Ash Mosrite: Hey Ho Let's Go!

Got a sound demo done this afternoon of the Ash Mosrite and its Entwstle X90 pickups. Now I know that a Ramones tune may not be the ideal material for a sound demo, but hey, it's what I play most of the time ;). Ths guitar was played through my Fender Deluxe 110 amp, with both clean and overdriven power chords. Overdrive is acre of a Joyo Crunch Distortion. I fluffed a couple of the chords (yes I can murder even this), so enjoy it (or not) if you dare!


Nice huh? Well, I think so :).

Ash Mosrite: Complete

The Ash Mosrite build was finally completed today, and I'm very, very happy with the results. I am now the proud owner of two DIY Mosrite copies!

 

Twins. What father could ask for more?

The wood tones of the subtle burst combined with the black single ply pickguard give this new Mosrite a real vintage feel. The whole look has steered right away from the Ventures II look, but I'm very happy about that. It's more along the lines of Mosrite's other models, with its tummy and arm cuts, as well as the soapbar P90s. It just looks so awesome hanging there in front of a Ramones t-shirt ;).

Geez, whose gut *is* that anyway?

Even with the cuts it's heavier than the Johnny Ramone Tribute build (that one is Basswood), but really feels very nice in the hands and against the body - all in all a very comfortable guitar to play. Thanks to the Tru-Oil finish, the neck is nice and slick, and the 0th fret has allowed the action to come right down. The acrylic gloss coats came out really nicely in the end although, as usual, the Ash grain was a real pig to work with. Sooo many pinholes to deal with!

Anyhoo, enough about those pesky, pinholes. Let's see some glamour shots of the finished guitar and I can wrap this build up and get on to the next one. My stack of unfinished kits isn't getting any smaller!

Glossy, Vintagey, P90-enriched goodness.

So far as the sound is concerned, all the hardware is stock except for the set of Entwistle X90s. Boy do those boys growl! This guitar sounds like a beast. Plenty of middle and low end, with an edgy attach and real punch when over-driven. It's the perfect sound for me and my, ahem, *minimalist* playing style. Hey, if it was good enough for Johnny....

Ash Mosrite: Black it is!

I finally got a new pickguard in the mail today from my mate Craig (pablopepper) on the Buildyourownguitar forum. This time it's a black guard to replace the garish white one that I had previously ordered from him. And (queue the fanfare) - I think we finally have a winner!!

A new black custom pickguard and it's all coming together.

Although the subtle burst that I've ended up with on this guitar is not what I originally envisioned for it, I am really coming around to the distinctly vintage feel to this one. With the black guard and the cream soapbar P90s she's just oozing retro cool. I'm thinking now that a black gloss headstock will match the pickguard very nicely indeed, paired with a Fender yellow neck for more uber Vintagey goodness.

The body now has many, many coats of acrylic lacquer applied. All that is left to get her looking swish is to smooth the surface down with some 600 grit, slap on a couple more layers of lacquer, and then polish the christ out of it. I tell you, I'm really looking forward to playing this one. Those Entwistle X90s are going to sound soooo good!!

Ash Mosrite: P90s and a New Scratchplate

A little more progress on the Ash Mosrite today, with the arrival of a new scratchplate from my mate Craig - Pablopepper on the BuildYourOwnGuitar forum. The plan is to change the stock pickups to a pair of Entwistle X90s, and so a new scratchplate was required with P90 routes. The new scratchplate arrived yesterday and it looks great.

I had to route out a little of the body to accommodate the larger bridge pickup. I also cut some rubber floor matting to be placed under the pickups. This allows the pickups to sit higher, and allows some height adjustment if needed.

Rubber matting brings the P90s up and allows height adjustment if needed.

The scratchplate went straight on without any sizing issue of any kind (great work Craig!!) and the resulting P90 setup looks really killer. I always wanted a Jazzmaster with this setup, but I reckon the Mosrite shape is going to look even better!

Even without the scratchplate covering she is looking fantastic.

P90 routes are perfectly placed and sized for my Entwistle X90s.

I should really do a mock build with the new pickups in place just to make sure that the strings pass correctly over the pole pieces, but just sizing it up by eye it all looks good to me. I'm itching to get the mock build out of the way so that I can start finishing. I'm planning a tobacco burst, with walnut Timbermate to pop the grain. Should look awesome with the white scratchplate!