And now for one of the coolest looking vintage guitars of all time-I present to you: The Mosrite Mark I 'Combo" model. If you wanna call this a thinline, I really don't mind. The guitar doesn't care either. It does have one F-hole so the shoe fits...
This guitar was made in late 1966 at the original Mosrite factory on P-street in Bakersfield California, U.S.A. The latest production date I can find is the 51st week of 1966 on one of the potentiometers. So I'm thinking that if the potentiometer were made in the next to the last week of 1966-the guitar was completed in early 1967. The guitar is nearly 100% original, with the welcomed addition of better quality neck screw grommets & washers. The finish is really cool! Most of these Mosrite Combos are either natural, translucent green or bright red or worse-that horrible dark sunburst that looks like my blind great-grandmother painted it (she is also dead). But anyways-this one is the rare Ruby Red finish (some call it Candy Apple) which looks totally killer with that german-carved top and cream double bound body and F-hole. YES! that F-hole is total magic. Just look at it.
The finish is nice and vibrant. It does display line checking all over the front and back. It looks vintage and proper. There is a small spot on the backside that exhibits some rub wear-see photos. The guitar is a hollow body. The neck joint is solid and as mentioned earlier-the factory grommets have been upgraded to a thicker material with a washer underneath to enhance neck joint stability. These guitars did not have the amoeba-shaped neck plate that other Mosrites enjoyed-due to the hollow body construction. The neck angle is excellent and stable. The neck itself is perfectly straight with no issues. It is a typical Mosrite slimish U shape. It has the 1.65" wide nut and the neck depth measures .831" deep at the 1st fret and .826" deep at the 12th fret. The kluson tuners all function and the guitar stays in tune. The headstock and logo display excellent. The Rosewood fingerboard is nice and clean and displays some groove/fingernail playing wear-see photos. The guitar came from the factory with "speed frets" aka low frets. They are in decent condition and have just been professionally leveled, crowned and polished. The action is set very low for a fast and easy playing experience. The bridge can easily be raised if you prefer a higher action. Currently the string height measures .010" at the 1st fret and .050" at the 12th fret. The guitar plays nice and easy up and down the fingerboard. The short fret design yields one of the easiest string pressure guitars you've ever played. The vibrato tailpiece functions super-smoothly and is a lot of fun to use.
Both pickups have an excellent signal. The neck measures 11.57 ohms and the bridge measures 11.33 ohms-a very nicely balanced output. The electronics and harness are all nice and function perfectly. The original roller saddle bridge is in good condition-and the rollers don't really roll or spin around much at all.
The guitar is super lightweight and fun to play. It only weighs 6.37lbs so you can forget about shoulder fatigue or any neck pull with this one. This Guitar is right at home on the stage or in the studio. You'll have a lot of compliments and expect to get a more than a few "Wow, what is that?" remarks. The hollow body and F-hole make it a lot of fun to play unplugged on the couch too!
The original Mosrite hard case is included. It is in decent used condition. The handle has added jump rings for support.
This is a beautiful guitar and would make an excellent addition to anyone's collection.
