Hi, My name is Johnny!

[mosriteforever]

Hi all, my original introduction did not post, so I thought I'd try again. Some of you already know me. My name is John. I live in Maryland and have been collecting and researching Mosrite for a number of years. I was even fortunate to be mentioned in the back of the Japanese publication, Vintage Mosrite. Last March, I quit my day job and threw my lot in with Bob Shade of Hallmark Guitars. He is a master luthier and is responsible for my love of Mosrites. I have played guitar for a couple of bands and I love everything from the Ventures, to Hendrix, to the Ramones and numerous others. I was fortunate enough to be able to participate in the restoration of Damon's 63 double neck. I carved the bridge and mute from an aluminum block as well as winding the pickup. Bob Shade carved the pickup cover and expertly assembled it, using NOS breakaway alnico magnets, as originally used by Semie, and then we both decided on how to relic it so it matched the other 2 original pickups. It was definitely a pleasure, and so far, the highlight of my brief guitar building and restoring career. Also last year, I was fortunate enough to acquire an original 63 bound body sidejack that needed some TLC. Bob was gracious enough to guide me in the necessary work needed to get it up to snuff which ultimately, led to my decision to apprentice under him. I cannot speak for Hallmark Guitars directly, as it is Bob Shade's company, but I will be happy to answer any questions I can. We do have the last remaining supply of the original magnets used by Mosrite and we are quite capable of handwinding pickups the same way Semie did as well as rewinding pickups using the original wire Mosrite used and also restoring Mosrites the way it should be done. Ed Elliot as well as Bill Gruggett, are also masters at this and I respect that this forum is for exchange of information, not for commercial gain. Another note is we are going to restore the late Bruce Wilson's (ex Mosrite employee who built the miniature Mosrite on the catalog) 63 Mosrite for his daughter.
Well, enough of my long windedness! Thanks for putting up with it!!
Mosriteforever!!

[MWaldorf]

Wow, that's very exciting. Great to have you here! Any chance to get photos of the restore process on Bruce Wilson's guitar?

Also, I'm curious, what, if any, custom work does Hallmark do on it's guitars? I know they're built in a factory overseas, but are any brought in to the shop for customization?

Mel

[mosriteforever]

Hey Mel. Yes, there are customizations on the Hallmarks. Check the art series on the website. They are painted by a custom painter Semie employed for the wild custom jobs. You can see his work on the Mosrite Factory tour video as well as the Semie memorial video. People often ask about the origin of the new Hallmark production models. We call them a hybrid of American/Korean manufacture. What this means is we make many of the parts in the good ole' USA. Then, we ship them to the fabricator, who makes the bodies and necks, assembles them with the parts we supply, and sends them back here where we do the finishing touches as well as setting them up the way they should be. We do offer 100% American made guitars in our custom shop, but the price would be about 3 times higher than the production models. We know of no other way to preserve the integrity and quality of the guitars, as well as a fair price any other way. Bob Shade has spent years designing and improving on these guitars and it has taken many prototypes and samples before the final product was achieved. We just finished another prototype model today and more are on the way, but it does take time to get them produced the way they should be. We enjoy the invaluable help and participation of such luminaries as Bill Gruggett, Joe Hall, and Andy Moseley. Bob could never have done it without their continued support and participation. I consider myself priviledged to be able to work with such people and learn from the best.
Mosriteforever!!

[dubtrub]

Hey Johnny,

Welcome aboard! That is a great resume and we are glad to have you join our forum. I see no problem with putting in a plug for your guitars and it's great to have an inside source that may be able to answer some occasional direct questions about Hallmark.

Looking forward to seeing a Hallmark set neck S/B Sidejack in the lineup.

[mosriteforever]

Hey Dubtrub, It is already in stock as a top jack. Side jacks are coming! We are working on 3 ply binding. The website should be updated by this weekend and I think you will be suprised to see what is coming.

Mosriteforever!! Hallmark Too!!

[Dennisthe Menace]

Welcome Johnny! Looking forward to seeing your expert participation on the Forum.
Wow, with you acquiring a '63, and BobKs' '63s and/plus collection, now I'm wandering
how many '63s we now have here, on the Forum itself.
Again, WELCOME

[MWaldorf]

John,
Your info on Hallmark is so interesting I posted it to the Hallmark thread in the Mosrite Clones discussion board.

Mel

[Strat-o-rama]

Thanks Mel, I saw the post in the Hallmark thread and posted there before seeing this. I guess my questions are answered right here!

Johnny, welcome to the forum! Great story! I'm a total noob when it comes to Mosrite, but I do love my Hallmark 60 Custom. Look forward to your posts.

[GattonFan]

Hey, John ... I'm torn between ordering the new red-silver-blue 60 Custom, or waiting for the 59 Custom. Any further insight on these guitars, when they might be out, etc? Thanks!

Dennis

[LOSTVENTURE]

Hi Johnny, I know that this is a late welcome but I just got here myself. I very recently purchased a sunburst 60 Custon from Hallmark. Getting to personally deal with Mr. Shade was a unique experience for me. I am so used to having to deal with sales assistants/technicians, etc, that seem to think we are playing a guessing game of some sort. To get to talk to someone so intimately involved in the creation of the instrument that I was considering buying was just a shock. We spoke on a couple of occasions and continued an e-mail Q&A untill I figured I might be getting troublesome (my thinking, not his). It is just nice to talk to someone who knows the guitar so well.
I'm looking forward to seeing what this forum and Hallmark will be up to.

Don