German Carve: Mosrite MK1 vs MK2 vs Hallmark vs M88

Hydra19
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German Carve: Mosrite MK1 vs MK2 vs Hallmark vs M88

Postby Hydra19 » Tue Oct 23, 2012 4:47 am

Hi,
I have a question about the german carve on these guitars. Did they vary from year to year? It seems they varied from Mk1 to Mk2 as to the size of the german carve. I've seen original Mosrites with a pretty flat body (later production) and the Hallmark also has a pretty flat German Carve. I understand Mosley got this from Rickenbacker? But what determined the amount of the carve? Comfort? I like how to german carve makes the guitar curvier, and was wondering if the German Carve on the Hallmark is similar to a Mosrite of any year? It seems the early ventures models had a much bigger one, whereas the Hallmark is flatter, but not as flat as the M88...
I want to get a Mosrite with a big german carve like in the 60's but they're really rare in the UK, and don't really want a Mosrite with a flatter curve like the Hallmark, because I do like Hallmarks burst finishes and am tempted by the Fire Sparkle (I have sunset sparkle), I'd mod that one to be closer to a Ventures Mosrite (in terms of pickups) as I find the Hallmark very versatile.

Thanks for any info, I've looked on the site but it doesn't really specify the size, and from the pictures it can be hard to tell the amount of the carve cause of the angle of the pic

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Veenture
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Re: German Carve: Mosrite MK1 vs MK2 vs Hallmark vs M88

Postby Veenture » Tue Oct 23, 2012 11:20 am

Bob Shade did mention at one time that he used a USA Mosrite from a specific year (70's, I think) to model the H60C from, which had the sharp-edged curve on the treble horn also. The later Hallmark 60 Custom has the softer-type earlier Mosrite carve on the treble horn. Bob is sure to chime in and correct me if necessary. Perhaps a search on the Hallmark thread could reveal that post :?

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oipunkguy
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Re: German Carve: Mosrite MK1 vs MK2 vs Hallmark vs M88

Postby oipunkguy » Thu Nov 01, 2012 11:55 am

generally you just carve the edge of the body with a cove bit then use a sander smooth out the cut. since these were generally done by hand every one would vary a little from piece to piece. the m88 is a completely different cut.
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