Ed Roman carried the Fillmore Japanese line and most of them did not use the Ventures logo. Very few were USA made and with Ed's knack of full fledge BS its hard to accurately talk about those. Later Semie's daughter assembled some in the USA with her own pickups and those were referred to as USA models but really they were largely Japanese parts. Either way if that's from the 90's and has the Ventures logo it's most likely not a Fillmore Mosrite and for sure not USA made.
Semie Moseley (Founder of Mosrite) died in 1992. After a while, he eventually signed them on the back of the headstock, so at least from 1988 - 1992, any official Mosrites made then had his stamp (well, signature) of approval. Besides that, one of the most obvious fakes is a Mosrite "Avenger." Those are always Japanese-made from the 60s - 70s (maybe 80s and later, too?) and they usually have a rectangular neck plate. There are plenty of imitation brands, but most of those have a different name on the headstock, they're not blatant copies. The one _good_ imitation is a Hallmark. The company was originally an unofficial sister company to Mosrite started in the 60s, and they were later re-purchased, and they now build different Mosrite-inspired instruments that are very close to the real thing but aren't quite the same. They also make other unusual instruments. I know that 60 Cycle Hum played a Hallmark in this video, but I just had to say that. Back on the subject of Mosrite, I don't know a whole lot about fakes. I know that there were at least two companies who built reissues; Kurokumo, and Fillmore. I'm not sure what the differences are, if any, but those aren't supposed to be fake.
Also, a few notes on neck specs, since so few people talk about this. I have a 1966 Mosrite Ventures II with the later (and far more common) body style, the Mark V type of shape. I measured the neck and frets, and the measurements are below. Fret Width: 0.070 Wide (discontinued size, but it's possible to shave down a modern fretwire crown with a Stewmac Fret Barber Resizing Tool.) Fret Height: 0.022 Tall on Low E side, 0.015 Tall on High E side. Fantastic for sliding up and down the neck, not good for bending strings that are much thicker than .10s. But, the fretboard radius is 10", so it's not as big of a problem as on a Vintage Fender. Neck Width: 1.559 at Zero Fret, 1.859 at 12th Fret, 2.045 at 22nd (highest) Fret, 2.061 at neck end. Neck Depth: 1.253 - 0 Fret (the Volute is huge, Semie really wanted to prevent headstock breakage.) 0.880 - 1st fret (But, the neck on this one's chafed here from frets 1 - 3.) 0.840 - 2nd fret (Chafed.) 0.849 - 3rd fret (Chafed.) 0.850 - 4th fret 0.867 - 5th 0.859 - 6th 0.857 - 7th 0.850 - 8th 0.860 - 9th 0.845 - 10th 0.850 - 11th 0.860 - 12th 0.890 - 13th (the neck starts tapering to the neck heel here.) 1.001 - 14th 1.110 - 15th 1.130 - 16th fret So, the rough measurement for the neck depth from frets 2 - 12 is 0.860. Certainly a slim neck, but I have a Jackson Neck upstairs that starts out even slimmer at the 1st fret. I didn't take the neck off my 66 Mosrite to measure after the 16th fret. Mine is the cheaper solid body model. The Ventures Model shown in the video above has easier high fret access, and the neck's probably a bit different on it.
@@101Volts What about the re issues with the COA signed by Dana, and serial number stamped on 22nd fret? Made in 2009 or so? Are they totally authentic made in USA?
@@michaelcraig9449 I'm not the best one to ask about the re-issues. As far as I know, they were just assembled in North America, except that Dana wound the pickups. You could ask at a Mosrite Facebook Page, though. There are 3 of them, at least.
Real nice shootout man! I am especially interested in the mosrite. I heard they had a small neck but it is the first shootout where there is talked about the small frets and very well explained and showed! I also like the tremsystem. Interesting guitar for a specific playing style... I would like to experiment with a mosrite myself! Thank you for this nice video
Most importantly, these two guitars sound fantastic when paired together. Man or Astroman has been rocking this duo ever since Avona Nova joined the band years ago. Both of these guitars are great!
@@101Volts Starcruch uses the Hallmark Mosrites as his backup guitars, but he always starts off with his original 90's Mosrite. It's what the Hallmark signature guitar is based on.
That Mosrite's a beauty, and you can't beat the trem. I've got an original on my RIC 620 and it's so light to the touch. Got a couple of the Shade trems too and they're definitely tighter. I've swapped the springs and was surprised that it didn't make any difference, it's got to be something in the arm itself.🤔 Love the Sweptwing, been wanting one for years!😍👍👍
I had a mosrite back in the mid to late 60s my first good guitar. Loved the neck don’t recall an issue with the frets. There are days I wish I still owned it. Evan tho I got it used it was in good shape.
When I think "electric guitar" the first sound that comes into my mind is a Mosrite into a Fender amp. This probably stems from my exposure to the Ventures "Batman and Other TV Themes" album when I was three years old.
The reason the frets are so low is Les Paul Custom ( Fretless Wonder) had those frets. He didn't bend string he slid up to the notes Mosley was a fan of LP and made his guitars also with low frets. Any bending was done with the Trem. I own a Shades Hallmark and his guitars have more frets height than the Mosrite. The other thing that kept me from keeping the few Mosrite guitars I have owned . Skinny necks 1 1/2" wide at the nut and around 1/2" depth. Bob Shades has added a little width & a more beefier depth to his guitars to make them more player friendly. Bob Shades guitars have great pickups and Trem, sound and play Like a real Mosrite.
Mosrite Pickups overdrive an amp like no other I can imagine. They're tonally somewhere between a Fender and a Gibson without metal casing on the pups, but when you stick a set of .13s on them like Ricky Wilson of The B-52s did... Whoa.
I have one of the original 60's Hallmark Swept Wings. It has the really flat frets too. It has its issues. The bridge is not very stable and I had to lean it back as far as it will go to get it to intonate correctly. The pickups have stryrofoam in them that the bobbins are set in and that was glued to the strip of metal that screws to the bezel. The styrofoam kind of degraded enough that they fell off the metal so I had to reglue that a few times. It sounds kinda cool. The neck pickup with the tone turned down sounds almost like an organ. It does feedback relatively easily. I haven't played it in a while I think mostly because the neck is too narrow for me now, but your video is inspiring to break it out and play it a bit. It does look cool as hell with its red to black transparent sunburst and f-hole
I really like the sound of that Mosrite and that may be a factor of being a BIG Ventures fan (although I know a lot of their stuff was really recorded with Fenders, etc). The Mosrite here just has more fullness in direct comparison to the Hallmark to my ears.... One has to select guitars by what THEY LIKE and I can understand your love for your Hallmark! Great comparison!!!!
Moserite slayed the Hallmark, in terms of tone. Don’t let those small frets scare you. Big frets really are “speed bumps.” When you play a great Moserite, it all makes sense. It plays itself and stays in tune. I’m a little skeptical about that being a “real” USA Moserite in that era. Possibly authorized copy at best.
@@60CycleHumcast I have a 1972 Mosrite Mark V II, which is a Ventures with humbuckers with parallel coils, so they sound like singles. Very rare guitar
The Mosrite guitar is quite possibly the coolest looking guitar ever created though. I mean the shape of the body,the headstock, so cool. Plus Star Crunch of Man Or Astro-Man? plays one or well he now plays Hallmark's version of the Ventures model but you get the point.
Im going to Japan (hopefully) in two weeks. There are 4 Mosrites at a retailer there. I want to pick up my first Ginuine Mosrite, but cant decide which right now. Built my own copy of one back in 2014, but all I had were reference Pics, the Mosrite Forum to get advice from, and a couple of loose parts I purchased from Hallmark Guitars. Will be nice to have the ginuine article in my hands.
I have no interest in or particular fondness for surf music but I never actually get tired of watching Ryan do the same handful of surf licks every time he turns on a spring reverb just because he clearly delights in them so much
Huh, I had no idea that Mosrites had those low frets. I have a Teisco made Mosrite copy and it has those non-existent frets which I always thought had shaved them down at some point due to wear/bad frets, but I guess it’s a little more accurate than I expected!
The Mosrite seems higher-output and fatter than the Hallmark. I think they’d actually complement each other very well. I think you and that Mosrite look and sound great together.
I once had the financial fortunes to get a Hallmark Johnny Ramone model brand new direct from Hallmark, which seemed like a dream come true since I’ve long loved the Ramones and thought that Johnny’s guitar was like the coolest thing ever. It was at least twice as expensive as any other guitar I’ve ever owned. Shortly after getting the guitar, the switch broke and the dot inlays started falling out. A friend helped me replace the switch but I had to get my credit card company involved before Hallmark would foot the $40 bill to have a local luthier properly fix the inlays. I’ve owned many MANY cheap guitars over the years and never had a switch crap out or dot inlays drop out of any of them. You seem happy with your Hallmark and it’s possible I’m the only one to encounter such problems with a Hallmark, but after that experience I swore off any guitars that cost me more than $500. Any of the cheap Squiers, Agiles, SXs, or Danelectros I’ve owned never gave me any of the problems that one Hallmark did.
If the inlays fell out, I wonder if they were ever glued in the first place. I don't think that's a common thing with Hallmarks, though. I've never heard of it anywhere else.
@@101Volts For all I know I could’ve just gotten a lemon. I understand things happen from time to time, but what I didn’t care for is Bob Shade insisting that I pay shipping both ways to have the guitar repaired by Hallmark when it literally had stuff breaking and falling off of it almost immediately. I pay a grand for the guitar then I’m expected to shell out another hundred in shipping just to get the brand new guitar to actually work right? The fact that I had to get my credit card company involved just to get them to take care of these defects was a big turn off for me being a future Hallmark customer. Fwiw, I haven’t heard of any similar experiences happening to other people either, so maybe it was just a one off, but it was an extreme disappointment to me at the time and I definitely would need to try a Hallmark in person before considering one, I’m certainly never gonna buy one without trying it first again.
Oooh, my dream guitar is still a Mosrite Ventures model. Been tempted to put those Curtis Novak JM-Mosrite pickups in my Jazzmaster, but can't find a review of them anywhere!
Exactly what I was gonna say...Hallmark brighter compared to the Mosrite, especially the bridge..necks closer in sound. You don't need to ask yourself about the frets... You just need to BUY the MOSRITE Ryan 😁👍 🎸
I'd love to be able to snag a Mosrite. They started in my neck of the woods, so it'd be like having a little piece of local history. It's one guitar that I might actually pay some decent money for at some point in my life... only because I'd have to in order to get one... There's no way to get one with my usual cheapskate sub-$200 budget.
Yes it is... thankfully. Frankly, I'm tired of videos of middle-aged dudes looking for the perfect 'Blues Tone' (usually an overdriven, turgid white man 'blues' sound) on LPs and Strats.
@@stephenhawkingsfootballboo7885 100% agreed! I can’t stand Strats for that very reason, and probably the reason I absolutely despise blues so much.... I search TH-cam for Surf tones on various fender amps and all I get is blues... that’s why I love Ryan’s channel so much.
I was under the impression one of the Ventures was involved in the original Hallmark brand? I wasnt trying to say he was Joe Hall, i thought that it was two guys behind the brand? clearly my details on the history are foggy at best.
@@jamesgroat5992 Aside from playing one in the 60’s, not so much. The Ventures model was a rebranded Mosrite Mark I, invented by Semie Moseley. But man... no one made ‘em sound better!
@@Hepnotical Other way around. It was the Ventures model, starting in 1963, then it was the Mark I starting in 1967 or so. But before it was the Ventures model, it was the Joe Maphis model, though it never went to production like that; only maybe 3 or some other small number like that were made. Joe Maphis did get his own model with Mosrite later, with a different body shape.
It’s a High Spirit guitar, same with all the others in that row. They’re a local San Diego builder. You can check em out on Instagram @highspiritguitars if you wanna
How well does the Eastwood Mosrite compare to this model. It looks the part Im curious as theres a used one local for a steal of a price. That slanted neck pickup is whats stopping me, I cant say I like how it looks.
The Sidejacks are more closely modeled on a Univox Hi-Flier than a Mosrite, which is like the snake swallowing it's tail because Hi-Fliers were Mosrite knockoffs. They play, feel, and sound much closer to a Univox, though I much prefer the Univox. They don't play, sound, or feel at all like a Mosrite.
If you want a Mosrite, you most likely do not want an Eastwood. Eastwoods are like an Epiphone with a Mosrite-inspired body. If you want something similar, get a Hallmark 60 Custom or a Hallmark 65 Custom.
I have a 2001 mim Strat with “vintage” frets and they always seemed small and flat. I’d play a really cheap guitar with big frets and think it was so much better. Time for a refret and I’m gonna put some big ones on there, so I’d pass on the small frets.
That Mosrite looks like a Kurokomo. Quality wise, most say they compare w/ Fillmore. Some like Fillmore better, some Like Kurokomo better. Fillmore never had the Ventures logo, nor did they say Mosrite of California. They would say Mosrite of Classic or Mosrite of U.S.A. Also, the volume & tone knobs would be regular, spun knobs like the earliest of Mosrites. The Kurokomos had the M on the knob. Not exactly like the vintage knobs, but really close. And Bob at Hallmark makes the best Mosrite "clones" currently, today. I own several & they are spot on.
I’ve had two Kurokomo (spelling 🤷🏻♂️) and they fantastic guitars. I didn’t want an original b/c I gigged a lot with it and the originals I’ve played have been too difficult to play (pencil-thin necks and very low frets). The Kurokomo can do bends and is a really solid guitar. Here’s a live clip from 11 yrs ago (!!) that has a few good close up shots of the guitar. The tune starts around 1:20 and the close-ups are toward the end: th-cam.com/video/FM_InyiEFxc/w-d-xo.html
Yes, Mosrite pickups are much hotter than Hallmarks. They also have a much wider frequency range. The Eastwood model is not a bad guitar, but shares no similarities with the real deal aside from looks. It does not have the slim neck with speed frets, and is fitted with P90’s instead of Mosrite pickups. Some people actually prefer these changes, as they make them more like other guitars. The real ones are their own thing, and definitely aren’t for everybody... as you can tell by his reaction. But if you can bond with one, they’re the best guitars in the world!
The Sidejacks are more closely modeled on a Univox Hi-Flier than a Mosrite. They play, feel, and sound much closer to a Hi-Flier and they don't play, sound, or feel one bit like a Mosrite.
@@60CycleHumcast I just wondered why it was so big and if it covered anything! Having a look on their website however (following your link) I see they do a different version with no pickguard so presumably not!
Why would low frets be speed frets? Seems like the harder you have to press the less fast it would be. My guitars with jumbos/extra jumbos play the easiest and fastest imo.
It's a matter of sliding up and down the neck without "speed bump" frets. Beyond that, I'm not sure. It seemed popular among country players of the time who didn't bend notes but still played fast runs where they'd move around on the fretboard a lot.
They work for my hands just fine, and I'm 5 foot 11, so I'm not exactly a garden gnome. The necks on most of my other guitars are actually uncomfortable to play barre chords on, as I get higher and higher on the neck.
Genuinely curious, but when did Mosrite crack the $1k-$2k segment. It's always been my impression that those were low end student brands. Not being a guitar snob in anyway, but my '83 Ric 320 only set me back $1350 and still topped out at $1800-$1900 after modding it (wiring, pickups and tailpiece swap).
You may be thinking of the Univox Hi-Flyer which looks very similar and at one point were very inexpensive. They're a lot more expensive today, probably due to not being manufactured anymore and having been popularized by Kurt Cobain.
@@60CycleHumcast The only time they tried to be student-ish, they made the Ventures II "Slab Body" model. It had a very low production run, then Johnny Ramone showed up and made it famous and highly sought after.
I had a white Ventures in 1967. It was fun but I got over it pretty quickly because of the super skinny neck and I thought the pickups were a bit dead sounding. Every time anyone plays one on TH-cam it seems they only play one sound so you can never hear what it's capable of. Man, that Hallmark is one ugly guitar.
hallmarks are made in korea! Upgrade the electronics and humbuckers and your fine! .I slapped semore duncan mini humbuckers and a proper cap proper pots etc and they rock!! bob shade has a 900 to 1200 dollar price point. Be for real!
Ed Roman carried the Fillmore Japanese line and most of them did not use the Ventures logo. Very few were USA made and with Ed's knack of full fledge BS its hard to accurately talk about those. Later Semie's daughter assembled some in the USA with her own pickups and those were referred to as USA models but really they were largely Japanese parts. Either way if that's from the 90's and has the Ventures logo it's most likely not a Fillmore Mosrite and for sure not USA made.
Semie Moseley (Founder of Mosrite) died in 1992. After a while, he eventually signed them on the back of the headstock, so at least from 1988 - 1992, any official Mosrites made then had his stamp (well, signature) of approval.
Besides that, one of the most obvious fakes is a Mosrite "Avenger." Those are always Japanese-made from the 60s - 70s (maybe 80s and later, too?) and they usually have a rectangular neck plate.
There are plenty of imitation brands, but most of those have a different name on the headstock, they're not blatant copies.
The one _good_ imitation is a Hallmark. The company was originally an unofficial sister company to Mosrite started in the 60s, and they were later re-purchased, and they now build different Mosrite-inspired instruments that are very close to the real thing but aren't quite the same. They also make other unusual instruments. I know that 60 Cycle Hum played a Hallmark in this video, but I just had to say that.
Back on the subject of Mosrite, I don't know a whole lot about fakes. I know that there were at least two companies who built reissues; Kurokumo, and Fillmore. I'm not sure what the differences are, if any, but those aren't supposed to be fake.
Also, a few notes on neck specs, since so few people talk about this.
I have a 1966 Mosrite Ventures II with the later (and far more common) body style, the Mark V type of shape. I measured the neck and frets, and the measurements are below.
Fret Width: 0.070 Wide (discontinued size, but it's possible to shave down a modern fretwire crown with a Stewmac Fret Barber Resizing Tool.)
Fret Height: 0.022 Tall on Low E side, 0.015 Tall on High E side. Fantastic for sliding up and down the neck, not good for bending strings that are much thicker than .10s. But, the fretboard radius is 10", so it's not as big of a problem as on a Vintage Fender.
Neck Width:
1.559 at Zero Fret,
1.859 at 12th Fret,
2.045 at 22nd (highest) Fret,
2.061 at neck end.
Neck Depth:
1.253 - 0 Fret (the Volute is huge, Semie really wanted to prevent headstock breakage.)
0.880 - 1st fret (But, the neck on this one's chafed here from frets 1 - 3.)
0.840 - 2nd fret (Chafed.)
0.849 - 3rd fret (Chafed.)
0.850 - 4th fret
0.867 - 5th
0.859 - 6th
0.857 - 7th
0.850 - 8th
0.860 - 9th
0.845 - 10th
0.850 - 11th
0.860 - 12th
0.890 - 13th (the neck starts tapering to the neck heel here.)
1.001 - 14th
1.110 - 15th
1.130 - 16th fret
So, the rough measurement for the neck depth from frets 2 - 12 is 0.860. Certainly a slim neck, but I have a Jackson Neck upstairs that starts out even slimmer at the 1st fret.
I didn't take the neck off my 66 Mosrite to measure after the 16th fret. Mine is the cheaper solid body model. The Ventures Model shown in the video above has easier high fret access, and the neck's probably a bit different on it.
@@101Volts What about the re issues with the COA signed by Dana, and serial number stamped on 22nd fret? Made in 2009 or so? Are they totally authentic made in USA?
@@michaelcraig9449 I'm not the best one to ask about the re-issues. As far as I know, they were just assembled in North America, except that Dana wound the pickups. You could ask at a Mosrite Facebook Page, though. There are 3 of them, at least.
@@101Volts I too have a 1966 Mosrite but mine is designated a Mark V but essentially a Mark II.
That Mosrite is more YOU than 80% of your guitars! You should buy it!
Real nice shootout man! I am especially interested in the mosrite. I heard they had a small neck but it is the first shootout where there is talked about the small frets and very well explained and showed! I also like the tremsystem. Interesting guitar for a specific playing style... I would like to experiment with a mosrite myself! Thank you for this nice video
Most importantly, these two guitars sound fantastic when paired together. Man or Astroman has been rocking this duo ever since Avona Nova joined the band years ago. Both of these guitars are great!
I thought Man or Astro-Man had a Hallmark with a Mosrite body shape. They have a signature model with Hallmark.
@@101Volts Starcruch uses the Hallmark Mosrites as his backup guitars, but he always starts off with his original 90's Mosrite. It's what the Hallmark signature guitar is based on.
That Mosrite's a beauty, and you can't beat the trem. I've got an original on my RIC 620 and it's so light to the touch. Got a couple of the Shade trems too and they're definitely tighter. I've swapped the springs and was surprised that it didn't make any difference, it's got to be something in the arm itself.🤔 Love the Sweptwing, been wanting one for years!😍👍👍
I had a mosrite back in the mid to late 60s my first good guitar. Loved the neck don’t recall an issue with the frets. There are days I wish I still owned it. Evan tho I got it used it was in good shape.
Timeless guitar cool, the 60's were really where the bar was set super high for the first time in American culture.
When I think "electric guitar" the first sound that comes into my mind is a Mosrite into a Fender amp. This probably stems from my exposure to the Ventures "Batman and Other TV Themes" album when I was three years old.
The reason the frets are so low is Les Paul Custom ( Fretless Wonder) had those frets. He didn't bend string he slid up to the notes Mosley was a fan of LP and made his guitars also with low frets. Any bending was done with the Trem. I own a Shades Hallmark and his guitars have more frets height than the Mosrite. The other thing that kept me from keeping the few Mosrite guitars I have owned . Skinny necks 1 1/2" wide at the nut and around 1/2" depth. Bob Shades has added a little width & a more beefier depth to his guitars to make them more player friendly. Bob Shades guitars have great pickups and Trem, sound and play Like a real Mosrite.
Mosrite Pickups overdrive an amp like no other I can imagine. They're tonally somewhere between a Fender and a Gibson without metal casing on the pups, but when you stick a set of .13s on them like Ricky Wilson of The B-52s did... Whoa.
I have one of the original 60's Hallmark Swept Wings. It has the really flat frets too. It has its issues. The bridge is not very stable and I had to lean it back as far as it will go to get it to intonate correctly. The pickups have stryrofoam in them that the bobbins are set in and that was glued to the strip of metal that screws to the bezel. The styrofoam kind of degraded enough that they fell off the metal so I had to reglue that a few times. It sounds kinda cool. The neck pickup with the tone turned down sounds almost like an organ. It does feedback relatively easily. I haven't played it in a while I think mostly because the neck is too narrow for me now, but your video is inspiring to break it out and play it a bit. It does look cool as hell with its red to black transparent sunburst and f-hole
I really like the sound of that Mosrite and that may be a factor of being a BIG Ventures fan (although I know a lot of their stuff was really recorded with Fenders, etc). The Mosrite here just has more fullness in direct comparison to the Hallmark to my ears.... One has to select guitars by what THEY LIKE and I can understand your love for your Hallmark! Great comparison!!!!
I used to go to Moze guitars frequently. Lived in La Mesa. I met Murial Anderson in the shop once when they were out on College Ave.
Moserite slayed the Hallmark, in terms of tone. Don’t let those small frets scare you. Big frets really are “speed bumps.” When you play a great Moserite, it all makes sense. It plays itself and stays in tune. I’m a little skeptical about that being a “real” USA Moserite in that era. Possibly authorized copy at best.
I prefer the feel of my hallmark but it was fun to play a moserite.
@@60CycleHumcast I have a 1972 Mosrite Mark V II, which is a Ventures with humbuckers with parallel coils, so they sound like singles. Very rare guitar
I own the same swept wing. And a couple other hallmarks. Awesome guitars!
Get a 60s Mosrite! Just got my Mosrite Celebrity refretted. Miss the original frets but it's still amazing!
The Mosrite guitar is quite possibly the coolest looking guitar ever created though. I mean the shape of the body,the headstock, so cool. Plus Star Crunch of Man Or Astro-Man? plays one or well he now plays Hallmark's version of the Ventures model but you get the point.
Ayyy star crunch!! Been lookin at the MOAM model and have cried several times at how expensive they are :(
Bought a donner echo square thanks to you, starting my pedal addiction 🤣
Im going to Japan (hopefully) in two weeks. There are 4 Mosrites at a retailer there. I want to pick up my first Ginuine Mosrite, but cant decide which right now. Built my own copy of one back in 2014, but all I had were reference Pics, the Mosrite Forum to get advice from, and a couple of loose parts I purchased from Hallmark Guitars. Will be nice to have the ginuine article in my hands.
I have no interest in or particular fondness for surf music but I never actually get tired of watching Ryan do the same handful of surf licks every time he turns on a spring reverb just because he clearly delights in them so much
Surf is the greatest. So Sad to be you. You are missing out a lot.
@@michaelcraig9449 Agree.
I love the sound of that Mosrite
Huh, I had no idea that Mosrites had those low frets. I have a Teisco made Mosrite copy and it has those non-existent frets which I always thought had shaved them down at some point due to wear/bad frets, but I guess it’s a little more accurate than I expected!
Vintage Mosrite frets are 0.015 on the High E side, and 0.022 on the Low E side.
The Mosrite sounds awesome
I love Mosrites but I think the Swept Wing is the coolest damn thing around.
It's got a real nice chime to it!
The Mosrite seems higher-output and fatter than the Hallmark. I think they’d actually complement each other very well. I think you and that Mosrite look and sound great together.
i think that mosrite sounded badass
I have those type of frets on a Chinese BC Rich, took me a minute to get used to them but it's one of my favorite guitars!
A vintage ventures bros mosrite is one of my dream guitars
I have vintage and 90s Mosrites and the frets don't bother me at all. I can play it just fine.
I once had the financial fortunes to get a Hallmark Johnny Ramone model brand new direct from Hallmark, which seemed like a dream come true since I’ve long loved the Ramones and thought that Johnny’s guitar was like the coolest thing ever. It was at least twice as expensive as any other guitar I’ve ever owned. Shortly after getting the guitar, the switch broke and the dot inlays started falling out. A friend helped me replace the switch but I had to get my credit card company involved before Hallmark would foot the $40 bill to have a local luthier properly fix the inlays. I’ve owned many MANY cheap guitars over the years and never had a switch crap out or dot inlays drop out of any of them. You seem happy with your Hallmark and it’s possible I’m the only one to encounter such problems with a Hallmark, but after that experience I swore off any guitars that cost me more than $500. Any of the cheap Squiers, Agiles, SXs, or Danelectros I’ve owned never gave me any of the problems that one Hallmark did.
If the inlays fell out, I wonder if they were ever glued in the first place. I don't think that's a common thing with Hallmarks, though. I've never heard of it anywhere else.
@@101Volts For all I know I could’ve just gotten a lemon. I understand things happen from time to time, but what I didn’t care for is Bob Shade insisting that I pay shipping both ways to have the guitar repaired by Hallmark when it literally had stuff breaking and falling off of it almost immediately. I pay a grand for the guitar then I’m expected to shell out another hundred in shipping just to get the brand new guitar to actually work right? The fact that I had to get my credit card company involved just to get them to take care of these defects was a big turn off for me being a future Hallmark customer. Fwiw, I haven’t heard of any similar experiences happening to other people either, so maybe it was just a one off, but it was an extreme disappointment to me at the time and I definitely would need to try a Hallmark in person before considering one, I’m certainly never gonna buy one without trying it first again.
Holy Crap I love that outro it’s fantastic.
Oooh, my dream guitar is still a Mosrite Ventures model.
Been tempted to put those Curtis Novak JM-Mosrite pickups in my Jazzmaster, but can't find a review of them anywhere!
Exactly what I was gonna say...Hallmark brighter compared to the Mosrite, especially the bridge..necks closer in sound.
You don't need to ask yourself about the frets...
You just need to BUY the MOSRITE Ryan 😁👍 🎸
Mosrite sounds better, and the paint color is awesome!
This solo really needs to be recorded on something with a band.
Mosrite kind of looks like an sg and a Rickenbacker had a baby😂 love the sound of it.....
Some serious tones man 😲
How much is that Mosrite? ✌🏻
Are the lovely mosrite pickups humbuckers or p90?
I want that Mosrite!
Ryan!!! Greetings brother!!! Awesome vid.
I'd love to be able to snag a Mosrite. They started in my neck of the woods, so it'd be like having a little piece of local history. It's one guitar that I might actually pay some decent money for at some point in my life... only because I'd have to in order to get one... There's no way to get one with my usual cheapskate sub-$200 budget.
This is really niche content.
So...everything has to be mainstream and currently popular then, huh? 🙄
Yes it is... thankfully. Frankly, I'm tired of videos of middle-aged dudes looking for the perfect 'Blues Tone' (usually an overdriven, turgid white man 'blues' sound) on LPs and Strats.
Sorry, I should make it clear. THANK YOU for the niche content. I really enjoyed it
@@TheGuitarGeek Lol... it's easy to misconstrue comments on the internet. I agree!
@@stephenhawkingsfootballboo7885 100% agreed! I can’t stand Strats for that very reason, and probably the reason I absolutely despise blues so much.... I search TH-cam for Surf tones on various fender amps and all I get is blues... that’s why I love Ryan’s channel so much.
How do Mosrite Pups compare to a p90 soap bar size-wise?
@Ryan: The Mosrite sounds great. What are your amp and Surfybear settings? Asking for a friend...
i filmed this like 4 months ago, i cant remember, lol. I was using a deluxe reverb at the shop.
Uh, Joe Hall was never in The Ventures. He only worked for Mosrite before leaving in 1966 to form the Hallmark Guitars company.
I was under the impression one of the Ventures was involved in the original Hallmark brand? I wasnt trying to say he was Joe Hall, i thought that it was two guys behind the brand? clearly my details on the history are foggy at best.
Bob Bogle was a silent partner, and also created the design of what became the Hallmark Swept-Wing.
www.hallmarkguitars.com/about/history.shtml
Didn’t Nokie Have a part in the Mosrite?
@@jamesgroat5992 Aside from playing one in the 60’s, not so much. The Ventures model was a rebranded Mosrite Mark I, invented by Semie Moseley. But man... no one made ‘em sound better!
@@Hepnotical Other way around. It was the Ventures model, starting in 1963, then it was the Mark I starting in 1967 or so. But before it was the Ventures model, it was the Joe Maphis model, though it never went to production like that; only maybe 3 or some other small number like that were made.
Joe Maphis did get his own model with Mosrite later, with a different body shape.
What kind of numbers of these guitars were sold?
I like em both but we can't all live in Cali.
so uhhhh what is that pink guitar in the back ground on the right?
It’s a High Spirit guitar, same with all the others in that row. They’re a local San Diego builder. You can check em out on Instagram @highspiritguitars if you wanna
@@Hepnotical Thank you! I doubt I can justify buying one, but I sure can drool.
That Mosrite is beautiful. I love these guitars. Johnny Ramone and Kevn Kinney of "Drivin n Cryin" are Mosrite players.
Ricky Wilson (B-52s) is, too. He was crafty with tunings.
I've been looking to listen to an album of your band you posted sometime in the coments but I can't find it!
dinosaurghost.bandcamp.com/album/dinosaur-ghost
@@60CycleHumcast The album sounds awesome! Very modern surf rock meets Sonic Youth... great guitar work.
Which amp are you using?
How well does the Eastwood Mosrite compare to this model. It looks the part Im curious as theres a used one local for a steal of a price. That slanted neck pickup is whats stopping me, I cant say I like how it looks.
the eastwood sidejacks are very different in construction feel and sound compared to mosrites and hallmarks.
The Sidejacks are more closely modeled on a Univox Hi-Flier than a Mosrite, which is like the snake swallowing it's tail because Hi-Fliers were Mosrite knockoffs. They play, feel, and sound much closer to a Univox, though I much prefer the Univox. They don't play, sound, or feel at all like a Mosrite.
If you want a Mosrite, you most likely do not want an Eastwood. Eastwoods are like an Epiphone with a Mosrite-inspired body. If you want something similar, get a Hallmark 60 Custom or a Hallmark 65 Custom.
I have a 2001 mim Strat with “vintage” frets and they always seemed small and flat. I’d play a really cheap guitar with big frets and think it was so much better. Time for a refret and I’m gonna put some big ones on there, so I’d pass on the small frets.
creo que hay que cambiarles ltodos los micrófonos a las 2 guitarras. lucen bien pero las oigo sin power.!!
3:26 thet riff aaaa so surfie
That Mosrite looks like a Kurokomo. Quality wise, most say they compare w/ Fillmore. Some like Fillmore better, some Like Kurokomo better. Fillmore never had the Ventures logo, nor did they say Mosrite of California. They would say Mosrite of Classic or Mosrite of U.S.A. Also, the volume & tone knobs would be regular, spun knobs like the earliest of Mosrites. The Kurokomos had the M on the knob. Not exactly like the vintage knobs, but really close. And Bob at Hallmark makes the best Mosrite "clones" currently, today. I own several & they are spot on.
I’ve had two Kurokomo (spelling 🤷🏻♂️) and they fantastic guitars. I didn’t want an original b/c I gigged a lot with it and the originals I’ve played have been too difficult to play (pencil-thin necks and very low frets). The Kurokomo can do bends and is a really solid guitar. Here’s a live clip from 11 yrs ago (!!) that has a few good close up shots of the guitar. The tune starts around 1:20 and the close-ups are toward the end:
th-cam.com/video/FM_InyiEFxc/w-d-xo.html
Mosrite seemed louder unless you turned the volume down for the hallmark..
The Eastwood side jack mosrite styles seem good
Yes, Mosrite pickups are much hotter than Hallmarks. They also have a much wider frequency range.
The Eastwood model is not a bad guitar, but shares no similarities with the real deal aside from looks. It does not have the slim neck with speed frets, and is fitted with P90’s instead of Mosrite pickups. Some people actually prefer these changes, as they make them more like other guitars. The real ones are their own thing, and definitely aren’t for everybody... as you can tell by his reaction. But if you can bond with one, they’re the best guitars in the world!
The Sidejacks are more closely modeled on a Univox Hi-Flier than a Mosrite. They play, feel, and sound much closer to a Hi-Flier and they don't play, sound, or feel one bit like a Mosrite.
Why does the opening still say JHS Pedals?
BECAUSE I FORGOT TO CHANGE IT, i didnt catch until i premiered the video, lol. The next couple videos wont have that mistake.
@@60CycleHumcast I thought that might be the case lol
Great stuff. But why o why that massive pickguard on the Swept Wing - missing so much gold!!
That was the original design from the 60s, they have other models with smaller pickguards
@@60CycleHumcast I just wondered why it was so big and if it covered anything! Having a look on their website however (following your link) I see they do a different version with no pickguard so presumably not!
I just realized that Sweptwing has 23 frets...
Why would low frets be speed frets? Seems like the harder you have to press the less fast it would be. My guitars with jumbos/extra jumbos play the easiest and fastest imo.
It's a matter of sliding up and down the neck without "speed bump" frets. Beyond that, I'm not sure. It seemed popular among country players of the time who didn't bend notes but still played fast runs where they'd move around on the fretboard a lot.
Teeny weeny thinnest necks made for aliens with three teeny weeny thinnest fingers from Alpha Centari.....not made for normal human hands.
They work for my hands just fine, and I'm 5 foot 11, so I'm not exactly a garden gnome. The necks on most of my other guitars are actually uncomfortable to play barre chords on, as I get higher and higher on the neck.
is this the comment you think i deleted?
i just wanna kiss that mosrite
Refret with stainless steel!
Both guitars sounded remarkably similar to my ears. However, the Hallmark wins hands down when it comes to looks. So avantgarde!
Genuinely curious, but when did Mosrite crack the $1k-$2k segment. It's always been my impression that those were low end student brands. Not being a guitar snob in anyway, but my '83 Ric 320 only set me back $1350 and still topped out at $1800-$1900 after modding it (wiring, pickups and tailpiece swap).
Moserite has never been a low end student brand.
You may be thinking of the Univox Hi-Flyer which looks very similar and at one point were very inexpensive. They're a lot more expensive today, probably due to not being manufactured anymore and having been popularized by Kurt Cobain.
@@60CycleHumcast The only time they tried to be student-ish, they made the Ventures II "Slab Body" model. It had a very low production run, then Johnny Ramone showed up and made it famous and highly sought after.
I *would* have to be in the shower when this dropped... 😒
$1,729.00? Where the blazes is my stimulus check?!?
Mosrite sounds better
Really splurge ..get the Mosrite and then a refret!!!
I had a white Ventures in 1967. It was fun but I got over it pretty quickly because of the super skinny neck and I thought the pickups were a bit dead sounding. Every time anyone plays one on TH-cam it seems they only play one sound so you can never hear what it's capable of. Man, that Hallmark is one ugly guitar.
Hello 👋
the hallmark swept wing is genuinely the ugliest guitar ive seen
Have you ever seen a telecaster?
hallmarks are made in korea! Upgrade the electronics and humbuckers and your fine! .I slapped semore duncan mini humbuckers and a proper cap proper pots etc and they rock!! bob shade has a 900 to 1200 dollar price point. Be for real!