Glen Campbell and Mosrite

[Mike Joyce]

Wow jay, I loved those videos. It's great to learn the history of those guitars and see the man in action. I loved seeing the production of the guitars and Semie, talking about book matching the maple for the added stability. I used to sell American hard woods in the Midlands in the UK and various manufacturers used hardwood in their production of kitchens, tables and other house hold items and quality was always an important aspect of buying the timber.Of couse in the manufacture of guitars it is essential to have the right quality not just for stability but for the beautiful effects that could be achieved.
Are there many small guitar producers left in America?

[jay]

Here are a couple of videos from Jonas Ridge...I would love for Bluez to comment on them...if that is where he worked.



This video, makes the working conditions look a tad bit crowded



Truly tremendous history here. Each of these guitars were handmade (in the USA)! And Semie touched every one of them. One more question...Bluez...how many guitars could you guys produce in a week?

thanks.
jay

[Mike Joyce]

Hi Blueznut, you sound like someone who really took a pride in their work. Seems that is something of a lost art in this day and age. I would think building an instrument must be one of the most satisfying jobs a craftsman can have. There is the pleasure of crafting it and then the years of please for the player and of course the listener as well.
I met a man singing at a folk club recently, who had made a guitar in his work shop by hand. You could could see the pride in his eyes when he talked about it and then played a couple of songs on it. Those things are priceless.

[Blueznut]

My job at Mosrite was finish sanding the bodies, and glueing and pressing in the frets. When I worked there, Semie had his hands on every guitar built, and did all the painting himself. He also did the final check over, and played each guitar before it left. I was in the process of building a 3 pickup model that at the time we called a Mark III, but for financial reasons, had to move back to ND, and it never got finished. It had a slightly smaller body than the standard Venture models. I also owned an original 60's Ventures Mosrite, that I brought with me to NC at that time. I left it there for Semie to do some work on it, when I moved back to ND. Never saw it again, lol.

[jay]

Bluez...
Thank you for joining Glens forum and sharing your rare experience of working (and living) with Semie Moseley. When you built guitars with Semie...was there one specialty that you had like carving necks, fret work etc? Do you have a Mosrite from the time that you worked with him?

[Blueznut]

I worked for Semie Moseley, building guitars for a stint in the mid-80's. I also stayed with him and his wife Loretta at his house near Jonas Ridge, NC where the small Mosrite shop was located, in what was left of an old burned down school. They were both very cordial, friendly and just regular down home folks. I spent many hours chatting with Semie about his connections in the entertainment business. Although the biggest Mosrite fans, lived in Japan, he did mention his relationships with people like Glen and Barbara Mandrell. He did have a good working relationship with Glen, and was proud of the fact, that Glen would sometimes play his guitars.