Wilson Bros guitars

[twangtone]

I had an Aria DM-380 for a time but found it very heavy. Altough at first glance they look like the Mosrites the Ventures used to play but they are really quite different. Apart from the fact that the DM-380 has a Strat style tremolo the neck is all wrong, the frets are too large and it feels very "chunky" compared to the real thing. They're OK if you like that sort of thing but they don't play or sound like the real thing. I'd be very interested in trying a Wilson "Mosrite" , they're endorsed by the Ventures and could be better than the DM-380.

I'm not sure you'd like the Wilson Bros guitars either.
The guys from the Ventures didn't like the very narrow necks on the Mosrites and didn't use them for long.
The Wilson Bros Ventures guitars are very nicely finished and the necks on the VM-65 is more Gibson like, than the Aria DM-380.

The Aria Diamond guitars go back to the 60s themselves. I don't think they are intended to be faithful copies of Mosrites.

I do like "that sort of thing", especially at such a low cost. I don't find them heavy at all and find them refreshingly different from many of the far more expensive guitars, I have owned.

Thanks for the information regarding the Wilson Bros guitars. I think I'll avoid them and stick to my Fender Jazzmaster for the few Ventures tunes I play, they did use Jazzmaster guitars for a while during the 60s'. The thin necked, thin fretted Mosrites did have their limitations when it came to string bending but I quite liked them. I have an old 1960s' Mosrite pickup in the bridge position on one of my many "partscasters", it sounds like a slightly underwound Gibson P90.

[grayn]

I had an Aria DM-380 for a time but found it very heavy. Altough at first glance they look like the Mosrites the Ventures used to play but they are really quite different. Apart from the fact that the DM-380 has a Strat style tremolo the neck is all wrong, the frets are too large and it feels very "chunky" compared to the real thing. They're OK if you like that sort of thing but they don't play or sound like the real thing. I'd be very interested in trying a Wilson "Mosrite" , they're endorsed by the Ventures and could be better than the DM-380.

I'm not sure you'd like the Wilson Bros guitars either.
The guys from the Ventures didn't like the very narrow necks on the Mosrites and didn't use them for long.
The Wilson Bros Ventures guitars are very nicely finished and the necks on the VM-65 is more Gibson like, than the Aria DM-380.

The Aria Diamond guitars go back to the 60s themselves. I don't think they are intended to be faithful copies of Mosrites.

I do like "that sort of thing", especially at such a low cost. I don't find them heavy at all and find them refreshingly different from many of the far more expensive guitars, I have owned.

Thanks for the information regarding the Wilson Bros guitars. I think I'll avoid them and stick to my Fender Jazzmaster for the few Ventures tunes I play, they did use Jazzmaster guitars for a while during the 60s'. The thin necked, thin fretted Mosrites did have their limitations when it came to string bending but I quite liked them. I have an old 1960s' Mosrite pickup in the bridge position on one of my many "partscasters", it sounds like a slightly underwound Gibson P90.

It's hard to beat the Fender Jazzmaster, especially for surf tones.
I think the Ventures used Fender a lot more than they did Mosrites.
Although Nokie has a rather splendid Mosrite, which I note doesn't seem to have a trem on.

I think with cheaper end guitars, you get more vaiety in the standard of the components and even build quality.
My 2 Aria DM-380s feel different to play and one has far more powerful pickups.