1965 Ventures II "Slab" - How they were returned and exchanged in warranty work, and a hypothesis.

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1965 Ventures II "Slab" - How they were returned and exchanged in warranty work, and a hypothesis.

Postby 101Volts » Sat Jan 15, 2022 8:30 pm

I've heard how the 1965 Ventures II "Slab Body" model was not liked very well by Semie Moseley, because he didn't think it fit Mosrite's image of a guitar company (or that's how the story goes.) I don't know all of his reasons why, so I won't go into that.

Image

That said, any time an original Slab came back to Mosrite for warranty work (which probably didn't happen very much,) the owner got a different model (the Ventures II "Carved" model) back in exchange. There are at least two, maybe more, cases of this.

The Story of White B007:
http://www.mosriteforum.com/forum/viewt ... ?f=4&t=540

In short, the original owner of B007 had its neck pocket develop a crack. He sent it back, and got B510 (a German Carved model) back in exchange.

I also read of this happening to John Melcher, to his Blue guitar, which he didn't know the serial # to. Go to this Facebook Post if you want to read his exact words on it, they're under the comments for the post:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/3294258 ... 880743544/

In short: a pickup broke within 6 months, he sent it in for warranty work, then Mosrite sent him another guitar back, and John thinks in retrospect that they sent the other guitar to him quickly after sending the one in.

I heard of this happening yet one further time, but I don't know if it was John posting it under Youtube Comments or not.

That backstory said, I was wondering: what happened to the Slab models that Mosrite took back? I remembered, Mosrite sometimes used whatever they had on hand to get guitars out the door.

Tim Brennan has once said that he has serial numbers to three Carved Ventures II models, all in the B060 - B080 range. He thought they were built at the same time that Mosrite were building the Slab models, and Semie was test marketing both kinds. Maybe that is the case, I don't know. But what if Mosrite simply re-used Slab necks on Carved Body models? He was already doing that to use up inventory after the Slab model was discontinued, so it's not a far stretch of the imagination.

(Tim's post; do a Ctrl+F search for "60" and you'll find the part: ) https://tymguitars.com.au/blogs/blog/16 ... ody-part-1

OK, that might explain what happened to the necks. But what of the bodies? Well, do you know the Mosrite Mel-O-Bar?

Image

It looks nearly the same as a Ventures II "Slab," but re-purposed for a slide guitar; why? I don't know for sure, but I'd think they used a few hundred Slab bodies for the Mel-O-Bar. It's not too far to imagine that Mosrite could have done the same to any Slab models that were returned for warranty work.

So, perhaps Mosrite did not trash the Slab models, after all; maybe they just re-purposed them to another use, while giving a different guitar in exchange not just in pursuit to further discontinue the Slab as well as possible, but also for expediency.

Oh, and as for the slab pickups? I'm not too sure about this, but they seem to be nearly the same if not exactly the same as a Ventures II Carve / Mark V / Celebrity III pickup with one exception; the pickup case size. They could have just dis-assembled the pickup and re-used it in another cover. And besides that, there's one Joe Maphis Double Neck with a Mandolin neck on the top, and it seems to use a Slab pickup for the Mandolin neck, though the guitar looks like it might be too old for that:

viewtopic.php?p=66326#p66326

...

OK, to re-cap my post:

1: Semie didn't like the Slab model.
2: Slab models sent in for warranty work got exchanged for Carved models.
3: Mosrite may have re-purposed the Slab parts for other guitars

#3 is just speculation, but it seems a likely thing when Mosrite is concerned.

- 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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