I spent several hours last night fiddling around with the new Custom 60 and here are some of my intitial thoughts:

1. This is a very nicely made and finished instrument. It is at least on par with the 1988 Mosrite Ventures model "set neck, side jack, vibramute" reissue I paid $2700 for from Jonas Ridge NC in '88. This new Hallmark has an exceptionally flat fingerboard both in radius and length. It has very small but not tiny frets and combined with the flat fingerboard allows for an extremely low action......nice. It also has a wider fingerboard at the nut which makes it more comfy for my fat fingers. The guitar's weight is very good and it is well balanced and stays in place while standing upright using a strap....also good.
   

2. For me the 10/46 GHS stock strings were useless, so I swapped out the trem spring for the heavier one that was included and set up the guitar with a set of 11/50 Chrome Flats. Much more sound and much better balance across the fret board and scale. The stock strings had a plain third and for my ear was somewhat unmusical. This setup is very dark sounding and seems to lack some sizzle or crispness. After Ive played it set up this way for a week or so, I plan on swapping the flats out with a set of 11/49 DiAddairo XL's with a wound third. This should add some needed zing and still make a fairly big sound. I will also check the pot values to see if maybe a 500k or 1 meg might brighten it up some. I am currently playing it through my normal basement practice amp, a Twin Reverb, but I am using input #2 to pad the really hot pickups, advancing the treble pot about two numbers and activating the bright switch from my normal Jazzmaster amp set up.
   

3. The pickups are really hot, probably over wound and sound more like P-90's than either a Jag or JM, actually somewhat Straty with way more output. I fiddled around with the pickup height and now have a pretty pleasing balance between the two. I like the sound of either pickup individually but when used together, the sound is somewhat vague and undefined. It may be ok, it's just way different from my Fenders.
   

I have yet to bring it into the real world of playing with the band. That comes tonight as we have a show this weekend and need to get off out butts and practice. So give me a week or so to noodle with it and I'll expand on this initial report.

Do I have any negative thoughts? A little. The finish for the most part is spot on and the wood is stunning. However there is some overspray of black paint on the tips of both cutaways. Not a big deal and hardly noticable, but ya gotta wonder "why?". The vibrato although actually centered behind the bridge, has off center holes for the strings and the 5th and 6th strings have a small angle leaving the tailpiece for the bridge?....odd. The "knobs" are just plain useless....I don't know if they are accurate Mosrite reproductions or what.....but they stink. Lastly, with the heavy spring, the vibrato unit is stiff as a board. When I swap strings for the XL's, I'll try and go back the original spring for that really smooth Mosrite type feel.

Is it worth the asking price? Probably. There are a number of Mosrite reissues and knock offs out there to choose from but this is a really nicely made guitar, well set up, looks great and has a set neck. In my opinon, the set neck is the only way to go.....I've often thought of glueing my Jazzmasters' necks on with epoxy! And finally, Bob Shade is a fine fellow, very helpful and responsive, a pleasure to do business with.....

Best Reverbs to all,

ed

Traditional........speak softly and play through a big blonde amp. Did I mention that I still like big blonde amps?

I really want these, but I feel it is hard when you can easily buy an AVRI Strat, Jazz, or Jag for nearly the same price off ebay. But thanks a lot for the report. It will help my decision a lot.

Thanks for your first post on 101. Your comments hit dead center. I too feel like the 11/49's with wound third are the really hot setup for the Hallmark. I plan on trying that after our show this weekend. I used the new guitar last night at practice and was amazed at the overall smooth sound and very good ballance of the all the strings at all fretting positions. I have lowered the neck pickup and that helped clean up it's sound quite a bit. I too will try the 500K's and may even change that out before this weekend. This guitar with the 11/50 Chrome flats had a big fat sound at moderate volume played through the '93 Fender Super amp I keep over at Sticks' house for practice. We all felt the Hallmark sounded actually better than my two favorite Jazzmasters through that amp. I have yet to fire it up through one of the really vintage amps either a Showman or Bandmaster, but will do that for fun later in the week.......

I hope to shoot some pictures of it tonight over at Woody's and post them for all to see.

ed

Traditional........speak softly and play through a big blonde amp. Did I mention that I still like big blonde amps?

The knobs are very much early Mosrite style.