Fillmore& Kurokumo

[TimR]

That is an interesting observation. I had noticed that "teardrop" thing but hadn't really thought much about it. It's even more pronounced on the back. I have no idea why they did it that way.

[TimR]

here's some more shots I found. The teardrop thing is really obvious on the back..............

[TimR]

By the way there is what appears to be a C.A.R. one of these on ebay right now -with gold hardware.

[Desert Surfer]

It may vary guitar by guitar. This the back of my Kurokumo guitar which does not have the "teardrop" effect.

[Nokie]

Here's a Kurokomo Royal '63 with Ventures logo and a more traditional burst:




-Marty

[Strat-o-rama]

That's a beauty, Marty. How would you compare its tone/sound to other Kurokumos. Supposedly the pickups on the Royal 63 are hotter. How does it compare to a Mosrite?

[Nokie]

That's a beauty, Marty. How would you compare its tone/sound to other Kurokumos. Supposedly the pickups on the Royal 63 are hotter. How does it compare to a Mosrite?

Thanks, it is a wonderful geetar to be sure.

As to your tone questions: In terms of a true acid test, I've only A/B'd a Kurokumo Excellent with an original Mosrite. This was done by plugging both guitars into the same channel of a Fender Twin Reverb. Each guitar was strummed on the same chord, one at a time in close succession. Neither of us present could hear any difference in tonal qualities between the Excllent and the original '66 Ventures Model Mosrite. They really sounded identical.

I have also heard that Kurokumo put more windings ascending from the Excellent to Super Custom Models to the '63 Royal. I believe I also measured that difference as I have had all those models but I don't recall the specific measurements. I can say all the Kurokumos have that characteristic Mosrite sound.

I also understand that Kurokumo's practice of putting more pickup winds on the Royal '63 than their other models is not historically the correct thing to do. I have heard that in actuality, an original '63 Mosrite will have less pickup windings that the subsequent Ventures Model Mosrites.

-Marty

[MOSDAN]

Me thinks this is not a teardrop on the one Mosrite but is a giant multicolored guitar pick!

[Veenture]

Me thinks this is not a teardrop on the one Mosrite but is a giant multicolored guitar pick!

Daz rite!

[Shizenda]

The Kurokumo Mosrites are the ones you see for sale in the shops in Tokyo, but they are made in Nagano prefecture, in the mountains. When I lived there (left in 2005) they all pretty much had the Ventures logo on the headstck, but looking at their website I notice these days they don't, and I think somebody mentioned that the lawyers put a stop to that. The actual Fillmore shop is in Mitaka, Tokyo, and these guys were the ones that stepped in a bought the rights to the Mosrite name at some point. I have met these people, and they are classic Japanese 'fanatics' which is to say they have whole heartedly taken on 'Mosrite' as their own and are more into everything Mosrite that you can imagine. It's kind of quaint and cool. Their guitars were quite beautiful but considerably more expensive than Kurokumo. For memory, at that time, they had Mosrite for Classics on their headstock, and serial numbers on the fretboard, which Kurokumo didn't. I seem to remember them being quite paranoid about Kurokumo and considered them to be 'fake' and inferior and untrustworthy, which was kind of amusing. To my eye, Fillmore Mosrites looked and felt better, but that's just an impression, because I played both and I thought the Kurokumo sounded amazing.
For interest, Kurokumo means 'Black Cloud'.