Mosrite S.M. model Serial Numbers List (1977 - 1978, Les Paul-ish Shape.)

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Mosrite S.M. model Serial Numbers List (1977 - 1978, Les Paul-ish Shape.)

Postby 101Volts » Mon Nov 11, 2019 2:39 am

There's barely any information at all on this scarce model (that I heard was made in 1976?) online but I might as well start a compilation of serial numbers for the rare days a number does show up.

Edit:

The thread has been edited from its original state, so as to keep things a bit simpler on the forum. You may find the most recent update either here in this main topic, or in one of my most recent replies to the topic. (I just make a new reply to show that it was updated.)

==============
Latest Updates:
==============

18 March, 2023:

Changes to the order of the list. Also added a small model history section.

24 October, 2023:

Unknown No. Black Guitar with Planets painted on it added. Guitar seen in "Bakersfield Guitars" Book.

Also condensed my replies in this thread.

==============
Model History:
==============

Info on this model is sparse, but it appears to have been one that was easy and simple to build when Semie was low on funds from 1977 to 1978. Only 80 of these are supposed to have been made under the Mosrite name, plus 3 or 4 prototypes under the "Moseley" name, one which I have documented (the white one.) However, the highest number I have for a Mosrite version is "16," so your guess is as good as mine about how many were originally made. I still think it's rarer than the Brass Rail or Ventures II (Slab) / "Mark II" models, though.

Ed Elliott also got a box of Mosrite parts in 1978, and assembled some S. M. models with the parts. At least some of these became double-cutaways, like a Les Paul Special.

============
Model Specs:
============

To be frank, I'm not yet certain what this model's specs are. However, this is what it looks like they are:

24.50" Scale Length
Rosewood Fretboard
Maple Neck
Basswood Body, Not Carved (but with a slight bevel.)
Mosrite Single Coil Pickups, No Pole Pieces (1970s version of the Mark V pickups?)
Stop Tailpiece

The serial numbers are located between the last fret and the end of the fretboard, by the neck pickup. They're often surrounded by indentations of a phillips head screwdriver, though perhaps that's not always the case; I don't know for sure.

And now, the Serial Numbers:

Known # Section - 6 Guitars:

14LOU - Mentioned here: viewtopic.php?f=6&t=1046&start=10
5 - Black, with Smooth Cover Pickups (I can't tell what kind of pup.) Was bought in a thrift store in California, and posted about at Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/mosrite ... 722425432/
6 - Black, with Humbuckers. Was owned by Michael Marks for a while, I'm not sure if he still has it: http://home.insightbb.com/~marksma/wsb/ ... 31539.html
8 - Black Body, Sunburst Neck & Headstock, Stop Tailpiece. Owned by forum member VincentW. https://www.facebook.com/groups/mosrite ... 344800722/
10 - Black with Sunburst Headstock - Found at http://www.ne.jp/asahi/mochizuki/kiyosh ... rlist.html (search "Bluesbender" and it should mistakenly show up.) Picture: http://www.ne.jp/asahi/mochizuki/kiyosh ... lackey.jpg
16 - Natural finish, Black Pickguard, and Black electronics cavity plate. Owned by Adam Tober (dorkrockrecords.) https://www.facebook.com/photo?fbid=101 ... 1330780677

Speculated # Section - 1 Guitar:

3 - Black, Tortoiseshell Pickguard & Control Cavity Plastic. Says "1977" under the tailpiece. Is modified a bit. Showed up on Reverb on 16 October 2022. Pics and page saved.
https://reverb.com/item/62245691-mosrit ... ified-1977

No # Section - 1 Guitar

No Number, Black - Once owned by Michael Marks. Has 2 Mosrite Humbuckers. http://home.insightbb.com/~marksma/wsb/ ... 35039.html

Unknown # Section - 3 Guitars:

No. ???, White with Black or Tortoiseshell Pickguard. Showed up on eBay in mid 2017. Seems to be a prototype of only 3 or 4. Says "Semie Moseley" on the headstock.
No. ???, Black with Planets painted on it. Seen in the "Bakersfield Guitars" book. Shared by Vincent Kan (thanks.)
No. ???, Sunburst. Pic saved. Was purchased by Forum Member "eltuce" in 2009 or 2010. Had no finish, then he finished it in a Sunburst. Also has a Moseley Vibrato Tailpiece. Thread discussing it before purchase: viewtopic.php?f=27&t=3265 Photo, after puchase: viewtopic.php?f=6&t=3101&p=36052#p36052

Ed Elliott Mosrite Partsrite Section - 2 Guitars Listed

No # - Sunburst - Double Cutaway. Pics & Page saved. The ad says this is a "Blues Bender," but it doesn't have a German Carve, so I'm putting it in this list since it looks like the best place to put it. https://reverb.com/item/52536824-mosrit ... 8-sunburst

???, Black, Set Neck Ed Elliott Partsrite assembled in 1978 with Moseley Vibrato. Black Headstock. Update, June 8 2020 - Sold later as body and neck due to the neck becoming twisted. (I got that info from an archived eBay listing at Worthpoint.)

Quote from Ed Elliott about this instrument: "hey Austin, that guitar use to belong to me, something I put together and played for a while, I have a photo of me and that guitar at a show I played at Six Flags Magic Mountain theme park in southern California in 1979, it was put together from that stuff I bought from Semie, that's a 350 pickguard I modified, it also had a Moseley tremelo, mainly because I had a box full of them."

Search "Unknown" and it should show up at the bottom, just after the listing for S.M. No. 10 which is also "Unknown." http://www.ne.jp/asahi/mochizuki/kiyosh ... rlist.html

Direct Link to Pic: http://www.ne.jp/asahi/mochizuki/kiyosh ... yukawa.jpg

Quote from Ed Elliott about S.M. Models:

"Me and my dad in 1978 bought from Semie 11 Brassrail partsrites, there was at least 3 black ones, about 20 SM bodies and necks, boxes of parts and all the equipment out of the paint room. At the time I was restoring a double cutaway Les Paul special for Artie Niesen,
I really liked those guitars, I used it for a pattern to reshape most of the SM bodies, so if anyone has a Mosrite shaped like a Les Paul Special, its one of mine." - Post from Ed Elliott's "We Love Mosrite Guitars" Page, under his question about who owns Mosrite Brass Rail Models; dated June 1, 2020.

---------------

13 Guitars in total.

6 with known numbers,
1 with a speculated number,
3 with unknown numbers (2 Mosrites, 1 Moseley,)
1 with no number,
2 E. F. Elliott Partsrites.

Supposedly, only 84 of these guitars exist (including 4 Moseley models,) and that may exclude partsrites that weren't assembled initially (such as the Sunburst in the unknown # section.) I know that Ed Elliott had "about 20 bodies," but I don't know if that's out of the 84 guitars already mentioned, or if there are an additional 20 bodies which weren't finished at Mosrite.

- Austin
1966 Ventures II (German Carved, B670.)
1970s "Not a Blues Bender" Bodies: 2.
1976 Brass Rail Deluxe #10.
2013 Fender Pawn Shop Bass VI.

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Re: Mosrite S.M. Model Serial Numbers Compilation

Postby VincentW » Mon Nov 11, 2019 11:30 am

Hi, I can add no. 8. Black with a black pickguard. Burst finish neck and headstock and non vibrato tailpiece.

Image

Vincent

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Re: Mosrite S.M. Model Serial Numbers Compilation

Postby 101Volts » Sun Jan 12, 2020 6:53 pm

VincentW wrote:Hi, I can add no. 8. Black with a black pickguard. Burst finish neck and headstock and non vibrato tailpiece.

(broken image link snipped from quote.)

Vincent


Thanks, Vincent, but the pic's gone now.

Edit: This reply has been edited. Now it's a "Total Updates" Reply.

=====
2019:
=====

November 11:

Added No. 10 (Black.)

=====
2020:
=====

January 12:

Added:

No. 8 and two mystery number models.
No. 8 - Black Body, Sunburst Neck & Headstock, Stop Tailpiece
No ???, Black, seemingly not with a sunburst headstock. Has or had a Moseley Vibrato (at least at time of the photo) - http://www.ne.jp/asahi/mochizuki/kiyosh ... rlist.html (search "Bluesbend
er" and it should mistakenly show up underneath the one just above.) Pic: http://www.ne.jp/asahi/mochizuki/kiyosh ... yukawa.jpg
No ???, Sunburst, was purchased by a member here without a finish around 2010 - 2012; he finished it in a Sunburst.

February 9:

Added:

14LOU - Mentioned here: viewtopic.php?f=6&t=1046&start=10
No ???, White with Black Pickguard. Showed up on eBay in mid 2017. Seems to be a prototype of only 3 or 4. Says "Semie Moseley" on the headstock.

16 - Natural finish, Black Pickguard, and Black electronics cavity plate.

February 16:

Added:

No. 06 - Black, with Humbuckers. Was owned by Michael Marks for a while, I'm not sure if he still has it: http://home.insightbb.com/~marksma/wsb/ ... 31539.html

May 3:

Asked Ed Elliott about these models, he said something like "the 'S.M. (Semie Moseley)' name for these guitars isn't really official. I'm not sure what its name is (if it has one,) but Semie wanted to make something that was simple and easy to assemble."

May 15:

Organized the list better.

May 25:

Added a No Number model that was owned by Michael Marks. (This is not No. 06.)

No Number, Black[/u][/b] - Once owned by Michael Marks. Has 2 Mosrite Humbuckers. http://home.insightbb.com/~marksma/wsb/ ... 35039.html

June 1:

New note added; Ed Elliott bought some of the S.M. bodies in 1978.

Ed Elliott:
"Me and my dad in 1978 bought from Semie 11 Brassrail partsrites, there was at least 3 black ones, about 20 SM bodies and necks, boxes of parts and all the equipment out of the paint room. At the time I was restoring a double cutaway Les Paul special for Artie Niesen,
I really liked those guitars, I used it for a pattern to reshape most of the SM bodies, so if anyone has a Mosrite shaped like a Les Paul Special, its one of mine." - Post from Ed Elliott's "We Love Mosrite Guitars" Page, under his question about who owns Mosrite Brass Rail Models; dated June 1, 2020.

June 8:

New notes to the Ed Elliott Partsrite (which I had not very well mentioned earlier, apparently) were added. Also moved this guitar to a special Ed Elliott Partsrite section.

???, Black, Set Neck Ed Elliott Partsrite assembled in 1978 with Moseley Vibrato. Black Headstock. Update, June 8 2020 - Sold later as body and neck due to the neck becoming twisted. (I got that info from an archived eBay listing at Worthpoint.)

Quote from Ed Elliott about this instrument: "hey Austin, that guitar use to belong to me, something I put together and played for a while, I have a photo of me and that guitar at a show I played at Six Flags Magic Mountain theme park in southern California in 1979, it was put together from that stuff I bought from Semie, that's a 350 pickguard I modified, it also had a Moseley tremelo, mainly because I had a box full of them."

Search "Unknown" and it should show up at the bottom, just after the listing for S.M. No. 10 which is also "Unknown." http://www.ne.jp/asahi/mochizuki/kiyosh ... rlist.html

Direct Link to Pic: http://www.ne.jp/asahi/mochizuki/kiyosh ... yukawa.jpg

June 18:

Update to the unknown Sunburst model.

No ???, Sunburst. Pic saved. Was purchased by Forum Member "eltuce" in 2009 or 2010. Had no finish, then he finished it in a Sunburst. Also has a Moseley Vibrato Tailpiece. Thread discussing it before purchase: viewtopic.php?f=27&t=3265 Photo, after puchase: viewtopic.php?f=6&t=3101&p=36052#p36052

=====
2021:
=====

September 26:

I should have just copied and pasted what Ed said on the Facebook post.

Me: "How did the 1977 Mosrite S.M. model come about? They appear to me as though they're a case of Mosrite using up Brass Rail bodies, is this the case? Also, were Brass Rail Bodies made out of Wenge?"

Ed: "Hey Austin, The SM was something Semie wanted to build that would be economic for the consumer, and fast and easy to build. The prototypes didn't have the Mosrite logo, they had a "Semie Moseley" logo like on the late 80s Vibramutes. Semie decided to save his name logo for a more expensive model and go with his Mosrite logo. So SM is kind of a nickname. Don't sand down your black SM hoping to find beautiful wood, it ain't there, they're all basswood. The last Brassrails that were made out of Wenge and the SMs were built at the same time and share the same parts because that's all he had."

So, I'm guessing that most S. M. models are Basswood, but a few might be Wenge?

December 20:

Added:

No. 05 - Black, with Smooth Cover Pickups (I can't tell what kind of pup.) Was bought in a thrift store in California, and posted about at Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/mosrite ... 722425432/

Also had a mild update for #8; I added a link.

No. 08 - Black Body, Sunburst Neck & Headstock, Stop Tailpiece. Owned by forum member VincentW. https://www.facebook.com/groups/mosrite ... 344800722/

=====
2022:
=====

May 28:

Added:

No Number E. F. Elliott Partsrite - Sunburst - Double Cutaway. Pics & Page saved. The ad says this is a "Blues Bender," but it doesn't have a German Carve, so I'm putting it in this list since it looks like the best place to put it. https://reverb.com/item/52536824-mosrit ... 8-sunburst

October 16:

Another S.M. model surfaced on Reverb. I'm not quite sure of its number, I think I can vaguely make out "3" in one of the last pictures, but I'm not quite sure.
https://reverb.com/item/62245691-mosrit ... ified-1977

October 17:

Small update, I've removed the bold underscored text to newly added instruments (like I did for another serial # list.) I've found that I sometimes forget to remove the notation when it's due.

I've also removed both the "No." notation, and the zeros from the numbers below 10.

=====
2023:
=====

March 18:

Changes to the order of the list. Also added a small model history section.

October 24:

Unknown No. Black Guitar with Planets painted on it added. Guitar seen in "Bakersfield Guitars" Book.

Also condensed my replies in this thread, changed the order of how to read the recent updates, and made the reply you're now reading into the "Total Updates" reply.

The recent updates list is also now in "the bottom shows the most recent update," rather than "the bottom shows the third most recent update."

- Austin
1966 Ventures II (German Carved, B670.)
1970s "Not a Blues Bender" Bodies: 2.
1976 Brass Rail Deluxe #10.
2013 Fender Pawn Shop Bass VI.

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Re: Mosrite S.M. Model Serial Numbers Compilation

Postby VincentW » Mon Jan 13, 2020 4:10 pm

Image

OK, here's no. 8 again.

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Re: Mosrite S.M. Model Serial Numbers Compilation

Postby dave m » Mon Jan 13, 2020 5:46 pm

Could you post pics of your avitar guitar ? Never seen anything like it

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Re: Mosrite S.M. Model Serial Numbers Compilation

Postby VincentW » Tue Jan 14, 2020 11:17 am

Sure, I will start a new thread though, as I don't want to mess up the SM model compilation.

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Re: Mosrite S.M. Model Serial Numbers Compilation

Postby 101Volts » Sat Feb 08, 2020 10:58 pm

I added two to the list.

14LOU - Mentioned here: viewtopic.php?f=6&t=1046&start=10

No. 8 - Black Body, Sunburst Neck & Headstock, Stop Tailpiece

No 10 - Black with Sunburst Headstock - Found at http://www.ne.jp/asahi/mochizuki/kiyosh ... rlist.html (search "Bluesbender" and it should mistakenly show up.) Picture: http://www.ne.jp/asahi/mochizuki/kiyosh ... lackey.jpg

No ???, White with Black Pickguard. Showed up on eBay in mid 2017. Seems to be a prototype of only 3 or 4. Says "Semie Moseley" on the headstock.

No ???, Black, Ed Elliott Partsrite assembled in 1978. Seemingly not with a sunburst headstock. Has or had a Moseley Vibrato (at least at time of the photo) - http://www.ne.jp/asahi/mochizuki/kiyosh ... rlist.html (search "Bluesbender" and it should mistakenly show up underneath the one just above.) Pic: http://www.ne.jp/asahi/mochizuki/kiyosh ... yukawa.jpg

No ???, Sunburst, was purchased by a member here without a finish around 2010 - 2012; he finished it in a Sunburst.

- Austin
1966 Ventures II (German Carved, B670.)
1970s "Not a Blues Bender" Bodies: 2.
1976 Brass Rail Deluxe #10.
2013 Fender Pawn Shop Bass VI.

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Re: Mosrite S.M. Model Serial Numbers Compilation

Postby VincentW » Sun Feb 09, 2020 7:09 am

I just went through some photos and found the white one that was on Ebay in 2017, though what I can make from the photo it could also be a tortoise pickguard.

Image

Also, I found two photos of number 16, also for sale on Ebay a few years ago.

Image


Image

Enjoy!

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Re: Mosrite S.M. Model Serial Numbers Compilation

Postby 101Volts » Sun Feb 09, 2020 7:51 am

Great, thanks! I don't see a serial number on the White one, and I hadn't seen 16 before.

I wonder if the body has the same exact outline as both a Blues Bender and Brass Rail? It looks the same in photos, but I haven't compared them.

14LOU - Mentioned here: viewtopic.php?f=6&t=1046&start=10

No. 8 - Black Body, Sunburst Neck & Headstock, Stop Tailpiece

No 10 - Black with Sunburst Headstock - Found at http://www.ne.jp/asahi/mochizuki/kiyosh ... rlist.html (search "Bluesbender" and it should mistakenly show up.) Picture: http://www.ne.jp/asahi/mochizuki/kiyosh ... lackey.jpg

16 - Natural finish, Black Pickguard, and Black electronics cavity plate.

No ???, White with Black or Tortoiseshell Pickguard. Showed up on eBay in mid 2017. Seems to be a prototype of only 3 or 4. Says "Semie Moseley" on the headstock.

No ???, Black, Ed Elliott Partsrite assembled in 1978. Seemingly not with a sunburst headstock. Has or had a Moseley Vibrato (at least at time of the photo) - http://www.ne.jp/asahi/mochizuki/kiyosh ... rlist.html (search "Bluesbender" and it should mistakenly show up underneath the one just above.) Pic: http://www.ne.jp/asahi/mochizuki/kiyosh ... yukawa.jpg

No ???, Sunburst, was purchased by a member here without a finish around 2010 - 2012; he finished it in a Sunburst.

- Austin
1966 Ventures II (German Carved, B670.)
1970s "Not a Blues Bender" Bodies: 2.
1976 Brass Rail Deluxe #10.
2013 Fender Pawn Shop Bass VI.

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Re: Mosrite S.M. Model Serial Numbers Compilation

Postby VincentW » Sun Feb 09, 2020 11:50 am

101Volts wrote:Great, thanks! I don't see a serial number on the White one, and I hadn't seen 16 before.

I wonder if the body has the same exact outline as both a Blues Bender and Brass Rail? It looks the same in photos, but I haven't compared them.


Here are some photos to compare the Brass Rail and the SM model. The side of the back of the SM is more rounded (in the same way as the front) while the Brass Rail has the German carve on the front.

Image


Image


Image


Image


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