging on a wall flanked by a single pickup bass and unbound guitar. All 3 instruments were new at the time, and I assumed the unbound model was meant to be a rhythm instrument and the bound one a fancier "lead" model. That's the only set neck unbound Ventures model I ever saw.

Wow! Do you still have it? Howsa 'bout some pictures of it?
-Marty

[oipunkguy]

keep in mind that a new mosrite in 65 went more then a new strat or LP and it could have just been a cheaper option for players. and considering the earlier trem on this guitar would make it a 63 or 64, so this would have been before semie made a ventures 2 model. just a thought.

[jfine]

keep in mind that a new mosrite in 65 went more then a new strat or LP and it could have just been a cheaper option for players. and considering the earlier trem on this guitar would make it a 63 or 64, so this would have been before semie made a ventures 2 model. just a thought.

Almost correct! In '65, a new Strat in sunburst was $289.50 without the case, cases were another $45 or so. In '65, you couldn't buy a new Les Paul--they'd been discontinued by '61 and replaced by the SG, which was still called a "Les Paul" until about '63. A new SG Standard in '65 was $317.50--I bought one in '67 for that price and the dealer threw in the case--unheard of back then! By comparison, a Mosrite Ventures Model (would have been a topjack without body binding in '65) in sunburst was $398 without the case. A top-of-the-line solidbody would have been closer to that or even a bit more--a Fender Jaguar was $379.50 in sunburst, but they were going out of fashion by '65--everybody wanted hollow- or semi-hollow bodied guitars like the Gibson ES-335 ($425), Gretsch Nashville ($500) or Country Gentleman ($600), or the Rickenbacker 360 ($498), all of which were pricier than the Mosrite. What would be really pricey vintage stuff today was ridiculously cheap in '65--I could have had a blackguard Fender Esquire for $75 or a '57 Les Paul Goldtop with humbuckers for $125! Of course, within a year or so, the Esquire went up to around $400, the Goldtop went to $800, all because of Mike Bloomfield, and when he switched to a Burst, they went up to $1000-$1200 and Goldtops came down a bit. For comparison, the most expensive new production electric was the stereo Gretsch White Falcon at $1000.

[vibramute]

There is a good possiblity that the band is holding the first 3 branded "Ventures model" Mosrites when that picture was taken of the group. Semie supplied Don with a no-frills guitar, suited for a 'rhythm guitarist'. I believe it was just simple advertising (and maybe a bit of test marketing), not a custom order.

It was about a year into the Ventures deal before the Mark II went in production but Don's primitive sidejack supports the theory that Semie intended on a slightly 'bare bones' guitar from the begining.

BTW, there is at least one picture of the Ventures live where Don is playing a super early Mark II (with the funky vibrato..I believe Johnny Ramone's had the same vibrato originally). The question is whether there was some thinking behind it: Don with the no-frills model, Nokie with the deluxe model, or if Don choose to play it out of curiosity or preference.

[mosriteer]

Vibramute's explanation makes perfect sense. Here are the urls to some of the pics from 65 with Don and the V-II model:

http://www5a.biglobe.ne.jp/~venchans/1965a11.gif
http://www5a.biglobe.ne.jp/~venchans/1965e2.jpg
http://www5a.biglobe.ne.jp/~venchans/1965a2.jpg
http://www5a.biglobe.ne.jp/~venchans/1965b11.gif

-Kanad

[vibramute]

Vibramute's explanation makes perfect sense. Here are the urls to some of the pics from 65 with Don and the V-II model:

http://www5a.biglobe.ne.jp/~venchans/1965a11.gif
http://www5a.biglobe.ne.jp/~venchans/1965e2.jpg
http://www5a.biglobe.ne.jp/~venchans/1965a2.jpg
http://www5a.biglobe.ne.jp/~venchans/1965b11.gif

-Kanad

Kanad,

Thanks for posting those pics!