Noble EG 686-2HT 1968 Mosrite Combo Style Electric Guitar Natural Wood

I am selling my 1968 Noble EG 686-2HT Mosrite Combo homage. 

Have been playing this one lately - will be hard to let go....  I have dropped the price a bit because I think the next owner will really be tempted to put some Mosrite style pickups (Valco Eastwood of Canada custom p-90's or of course Ed Elliot authentics) on this one. Or the basic Rick style pickups on it are fine - you decide...

Everyone should own at least one Mosrite or well designed replica - I have three (replicas) so time for one to find a new home. When this first came to me I thought someone had stripped the original finish but I have recently seen some lovely Joe Maphis natural finish Mosrites on Reverb and now believe that the Japanese company who briefly made these high quality guitars for Noble Strum and Drum of Chicago created two versions - the dark red/purple version and a natural finish model. I could be wrong but the Japanese were so famous (or infamous) for their love of Mosrites in the peak 60’s guitar era that it makes sense that they would go the extra distance for authenticity.

This guitar is definitely imperfect and has been modified a bit - I have a fully original version as well so have been able to compare the before and after first-hand. The 686-2HT (whatever that really stands for) is a large guitar and feels it - I believe it was made just for the American market and was considered too oversize to sell domestically. The dimensions are 40 inches long, about 16 inches across at the widest point (the lower bout) and about 2.5 inches deep.

Here’s what is (very) good: 

It plays like a dream. Whoever made these for Noble for a limited run in 1968 and 1969 put love and skill into them. The neck (with the wonderful “N” inlays for both Norma and Noble) is truly straight (on both that I own), the materials are solid and the design, with the deep German carvings around the upper body, is remarkably close to the original Mosrite Combo design. On this guitar the tuners are original and keep tune, the Mosrite style roller bridge is original, the tremolo unit is original. The frets are medium size and have plenty of action left. The action is low and it plays true up and down the fretboard. And it sounds great as an acoustic! The pick guard might be original to the era but is a replacement - on the lower “horn” there is a screw hole where the original extended to.

I replaced a pair of cheesy Gibson style knobs with lovely Mosrite style Volume and Control knobs - not original but very true to the spirit!

Here’s what has been replaced: 

The original pickups were Mosrite style that looked like humbuckers but were clean single coils. Those pickups are gone and someone (not me) replaced them with a set of modern EMG active pickups that were (as you might imagine) loud and aggressive. These were not in the spirit of the guitar so I replaced them with Rickenbacker style single coils that look and sound nice.  (There are a number of holes around the pickups that have been filled). The wiring was redone to match the active pickups so I opened up my other 686, which is all original, and duplicated the wiring to match the original set up. I replaced the pots with 250 K for volume and Tone - The tone filter was gone so I added a .022uf 200v Orange Drop and all works as it should. The Rick style pickups are not loud but are distinct and have a "roundness" more appropriate to the style of the guitar.

Here’s what has been repaired:

The finish is beautiful, the off-white trim is lovely and the wood is dense and thick. But - as you can see from the pictures - there are some stress cracks in the body, which I think are on construction seams. None of them effect that playability of the guitar, which is made from very dense soldi wood, and could be touched up professionally. My other 686-2HT, which has been babied it’s whole life, has similar cracks and I have also seen them on models of this guitar that I have examined via the net. The biggest crack, just below the tremolo unit, starts on the side and continues to the tremolo bar. Someone injected glued it in a somewhat unprofessional manner and it is stable. To the left is one of two seams in the side wood where it was connected. Above that seam is a much smaller crack that looks like it to has been injection glued and has not gotten worse (or better) in the years that I have owned the guitar. There is also a seam near the base of the neck and two very small cracks in the wood just below the base of the neck.

On the back of the neck itself, behind the headstock and also just below the nape of the neck is a long vertical crack that does not go through the wood and has been effectively repaired, possibly in the original factory where it was made. The neck is solid.

The only cases I have found to fit these guitars are dreadnought acoustic cases - but I do have a big old chipboard case, held together with tape and glue, that will protect it in shipping so will send it along.

I’m pricing this to reflect the repairs and the non original pickups. Hit me with any questions and I would be open to reasonable offers.