Mosrite The Ventures Model 1965

Semie Moseley founded Mosrite in California and built a reputation in the early to mid 1960s for instruments that felt fast and played differently from the big factory brands. The company’s design language is easy to spot: the German carve body edge, the compact offset shape, the slim necks with narrow nut widths, and the distinctive Moseley vibrato system.

The Ventures Model is Mosrite’s best-known guitar, developed around the band The Ventures at the height of the surf era. Players like Nokie Edwards and Don Wilson helped put the model on stages and in magazines, and the look and feel became a template that later crossed into garage rock and punk. Johnny Ramone is one of the most famous later Mosrite users, keeping the Ventures-era design in the spotlight for a new generation.

This 1965 Mosrite Ventures Model is so, so cool in the typical Mosrite way. IT has extensive finish checking and heavy wear across the body, neck, and headstock, including exposed wood on the edges and a large worn area on the back. The neck has the characteristically slim profile and narrow nut spacing associated with mid-60’s Mosrites. The pots have been replaced, and the tone knob is not the original. Weight is 3600g.

Case is not included, but funky, vibey 60’s coolness most definitely is.

SPECIFICATIONS

• Body: Offset double cutaway with German carve body edge
• Body wood: Basswood
• Finish: Sunburst lacquer finish
• Neck construction: Bolt-on neck with 4-bolt Mosrite neck plate
• Neck wood: Maple
• Fingerboard: Bound rosewood fingerboard
• Inlays: Dot inlays
• Scale length: 24.75 in
• Frets: 24
• Nut width: Approx 1 9/16 in (narrow Mosrite spec)
• Nut system: Zero fret with nut as string guide (typical Mosrite feature)
• Pickups: 2 Mosrite single-coil pickups
• Pickup selector: 3-way toggle switch
• Controls: Master volume, master tone
• Bridge: Mosrite roller bridge
• Vibrato: Moseley vibrato unit with removable arm
• Pickguard: Cream pickguard
• Hardware: Chrome-plated hardware
• Tuners: 3-a-side tuners with individual tuner housings
• Weight: 3600g