Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

Although I still love my Rick, I've been itching to try out a Mosrite bass -- partially because they look cool, partially for the sound, and partially because you almost never see them.

I'm having a hard time tracking one down in the Chicago area to try out (I've never tried one, so I may hate it), so I'm curious to hear what people who own/have tried them think of their sound and feel.

Also, I know there are modern "reissues" of these, but I'm skeptical (not to mention more knockoffs than I would have thought for a lesser-known brand). Anyone have experience with the reissues and how they stack up?

I feel your pain (in a Bill Clinton accent).

I'm also a Hagstrom player and collector - in addition to owning two Ric basses.

A quick search turned up the following Mosrite basses.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=110110556946

It looks nice (it's the Ventures model bass), but I have no idea whether the BIN of $3995 is reasonable. At least the seller has a "Best Offer" option.

Our 'buddy' Ed Roman has three Mark Is for sale at $2995:

http://www.iwantguitars.com/store/?search=1&s_any=&s_brand=43&s_name=&s_model=&s_desc=&page=0&s_dept=3

Guitarbase turned up one at CME:

http://www.gbase.com/Stores/Gear/GearDetails.aspx?Item=1635971

but with their track record, it probably would be a very pricey bass. In contrast, Vintage City Guitars has a Combo bass for $1950:

http://www.gbase.com/Stores/Gear/GearDetails.aspx?Item=849634

and Rivington Guitars also has a Combo Bass for $1995:

http://www.gbase.com/Stores/Gear/GearDetails.aspx?Item=1633573

Bentley Guitar Studios has a Celebrity Bass III (reminds me of a Vox Cougar) for $1250:

http://www.gbase.com/Stores/Gear/GearDetails.aspx?Item=1571884

And there is a blue Venrues Bass (same as the one on eBay? I wonder ...), offered by Jay Rosen for $2950:

http://www.gbase.com/Stores/Gear/GearDetails.aspx?Item=815520

GBase had 21 more listed, but I gave up at this point.

The last time I was there, Cream City/Warp Drive Music in Brookfield (Milwaukee suburb) WI had a Celebrity bass, and Wade's in Milwaukee (Rick dealer, too) had a Celebrity prototype bass that is about a quarter of an inch shorter than regular short scale. I've played it and it plays great and sounds great. Those are the two I know of.

Mosrites are cool guitars..I have a pearl white 6 string from Japan...they play very nice and Ric players would have an easy time switching from one to another. They have stopped at least for the moment selling the Japanese issues and the prices are going up but the basses always sell for less ..originals are out there and the basses also sell for a lot less than the sixers..condition and playability varies more on the originals..

Thanks for all of the info. I'm probably going to have to stop by CME to actually pick one up and play it -- it looks like they have a couple in stock. I guess I'm a little surprised at the prices considering there's not a ton of info on these out there. It seems like $2k is about the floor for the iconic Mosrite bass body shape, with the Celebrity basses running a little cheaper.

I've also found very few "player" Mosrite basses (as opposed to "collector" quality) -- so maybe that's the reason for the price.

That Combo bass looks pretty sweet, btw. I just have to go out and play a few before I'm comfortable dropping at least 2 G's on a bass.

Sounds like a good plan, Jake.

That's so weird...I was just thinking about Mosrites today after I saw 6 for sale in a local shop (5 guitars, 1 bass).

The only band I ever really remember using them when they were new were The Ventures themselves, and it's rumored that they really still used their Fenders in the studio. They're definitely cool looking though but would I pay 4000.00 for one now? No way.

Hallmark recently put out a Mosrite clone. I've owned their Sweptwing nice (bass model available)..then went and sold it to Paul W..doh! Anyway ya like sparkle? Should be cool and $899 for a sixer..I would expect a bass can's be far behind...

I'm not so sure about the Mosrite basses, but for guitars I know that Fred Smith and Wayne Kramer from the MC5 both played Mosrites for a time, as well as Johnny Ramone, who had his own signature model, I believe.
There's a music store near me that has three Mosrites above the front door, one a double neck. They're great to look at, but I've never played either.

So I went and played a few of them, and they were interesting. All three that I played (of 5 or 6 in total at CME) had fairly thick necks and overall felt chunky, with a sound to match. I got a kind of P-bass vibe in both sound and feel (I don't have a ton of P-bass experience, so it may be a pretty rough comparison).

All were at least in the 3-4k range. I didn't ask for details because I knew I wasn't buying one. Incidentally, they just put one up on the bay (I did not play this one):

http://tinyurl.com/ywu8pk

It's true that you don't see a ton of these out there, but I think that's a cool thing. Kurt Cobain played a knockoff guitar (I think a Univox), and I think that one of the guys from the Arcade Fire was playing a Mosrite bass (or maybe a knockoff) when they were on Saturday Night Live recently. And who could forget Iron Butterfly and Strawberry Alarm Clock (http://tinyurl.com/ebluf)!

I think I like the look more than the sound, personally.