Made for Dolly Parton...1978 "aluminum rail" pink acoustic!!

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Deke Dickerson
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Made for Dolly Parton...1978 "aluminum rail" pink acoustic!!

Postby Deke Dickerson » Sat Dec 26, 2009 8:08 pm

Merry Christmas you all! Hope you had a good holiday as I did.

Even if your name is Ebeneezer Scrooge, seeing this guitar will surely warm your Mosrite heart.

Adam from the list (dorkrockrecords) bought this instrument from a guy who worked for Semie during the Brass Rail "New Mosrite" era of the mid-1970's. The guitar was back in Missouri close to where I'm from so I offered to go get the guitar while back in Missouri for the holidays.

This is a really wild one, folks, it's a totally hand-made 1978 Mosrite "Aluminum Rail" acoustic guitar, originally done in a "pinkburst" finish (now faded to a tannish pink) made for Dolly Parton!!

As the story goes, Semie made this small-bodied acoustic for Dolly with the hopes of marketing a Dolly model Mosrite acoustic, but for whatever reason, the deal was never finalized, and Dolly may or may not have ever seen this guitar that was made for her. There are certainly no photographs of her with it, and she never used it at a performance.

Despite the fact that Dolly never used it, this is one of those guitars that Semie put everything he had into. It's a remarkably well-crafted instrument. There are only a few guitars like this in in the Mosrite world, where Semie really invested time and effort into making a superbly refined guitar.

The body is similar in shape to one of the 60's "Balladeer II" acoustics, but the materials are much better and the body is much more well made than any of the factory acoustics. The back is made of birds-eye maple, and the sides are made of pretty flamey maple. The top is a nice cut of spruce.

The neck is very similar to the Brass Rail necks, but is an odd "aluminum rail" neck using anodized aluminum instead of brass. The back of the neck is made of very nice hard maple with a comfortable neck volute.

An interesting feature of the guitar is Semie's use of the butterfly motif, not only in the shape of the hand-made bridge, but also in the cut-outs of the Mosrite headstock (which may be one of the most unique Mosrite headstocks ever made).

Another pure Semie Moseley element to this guitar are the bridge saddles, which are actually just hex-head hardware store bolts that he shaped the heads to become individual bridge saddles; adjustable for height but not for intonation. They actually work quite well.

The serial number stamped in the neck is "D1," or Dolly #1. Additionally, in the neck block inside the body, Semie has stamped "DOLLY."

Those who remember this guitar when it was built all say it had a beautiful pinkburst finish that faded from pink on the edges to natural in the middle. Over time the finish has become opaque and faded to a tannish pink, but it must have looked amazing when it was first painted.

This guitar is one of those Mosrites that just makes you say to yourself--wow, I thought I had seen it all, until I saw this one. Thanks to Adam for making this public information. You can see it in person at the Guitar Geek Festival!

Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays to all you Mosrite geeks!

Deke

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Note butterfly motif in the top of the "M" headstock:
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Note butterfly shaped bridge:
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Note the use of hex head bolts for bridge saddles, with the hex heads ground down to become string saddles:
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Serial #D1, for "Dolly #1"
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In the neck block you can see it is stamped "DOLLY"
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Sarah93003
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Re: Made for Dolly Parton...1978 "aluminum rail" pink acoustic!!

Postby Sarah93003 » Sat Dec 26, 2009 8:58 pm

Wow! That is just incredibly awesome! Thanks so much for sharing the photos. I can't wait to see it in person!
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1965 Mosrite Celebrity Prototype with Vibramute
1972 Mosrite Celebrity-III
1977 Gibson MK-53
1982 Fender Bullet
1994 Gretsch Streamliner G3155 Custom
2005 Gibson Les Paul Standard Plus
2006 Jude Les Paul 12 String

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101Volts
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Re: Made for Dolly Parton...1978 "aluminum rail" pink acoustic!!

Postby 101Volts » Sat Dec 26, 2009 9:22 pm

Amazing! I'd never have guessed that Semie made an "Aluminum Rail" Acoustic! I notice another unusual feature, Look at the last picture. Is that the neck inside the body? Most acoustics only have a fretboard extension over the body and they don't have the neck inside them. At least, None of my acoustics have that. How's the sustain?

Austin
1966 Ventures II (German Carved, B670.)
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1976 Brass Rail Deluxe #10.
2013 Fender Pawn Shop Bass VI.

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dorkrockrecords
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Re: Made for Dolly Parton...1978 "aluminum rail" pink acoustic!!

Postby dorkrockrecords » Sat Dec 26, 2009 9:38 pm

First off, I owe a huge debt of gratitude to Deke, Bob Shade and Eddy Elliott for uncovering Dolly and her story.

I think the bridge "saddles" are actually standard Mosrite bridge height adjustment studs with the tops ground down.

What you see inside the body is the neck block, not the neck itself.

The "aluminum rail" was initially developed as a bass version of the Brass Rail guitar (to combat the added weight), but supposedly the necks crumpled under string tension and the project was abandoned. The aluminum works in guitar form though, and this is probably the only surviving example.

Adam

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Re: Made for Dolly Parton...1978 "aluminum rail" pink acoustic!!

Postby MWaldorf » Sat Dec 26, 2009 9:52 pm

WOW :shock:
Oy vey - it's MESHUGGA BEACH PARTY - The world's premier Jewish Surf Music Band!

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What? Couldn't tell the logo is a link? So click here, what's the hold up? http://www.meshuggabeachparty.com

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Re: Made for Dolly Parton...1978 "aluminum rail" pink acoustic!!

Postby oipunkguy » Sat Dec 26, 2009 10:00 pm

Wow!!! :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock:

what looks unique to me, is it looks like there's a regular nut on the guitar followed by a string guide. Can you explain that one Adam?

Thanks for sharing, this is truly awesome. :D :D :D :D :D
Cheers,
Aaron
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Re: Made for Dolly Parton...1978 "aluminum rail" pink acoustic!!

Postby dorkrockrecords » Sat Dec 26, 2009 10:08 pm

Indeed. There is what is essentially an unslotted brass nut set into the neck (which functions as a zero fret), followed by the usual Mosrite brass string guide. This is a technique that is commonplace on early Gruggett Brass Rails, but which I've never seen on one of Semie's instruments until now.

Adam

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Re: Made for Dolly Parton...1978 "aluminum rail" pink acoustic!!

Postby nategibson » Sat Dec 26, 2009 10:55 pm

stunning!!!

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Re: Made for Dolly Parton...1978 "aluminum rail" pink acoustic!!

Postby dubtrub » Sat Dec 26, 2009 10:57 pm

That is an excellent rare specimen of Mosrite history. Thanks Deke and Adam.
Danny Ellison

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Re: Made for Dolly Parton...1978 "aluminum rail" pink acoustic!!

Postby oipunkguy » Sun Dec 27, 2009 3:46 am

Indeed. There is what is essentially an unslotted brass nut set into the neck (which functions as a zero fret), followed by the usual Mosrite brass string guide. This is a technique that is commonplace on early Gruggett Brass Rails, but which I've never seen on one of Semie's instruments until now.

Thanks Adam, another first for me. Not only is this thread entertaining, but educational as well :)
Cheers,
Aaron
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