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Hi. I must admit I am relatively new to the Mosrite scene, even though I have played guitar for a number of years & played bass professionally in upstate NY & northern PA some time ago. I first saw Mosrites in the music store in the 70's and liked the way they looked but ran from the price tag. Wish I had saved my lunch money now! More recently I have played on the worship team at church and have led worship singing and playing the guitar which I still do sometimes. Anyway as you may have guessed because I own no mosrite but have done some web research on these wonderful guitars & their creator Mr. Semie Moseley, I have a bad case of mosrititis caused by a deficiency of mosrite in the hands.

But I can share what I do have in my small collection of guitars;
82 Strat Revised American Standard, sunburst
84 BC Rich Mockingbird NJ series 4-string bass, black
91 Fender 1105SXE Acoustic/Electric, natural
06 Taylor T5-S1, red

If any of you more experienced players/collectors/luthiers have any advice for someone looking to get started with their 1st Mosrite it would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks and Mosrite on!

Welcome to the Mosrite Forum! Nice story, What kind of a Mo' are you interested in? There's all kinds of them out there. Have you seen the Stereo 350, Bluesbender or Brass Rail models?

Good morning LoveyX,
The are a lot of options out there. Just what a real Mosrite is today seems to be the first question. I think that the actual 60's (as far as The Ventures type are concerned) are the only real Mosrites. Semie did build a precious few in the late eighties, and they also are real. Now the cost of on of these model is going to be way up there (and usually worth it) but IMHO these are the only actual Mosrites out there. Concerning any guitar produced since 1992 and having "Mosrite" on the headstock, the legal battles have been constant and are actually going on as I write. Probably anyone else on this forum will be able to tell you more about that aspect than I can. I have always been a Mosrite fan but only recently got looking into the current state of affairs. Personally, I will not buy a guitar just because of what's on the headstock, and you should be particularly aware of the Mosrite copies. I'm not implying that you won't get a quality instrument, you may well be completely happy with a current Mosrite. They do seem a bit price for my taste, even compared to the rest of the market, which is itself currently going crazy. Fender or Gibson instruments are apparently worth more than gold, LOL
There are also a number of "clones" out there. Not the Star Wars type, but guitars developed more as modern day tributes to a true masterpiece. Hallmark immediatly comes to mind because that's where I ended my search. Their 60 Custom has to be seen, and played to be believed.
Good luck on your search, welcome to the forum, and have fun playing.
Don

^ Star Wars

Speaking of the clones, You can get a vintage Mosrite guitar for less than the cost of one of these "new" ones. I usually see Mosrite guitars going for $2,250 or so, Sometimes more tahn $3,000 depending on the condition and if the person selling is the original owner.

Welcome new online buddy! My search too for a Mosrite ended with a Hallmark 60 Custom Sunburst. The neck (string spacing) is a little wider than the real (Mosrite) deal which suits my hands well and it has the Mosrite vibe too, minus some of the mosrite issues like unwanted noise from unpotted pickups for instance. The Hallmark pups are more versatile and I love the twangy balanced sound they produce. Good price too! check 'em out...

If I ever happen to be in the vicinity of the Bakersfield area in California, I'd definitely be paying a visit to Artie of Front Porch Music ("bakeoboy" on the forum) and check out some of the latest new (MOSRITE of California) models that are closest of all to Semie's creation. (Correct me someone if my assumption is wrong)
Artie has only just announced that The Ventures '66 reissue model is offered to forum members for $ 1500.-...DROOL.

Good luck with your search!

Thanks for your replies, I am not sure what kind of Mosrite I want to get yet. I like the Bluesbenders & Brassrails from what I have read about them, but they seem pretty rare. I put a bid on the Serenade on ebay last week, but was outbid, one of these would be great for me since I play mostly acoustic these days. I'd probably go for a Joe Maphis model a Celebrity or a Combo, a player not collectors necessarily. If anyone has a Gospel they don't want anymore I'd love one, but they seem to be even rarer.
At least for now the Ventures models are out of my league unless I can get a really good deal or a clone.

Heh, Yeah you rarely hear anything about the Gospel models. Another one you don't hear about would be the Sooner models, I know they have something to do with Mosrite but I don't know what, exactly. (Were they another name Semie used sometimes? I don't know)

Welcome to the forum. You do see Celebrity's from time to time. I absolutely love mine.

Sorry for this late post, but wanted to say thanks again for all of your kind words of encouragement & wisdom.
Still have no Mosrite but if I flip over my Strat and squint... oh well it's not the same.

In upstate New York Mosrites are pretty few & far between, although there are a few at the House of Guitars in Rochester (they have a doubleneck), might take some time and check them out. I also have family in the So Cal area, I may ask my uncle or cousin to stop by Front Porch Music where I see they have vintage & the new Mosrites as well.

I have found it to be an amazing wealth of information here concerning all things Mosrite, I am especially impressed by those who have done more advanced Partsrite projects and Ed Elliot's 4 guitar build left me awestruck.

But so you can see what a true Mosrite novice I am, I have a question; how is Semie pronounced? is it like 'see me' or 'rhymes with hemi'?

Another question that may be a little harder, 101 you got me thinking, what is a Sooner guitar and does it have anything to do with Semie or Mosrite at all?

LoveyX wrote:Another question that may be a little harder, 101 you got me thinking, what is a Sooner guitar and does it have anything to do with Semie or Mosrite at all?

Hi LoveyX, here's a look at the Sooner.

http://mosriteforum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=1173&start=10#p10735