Serial number faded

[mrmomo]

Hi All-

I'm getting closer to deciding on the purchase of a real Mosrite!!

~1966 Ventures Moseley model from Guitar Center, but need some insight.
I am not able to see the guitar in person as it is many states away, so all I have is pictures and phone time with the salesperson.

Is it normal for a serial number to be faded enough so as almost not to be seen? The salesperson looked at it with a magnifying glass and could not really make it out either.
Near as we can figure it MIGHT be 3458.
He will pull the pots tomorrow and let me know if they are readable.

It's been sitting in their Vintage Room since 2007! It's been marked down from $3699 to $2400.
I'll see if I can negotiate a lower price as well.

Any feedback is much appreciated.

[dubtrub]

I can't tell for sure but I'm guessing it has been re-fretted as the frets don't look like the flat speed frets that it should have. They look to have the more rounded crown from a re-fret. Leveling the fret board after pulling the original frets would account for a faded serial number being sanded some. The selector switch knob is not the nickel plated metal with the two spiral rings. The pickguard has the added eighth screw near the 22nd fret as on a 1964 and earlier, plus the pickguard looks extremely white not the yellowed ivory colored pickguard that originally came on the guitar. It should be a three ply pickguard with the top layer thicker than the bottom two laminates. No one makes that three ply with the thick top ply so that would be something to check to see if it's a replacement. The one close up photo depicting the 22nd fret screw shows the pickguard to look like a replacement. It looks like a nice guitar but if those items mentioned aren't original then $2400 would be a little steep. JMTCW.

[MWaldorf]

I'd say the guitar has been refretted. Those frets look way to big to be stock 60s Mosrite. It's common for the SN to get lost if the fretboard is sanded during the course of a fret job. Of course, these frets probably normal by any other standard so you may like it more that way. It might help you knock down the price.
Search "speed frets" on the forum for more info on the classic Mosrite frets. In the meantime, here's what speed frets look like. They should be about 0.022" high.

[Edward Lopez]

Maybe not a helpful hint but it is something that could be considered. Since there might still be a shadow of the serial number consider processing a photo of the serial number area with filters. In archaeology such as the Dead Sea scrolls where the parchments held writing that was not readable, the scrolls were photographed and then the photos were processed on a computer using various infrared and other types of filters. See: http://www.webexhibits.org/pigments/intro/ir.html

There might be enough indetation of the wood left to create the necessary "shadows" to be separated from the flat surface.

[MWaldorf]

Come to think of it, the bridge looks like the Mark V non-roller kind, and the vibrato arm looks like it's got a screw drilled through the top of it. Roller saddles and vibrato arms are available from Hallmark, but figure on adding $100 to the price of the guitar.

Besides this guitar, you might also want to do a search for Mosrites on Gbase. I saw a couple in the same price range or less, and some very nice ones for not much more.

[mrmomo]

Wow!
Thank you to everyone for all of your feedback!
I just got an invaluable Mosrite lesson.

Time to step back and keep my hand off the trigger. I think I'll wait on this one.
For this purchase, I'm interested in as original as possible.
My next "other" guitar will be a Hallmark!

Gbase looks like a better option.

So many choices...so little time...

-John

[mrmomo]

Just got a call from the GC salesperson. He pulled the pots and one has "77" in the date field.
Too many modifications.
This axe is a NO GO!

"Mo"ving on!