Semi Moseley

My wife, Tammy, is the girl of my dreams.  Tammy is from the south, but not the deep south.  Central....as in Arkansas.  Booneville, Arkansas to be exact.  Visiting there on occasion with the family had its perks, such as the great holiday food that Tammy's Mom cooked, family time with Tammy's brother Buddy and his family, and other highlights.  Tammy's brother is also involved in music, and played guitar.  As fate would have it, Semi Moseley had his plant in Booneville that made Mosrite guitars.  Buddy knew Semi, and one day, he suggested we go down and visit the plant, and told Semi that we would stop by.  After greeting the secretary, she sent us on in, and there was Semi, a happy, uplifting fellow with a big personality.  He talked to us for a while, and then suggested we try a couple of his new guitars.  If you have never played a Mosrite guitar before, it is an experience!  Very cool feel, great sound, beautiful craftsmanship...the whole nine yards.  So, we went to a sound-proof room and he brought two guitars right off the assembly line for us to try.  It was incredible, and he gave us a very reasonable, cool price....but we said...."eh, we'll give it some thought."

Then we went on a tour with Semi, and met Nokie Edwards of The Ventures, who just happened to be there, and listened to Semi talk about all of the Japanese artists that were buying his guitars faster than he could make them (such as Boowy, the famous Japanese power pop band)  We left after the visit, and days later, we flew back to Oregon.  Shortly after, Semi died unexpectedly and his daughter took over the plant.  Things went bad, and the plant closed.  We could have bought a piece of history that would have been worth something special, as Semi would have autographed the guitars for us.   To this day, Buddy, Tammy, and I kick ourselves occasionally wishing we would have bought the guitars.  If you ever get a chance to buy a older Mosrite...don't hesitate!  Incidently, Kurt Cobain's Mosrite sold for $135,000.

Here is a list of past and current Mosrite endorsers:

http://www.edroman.com/guitars/mosrite/endorsers.htm

Check out the site and visit Ed Roman's history on the guitars.