The Last Bass Outpost

Please share your conclusions here... I'm curious to hear what they say. Especially regarding the headstock logo.

"$2659.00 LIST while quantities last."

Not an expert on these, but here's my 2 cents:

* The tuners look like the type that went on cheap 70's Japanese copies. They are smaller than the units Moseley used, but there are no visible screw holes on the back of the headstock.

* In addition to that, tuner holes are too close. They should be farther apart.

* As already mentioned, the neck plate is wrong.

* The treble pickup is too far from the bridge.

* Neck heel is also wrong.

* I have always thought that real ones always had "of California" under the Mosrite logo, and counterfeits didn't.

Too many things don't look right with this one. If I had to guess, I'd say a fake, maybe with some original Mosrite parts.

Paul Wilczynski sells his "fretless Shadow" that he made from a 1976 4001. Black horseshoe and 1/2-inch spacing.

One-of-a-kind mod, very tastefully done.

I'm skeptical

Yes, but I can't explain the tailpiece otherwise. It looks stock and it's a 5-string unit.

Also, all the tuners look identically distressed (whatever was left of the gold plating) and look the same as my '64 single-pickup version 6070.

Those necks were so wide and thick, they could easily take the pull of 5 and even 8 strings at full tension. The headstock is enormous and can take a 5th tuner, but the resulting neck-dive - a major problem with the 4-strings - would then make the bass impossible to play standing up, unless you add weights to the bottom strap button.

Looks like previous owners have done the same mods that I did to mine - relocated strap button to handle the neck dive, and painted-on side dots.

Mine has a spike to be played like a cello, that goes through the tailpiece hinge, this one doesn't.

Also, where would you find extra-long 5-string bass strings in 1968? These basses need longer strings than a Fender's, because of the afterlength. When standard long-scale strings are used, the silk goes over the nut almost to the 1st fret.

My gut feeling - and this is not supported by undisputed facts - is that this could be a factory mod, but the result was unplayable, and so the experiment never evolved into a production model.

The one-off Ric Outlet Tobacco Burst/BT "RM1999" is on eBay.

The "reissue" designation is a bit misleading here. The Coro RI just shares some visual features with the old Coro's, but they are irrelevant to the sound or playability, like f-hole and headstock shape or fretboard binding and inlays. With its different construction, different pickups and hardware, it's a new model.

With the Starcaster, similarity to the 2-3 prototypes is really unimportant; not many know how those sounded or played.