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re: the Mosrite zero fret...
I owned a nice Mosrite of California skinny-neck bass. It
had a zero fret. It seemed to me that fretted notes in the
first position sounded more clear, especially the open
notes (E A D G), as well as the notes played at the first
fret: namely F, Bb, Eb and Ab. My Mosrite had a very nice
stock nut, a rounded metal nut that seemed to be perfectly
finished. My string height was low and fast. Still not a
fret-rattle ever on the low E and Low A string (the usual
culprits). I always thought the zero fret helped produce
that smooth sound and allowed for low and fast
Mosrite-style action.
My Fender reissue 1951 Precision has a new nut: it's brass.
The action on my Fender is a wee-bit higher, mainly because
of the sound of Low F and open low E. I love my Fender,
it's neck is perfectly straight, rock-solid and the tone is
pure bass heaven. Still, I have to run the action just a
tad higher, or else I get the low string rattle.
I think Semie Moseley was mostly concerned with low fast
string action and the problem of low-action string rattle.
I believe he solved it with the zero fret. That may be why
he was so stubborn about it all the way to the end.
-dp
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Yahoo! FareChase: Search multiple travel sites in one click.
DP. I am going to ask you a hard question. You say you owned the bass
meaning past tense. How much did you sell the baby for? And how much
do they sell for these days.
--- In , DP <noetical1@y...> wrote:
>
>
> re: the Mosrite zero fret...
>
> I owned a nice Mosrite of California skinny-neck bass. It
> had a zero fret. It seemed to me that fretted notes in the
> first position sounded more clear, especially the open
> notes (E A D G), as well as the notes played at the first
> fret: namely F, Bb, Eb and Ab. My Mosrite had a very nice
> stock nut, a rounded metal nut that seemed to be perfectly
> finished. My string height was low and fast. Still not a
> fret-rattle ever on the low E and Low A string (the usual
> culprits). I always thought the zero fret helped produce
> that smooth sound and allowed for low and fast
> Mosrite-style action.
>
> My Fender reissue 1951 Precision has a new nut: it's brass.
> The action on my Fender is a wee-bit higher, mainly because
> of the sound of Low F and open low E. I love my Fender,
> it's neck is perfectly straight, rock-solid and the tone is
> pure bass heaven. Still, I have to run the action just a
> tad higher, or else I get the low string rattle.
>
>
> I think Semie Moseley was mostly concerned with low fast
> string action and the problem of low-action string rattle.
> I believe he solved it with the zero fret. That may be why
> he was so stubborn about it all the way to the end.
>
> -dp
>
>
>
> __________________________________
> Yahoo! FareChase: Search multiple travel sites in one click.
>
>
Jacob:
That Mosrite Bass story is real sad.
I bought the Mosrite of California bass in 1982 for $350.
It was a 1972 model, sort of looked like the Joe Maphis
Mosrite guitar/ or the Mosrite 70s Stereo Solid Body
Gutar...sort of a single-cutaway Telecaster-shaped
body...except red and with all that cool Mosrite body work
and finish. I really enjoyed playing that bass...a real
"dream machine".
The Mosrite bass was stolen after a gig in 1990. The band I
was with lost two amps, two guitars and two basses from the
Ford Econoline gig van while eating in a restaurant. The
Econoline had no windows, except for the windshield...but,
I guess someone figured out we had music equipment.
I never had another Mosrite. What a drag to have gear
stolen, but I learned my lesson. I don't gig without at
least one "gear sentry"...a person in charge of keeping an
eye on all the equipment at all times.
I would suppose that a decent Mosrite bass could be had in
the $800-$1200 range...and of course, higher price for more
collectible instruments.
I always thought Mosrite made way better guitars than
basses. The bass is unique because of its fast skinny
neck...but the tone is always a little thin, even with
Rotosound Roundwounds. On the other hand, the Mosrite Bass
does sound exactly like hundreds of Ventures and Lively
Ones tracks when strung with flatwounds...so if that's what
you are going for, of course it's ideal.
there's the whole sad truth :(
-dp
--- Jacob Dobner <> wrote:
> DP. I am going to ask you a hard question. You say you
> owned the bass
> meaning past tense. How much did you sell the baby for?
> And how much
> do they sell for these days.
__________________________________
Yahoo! FareChase: Search multiple travel sites in one click.
