In my search for a mando/6 double neck, I ran across what I eventually bought on Reverb. It was listed by a guitar shop in San Diego "on sale" for $8K. Now I wanted a quality guitar and I knew Mosrites had a reputation for quality, but $8K for a guy that had only be playing a few years, coupled with the fact that vintage instruments can come with a host of problems, was a bit steep. After months of searching I couldn't come up with anything besides the cheap MIC kits so I called the shop to see what I could learn about it. The shop owner told me that he bought the guitar, along with another Mosrite, from the original owner, John Hall. He told me that John and Judy were country artists originally from Bakersfield. He also told me that according to John, this guitar was the third one built by Semie. Clearly it was not THE third guitar, so I assumed he meant third mando/6 guitar. After the call, I set out to find out what the value of this might be. I searched this forum to see if anyone had noted the Reverb listing and found this link which showed it on eBay for over $12K!
http://www.mosriteforum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=27&t=4766
A few months ago I went on a business trip to San Diego and found time to stop and look at the guitar. It appeared to be all original with the exception of the mandolin pickup. It was a very comfortable guitar and not nearly as heavy as I thought it would be. At this point, I'm interested. I noted a few minor issues with it (one of which is a later nut on the guitar neck that left the "E" strings dangling in space!) to the owner and told him I would be in touch.
After a number of calls to the San Diego owner, we finally agreed on a price and I took possession.
Next, I wanted to see who John and Judy were. My search yielded several John and Judy duos that were together in the early sixties. One hit led me to a Facebook page for "Sideman Jamboree":
https://www.facebook.com/search/top/?q=sideman%20jamboree
I learned that John and Judy Hall have been hosting a Western Swing Music Jamboree in Arizona for the last 32 years. "Sideman" referring to the session musicians that played on major artists recordings. I posted a picture of the guitar on their Facebook site and received confirmation that my guitar was owned by the same John Hall. They also posted this picture:
The guitar looks to be unchanged since the picture was taken, with the exception of the over sized nut! The picture, it turns out, was from the cover of a record they recorded in Nashville in the mid 70's. I went online and found a copy which I promptly purchased:
Unfortunately, John Hall passed away last year, but Judy is alive and well, knocking on her 90th birthday. Judy confirmed it was the third one made by Semie. She went further and said that a total of four were made for the following musicians: the first went to Joe Maphis, the second went to Larry Collins, the third went to John, and the fourth to Roy Nichols.
