Mosrite Celebrity

[seajay51]

Hi
My mother-in-law has this Celebrity. Instead of a serial number, "2ND" (without quotes) is stamped into the fingerboard at the 22nd fret. Could that mean it's a factory second, or a second prototype, or ... ? It's got the banana-shaped control plate like the 70's models. Here's the pic:

Any help identifying the year, etc. would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks, SeaJay

[Sarah93003]

Welcome to the forum, Seajay. That would be a 1972. If you take up the screws that hold down the control panel, flip it over, you can find the pot codes on the potentiometers. It will be a 7 digit number starting with 134 or 137. Such as 1347126, for example. That code will give us an idea of when it was built. Can you post up some more photos of various angles and features? As to the "2nd" stamped into the fretboard I would like to see a photo of that. I have not seen that before on a Mosrite.

[seajay51]

Hi, Sarah

I thought this might get your attention! The pots are pretty covered over with some bad soldering, but it looks like the last four numbers are 6381, and there is a 4 sticking out from under solder on the other side - I assume that's the 134 prefix. Here's the pic:

As for the 22nd Fret stamp, here are 2 pics:


I'll post other pics of the guitar soon. She's been in and out of the hospital and is currently living with us, so I haven't had much time.

Thanks for your help! Chris

[Sarah93003]

Okay, even if we can't see the numbers under the solder, 6381 doesn't work. That would make it the 81'st week of 1963 and that doesn't compute. So, in my opinion these pots are not the standard pots used by Mosrite. They have most likely been replaced. The wiring doesn't look original either. The solder job looks to not be factory.

I looked in my collection of serial numbers and found another "2nd". That is interesting to me because 1972 is when Mosrite started back up after the bankruptcy. Yours is now the second 2nd to pop up. I don't know if these were truly 2nd's or if they were give away guitars. Semie Moseley donated a lot of guitars to churches, etc.

The other guitar in my database is also a 1972.

Here is what is stamped on the fretboard.



It is also a CE-III but in Sunburst.



The Headstock




The wiring harness

[seajay51]

By "truly 2nd's" do you mean factory seconds - as in not up to their standards? I have heard that Semie was quite generous.
Also, a search for 6381 potentiometer found this Ernie Ball 6381 500k Split Shaft Pot Potentiometer:
Clearly a later "repair" job by a non-professional.

[Sarah93003]

By "truly 2nd's" do you mean factory seconds - as in not up to their standards? I have heard that Semie was quite generous.
Also, a search for 6381 potentiometer found this Ernie Ball 6381 500k Split Shaft Pot Potentiometer:[/img]
Clearly a later "repair" job by a non-professional.

At this stage it is difficult to know what "2nd" really meant back then. They may have been off for some reason. Both of the examples I have now seen look to be fine. The fact that they are missing the normal type of serial number indicates that they were labeled that way intentionally. In other words, they didn't receive the designation prior to inspection. Being a bolt on neck it would be pretty easy to make most adjustments to make a guitar "retail worthy". These will likely remain a mystery unless we are lucky enough to have a former employee of that time period shine some light.

[panther]

Today, a 2nd marked guitar is one that had factory flaws, or returns that could not be sold as new. They would repair the flaws as best they could and mark them as seconds, or used.
I purchased an Epiphone Gibson Gold top a few years back. When it arrived it was marked as such. I contacted the company I purchased it from, and inquired as to why the guitar was marked like that. They said the guitar WAS new, but had repair work done and could not be sold as first line new because of the repairs. The seller ensured me, if the guitar was not marked Second or Used, it would have cost substantially more.

Dan