The Ventures II.

1970 Mosrite The Ventures II.

This custom-color "The Ventures Model ll" weighs just 7.10 lbs. and has a 13 1/4 inch wide, 1 5/8 inch thick, solid alder body, scalloped (German carved) on the top edge. One-piece medium-profile rock-maple neck with a  nut width of just over 1 9/16 inches and a scale length of 24.75 inches. 'Slab' rosewood fretboard with metal nut, zero fret and 22 'speed' frets with single, double and triple small clay dot position markers. Specially shaped "Ventures Model ll" headstock with "Mosrite of California", "The Ventures Model ll" and the Mosrite "M" logo decal in black. Individual Mosrite of California closed back tuners with septagonal metal buttons. Four-bolt neck plate (stamp dated November 1965 on the neck heel and in the pocket). Two Mosrite single coil pickups with plain black plastic covers and black plastic surrounds with outputs of 7.19k and 7.60k. Four-layer tortoiseshell over white and black plastic pickguard with seven screws Two controls (one volume, one tone) plus three-way pickup selector switch, all on pickguard. The potentiometers are stamped "137 7037" (CTS September, 1970). "Mosrite metal 'hat type' knobs with "M" stamped on top, numbered from 1 to 5 (one with a "V" and the other with a "T". Mosrite bridge with six individually adjustable saddles on chrome-plated 'center-spring' vibrato tailpiece. This guitar is in almost mint (9.25+) condition and comes from Semie Moseley's personal collection. Housed in a later three-latch black hardshell case with black leather ends and black plush lining (9.25).

With over 110 million copies sold worldwide of well over 100 studio, live, compilation and box set album releases, The Ventures, founded in 1958 as The Versatones by Don Wilson and Bob Bogle, remain unsurpassed for their impact on music and musicians.

“The Ventures – the quintessential guitar combo of the pre-Beatles era -influenced not only styles, but also a generation’s choice of instruments” (Guitar Player, Jan. 1987).

Over thirty star guitarists have named The Ventures as an early influence. The list includes George Harrison, Eric Clapton, Jimmy Page, Rory Gallagher, Joe Walsh, Stephen Stills, Jeff “Skunk” Baxter, Peter Frampton, Stevie Ray Vaughn, John Fogarty, Mark Knopfler, Roy Buchanan, Ted Nugent, Gene Simmons, Joe Perry, Tom Hamilton, Steve Howe, and even Elton John; they’ve all testified to the importance of Walk Don’t Run, amongst other Ventures hits, to their early musical education.

Walk Don’t Run, a rearrangement of Chet Atkins’ version of jazz guitar great Johnny Smith’s composition, was their first hit. They rerecorded it again in 1964, and it became a hit once more. The group remains the only act to win Top Ten spots for two different versions of the same song. After a few personnel changes in the very early 1960s, the classic lineup of Don Wilson on rhythm guitar, Nokie Edwards on lead guitar, Bob Bogle on bass, and Mel Taylor on drums was established. The guitarists would often switch roles.

Over the last forty-eight years, through various musical trends and changes in taste, the band has played non-stop and thirty-eight of the Ventures albums made it onto Billboard's Top 200.