Using Carvin pickups

[Sarah93003]

On the Gretsch forum someone put of a picture of the Hallmark Deke Dickerson model and someone else commented that Mosrite guitars used to have Carvin pickups. It's been my understanding that Semie and his people hand made their own Mosrite pickups. Am I wrong about that? If they did indeed use Carvin pickups, what time frame was it?

thanks!

[KRamone27]

If I've heard correctly, Semie either worked for Carvin for a short time or designed and built pickups for Carvin I'm not exactly sure. And I think the time frame might be around mid to late 50s' I could be wrong and someone else could varify .

[jtr654]

He bought pickups from Carvin the only after market pickups availible in the 50's.

[connie_mack]

yet again, another pedal steel connection. from the company....

"carvin began life in 1946 as the l.c. keisel company. a professional steel guitar player, lowell keisel, was intrigued by the earliest electric guitars, and his firm was initially created to design pick-ups for them.(mosrite founder, semie moseley, was an early customer). the following year the company began manufacturing lap steel guitars and tube amps....."

at some point they also made pedal steels too although it's not mentioned in the history....but they surface on the steel guitar forum occasionally...

http://books.google.com/books?id=evsDAA ... q=&f=false

[jfine]

I haven't heard that Semie worked for Carvin, although I suppose it's possible--he did work for Bigsby and Rickenbacker at one time. The pickups on the original Joe Maphis doubleneck were Carvin AP-6's--those and De'Armonds were about the only pickups available at that time (mid-50's) if you didn't want to make your own. By the late-'50's he'd started to make his own pickups. Those '50's Carvin pickups sound great--somewhere between a Jazzmaster (four years before the Jazzmaster!) and a P-90. I've been fortunate enough to have played a mid-'60's Carvin with those pickups, and they're real nice. The Hallmark Deke Dickerson model has, as far as I know, the only reproduction of those pickups currently available. Carvin says their AP-11 pickup was designed to sound like an AP-6, but I've never done an A-B comparison, so I can't vouch for that. I have a Carvin with AP-11's, and I've played a Hallmark Dickerson--they don't really sound like each other, but they both sound good. How close the Deke pickups come to sounding like the old AP-6's, I'm not sure--it's been years since I've heard the AP-6's--but it seems to me that they're not too far apart.

[connie_mack]

jfine,
i wasn't saying he worked there, only the steel guitar connection.

[EF@MosriteRecords]

HI Gang. This was a good topic. The Carvin pickups started 1954 Month not known.
The last year if you had to put a date, Andy said was 1958 because Semie and Andy
started winding them on a sewing machine. Left over Carvin's were used on some
guitars however later than 1958 there is no record after 1959 but anything is possible.
Last year I found original Carvins at Andy's shop. In 1958 they would take the Carvin
Pickups remove the Coils and make the black molded covers. The early moldered covers
were made by forming them on a hand built wooden form by placing them in the oven. OVEN MOLDED PICKUP COVERS molded in the Moseley's Oven Range in the kitchen. It's true!! The Gene Moles Guitar and the early pre-Ventures Guitars had Carvin Coils with the
Black molded cover's, no printing on covers. I will take a photo of one and put it up
soon as I can. It must be understood, Andy kept much better account of things. Andy
was a business man and still very good at it. In fact not long ago I reinstalled original
Carvin's (2) in Mark Moseley's Mosrite DOBRO, White Covers and all.

Elaine

[EF@MosriteRecords]

Here is a photo of the Joe Maphis that Semie built, which most of you know
is the only recreation by Semie that he did, with Joe's blessing. The pickups under
those covers are original CARVIN's. It was returned to Jonas Ridge soon after I got it
in March of 1985. We made a couple of changes. When Joe played it through my
Standel's everyone agreed it was 1954-55 all over again. I can say now there were tears
and lot's of Love shared.

Elaine Frizzell
Mosrite Records

[Dennisthe Menace]

Here is a photo of the Joe Maphis that Semie built, which most of you know
is the only recreation by Semie that he did, with Joe's blessing. The pickups under
those covers are original CARVIN's. It was returned to Jonas Ridge soon after I got it
in March of 1985. We made a couple of changes. When Joe played it through my
Standel's everyone agreed it was 1954-55 all over again. I can say now there were tears
and lot's of Love shared.

Elaine, it's difficult to read the fretboard, but by chance, is this your own personal guitar that Semie built with the blessing of Joe, in which there is another story behind the making of this guitar? And although that sounds like double talk to our members, I'm leading up to something here (i.e. a Bus handle....reduce the weight....everybody is gonna think I've finally lost it, but.....Elaine, is this THE guitar???

[EF@MosriteRecords]

Hi Dennis. This is the guitar Semie built from1983 and gave it to me on March 20, 1985.
It is on the cover of the Tribute Album. There are as you know photo's of it all over the different web-sites and photo's of it are on all my web-sites. There was only one really
change after I received it and that was the Carvin's changed out to originals. The wooden frame on one pickup (they are wooden rims or frame) one came unglued and Semie made a seamless fix when it went back to Jonas Ridge very soon after I received it in March. I was going to have Joe Maphis put in the necks but family members and Rosie made some comments that made sense at the time. Joe was OK with me putting JOE MAPHIS in the necks. Terry and I have had talks about this for years. Because of Marriages and Kids and heirlooms in the future, certain decisions were made. Because of the past few years Terry And I will make a decision as to what we might do. This is a personal matter within my family and where the guitar will end up on my passing. As one
of our members already stated. IT IS A NATIONAL TREASURE. JOE AND SEMIE
Allowed be to own this TREASURE, I RESPECT THAT, THEY ARE FAMILY. It weights
nearly 25 lbs. You made ref; to Bus Handle. The octave neck that was on the Bus the Tennessee Rose was being used as a Handel on their door leading into the Coach the original neck. Terry has a nice article on his site about this. I took it to the CAAS Show here in Nashville in 2008. Yes I have that neck. It is pictured on my main site http://elainefrizzell.com. I am a little confused too as to what you are looking for here Dennis.
GUITAR PLAYER MAGAZINE DID A ARTICLE BACK IN SEPT. 1990. TOM WHEELER got ahold
of Semie and I about June or July that year and sent a rep down to do photo work. A
interview was done also during that time period. Great Pic in that issue.

Luv
Elaine









Alaine