Electric double-neck guitar
Maker
Semie Moseley
Date1981
Place MadeCarson City, Nevada, United States, North America
ModelDouble-neck
Serial No.none
SignedIvory decal on both pegheads: [Mosrite logo, an M inside a serrated edge circle] mosrite / (script) of California ® / Made in U. S. A.Black lettering on longer neck peghead: Made By / Semie / Moseley / 1981
On two control knobs, located on pick guard: [Mosrite logo] M (inside serrated edge circle
MarkingsOn pick-up covers: bartolini
On triangular piece of ivory-colored plastic attached to pegehad on shorter neck: B.
On triangular piece of ivory-colored plastic attached to pegehad on longer neck: M.
In black lettering on back of longer neck: BARBARA MANDRELL
DescriptionSemie Moseley’s first job at Rickenbacker ended abruptly in 1955, when he was fired for building his own guitar in their factory. The event prompted him to start his own company with Reverend Ray Boatright, an evangelical minister. They combined their names to produce that of the new company, Mosrite. At first the business consisted mostly of custom-built instruments, but after adding other business partners, particularly the rock group, The Ventures, in the 1960s, the company expanded and was building up to 300 guitars a month. Mass production ended in 1969, when the factory closed, but Moseley continued to build custom guitars through the 1970s and '80s.
Barbara Mandrell and Semie Moseley (1935-1992) had worked together since the beginning of her career. Her first record was on Moseley’s Mosrite record label. This album, which made it on the Billboard Charts, was recorded when she was only seventeen.
This electric double-neck guitar was custom-made for Mandrell in 1981. It features a standard guitar neck and a short one with strings tuned an octave higher. She later modified it with Bartolini pickups and Schaller tuners. Her name appears on the back of the longer neck (see below), and one each of her initials appear on the two truss-rod covers. She was photographed with the blue and white, glitter-covered instrument for the back cover of her 1981 album, Barbara Mandrell Live.
Barbara Mandrell played her then brand-new, electric double-neck guitar in the live recording of her 1981 album, Barbara Mandrell Live, performed in the Roy Acuff Theater at Opryland, U.S.A. Other instruments played on this album by the multi-talented musician include the banjo, dobro, mandolin, lap steel guitar, and saxophone. Musicians collaborating with Mandrell on this recording included her band, "The Do-Rites."
A double-neck electric guitar with a standard, 6-string neck, and octave, 6-string neck. Blue and silver-sparkle finish. Twenty-three metal frets on longer fingerboard; nineteen metal frets on shorter fingerboard. The fingerboards are made of wood with white plastic position dots. White plastic pick guard. Headstock shape is irregular with a somewhat angled crown design.
Dimensionsoverall body length (with longer neck, including end button): 43.75 in
overall body length (with shorter neck, including end button): 33.75 in
width at upper bout: 13.75 in
ProvenanceCustom-made for Barbara Mandrell.
Also played by Roy Acuff and other band members.
Purchased by NMM Board of Trustees from George Gruhn Guitars, 1998
Published ReferencesGruhn, George and Walter Carter. Electric Guitars and Basses: A Photographic History. San Francisco: GPI Books, 1994, p. 197.
Credit LineBoard of Trustees, 1998
Object number06191
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