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Mosrite

Ventures

Semie Moseley offered Nokie Edwards the guitar free. He paid $200, and the Ventures dropped their Jazzmasters.

California, around 1962. A Bakersfield picker named Gene Moles has a strange new guitar, a Stratocaster turned backwards with a carved lip around the edge, and he shows it to Nokie Edwards of the Ventures. The man who built it, Semie Moseley, offers to just give it to him.

Introduced
1963
Type
Solidbody electric
Class
Production
Read the story · 3 min

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The short version

  1. 1962

    The Standel guitars

    Moseley flips a Strat, traces it, and builds some 25 of them. One goes to Gene Moles.

  2. 1963

    The Ventures Model

    The band’s name goes on the headstock. The Ventures fund a new factory in Bakersfield.

  3. 1964

    On the covers

    From The Ventures in Space on, the album covers wear Mosrites. By mid-year the neck is bolt-on.

  4. 1967

    The deal ends

    In 1967 or 1968, depending who you ask.

  5. 1969

    Padlocked

    After a bankruptcy late in 1968, the doors are locked in February.

  6. 1992

    Still building

    Semie gets his name back and builds in smaller shops until 1992.

Side A

A1

A Strat, turned around

Semie Moseley learned from good people. He picked up the carved top from Roger Rossmeisl at Rickenbacker, and hardware from Paul Bigsby. Then he started building guitars under his own name: Mosrite.

Around 1962, Bob Crooks at Standel asked him for a guitar like a Stratocaster that wasn’t a Stratocaster. Moseley’s answer was very direct. He took a Strat, flipped it over, and traced it. The result looked like a Strat seen in a mirror, horns and all, with a lip carved around the edge of the top.

He made about 25 of them. One went to a Bakersfield picker named Gene Moles, and Moles showed it to Nokie Edwards, the lead guitarist of the Ventures. Semie offered to give it to him. Edwards paid him $200 anyway.

That’s a good man and a fair one, meeting over a guitar. Hold on to Semie here, because the headstock is about to say somebody else’s name, much bigger than his.

A2

The band on the headstock

In 1963 the Ventures were a Fender Jazzmaster band. Edwards had them drop the Jazzmasters. The deal put “The Ventures” in big letters across the headstock, and Mosrite’s own logo shrank down between the tuners. The band paid for a new factory in Bakersfield, and in return they got to be the only people selling the guitars.

The very first official ones, from the end of 1963, were fancy and expensive to build: a glued-in neck, a bound body, the cord jack on the side. Nobody kept good count, but the belief is about 200 of those were made. By the middle of 1964 the neck bolted on, the binding was gone, and the jack moved to the pickguard. Starting with The Ventures in Space in January 1964, the album covers wore Mosrites.

A3

What’s different about it

Pick one up and the first thing you notice is the neck. It’s thin, with low, flat “speed” frets and a zero fret, so the strings sit close to the wood all the way up. It’s a neck that wants you to play fast.

The carved lip around the top is the German carve, the thing Moseley learned from Rossmeisl. It makes the body feel thinner and fancier than a slab.

The pickups look a bit like Gibson P-90s and aren’t. They’re fat single-coils, Mosrite’s own. Look at the neck pickup: it’s tilted. Fender angled the Strat’s bridge pickup. Moseley angled the other one instead. And the vibrato, the Vibramute, had a little mute built in near the bridge, so you could mute the strings without resting your hand on them.

Flip a Strat. Carve the top. Tilt the neck pickup. Put a mute on the vibrato. That’s the whole recipe.

Flip the record · By the numbers

  • $200

    What Nokie Edwards paid for the guitar Semie Moseley offered him for free.

  • ~25

    Reverse-Strat Standel guitars built around 1962. One of them started all this.

  • ~200

    The first official run, set neck and side jack. A believed number, not a ledger.

  • 280

    Guitars Mosrite sold in 1969, the year the doors got padlocked.

Side B

B1

A real factory, then a padlock

It never rivaled Fender’s custom colors or Gibson’s best sellers. But for the rest of the ’60s it was the most prominent Mosrite there was.

By 1968 Mosrite was building a lot of guitars. How many depends who you ask: around 600 a month by one count, around 1,000 a month with 107 employees by another. Either way, it was a real factory now.

Then the Ventures deal ended, in 1967 or 1968. There was a deal with Thomas Organ, and late in 1968 there was a bankruptcy. In 1969 Mosrite sold 280 guitars, and that February the doors were padlocked.

B2

Not every Mosrite is this Mosrite

A quick word, because Mosrites attract borrowed stories. Johnny Ramone played one Mosrite for about 1,985 shows, and it wasn’t this one. His were Ventures IIs, flat slabs without the carved edge. Kurt Cobain’s Mosrite on Nevermind was a Gospel. Jimi Hendrix’s was a Joe Maphis doubleneck. Wonderful guitars, all of them. Different guitars.

B3

His name back on the headstock

Here’s how it ends for Semie. He got the Mosrite name back and kept building in smaller shops, year after year, until 1992. No band money. No big factory. Just the guy who once tried to give a guitar away, still making them.

The name has kept going without him. In 2026 a company called Sho-Bud brought out a new Mosrite Mark II, a flat-bodied cousin, and said a Mark I would follow. But the real ones, the carved ones with the tilted pickup, came out of Bakersfield in the ’60s.

It said “The Ventures” across the top in letters bigger than his. It was always Semie Moseley’s guitar.

The cast

The people, and the specific guitars, that made the legend.

  • 1963

    Nokie Edwards

    The Ventures’ Mosrites

    Paid $200 for the guitar that started it, then took the band off Jazzmasters.

  • 1963

    Semie Moseley

    Builder

    Learned the carved top at Rickenbacker and hardware from Paul Bigsby. Got the Mosrite name back after the bankruptcy and kept building until 1992.

  • 1962

    Gene Moles

    Mosrite Standel

    Bakersfield picker who owned one of the early reverse Strats and showed it to Edwards.

  • 1962

    Bob Crooks

    Standel

    Asked Moseley for a guitar like a Stratocaster that wasn’t one.

  • 1977

    Johnny Ramone

    Mosrite Ventures II

    Not this guitar. His was the Ventures II, a flat slab without the carved edge.

Liner notes

Specs, construction, rarity, value, and every source we used.

A German-carve reverse Strat, a tilted neck pickup, and a Vibramute — Mosrite’s Ventures Model, not a Ventures II slab and not a Gospel.

Body
Offset reverse double-cut; German carve; basswood or alder (dealers split)
Neck
Maple; set-neck on the first side-jack run, bolt-on after mid-1964
Fingerboard
Bound rosewood, 22 speed frets plus a zero fret, microdots
Scale
24.5" (Blue Book Mark I; Carter 1965) / 24 3/4" (Mike & Mike’s 1964). Mix flagged.
Pickups
Two Mosrite fat single-coils; neck pickup mounted at an angle
Hardware
Sand-cast Vibramute, later the Moseley vibrato; roller bridge; Kluson Deluxe; “The Ventures” headstock
Electronics
Volume, tone, 3-way; side jack on the first run, then pickguard-mounted
Finish
Sunburst, red, white pearl typical (Guitar Player; Blue Book)
Nut
Steel or aluminum string-guide plus zero fret; 1 9/16" (Mike & Mike’s) / 1.637" (Carter 1965)
Open the full research fileConstruction details, the complete player record, production numbers, dated value estimates, and sources

Classic living example = mid-1960s Ventures Model / Mark I (Bakersfield). No current typical Ventures Model SKU this pass. Sho-Bud’s 2026 Mark II is the living revival — slab body, Seymour Duncan SH, TonePros, factory $2,750.00 — not this table. Guitar World (5 February 2026): Mark I “promised to follow.” Scale and nut print mixed inches across named dealers; no millimetres invented.

Construction

The Ventures needed a house guitar that was not a Jazzmaster. Semie Moseley already had the shape. Flip a Strat. German-carve the top. Tilt the neck pickup. Put a mute on the vibrato. In 1963 the band went on the headstock and Mosrite’s own logo dropped between the tuners.

Vintage Guitar (Michael Wright): Moseley learned the German carve from Roger Rossmeisl at Rickenbacker and hardware from Paul Bigsby. Bob Crooks at Standel asked for a guitar like a Stratocaster that was not one. Moseley flipped a Strat and traced it. Wright puts some 25 Mosrite Standels around 1962, including one for Bakersfield picker Gene Moles. Moles showed it to Nokie Edwards of the Ventures. Semie offered to give it to him; Edwards paid $200. Licensing followed. Wright: Mosrite began producing Ventures models in ’63. Guitar Player (Dave Hunter): debuted 1963. Wikipedia and Guitar.com date the Ventures line 1963 through 1967 or 1968. This plate starts in 1963. The 1962 Joe Maphis / Standel objects are the predecessor, not this guitar.

Guitar Player: Edwards had the band abandon its Jazzmasters. The deal put the group on the headstock. The Ventures funded the new Bakersfield factory in exchange for exclusive distribution. Hunter: it never rivaled Fender’s custom colors or Gibson’s popular guitars. It was still the most prominent Mosrite for the rest of the decade.

The first official ones were expensive to build. Modern Guitars (Rick Landers and Tim Brennan, 18 January 2005) and Tym Guitars: very late 1963, set neck, celluloid-bound body, large “The Ventures” logo, jack on the side. Thin necks, speed frets, zero fret, a semi-circular metal string guide. Vibramute with a mute near the bridge. Red or sunburst. “All Mosrite production numbers are sketchy, but it’s believed approximately 200 of these guitars were built.” Attributed estimate, not a factory total. Mid-1964 the jack moved onto the pickguard, binding dropped, and the neck went bolt-on — cover plate first, then a standard four-bolt plate. The logo shrank. Pickups picked up a “Mosrite of California” stamp, no R.

Hunter: the pickups look somewhat like Gibson P-90s and are not. The angled neck pickup is the reverse of Fender’s bridge-pickup theory. Mark I is also a bass and a 12-string (Mark X / Mark XII) — other objects. Ventures II is the slab without the German carve. Mark V is a shorter German-carve sibling. Gospel is a church guitar. Joe Maphis doublenecks stay on Joe.

The endorsement ended in ’67 (Wright) or 1967 or 1968 (Wikipedia / Guitar.com). Keep both. Bankruptcy late 1968 after a Thomas Organ deal. Wikipedia, citing The Bakersfield Californian: 280 guitars sold in 1969, doors padlocked in February. Peak output is company-wide, not a Ventures census: Wikipedia / James H. Roberts around 600 a month in 1968; Guitar.com around 1,000 a month and 107 employees. Keep both. Semie got the name back and built in smaller shops until 1992. The website went offline in 2020 (Guitar.com). Sho-Bud’s February 2026 Mark II is not this guitar.

Classic vs current: 1963–68 Bakersfield Ventures Model — German carve, Mosrite single-coils, Vibramute or Moseley — against a Sho-Bud Mark II you can order: slab, Duncans, TonePros, 24 5/8". Mark I as a living SKU is unpublished this pass.

Players

Nokie Edwards (The Ventures). The endorsement that made the guitar. Guitar Player: 1963, Edwards took the band off Jazzmasters and put “The Ventures” on Mosrite’s headstock. Wright’s $200 Moles guitar is the door. Tym: starting with Ventures in Space (January 1964) the album covers wore Mosrites. Guitar.com has the band on custom Mosrites by 1962 for “Walk, Don’t Run” and the Hawaii Five-O theme — custom work before the official model, not a 1962 Ventures SKU.

Johnny Ramone (the Ramones). Not this guitar. Guitar Player: a modified Ventures II with a slab body rather than the German carve on the Mark I. White 1965 Ventures II, RR Auction 25 September 2021, $937,500 (Guitar Player; MusicRadar; Guitar World). About 1,985 shows, 1977–1996, after a blue Ventures II was stolen in Chicago. Celebrity lot, not-a-comp, and the wrong Mosrite.

Do not steal Kurt Cobain (Gospel Mark IV on Nevermind — Guitar.com, Guitar World) or Jimi Hendrix (Joe Maphis 12/6 doubleneck — Guitar.com). Joe Maphis’s own doubleneck is not a Ventures Model.

Also known to play (Guitar Player laundry list, last, short, unnamed models): Ricky Wilson; Kevin Shields; Jerry Cantrell. Wikipedia names Wilson’s Mosrites on early B-52’s records including “Rock Lobster” — not pinned here as a Mark I.

Rarity

Factory does not publish Ventures Model unit totals. None invented. The ~200 first side-jack run is Landers/Brennan and Tym’s belief, not a ledger. Peak monthly figures are company-wide. The 280 sold in 1969 is the post-deal remnant, not a Ventures count.

You cannot order a new Mark I this pass. Sho-Bud Mark II is regular 2026 production on a sibling silhouette. Early bound set-neck side-jacks (late 1963–mid-1964) are the scarce end of this name. Ventures II slabs are a different, smaller object. Celebrity instruments are unique. They are not a vintage Ventures Model.

Value

Informal estimate, 1 September 2026. Not an appraisal.

Ask vs sold labeled. Celebrity lots are not-comps. No invented medians or factory counts. Reverb Price Guide widget on the product page did not print a band in the static fetch this pass.

New street. No Ventures Model / Mark I factory cart. Sho-Bud Mark II $2,750.00 (hardshell included; estimated 3–4 months) is the living sibling, not this guitar. Guitar World: Mark I promised later.

Used modern. Later USA and Fillmore/Tokai reissues exist. No clean 2024–26 reissue median isolated this pass.

Vintage / collectible. Named Reverb sold this pass, not a midpoint: 1964 Red Sunburst Vibramute, Mike & Mike’s Guitar Bar, $6,799.99; 1965 Ventures Model MK1, Qsic Kobe, $2,401.68. Named asks: 1963 serial 130, $12,500 (from $14,500); 1963 large-logo sunburst, Gary’s Classic Guitars, $7,595 (ended); 1965 Candy Burgundy refinish, Madrid listing, $3,407.79, with that page’s Reverb Price Guide snippet $1,889–$2,566. Johnny Ramone’s Ventures II at $937,500 is celebrity, and it is not a Mark I.

See also

  • fender-jazzmaster — the offset the Ventures left for this guitar
  • fender-stratocaster — the body Moseley flipped and traced
  • rickenbacker-330-360 — Rossmeisl’s German-carve shop, not a Ventures Model

Sources

Guitars this one gets compared to, confused with, or descended from.