Am I crazy? *Mosrite pics added*

[drbassman]

I think the style is really original for a HB bass of the 60's.  It's retro enough for me! 

[Pilgrim]

I searched briefly for a pic of a green-headed monster, but decorum forbade.

VERY jealous here!!!!!  We need a report on how that Mosrite plays when it gets to you...

[Dave W]

Hope it lives up to your expectations. I guess that officially makes you a Celebrity. 

[drbassman]

Well, it should live up to my expectations as they are somewhat lower after the input from a couple of you folks!  But, that's OK, I've always loved the funky look of these things.  My dealer won't even talk to me about selling his trans-orange Celebrity, so I think I scored just fine.  I almost bought just the body of one some moonths ago, but I need another project like I need a.....well, you know.

How can I go wrong with a bass called the Celebrity?  I feel my career taking off already!!!! 

[Dave W]

You still have time to make your goal of being a rock star by the time you're 60. 

[Chris P.]

Very cool!!!

[drbassman]

You still have time to make your goal of being a rock star by the time you're 60. 

Ouch! You make it sound so difficult.  Sixty ain't that far away@!@! 

[drbassman]

Very cool!!!

Yeah, I think so too!

[drbassman]

I got the bass and it's in pretty good shape for a 1965.  A few hairline cracks in the poly, typical for something like this.  The electronics did nothing but hum and I found a broken wire on the jack.  I'll solder that tonight and see what's up with that.

The big surprise?  It's a 24.5" scale!!!!!!  I assumed it was a 30" scale like other Mosrites I've seen.  Naturally, the neck is small and really easy to navigate.  I don't mind the small frets, it plays just fine for me.  I've posted a note in the Mosrite forum to try and learn more about these super short scale models.  Can't wait to hook it up and see how it sounds.  Man, this is really weird!  More on this tomorrow.

[Chris P.]

Cool! I can't remember seeing a veryshortscale before. Is there any bass left in that E string?

I hope the loose wire is the troublemaker.

[Dave W]

The big surprise?  It's a 24.5" scale!!!!!!  I assumed it was a 30" scale like other Mosrites I've seen.  Naturally, the neck is small and really easy to navigate.  I don't mind the small frets, it plays just fine for me.  I've posted a note in the Mosrite forum to try and learn more about these super short scale models.  Can't wait to hook it up and see how it sounds.  Man, this is really weird!  More on this tomorrow.

24.5" scale and four strings?    I think you may have bought yourself a tenor guitar with the nut slots widened for bass strings. 

[drbassman]

You might be right Dave.  I'm chasing this thing down now to try and figure it out.  I don't see anything about tenor guitars on the various Mosrite websites, but something should turn up eventually.  If it sounds decent, I just might keep it anyway and re-string it. 

[Dave W]

You probably know this, but Tym Guitars in Australia knows a lot of Mosrite history. I found nothing in the Mosrite section of his site about tenor guitars, but you might write him anyway and see if he may know something. Looking at his Celebrity Bass pics, it's easy to see where the bridge placement ought to be.

If it's a tenor guitar, you might well be able to get more for it than for a bass, just because of the rarity.

[drbassman]

I wrote Tym a note earlier, we'll see what he says.  I'm going to do some more investigating when I get home.  As I was leaving this morning for work, I got curious because the neck had a mm or 2 gap on each side.  I then noticed the neck is pushed down right on top of the neck pup mounting ring to the point of bending it.  That's when I got the tape out and discovered the scale length.  Makes me think Dr. Frankenstein was busy mating things from different Mosrite instruments that didn't originally belong there.  I'm assuming now that there is something quite fishy about it all.  I also wrote the seller a note and we'll see if he comes around.  This could be my second bad eBay experience in a year!  Although I'd keep it for $400!

[Dave W]

That does sound fishy.