Semie Moseley (June 13, 1935 – August 7, 1992) was an American luthier and the founder of guitar manufacturer Mosrite.Mosrite.us website http://www.mosrite.us/en/about.php

Biography

Moseley was born in Durant, Oklahoma, in 1935. His family migrated to

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

along a path similar to many

Bakersfield Bakersfield is a city in Kern County, California, United States. It is the county seat and largest city of Kern County. The city covers about near the southern end of the San Joaquin Valley and the Central Valley region. Bakersfield's populat ...

Okies, first moving to

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, in 1938, and two years later to Bakersfield, California. Moseley's mother worked in a dry cleaner’s shop, his father with the Southern Pacific Railroad.Price, Robert, , '' The Bakersfield Californian''. Has biographical notes on Semie Moseley. In Bakersfield, Moseley started playing guitar in an evangelical group at age 13.Thompson, Art
"Mosrite 40th Anniversary"
'' Guitar Player'' magazine, January 2007. Moseley and his brother Andy experimented with guitars since teen-age years, refinishing instruments and building new necks. Joe Maphis double-neck guitar by Semie Moseley - Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum

Joe Maphis double-neck guitar by Semie Moseley - Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum

In 1954, Moseley built a triple-neck guitar in his garage (the longest neck was a standard guitar, the second-longest neck an octave higher, the shortest was an eight-string mandolin). He presented a double-neck to Joe Maphis, a Los Angeles-area TV performer. By 1956, with an investment from Reverend Ray Boatright, a local Los Angeles minister, the brothers started their company, Mosrite of

. Moseley, who built guitars for the Los Angeles-based Rickenbacker company, said to his co-workers that he was making his own product, and he was fired by Rickenbacker. When Mosrite began its production was all custom, handmade guitars, built in garages, tin storage sheds, wherever the Moseleys could put equipment. In 1959, Andy Moseley moved to

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for a year to popularize the Mosrite name and sold a few to Grand Ole Opry entertainers and both studio and road musicians. Andy Moseley said: "And that’s how we kept the factory going at the time: custom guitars". Later the brothers also got into the recording business by establishing Mosrite Records. They signed

Barbara Mandrell Barbara Ann Mandrell (born December 25, 1948) is an American country music singer and musician. She is also credited as an actress and author. During the late 1970s and early 1980s, she was considered among country's most successful music artis ...

, a teenage daughter of a music-store owner who sold Mosrite guitars. They also signed guitarist Ronny Sessions and others. At the peak of production in 1968 Moseley and his brother, with their crew of 107 employees, were making 1,000 instruments per month, which included acoustic guitars, standard electrics, double-necks, triple-necks, basses, dobros, and mandolins. Mosrite of California went bankrupt in late 1968 after they contracted with a competitor to market their guitars. After this, they tried to deal directly with stores, and they sold 280 guitars in 1969 before they came to the shop one day and found their doors padlocked. Two years after his bankruptcy, Moseley was able to get back the Mosrite name, and in 1970 started making guitars again in Pumpkin Center near Bakersfield. He moved his factory three times in the next 20 years, to Oklahoma City in the mid-70s, to the township of Jonas Ridge in Burke County, North Carolina in 1981, and to Booneville, Arkansas in 1991. Six months after moving to Arkansas, Moseley became ill with bone cancer. He died six weeks later, in August 1992. Moseley's daughter Dana is also a luthier and continues to build Mosrite guitars. She also helps kick off the monthly Mosrite Jam in Bakersfield.Munoz, Matt
"Mos-rite-teous! Lovers of Bakersfield guitar ready to jam"
, ''Bakotopia.com'', Wednesday, Feb 17 2010

References

External links

North American Instruments, 2000. With some personal notes on its builder.

''Tym Guitars'', Australia. {{DEFAULTSORT:Moseley, Semie Guitar makers American luthiers 1935 births 1992 deaths People from Durant, Oklahoma People from Chandler, Arizona People from Bakersfield, California People from Nashville, Tennessee People from Oklahoma City People from Burke County, North Carolina People from Booneville, Arkansas 20th-century American musicians

Biography

References

Further reading

External links