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SurfGuitar101 Forums » Gear »

Permalink Budget Ventures Mosrite Style guitar

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Has anyone here picked up any of the budget friend options for a mosrite copy? There seem to be a number of chinese sellers offering these online. Just wondering if anyone here has taken the plunge.

Are you looking for one that sounds and plays like a Mosrite? I have serious doubts that any of those Chinese knockoffs could.

Last edited: Jun 07, 2018 05:38:51

Work in an original band with a weird old coot ( I'm another one ) that has a California Mosrite, it's been defaced with a poor matt black paint job but still has that "something" about it. The tiny frets and all the rest that add up to a unique guitar. Imitating them is a tough row to hoe, I've owned an Eastwood Sidejack that certainly looked like a Mosrite but sounded nothing like the original. Perhaps it's why they command such high prices used regardless of condition.

A Hallmark will get you 98% of the way there at a reasonable (not cheap) price.

Sublime,
We've had a discussion similar to this with a thread on the Danelectro 64.
There are lots of look alike "wannabe" Mosrites out there at seemingly bargain prices. The gag is they sound NOTHING like a real Mosrite. Fritzcat is correct. A Hallmark will get you close to the Mosrite sound. That's a pretty good deal at $1,000.00 - with case - that sounds close to a $2500-$5000 Mosrite.
All the others - the Eastwoods, the Danos, the Jay Tursers, even the Wilson Bros models are all thin soup to the Mosrite sound. I've tried them all; I never bought one. Who needs imitations when you have the real deal?

Hope this helps
J Mo'

IMO, stay far away from those those Chinese knock off guitars from sites like DH Gate and Ali Babba. Most of them are junk. As JohnnyMosrite said even the Eastwoods, Danos which IMO are generally of relatively decent quality are really just cosmetically similar but don't sound or feel anything like a real Mosrite.

JohnnyMosrite wrote:

Sublime,
We've had a discussion similar to this with a thread on the Danelectro 64.
There are lots of look alike "wannabe" Mosrites out there at seemingly bargain prices. The gag is they sound NOTHING like a real Mosrite. Fritzcat is correct. A Hallmark will get you close to the Mosrite sound. That's a pretty good deal at $1,000.00 - with case - that sounds close to a $2500-$5000 Mosrite.
All the others - the Eastwoods, the Danos, the Jay Tursers, even the Wilson Bros models are all thin soup to the Mosrite sound. I've tried them all; I never bought one. Who needs imitations when you have the real deal?

Hope this helps
J Mo'

Thanks for the heads up on Hallmarks.

That Man or AstroMan? signature is calling to me...

I've seen a Wilson "Ventures" model, a Mosrite copy, at my local shop for consignment, I should've grabbed it, it was under $200 and went fast, it's the only one I've ever seen. I keep checking Ebay, CL along with Reverb to see if one pops up, it was well made and played well, the 22 fret neck was a plus.

Blackheartsfan,
A Wilson Bros "Mosrite" for under $200.00? At the least, that suggests to me that someone bought it, didn't like it, and decided to unload it. Their loss; your gain - maybe. From that, at the least, the WB would seem to have rather poor value retention.

I've mentioned this before on the forum. It's a well known fact that Ventures Don Wilson didn't like the Mosrite. His rather large hands and the guitar neck were not a good match. So he goes back to the Jazzmaster. Ok.
And the WB evolves from that. He re-flips the Mosrite body over to a quasi-Stratocaster shape(Semie Moseley reportedly flipped a Stratocaster upside down and traced the original Mosrite body.)then adds the Jazzmaster trem with some "sorta Mosrite-ish" P90s.
Walla! - a Franken-Mosrite is alive, it's alive!

If you're just after some sort of Mosrite look, well, the WB or the others are for you. You just won't be getting the Mosrite sound. Again, the best value you're going to get in a Mosrite without the Mosrite price is a Hallmark model.
My several cents
J Mo'

I've played a couple of the Wilson Bros guitars and they were ok. I think $200 for one is a steal. I do echo everyone else' recommendation for the Hallmark. Not what most of us consider "budget," but by far the best guitar for the money.

The Mystery Men?
El Capitan and The Reluctant Sadists
SSS Agent #31

Don't waste your time and money on Chinese Mosrite clones. I did it and I ended up doing a lot of tweaking to get the guitar sort of about where I wanted it to be. If I had to do this over again, I would just belly up to the bar with the dough and pick up a new or well maintained Fender Jaguar. There are so many many string options and manufacturers available now to get "the sound" you want once you've picked out the "right" guitar. Go, look and experiment. I like a heavy duty roadhouse sound so I opt for the Ernie Ball Mediums and Rotosound CG-11s. It ain't a perfect world but get as close as you can with your budget and go play.Life is too short.

Correction: The correct name of the strings are Rotosound Ultramag UM-11. They are very loud and cut through everything....definitely worth the dough. I also use Rotosound brights on my 5-string Chinese knock-off Ernie ball Corvette bass. These strings are worth every nickel and I buy them on e-bay since nobody carries them here.

If you want the Mosrite sound, a Jaguar isn't going to do it. But you can get 100% there with a Hallmark C60 or C65 for less money than a new Jag.

Last edited: Aug 07, 2020 05:27:59

I've played both the Dano 64XT and 66T (both were made in Korea) and they were both nicely made, excellent playing and sounding guitars....but ...and this is a big but....neither played or sounded remotely like a Mosrite. I would strongly recommend a Hallmark 60 or 65 Custom. at 999.99 the Hallmarks are basically a better deal than the Dano's because the Hallmarks come with a super nice faux gator hardshell case while the Danos don't come with a case. More importantly, as said by others, the Hallmark will get you 98% of the way there plus Hallmarks have impeccable build quality/fit/finish and play like a dream. I have a Hallmark 65 Custom and I would say that build quality is easily as good (if not better) as a USA made Fender. In short, you need one of these: > >
image

Last edited: Aug 07, 2020 11:03:46

I owned a Hallmark 65 Custom and they are very good, especially for
surf. The sound great clean. They also sound great with effects. They are built well. I sold mine only because I prefer my Jazzmaster guitars. I have two Fender Custom Shop Jazzmasters.

I love the sound of Mosrites, but never liked how they played: the necks are way too thin, and the frets are too small it feels like playing a fetless guitar. Does the Hallmark C60 or C65 have the same neck profile as the early Ventures Mosrites?

The 90's Kurokumo Mosrites are great! And probably about the closest to the real thing that you can get.

$1300 - $1500 isn't exactly "budget" I guess, but still cheaper than most vintage models.

There are few on Reverb right now

Paul
Atomic Mosquitos
Bug music for bug people is here!
Killers from Space

pavlovsdog wrote:

I love the sound of Mosrites, but never liked how they played: the necks are way too thin, and the frets are too small it feels like playing a fetless guitar. Does the Hallmark C60 or C65 have the same neck profile as the early Ventures Mosrites?

The Hallmarks have a slightly wider neck...1 5/8" at the zero fret. I've never owned an original Mosrite, but I've owned a couple of Fillmores and a Dana-Mo. I sold them because I found them unplayable, except for single note stuff. I find the neck on my C65 comfortable enough to play jazz chord arrangements without my fingers tripping over each other.

As Taijiguy said, Hallmarks do have slightly wider neck. I actually measured my Hallmark with digital calipers and it was actually a hair wider at 1.64 at the zero fret (think vintage Strat or Tele). As far as fret size, they do not have super low, flat frets. The frets are what I would call "vintage" size (think vintage Fender again) with nicely rounded crowns and combined with a relatively flat fret board radius of about 14" and 24 3/4" scale, bending is easy. The Hallmark necks, while not what I would consider chunky have a moderately shallow "D" profile. The other thing that I have found (at least w/ my Hallmark) is that the neck is incredibly stable. It's the only guitar I own that I have never had to touch the truss rod (I bought it new two years ago).

Last edited: Aug 09, 2020 00:05:37

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