First Build - The Ramones tribute "Mosrite"

Hi,
I started this project about 6 months ago and my intention was to build THE Ramones tribute guitar.
Ramones has been my all time favourites and the white Mosrite that Johnny played is my dream guitar.

I ordered the Pitbull MKA-2 (Ash) with a paddle head as my intention is top copy the iconic, narrow, Mosrite Ventures II slab body head.

As a sidenote, MKA-2 is made of Ash and MK-2 is made of Basswod. The real guitar that Johnny used was made of Basswood so there is no need to buy the more expensive Ash-kit IF your goal is a as similar guitar as possible (the basswod kit was not in stock when I ordered).

My mods:
Change the bridge pickup to Dimarzio FS-1 (will start with a Seymour Duncan little 59 as I do have that at home already).
Move the stop bar to match how Johnny had it on his guitar.
Reshape the "paddle head" to something as close as possible to the real Mosrite Ventures II head.
Shim the neck a tiny bit to tilt it "backwards".
Change the plastic "pre-nut"/string guide (these kits has zero fret that do not work as intended with the provided nut) to a brass nut that I will file to get deeper grooves.
Change the Tone control hat to a tone knob from a Gibson SG (as Johnny had on his).

Another side note, I started this project 6 months ago and when doing research on the Johnny guitar I came in contact with a guitar builder in Virgina US and that ended up with me ordering a "Mosrite" from him as well. I have not received that guitar yet but judging from the pictures of the build it is really, really something super special! IF you dream of a guitar with the real Mosrite specs, contact Aron at Alderite guitars. He is very dedicated to guitars in general and a true fanatic about Mosrites...

Best of luck with the project! I saw the Ramones twice; Road to Ruin and End of the Century tours. Great band.

Moved the holes for the stop bar to a more “Johnny like position”
Spray coated the body with filler, base coat and first layers of white (note how obvious it is that I did not use filler on the part I slanted for the arm….).
I’ve also changed the stock pickup to a Seymour Duncan Lill 59 (will later change it to a Dimarzio FS-1.

Attachment 32697

Outlined the headstock on the paddle head.
Used a picture that I’ve scaled from dimensions I found on the net AND then adjusted to an average of what I could measure from pictures of Johnny’s guitar.
The headstock on his guitar IS (I guess that at least) more narrow than most Mosrites. I guess that it is in fact even more narrow than the headstock on the modern Mosrite-copies produced as “the Romones guitar”.
Attachment 32698

Changed the white color to one with a bit more yellow as the first turned out to be a bit cold/ almost light blue/grey. Think it will look good! Have also changed the tone knob to one from a SG.

Next step is to apply autographs from the original members of Ramones. I will seal them on top of the guitar with clear coats.
Attachment 32700

Many years ago I saw the Ramones in concert in Philadelphia, PA (USA). Great show. It took a whole day before I could hear again.

Playing around with the signatures...
Attachment 32703

Ready for a few layers of protective clear coat. I do like it so far!
Attachment 32707

Looks good to me. I like the colour change you made.

Thanks! Yeah, it was too cold before.

Soon time to apply the logo!
Do have some sanding marks but I hope to get away with it and that it might make it look "less new"...
(btw, I did shape the head stock using just a std saw and a rusty file from like the 50s... My arms do feel it...)

Attachment 32709

Now with logo. Clear coats tomorrow

Attachment 32734

Needs just a few more coats on the head. Apart from that, done!
Looking forward to string it up and test it but might wait a full week for all layer of finish to harden before I assemble it fully

Attachment 32735

Looks very nice and clean, good choice

Sweet looking work mate, though you might want to cover the Headstock logo in photos you post. Replica company logos are a bit of a no no.
Really cool tribute though! I like the addition of the band signatures, and the "Johnny-fi-cation" detail you went to. Really nice job!

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by FrankenWashie

Sweet looking work mate, though you might want to cover the Headstock logo in photos you post. Replica company logos are a bit of a no no.
Really cool tribute though! I like the addition of the band signatures, and the "Johnny-fi-cation" detail you went to. Really nice job!

---

Hi, thanks. I will make new pictures. Thanks for the info. I did not think all the way there....
(I blame the solvents from the spraying. I'm spraying in my basement and the smell in my house is "intense"... :D )

And, as a side note, I write "fake, no real Mosrite" underneath the neckjoint to reduce the risk of someone (even by mistake) tries to sell it as "real" when I die.

😂😂 Good work! I think it’s more of a concern with the Notoriously litigious G company and the I company, but it pays to be careful👍🏾

I can not tight the tuners yet as I wait for the finish to harden, but, I have tried to “play” it and notes then that the edges of the fingerboard are too sharp (the “wood” itself, not the frets).

What is the recommended method of “rolling the edges” when you ha a limited box of tools?
What I’m looking for is a less sharp edge of the fret board without making the fret edges stick out…

Btw, Found that a Coffin Case that I have suits the guitar close to perfect (don’t zoom the logo, this is a low res pic 😊 ).

Attachment 32746

Btw, another hero (apart from Johnny Ramone) is Olga in Toy Dolls.
I saw them live last Saturday. The last time before that was 33 years ago, i.e. 1/3 of a hundred years … Anyhow, they are still going strong and see them if you get the chance.

A funny thing was that Olga played one of the songs on a Telecaster with THREE necks…! 😊 Something for a "special kit"?

Attachment 32750

In case and with strings!

The guitar is absolutely playable but I will do more adjustments when the neck etc has been installed a bit longer and settled.
Did some rounding of the fret-board edges just using a file and sand paper. Feels almost OK.

Do like the looks (and this will be a wallhanger as my plan is to use the Alderite I've ordered as my main guitar).

One thing I do start to regret though, I originally planed to modify/extend/widen the upper "horn" and "armrest" but judged it as too complicated. I guess that would have made the guitar look more "correct" and pleasant to the eye, especially the upper horn starts to annoy me...

Attachment 32762

I’ve done some minor fixes and set-up over the weekend. The guitar is now very playable and the neck is really really nice! The finish is OK but I should have sanded more before I started painting it…

I have still some minor buzz when playing open string on the A and G string. I hope I can solve this by some more filing on the plastic nut. If not, I will buy a string retainer/string guide bar and press down all strings into the string guide before the zero fret (but, that would seriously ruin some of the design).

And, the buzz is not (off course) there when playing power cords. The intonation is (now) PERFECT! Playing a full barre chord on the 10th fret with a lot of distortion sounds as good as on any of my guitars (some high end).

I have tested both the Seymour Duncan lill 59 (a single coil sized “PAF”) and the DiMarzio FS-1 (the same as Johnny used). Using the DiMarzio gives a very “Ramones-ish” sound but I was not fully pleased. It might be the wood (Ash instead of Basswood), my Marshall or technique etc. Anyhow, I was not fully pleased. BUT, with the SD 59, WOW what a sound!

It is not the Ramones sound I was looking for, but it IS the Green Day sound of the American Idiot album to 99,99%! I have previously copied that sound using a Fender Stratocaster with a Seymour Duncan JB in the bridge, reaching a very similar sound but not as similar as I have with this guitar. Might post a sample/video later.

I will keep the provided mini humbucker as it sounds pretty nice, looks good, AND, will not be used that much…

So, as I have an Alderite “Mosrite” coming from US, my original plan was to make a “wall hanger Ramones tribute” out of this axe, BUT, now it will live as THE Green Day guitar (with the signatures of the original Ramones members in the finish).

I think that building a guitar that sounds and plays too good to hang on the wall is a great result!

Btw, found THE method for polishing the neck to a silk smooth, non-sticky finish:

1. Sand lightly/very lightly with 320
2. Wetsand lightly with 500
3. Wetsand lightly with 1500
4. Polish with the center puck of a floor pad (like a scotch brite but less aggressive)
5. Wipe off and enjoy a fantastic surface (the neck was previously spray coated 3 times with an acrylic clear coat)

Did the same on some other guitars and the result is fantastic!

Very nice job.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by ONSatan

Btw, found THE method for polishing the neck to a silk smooth, non-sticky finish:

1. Sand lightly/very lightly with 320
2. Wetsand lightly with 500
3. Wetsand lightly with 1500
4. Polish with the center puck of a floor pad (like a scotch brite but less aggressive)
5. Wipe off and enjoy a fantastic surface (the neck was previously spray coated 3 times with an acrylic clear coat)

Did the same on some other guitars and the result is fantastic!

---

Thank you, now I know what I am going to do on my neck :-) counting down days here, has been almost 2 weeks ago since spray, want to wait aitleast 3 weeks.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by RocknRolf

Thank you, now I know what I am going to do on my neck :-) counting down days here, has been almost 2 weeks ago since spray, want to wait aitleast 3 weeks.

---

Good luck!

Btw, are you using acrylic (modern car spray) or what? Do you know how long time it will take for it to be fully hardened?
(My guitar is still not hardened fully and I get marks from wall hanger, clip on tuner etc unless I'm very careful)

If you've used the same product type for all finish layers (e.g. all acrylic, all poly or all nitro), then it should be pretty much fully cured (the stage after drying) after 4 weeks or so.

However this can take longer if it's cold or very humid. Or if it's a very thick finish. Having the guitar somewhere where air can blow over it helps a lot. And medium, rather than excessive warmth. Putting it in direct sunlight to dry isn't a great idea. You need some shade at least.

But if you've put one finish type over another type, then you may get a situation where the finish never really dries hard at all. I had that on a Telecaster-style body made by a friend and given to me. The surface was dry to touch, but it was still a part-liquid underneath. Some finish combinations are fine, some aren't.

The finish is now dry enough to have the guitar laying in the hanger without getting marks.

But, as the feeling and sound turned out as good as it did, I will not place it there “forever”. I will use this guitar! It is actually very good.

What do you think of my Ramones “altar”? :cool:
(Btw, did another minor change since last picture, the switch is now exchanged to a switch white a white tip)

Attachment 32977

Nice altar.

The finish has shrunk noticeably and thus highlighted the grain texture (I.e the surface is not as smooth/flat as it was).
As I have buried some autographs in the sealer and can sand without destroying them, will just applying some layers of clear coat help? Any experience of that?

Sure, very common to have some sink back once everything is properly cured. The only way to avoid it is to really let each stage of finishing get properly cured before applying the next. Which can rake quite a long time. Use a large, firm flat block to cut it back a bit with high grade wet and dry and spray over with the same clear and it should be fine.

Olle, be careful with that in the coffin case. I had to make an insert for mine, under the body that kept it level. I had noticed that mine sat with the neck joint up, i dropped the case and the screws pulled out of the neck. I had to fix the holes. That kit came from fretwire though, currently building another from pitbull. So far, the quality of the kit from pitbull is WAY better than the one from fretwire.