Edit:
The thread has been edited from its original state, so as to keep things a bit simpler on the forum. You may find the most recent update either here in this main topic, or in one of my most recent replies to the topic. (I just make a new reply to show that it was updated.)
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Latest Updates:
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18 March, 2023:
Changes to the order of the list. Also added a small model history section.
24 October, 2023:
Unknown No. Black Guitar with Planets painted on it added. Guitar seen in "Bakersfield Guitars" Book.
Also removed 13 of my replies from May 3 2020 - March 18, 2023 to make the thread easier to navigate.
20 July 2024:
Added 15 (Black) to the list.
https://www.facebook.com/share/p/53NEBQD5cZipxLC5/
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Model History:
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Info on this model is sparse, but it appears to have been one that was easy and simple to build when Semie was low on funds from 1977 to 1978. Only 80 of these are supposed to have been made under the Mosrite name, plus 3 or 4 prototypes under the "Moseley" name, one which I have documented (the white one.) However, the highest number I have for a Mosrite version is "16," so your guess is as good as mine about how many were originally made. I still think it's rarer than the Brass Rail or Ventures II (Slab) / "Mark II" models, though.
Ed Elliott also got a box of Mosrite parts in 1978, and assembled some S. M. models with the parts. At least some of these became double-cutaways, like a Les Paul Special.
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Model Specs:
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To be frank, I'm not yet certain what this model's specs are. However, this is what it looks like they are:
24.50" Scale Length
Rosewood Fretboard
Maple Neck
Basswood Body, Not Carved (but with a slight bevel.)
Mosrite Single Coil Pickups, No Pole Pieces (1970s version of the Mark V pickups?)
Stop Tailpiece
The serial numbers are located between the last fret and the end of the fretboard, by the neck pickup. They're often surrounded by indentations of a phillips head screwdriver, though perhaps that's not always the case; I don't know for sure.
And now, the Serial Numbers:
Known # Section - 7 Guitars:
14LOU - Mentioned here: viewtopic.php?f=6&t=1046&start=10
5 - Black, with Smooth Cover Pickups (I can't tell what kind of pup.) Was bought in a thrift store in California, and posted about at Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/mosrite ... 722425432/
6 - Black, with Humbuckers. Was owned by Michael Marks for a while, I'm not sure if he still has it: http://home.insightbb.com/~marksma/wsb/ ... 31539.html
8 - Black Body, Sunburst Neck & Headstock, Stop Tailpiece. Owned by forum member VincentW. https://www.facebook.com/groups/mosrite ... 344800722/
10 - Black with Sunburst Headstock - Found at http://www.ne.jp/asahi/mochizuki/kiyosh ... rlist.html (search "Bluesbender" and it should mistakenly show up.) Picture: http://www.ne.jp/asahi/mochizuki/kiyosh ... lackey.jpg
15 - Black. Owned by Adam Tober (dorkrockrecords.) https://www.facebook.com/share/p/53NEBQD5cZipxLC5/
16 - Natural finish, Black Pickguard, and Black electronics cavity plate. Owned by Adam Tober (dorkrockrecords.) Link 1: https://www.facebook.com/photo?fbid=101 ... 1330780677 --- Link 2: https://www.facebook.com/share/p/53NEBQD5cZipxLC5/
Speculated # Section - 1 Guitar:
3 - Black, Tortoiseshell Pickguard & Control Cavity Plastic. Says "1977" under the tailpiece. Is modified a bit. Showed up on Reverb on 16 October 2022. Pics and page saved.
https://reverb.com/item/62245691-mosrit ... ified-1977
No # Section - 1 Guitar
No Number, Black - Once owned by Michael Marks. Has 2 Mosrite Humbuckers. http://home.insightbb.com/~marksma/wsb/ ... 35039.html
Unknown # Section - 3 Guitars:
No. ???, White with Black or Tortoiseshell Pickguard. Showed up on eBay in mid 2017. Seems to be a prototype of only 3 or 4. Says "Semie Moseley" on the headstock.
No. ???, Black with Planets painted on it. Seen in the "Bakersfield Guitars" book. Shared by Vincent Kan (thanks.)
No. ???, Sunburst. Pic saved. Was purchased by Forum Member "eltuce" in 2009 or 2010. Had no finish, then he finished it in a Sunburst. Also has a Moseley Vibrato Tailpiece. Thread discussing it before purchase: viewtopic.php?f=27&t=3265 Photo, after puchase: viewtopic.php?f=6&t=3101&p=36052#p36052
Ed Elliott Mosrite Partsrite Section - 2 Guitars Listed
No # - Sunburst - Double Cutaway. Pics & Page saved. The ad says this is a "Blues Bender," but it doesn't have a German Carve, so I'm putting it in this list since it looks like the best place to put it. https://reverb.com/item/52536824-mosrit ... 8-sunburst
???, Black, Set Neck Ed Elliott Partsrite assembled in 1978 with Moseley Vibrato. Black Headstock. Update, June 8 2020 - Sold later as body and neck due to the neck becoming twisted. (I got that info from an archived eBay listing at Worthpoint.)
Quote from Ed Elliott about this instrument: "hey Austin, that guitar use to belong to me, something I put together and played for a while, I have a photo of me and that guitar at a show I played at Six Flags Magic Mountain theme park in southern California in 1979, it was put together from that stuff I bought from Semie, that's a 350 pickguard I modified, it also had a Moseley tremelo, mainly because I had a box full of them."
Search "Unknown" and it should show up at the bottom, just after the listing for S.M. No. 10 which is also "Unknown." http://www.ne.jp/asahi/mochizuki/kiyosh ... rlist.html
Direct Link to Pic: http://www.ne.jp/asahi/mochizuki/kiyosh ... yukawa.jpg
Quote from Ed Elliott about S.M. Models:
"Me and my dad in 1978 bought from Semie 11 Brassrail partsrites, there was at least 3 black ones, about 20 SM bodies and necks, boxes of parts and all the equipment out of the paint room. At the time I was restoring a double cutaway Les Paul special for Artie Niesen,
I really liked those guitars, I used it for a pattern to reshape most of the SM bodies, so if anyone has a Mosrite shaped like a Les Paul Special, its one of mine." - Post from Ed Elliott's "We Love Mosrite Guitars" Page, under his question about who owns Mosrite Brass Rail Models; dated June 1, 2020.
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14 Guitars in total.
7 with known numbers,
1 with a speculated number,
3 with unknown numbers (2 Mosrites, 1 Moseley,)
1 with no number,
2 E. F. Elliott Partsrites.
I'm going to be surprised if more than 25 of these were made. They show up so scarcely, that I can't imagine many were built.
Earlier, I had heard that only 84 of these guitars exist (including 4 Moseley models,) and that may exclude partsrites that weren't assembled initially (such as the Sunburst in the unknown # section.) I know that Ed Elliott said he had "about 20 bodies," but I don't know if that's out of the 84 guitars already mentioned, or if there are an additional 20 bodies which weren't finished at Mosrite.
Perhaps there were 20 or 25 finished, and then about 60 bodies were left unfinished? It's hard to tell.
Image of one linked to be a preview image for Facebook:
- Austin
