NGD! Celebrity III '72

[Chemo]

Got this on Friday:

[olrocknroller]

Looks like this one should clean up nicely! Congratulations!

[GattonFan]

Very nice score - she's a beauty!
Dennis

[Veenture]

Congrats Kimmo, where did you find her (in Europe)?

[JimPage]

Chemo, that's a beauty! I'm sure that Sarah, Queen of Celebrities, will comment, but that is the first '72 Celebrity that I've seen with that particular control-panel plate. Is the serial number on your Celebrity III 3C0008?

My 1972 Celebrity III (see my avatar) is serial number 3C0148. It has the banana-shaped control panel and a roller bridge. It does not have a tremolo, but does have the same tuning machines that your's does. Mine came with one smooth-with-no-logo pickup cover and one smooth-with-embossed-logo pickup cover. It also has a custom scratch plate or pick guard. It has the same headstock logo that your's has.

Again; great score!!! Congratulations!

--Jim

[Sarah93003]

Congratulations Kimmo!

This one is 3c0031 and it is a 1972. It's not the first '72 that I've seen with the old style control panel. It has the correct headstock, logo, bound neck, and serial number sequence for a 1972. My theory is that when Semie started back up in 1972 he had a lot of parts from the 1966-1968 era. I've seen a few of these earlier bouts show up on 1972 models. The "regular" 1972 with banana shaped control panel I believe to be left over parts from the 1966-1968 Dobro. Interestingly 1972 marks the last year for the Celebrity-III and the only year that the Celebrity-III had a bound neck and the only year that the CE-III has the kidney bean neck mounting plate.

I own 3c0001 and it has the banana shaped control panel.
Below are 1972 Celebrity-III's with the old style control panel.
3c0007 has the old style
3c0010 has the old style
3c3001 is a CE-III bass with the old style
3c12001 is a CE-III 12 string with the old style.

Jim, I would like to know about 3c0008. I don't currently have a record of that one. Do you have pics of it?

[JimPage]

Hey, Sarah--

You wrote:
>>Jim, I would like to know about 3c0008. I don't currently have a record of that one. Do you have pics of it?

Whoa! That was just my trying to read the serial number on Chemo's photo; that's why I asked Chemo, in my post, if that was his guitar's serial number!

Sorry to cause any confusion.

Thanks for the good info, as always--

--Jim

[Chemo]

Thanks guys!

I'm still in the middle of finding the perfect setup for the Celebrity, but I already love it. It fits nicely what I needed: I wasn't really thinking about getting a new guitar, but had wondered how a hollowbody would work in the bands I'm in, and the vibrato unit is an absolute must for me, it is an essential part of my playing. It was great to see these things in a Mosrite! You don't really see these often in these parts - actually, I think this is the first Celebrity I've ever seen in Finland. Paul, I'll send you details about how I got via a pm.

The neck mounting plate makes one wonder: maybe Semie had a lot of them in stock from the time before the bankruptcy, and that was the reason he used them in Celebrities also? The Mosrite history is truly fascinating, and I think 1972 is a particularly interesting piece of it!

[Sarah93003]

...
The neck mounting plate makes one wonder: maybe Semie had a lot of them in stock from the time before the bankruptcy, and that was the reason he used them in Celebrities also? The Mosrite history is truly fascinating, and I think 1972 is a particularly interesting piece of it!

The neck mounting methods used on the Celebrities is interesting. The first ten produced, A0001 through A0010 were set neck. Next was the mortise and tenon joint held with two screws and ferrules. The neck end changed shape to be a more rectangular flat shape and they went to three screws with ferrules. I think they began having problems with the 12 strings and basses and finally went to four screws with ferrules by 1968. The kidney bean plate was used first on the solid bodied Mosrites and the Dobro had it in 1966. I've heard that when Semie got the name back in 1972 and started producing Mosrites again that it was a very scaled back operation. It would make sense to have a reduced inventory of parts and having all guitars take the kidney bean plate would eliminate the screw ferrules from the Celebrity. I don't know how many employees he had, but I was told that during the Jonas Ridge years he only had about 6 employees.

Interestingly, the original five prototype Celebrities were set necks and bolt on necks. My prototype has the mortise and tenon joint with two screws, Dr. Bill's prototype is the square end with 3 screws and ferrules. One of the prototypes was cut apart to see how the glue joints held up. The two remaining prototypes have not yet surfaced so I don't really know what their configuration is. I would guess that one is a set neck, the other...well who knows.

[Chemo]

^ That's really interesting information, Sarah. Thanks!

I had the neck adjusted by a top pro (Mosrites always deserve only the best). Now the Celeb is now in perferct playing setup. The action is really low and the guitar plays like butter - it almost plays itself, just as a Mosrite should.

The headstock is made from two parts in this specimen also. Maybe these were Gospel or some other necks, and the "Bart Simpson"-ends were just added afterwards? Just speculation again.... I'll take a photo soon of the headstock to show this, meanwhile, here's a clip of the guitar's second day in Finland (a small club gig, a cover of "California Sun" in finnish):