NGD: 1969 Mosrite (Firstman)
- JSett
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NGD: 1969 Mosrite (Firstman)
I was up in London for the weekend for a birthday outing and made the fatal flaw of dropping by Denmark Street. Ended up walking away with this 197-something Mosrite *EDIT: after a bit more research (read: a lot) it seems this is a '69* Plays great, neck isn't actually as thin as I've read they can be sometimes and the frets are, predictably, flat as hell.
I've wanted one of these for the longest time but just never got around to playing and getting one. So the planets aligned and it came home. From what I can glean off the internet theres no real way of dating these from the serial number but happy to be pointed in the right direction if someone knows.
Being one of the earlier Firstman-built ones apparently makes it one of the more sought-after Japanese versions. I don't really care about that as it plays and sounds fantastic regardless. And it wasn't £4-6k hahaha
I've wanted one of these for the longest time but just never got around to playing and getting one. So the planets aligned and it came home. From what I can glean off the internet theres no real way of dating these from the serial number but happy to be pointed in the right direction if someone knows.
Being one of the earlier Firstman-built ones apparently makes it one of the more sought-after Japanese versions. I don't really care about that as it plays and sounds fantastic regardless. And it wasn't £4-6k hahaha
Last edited by JSett on Mon May 31, 2021 10:39 pm, edited 3 times in total.
Silly Rabbit, don't you know scooped mids are for kids?
- PorkyPrimeCut
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Re: NGD: 197* Mosrite
Oh man, that's a killer guitar!!
Congratu-fucking-lations!!!
Congratu-fucking-lations!!!
You think you can't, you wish you could, I know you can, I wish you would. Slip inside this house as you pass by.
- LVC
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- Veitchy
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Re: NGD: 197* Mosrite
Awesome score. Looks to be in great condition. Gotta let us know how it sounds.
- Scout
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Re: NGD: 197* Mosrite
Very cool! Had one way back, also I thought they were ‘60’s.
- JSett
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Re: NGD: 197* Mosrite
Yeah, the proper Mosrites were. This is one made in the late-60s/early-70s by the Firstman Japanese guitar company who partnered up with the original Mosrite Of California after making illegal copies for a while.
After extensive deep-diving and googling, and asking some people, it appears this is likely a '69 but I'm still trying to confirm that more solidly
Silly Rabbit, don't you know scooped mids are for kids?
- JSett
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Re: NGD: 197* Mosrite
It sounds great. It has that classic 'overwound' sound the original Moseley ones are known for which is nice and warm. Great for surf (obviously) and sounds fantastic tuned flat and in drop-d through some overdrive/fuzz
Silly Rabbit, don't you know scooped mids are for kids?
- garyptaszek
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Re: NGD: 197* Mosrite
I’m well interested in the pickups on these. What output are they?johnnysomersett wrote: ↑Mon May 31, 2021 10:15 pmIt sounds great. It has that classic 'overwound' sound the original Moseley ones are known for which is nice and warm. Great for surf (obviously) and sounds fantastic tuned flat and in drop-d through some overdrive/fuzz
- JSett
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Re: NGD: 197* Mosrite
A quick and dirty measurement from the output jack shows about 12.6 for both, so pretty hotgaryptaszek wrote: ↑Tue Jun 01, 2021 12:40 pmI’m well interested in the pickups on these. What output are they?johnnysomersett wrote: ↑Mon May 31, 2021 10:15 pmIt sounds great. It has that classic 'overwound' sound the original Moseley ones are known for which is nice and warm. Great for surf (obviously) and sounds fantastic tuned flat and in drop-d through some overdrive/fuzz
Silly Rabbit, don't you know scooped mids are for kids?
- Veitchy
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Re: NGD: 197* Mosrite
I love the sound of Mosrite pickups - real singular sound. I keep thinking of doing a Mosrite-inspired JM one day - do a German carve around the top and all, just to have an excuse to stick some of those Novak JM-Mosrite pickups in it.johnnysomersett wrote: ↑Tue Jun 01, 2021 12:55 pmA quick and dirty measurement from the output jack shows about 12.6 for both, so pretty hotgaryptaszek wrote: ↑Tue Jun 01, 2021 12:40 pmI’m well interested in the pickups on these. What output are they?johnnysomersett wrote: ↑Mon May 31, 2021 10:15 pm
It sounds great. It has that classic 'overwound' sound the original Moseley ones are known for which is nice and warm. Great for surf (obviously) and sounds fantastic tuned flat and in drop-d through some overdrive/fuzz
- CorporateDisguise
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Re: NGD: 1969 Mosrite (Firstman)
Congrats! I love old Mosrites. They have such a sleek sexy design. I’ve never gotten the chance to play one unfortunately, and the super skinny neck reports always scares me away.
- JSett
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Re: NGD: 1969 Mosrite (Firstman)
Maybe I got lucky as this one is about the same thickness as a Japanese Jazzmaster. Feels pretty goodCorporateDisguise wrote: ↑Thu Jun 03, 2021 1:31 amCongrats! I love old Mosrites. They have such a sleek sexy design. I’ve never gotten the chance to play one unfortunately, and the super skinny neck reports always scares me away.
Silly Rabbit, don't you know scooped mids are for kids?
- MattK
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Re: NGD: 1969 Mosrite (Firstman)
I think these Morales ones came out of the same factory? The neck's not skinny but it has this odd laminated structure so it looks like a bowling alley.
- JSett
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Re: NGD: 1969 Mosrite (Firstman)
Not quite. Morales came out of the Zen-on factory (along with Beltone). These Firstman ones were built in the FugiGen Gakki factory (Greco, Ibanez, etc).
Silly Rabbit, don't you know scooped mids are for kids?
- MattK
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Re: NGD: 1969 Mosrite (Firstman)
Amazing that they doubled down on such precisely similar models, perhaps even shared templates!