Forget those and look into a Hallmark 60 Custom Also check the Mosrite Forum for all you could ever hope to know about Mosrites and their clones.

Yeah i have a Hallmark and its pretty sweet(Thanks Mel) ive been trying to register for that forum but it wont let me, maybe they dont like me there haha

-Zanti

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Saying a sg neck is cricket bat feeling, is that small or large? I would picture that meaning wide and flat.. both of my sg's have tiny necks, after playing my strat or dano i feel all cramped on the sg's...

I wanna play just like him when i grow up...

You should also check out the Aria DM-380. I bought one of these not too long ago & actually it's pretty good. Though I probably will replace the trem and tuners. You can get them in a surfy green color too!
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(defunct) Thee Jaguar Sharks

Plus! Other stuff not surf: https://soundcloud.com/jamesmileshq
Enjoy every minute

I have the Hallmark Custom 60's and EastWood Side Deluxe (the model with the Jag trem setup). Apart from the fact that the Hallmark costs about twice what the Sidejack does, the build quality of each is at opposite ends of the rainbow.

The Hallmark, out of the box was intonated, fit and finished perfectly. It was easy to adjust and restring to my own liking (toss the rounds put on 11-50 flats). From Hallmark action was set very low, good for a feel player. Trem unit is one of the nicest I've used and stays in tune very well. The Hallmark has a zero fret neck. Under the pickguard everything is nicely laid out and easy to work on.

The Sidejack, out of the box, wasn't playable. E and B strings fretted out on the 10th and 13th frets. The nut looks like it was cut with a paring knife. The frets weren't levelled properly from factory and fret end dressing was non-existant. The store I bought it from sent it out to have the neck done and I got it back and the neck was finally set up correctly.

The Eastwoods neck pickup wasn't adjustable because the pickguard was cut and/or fitted incorrectly and jammed into the side of the pickup. When I took the pickguard off to see what else was wrong, well, don't do that unless you really want to see the can of worms in this thing. Pickguard holes drilled in the wrong place, so they drilled new ones, glued in blocks of wood to catch the screws (easier than correctly routing the body), neck pickup was blocked up with a piece of wood, some divers suit was cut incorrectly and was jamming the pickup cover so there was no way to adjust the height and the guitar clear coat slopped down the side of the pickup hole and needed to be ground out. The pots used are those "mini" style, shielding is two small pieces of foil around the pots and pickup switch.

The store gave me a good discount so I decided to keep the Sidejack and fix it up myself. Took me two days of work but I fixed Sidejack to move it from a project guitar to a player. The only part I didn't have to adjust was the tremolo.

Play wise, both guitars play well although you can get a lot lower action on the Hallmark than the Eastwood if you want to. Sound wise, keep in mind both mine are using flats (ECG24's), the Eastwood is hotter and has more twang like my Tele. With the pups set at the factory spec clearance it was over drive city, had to drop them down 1/8" tame it. Both guitars have pronounced lower and mid range sound. Work up the B and E strings and the Eastwood has more treble available than the Hallmark. Both stay in tune very well even using the whammy's a lot.

Do either one of them sound like a vintage Mosrite? My opinion is that the Hallmark is closer but still has a way to go. The Sidejack, not so much. It sounds more like hot twang closer to a Tele in a country band. Both guitars produce usable sound, but if you're after vintage Mosrite sound, well, the only real choice would be a vintage Mosrite.

I'd never buy another Eastwood Sidejack unless I got it really cheap and wanted a project guitar, I'd have no qualms about buying another Hallmark. I bought the Hallmark online, the Eastwood through a store locally.

So maybe it's true you get what you pay for, or maybe I just got the Eastwood that was made on a Friday at 5pm by the rookie on the assembly line, or I got Bob Shades personal Hallmark, I don't know. But when I contacted Eastwood about it, they didn't seem surprised at all. On that note I should add, both companies were very responsive to any emails I sent them, Bob answered my questions, Eastwood (Peter) offered me a discount if I bought another guitar from them...

Mel

Mel

My first mosrite copy is a high flier phase 2 and I fell in love with the pickups, they are really cool
The guitar is kind of a toy. I put klusons on it and did everything in my power to make it "stage worthy" but didnt cut it. Its still a cheap copy and very toyish

It turned me on to the mosrite's I now have two vintage mosrites (65 and a 66)

I played an eastwood once and wasent a killer guitar but not bad for a few hundred bux.

I have never played a halmark but have heard great things on
www.mosriteforum.com
and think they are the best copy for the money.

If I were in your shoes I would save a couple of bux for the halmark. There is one for sale on the forum right now. Id go after that one.

Univox's are fetching hi prices (down at the moment) but ultimately its kind of a piece of junk.
If you can get it for $200 bux or less I say get it.
Dont pay $500 for one.

I do still love mine it turned me on to the mosrite's.
great pickups (not quite like mosrite's but nice and hot p90's!)

Give me reverb or give me death!
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I had an Eastwood Sidejack and found the frets to be too big & the tremolo to be junk. The neck just had a kind of "chunky" feel. I've heard the trem on the earlier Eastwood were better however. The electronics & pickups were ok and it certainly looked sharp.

(defunct) Thee Jaguar Sharks

Plus! Other stuff not surf: https://soundcloud.com/jamesmileshq
Enjoy every minute

Jagshark
I had an Eastwood Sidejack and found the frets to be too big & the tremolo to be junk. The neck just had a kind of "chunky" feel. I've heard the trem on the earlier Eastwood were better however. The electronics & pickups were ok and it certainly looked sharp.

Eastwood's are different for different years. The 2010 model uses the Jag style trem, the 2009 uses the Burns style trem. I don't know what preceded those years. I've had no trouble at all with the Jag style trem staying in tune.

The frets on my 2010 Sidejack DLX style are narrower (2.7mm wide) but the same height as my 2008 USA Tele (2.9mm wide). IIRC the Tele uses medium/jumbo frets.

But to compare the Sidejack to a Hallmark, the Hallmark frets are 2mm wide and wire frets so they not only look different, they feel and play different to me.

According to the web sites, the specs show the Hallmark and Eastwood guitars have the same neck width. I measured both of mine and the Hallmark is narrower at the nut and has a zero fret neck, whereas the Eastwood has the more common plastic nut.

About the only things these guitars have in common is the two pickup set up and body style. From that point on they are two very different guitars.

Much of this probably can be attributed to which factory, in which year, and at what point during parts inventory the guitar was made and assembled...I think it best that if you can try these before you buy them and make sure you can return it if it turns out bad.

Mel

Mel

The "Mosrite of Century" line was a less expensive version (about $500) of the "Mosrite of Classics" guitars. Although a pick-up and bridge/trem assembly swap is necessary, and will add to the cost, the neck and body were identical to the more expensive line, which themselves were identical to the real deal.

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I own a Semie Mosrite Mk. V, a Dana Mosrite Mk. I and a Aria Diamond DM380 (with pup upgrade to M 3). While nothing comes close to a real Mosrite, the DM380 is quite appealing. Especially with the pup upgrade you can buy a guitar that gets somewhere in the direction of a Mosrite for the lowest possible budget.
When I was in the US the last time I also had the opportunity to check out a Univox. I liked it, but the price wasn't fair and it didn't play 'that well'.
I've ordered a 60 custom Hallmark as well (have to wait for the next production run). So I can't say anything about them until it arrives.
But the best and lowest budget option would be the DM380 with a pup upgrade, imho. Or save up some $ and buy a 60 custom...actually I'd go for that option.

The Hicadoolas