The original vintage Silvertone H604 was built by Harmony Guitars in Chicago or the Chicago Area, and it was a beginner's acoustic at the time, but don't let "Harmony" or "beginner's acoustic" fool you; this was before Harmony were sold and became a name for imports. If you can get one in good shape, it could be a nice guitar.

See, the "Silvertone" name was originally a name that Sears used when they wanted to re-brand items for their store. "Silvertone" isn't a name exclusive to guitars, Sears also put it on Radios, and probably other things, too. In this case, Sears re-branded a guitar built by Harmony.

Guitar and Neck Specs:

24" Scale Length 1 Piece Saddle made out of Fretwire Tailpiece Screwed Down to Guitar Body (it may also be glued on, but I'm not sure.)

Neck Width:

1.735" at Nut, 1.940" at 5th fret, 2.073 at 9th fret, 2.165" at 12th Fret

Neck Depth:

0.950" just behind 1st fret, 0.968 just behind 5th, 1.017 just behind 9th. (Neck Heel Curve starts around this point.)

Other Considerations:

It has no adjustable truss rod, and there's some fret buzz, mostly around and after the 12th fret for the lower 3 strings. The fretboard is either stained to make it look darker, or it's "Ebonized." If it's Ebonized, then it's a bit trickier to refret the guitar without damaging the fretboard.

I don't have any complaints about the narrow fretwire, which is somewhere in the Mandolin fretwire width category. The fretwire height is 0.035" tall.

The tuner holes on my H604 do not have any place for Tuner Bushings, which may cause a few tuning issues. It's easily remedied if you put new tuners with bushings on, unless you want to keep it as original as possible (maybe just to keep in the spirit of the 50s - 60s?)

Guitar Tone:

The body is only about 3 1/4" or 3 3/8" deep, so it's not a very deep bodied Acoustic and it'll have some sound of a smaller guitar. However, since the saddle is a 1 piece Fretwire saddle, it has a bit more treble to it unlike what you'd hear coming from a wooden saddle. I'm not very sure about how to describe comparing tonewood in Acoustics, but I have no complaints about this nice little guitar.

Possible Issues:

1: When I got my 65, its original tuners were replaced. The original tuners might have had plastic knobs on them which could have deteriorated. If you have tuners with knobs that start crumbling on you, you can still buy plastic knobs to melt onto the tuner shafts; check StewMac for it.

2: The Nut Slots were a bit too high when I got it, so I lowered the slots (I have the tools for this; a fret height measuring tool, feeler gauges, and files for the nut slots.)

3: If you're talking about a Vintage Silvertone H604 instead of one of the reissues (which I cannot comment on now,) then the Vintage ones can possibly have their fretboard a bit warped high up on the neck, at the fretboard extension. This is the case with mine, but I don't normally play high up on the neck anyhow.

4: Again on how the Fretboard is Stained or Ebonized (see the "Other Concerns" section above:) This can make a Refret a bit more complicated on this type of guitar than it might for a guitar that has a Rosewood Fretboard.

5: When the original vintage H604 models were built, light string gauges weren't really an option even for Electric Guitars, let alone Acoustic Guitars. This means that vintage examples may have more chances of neck issues, if they were abused.

6: Although I didn't investigate this, I've occasionally heard of someone who owns a vintage H604 and is asking for another Bridge / Tailpiece to install on theirs. I have to wonder why this happened; did the guitar have a thick set of .13s on it for years, and then did the original tailpiece break? Maybe not. Maybe a kid just removed the tailpiece for whatever reason, and lost it.

First, the company is pronounced as though you would say the last part of this quote: "Curly's on the left, Larry's on the middle, and Moe's Right." It's because the brand name was made by combining the names "Moseley" and "Boatright."

This specific Mosrite guitar named "the Ventures II model" is an early version of "the Ventures Mark V model," and this early "Ventures II" type replaced the different Mosrite guitar that's also named "the Ventures II model." The original Ventures II is the type of Mosrite Guitar that you normally would see Johnny Ramone playing.

Now, to the review. And there's a lot to be said here; I wanted to imitate early B-52s songs, and since Ricky Wilson owned two Mosrite Mark V versions of this guitar, this fit the bill very well. I do not play live and I would expect the body to dent very easily, but Ricky played his Mosrites a lot live so it can't be too bad either.

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Specs:

Mosrite "Smooth Top" Mark V spec Single Coil Pickups (Mosrite never seemed to name their pickups.) These pickups are normally a higher output single coil like a Gibson but they seem to sound a bit brighter, yet not as clean as a Fender. The reason why they sound brighter is probably because these specific Mosrite pickups have their magnets closer to the strings, like Fender pickups, and not like most Gibson pickups. 500k Potentiometers

Basswood Body (dents very easily) Maple Neck, Indian Rosewood Fretboard Guitar Weight: Roughly 7.3 Pounds (for mine, at least) Strap Holders: These have an oddly big screw size. They're bigger than the screws you'd expect, so if you want Strap Locks, you'll need to either fill the screwholes or use strap locks with larger screws (if those even exist.)

24.50" Scale Length (not a typo.) Early versions of this model (mostly the first 125) may be 24.75", but I haven't confirmed it. Zero Fret Giant Volute behind String Guide & Zero Fret Headstock Tapers from Volute to Headstock End (the Headstock is not perfectly flat from the E strings through to the D and G strings.) Neck Width at Zero Fret: 1.550" or 1.560" (not a typo) Neck Width at Neck End: 2.060" (again, not a typo) Neck Depth at Frets 2 through 13: 0.860" (roughly.) Bolt-on Neck Neck Heel Type: No extra wood under the neck pickup, so, Fender style in that way. However, the neck heel also tapers so the strings are higher from the body than you'd expect on a Fender; this means the guitar has a Neck Angle. I'm not sure how much of an angle it has, though. I'm also not sure how tall the neck heel is, offhand. Neck Plate: 4 Bolt and asymmetrically shaped in spirit of the whole guitar. Looks a bit like an unshelled peanut.

Fret Width: 0.070" (a discontinued width) Fret Height: Tapering from 0.022" (Low E side) down to 0.015" (High E side) - These fret height specs are also not a typo.

Bridge: Mosrite-spec Non-Roller "Circular Brass Saddle" Bridge (not an official name, I'm just describing it.) Bridge Posts' Screw Thread: 0.180" wide, not counting the part where the bridge rests on them which is wider. Tailpiece: Mosrite "Moseley" Vibrato Tailpiece (I'm not calling it a "Tremolo" just because Leo Fender mixed up the words "Vibrato" and "Tremolo" in the 50s.)

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Guitar Tone:

Pickups: These stock single coil pickups sound somewhere between a Fender and a Gibson pickup but still not quite the same as either. They're one of Mosrite's designs, and they're the same pickups in the original Ventures II if it's in stock form (they just have wider pickup casing on this guitar.) Since they're normally high ohm single coils, they can overdrive an amp well.

I do note that I have issues with the neck pickup overpowering the volume of the bridge pickup, so maybe I should raise the neck in the neck pocket and use very slightly longer neck screws. (I can't make the neck pickup go any lower.)

Bridge: The bridge, since it has narrow bridge posts, also gives the guitar less sustain than a Tune O Matic. This effects the tone in a slight "bouncy" way that's a bit hard to describe, but vaguely, I feel like it makes the guitar sound just a little more like a Banjo.

Tailpiece: This is more vague, but I can't help but feel like the Moseley Tailpiece gives this guitar a very slight chime to how it sounds.

Acoustic Tone: OK, sure, this is hardly what anyone buys an Electric for but I need to talk about it just to cover it: this Electric Guitar is loud in Acoustic form for an Electric. I'd think this is partly because the electronics cavity is so deep - the whole body is 1.500 inches deep, but the electronics cavity is 1.350" deep. Also, the truss rod somehow acts as a mini acoustic amplifier. Add in how the guitar has a neck angle, and it's just made louder. (Again, I'm not sure how much of a neck angle it has; I haven't measured.)

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Playability:

I enjoy this guitar, but it's not one that everyone can just pick up and play without adjusting to it first (which might take a while.)

Neck Width & Depth: The narrow neck makes it easy to thumb wrap with if you want to, but you also may need to re-learn how you think necks should be held because this neck is thinner than most. I had to try different thumb positions until I found what worked, and even then, sometimes I thumb wrap to relieve discomfort anyhow. Maybe my hand also had to get used to this neck over time.

Neck Fitment at Body: When I bought my Ventures II, it wasn't in the best shape. However, when I installed the neck, the neck and strings were off-center. The High E was coming off the fretboard higher on the neck, so I needed to fix that.

Volute: Although not quite a playing feature, I need to mention it. The Volute on this Mosrite is gigantic, and I have a hard time imagining the headstock breaking on this guitar. This does effect how you play the guitar, but only around the 0 fret and 1st fret.

Back of Neck Quality Issue: There's a noticeable amount of chafing on the back of my neck around the 2nd and 3rd fret, although it doesn't effect my playing. This is supposed to have been caused from the original hard case for this guitar model, so if you look for this version, look for this issue; I've seen it on a few Ventures II versions of this guitar. It seems like Mosrite fixed this problem after this model's name turned to "the Ventures Mark V model," though. If there are any Mark V named versions with this neck chafing issue, I haven't seen them.

Frets: Don't expect to bend very easily with these low frets, but do expect to be able to slide up and down the neck easier than with taller frets. Also expect strings to feel like a lighter gauge than you think they are (because low frets do that.)

Body: You're probably not going to hold this guitar just the same as a Stratocaster if you're used to this body. I tend to hold it a little more like a player of a Reverse Firebird would hold their guitar, but I can also have my strumming arm in the section almost above the Neck Pickup; the body, including the German Carve by the edge, is forgiving in that way. I also can hold my strumming arm in an anchored point slightly inside the German Carve.

Bridge: The stock bridge (again, this is not the roller version but the brass rod type) is a great design if you like to palm mute; it's very comfortable to mute on these round saddles that are beveled at the top. However, in the 60s these were not always to the best quality control. Sometimes, you need to shim one or more saddles so they don't rock. The stock screws for the saddles were also a weak metal, so it's recommended to first clean the bridge screws, soak it in penetrating oil overnight, then gently and slowly remove the screws if you even want to risk taking the screws out instead of breaking a screw off inside the saddle.

Moseley Vibrato Tailpiece: This is one of the best vintage Vibrato Tailpieces I've ever played. It's no Floyd Rose for dive bombing (which I wouldn't be using it for,) but it returns the strings to pitch very well. Even the B and High E strings tend to stay in tune with each other as they go down in pitch. However, I have to admit on the tuning stability that I do have a habit of soldering the plain strings' wraps near the ball end, before I install them on a guitar. I've done this for years almost every time I restrung a guitar, I was tired of strings unwinding on me and it works. I got it from a StewMac book, and it was called "Tinning your Strings."

Also, the bridge moves back and forth when you use the Vibrato Tail, that's normal on this model. I've never had tuning issues because of it.

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Mosrite Quirks and Tips:

1: The Serial Number is stamped into the fretboard near the neck pickup. This is not the best place to put a Serial Number because sometimes, a fretboard needs to be planed to be flat so you can refret it. When you do that, the serial number will be obliterated unless it's re-stamped. Mosrite kept doing this practice even to Semie Moseley's death in 1992.

2: Mosrite models made (seemingly) from a point in 1965 up to October 26, 1966 tend to have additional manufacturing information stamped on the Neck Heel and in the Neck Pocket. Included are manufacturing dates, and codes of unclear meaning. These dates and numbers can sometimes be damaged in manufacture by the neck pocket screws.

3: If you read the side of an original potentiometer on a Mosrite (or many other vintage guitars) you can find a number code that will tell you the manufacturer, year, and week that the pot was made in. That doesn't mean the guitar is as old as the pot, but it does mean that the guitar cannot be older than the pot.

4: Although I can't say if this is the case with every Mosrite, in my case, the neck and neck pocket seem to be slightly tapered from the bottom of the neck heel to the top, and the neck pocket also is just tight enough that I need to take the neck pickup off and then slide the neck towards the bridge to get the neck out.

5: Mosrites, generally, allow you to take the Truss Rod out by having no tension on the neck and then no tension on the rod, then by pulling the rod out. I've done this twice on this guitar, and it seems like you can also do it with guitars that have the rod adjusted at the headstock instead. However, you can very easily mar and damage the headstock while doing this if you don't take required precautions against it. One way around this is to take the tuners off and then put a big enough piece of plastic down that will protect the headstock, and another way is to drill through the neck heel area precisely and then pull the rod out at the neck heel, but that might be too far if it's not needed.

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In Conclusion:

I enjoy and love this guitar model, but it can take time to get used to its neck and also frets unless you refret it. The sound is something I cannot get with another model, being different but close enough to a Fender or Gibson while still being its own thing.

I rated it 4 / 5 partly for old quality control issues. Make sure to not expect a perfect guitar from the get go if you buy one, you might need to work on it or have it worked on. And again, be cautious if you refret it, or you'll ruin the serial number.

If you can get used to this guitar's narrow neck and if you like how it sounds, this can be enjoyable, and there aren't a lot of this model (and its younger and more commonly named "Mark V" sibling) around. Few others will have one of these right now as of Mid-2026 since fewer than 2,000 originals (under all name versions) were built.