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This is the brightest vintage guitar I have ever seen. Produced at the original Mosrite factory in Bakersfield California in 1966, this Ventures Mark I model wears its original Strawberry Red finish well. Somewhat between a Fiesta Red and Dakota Red hue-I guess Mosrite decided to dominate the bright red California guitar-producers' market and boy did they. I have owned a few Ventures II and maybe a Mark V before-but never a Mark I like this one. Known to be produced in a small batch-these guitars are Super-Rare! I can't believe how far ahead of their time the design of these guitars was-I always try to imagine showing up in the mid 1960's to a gig with a Mosrite guitar and wonder what people back then must have thought about such a wild body and finish! Appears to be all original with the exception of the potentiometers-which have the same manufacturer's code-just a later date code. This one is solid and plays and sounds as good as it looks.
The body features the familiar double cutaway Mosrite shape with the quintessential carved top for maximum sexy time. The finish is just bright as can be. There are line checks all over which give an awesome vintage vibe. The sides have some prior touch up spots and overall this guitar presents very nicely. The backside has some checking as well-looks great. You can see a line in the joint where the body slabs were assembled at the factory on the lower middle area-it is stable and simply a cosmetic. The neck joint is solid and the neck angle is great. The amoeba neck plate really is the greatest neck plate designed, right?
The neck is straight and smooth. The profile is best described as a "vintage slim" neck. It measures 1.57" wide at the zero fret and the neck depth is .795" at the 1st fret and .804" at the 12th fret. The original tuners all function smoothly and the guitar says in tune well. The headstock and logos display excellent! The rosewood fingerboard is clean and has a nice grain and soft feel. The frets are the familiar "speed frets" which are low and thin for speedy playing and more slides than a World Series. The action is fairly and fully adjustable if you should choose to raise or lower based on your preference. The string height is currently set at .010" at the 1st fret and .055" at the 12th fret. The guitar plays very easily up and down the fingerboard with a super soft touch.
The original "high output" pickups both have an excellent signal. The neck measures 10.23 ohms and the bridge measures 10.01 ohms. The controls function smoothly. The potentiometers were replaced in 1981 with correct specs-they look just like the originals and even have the same 134 code. The wiring is all original and nice. The bridge and Mosley tailpiece function as designed. The original "green" long tail pickguard is nice and flat with no warpage and no cracks!
The guitar is very fun to play and the offset body design is super comfortable. It is very lightweight-it only weighs 7.82 lbs. You can forget all about shoulder fatigue with this unit: You can play all night long and feel great! Original red faux alligator skin case is included of course.
This is a very rare and desirable vintage guitar. Work your magic.
