Bizarre Semie-made custom Tripleneck...the hits keep coming!

[Deke Dickerson]

So here's another weirdo story for you all...and this will be my last post before the Guitar Geek Festival, so I hope to see a lot of you there...it will be a blast!

I found this album a long, long time ago called "Angels Unaware" by The Young Trio. On the cover, a truly bizarro custom tripleneck guitar. It didn't look like any other brand I had ever seen. But there were elements to it, like the German carved body, and especially the vibrato, that said "mosrite" to me.

Anyway, the album was from Visalia, CA back in the 50's and listed the guitar man as "Reverend Charles Young." When i had a chance to go to Visalia I went by the original address....gone, of course. Then I went to the music stores and asked...nobody remembered Rev. Young. Then I went to Kinko's and made a simple flyer with the photo saying "Anybody who knows Reverend Charles Young please pass on this phone number" and I put up the flyer at the local Wal-Mart. Yes my friends, this is what an obsessed guitar nerd does with his spare time.

Well, a few weeks later, my phone rings and a voice on the other end proclaimed himself to be Reverend Charles Young, calling from his ministry in North Carolina. An old friend had seen the flyer and passed on my number to the Reverend.

The Reverend confirmed that Semie Moseley did indeed make the tripleneck for him, based on his own design, around 1959 or 1960, when Semie was based in Bakersfield and doing a lot of gospel work and guitars for preachers (always a lucrative side business for Semie). The Reverend said he still had the guitar, but that it had been updated and was currently at a shop in Asheville, North Carolina being repaired. He promised to send me some photos.

That was around September 1st, 2001. i remember it vividly because after September 11th happened, Reverend Young wouldn't ever take my calls again. When I toured through North Carolina, TWICE I went by his church looking for him. He's kind of a local star in the area, there are even Reverend Charles Young billboards up on the highway there, but I never could get any recent photos of the guitar to get a better idea of what all was involved with this crazy beast. All I have is this photo. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.

Compare the vibrato to the early ones on Joe Maphis' doubleneck, and also the late 50's guitars I posted on another thread. Beyond that--it's really weird. Never seen another Semie guitar with pickups, pickguards, switches like this one. Anybody on the list who might have a memory of this one, let me know!

See you at the Guitar Geek Festival for the All-Mosrite band!!

Deke
[img]<a%20href="http://s55.photobucket.com/albums/g143/eccofonic/?action=view&current=MosriteRevCharlesYoung.jpg"%20target="_blank"><img%20src="http://i55.photobucket.com/albums/g143/eccofonic/MosriteRevCharlesYoung.jpg"%20border="0"%20alt="Photobucket"></a>[/img]

[Deke Dickerson]

Hmmm, I don't know why the photo isn't loading, after all that build up....dang!

Trying again,
Deke

[Deke Dickerson]

Can't figure out why the photobucket file isn't working...but you should be able to click on this link and see it...argh, I'm going to bed!

Deke

[url]<a href="http://s55.photobucket.com/albums/g143/eccofonic/?action=view&current=MosriteRevCharlesYoung.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i55.photobucket.com/albums/g143/eccofonic/MosriteRevCharlesYoung.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>[/url]

[dubtrub]

[Dennisthe Menace]

Thanks Deke....most definitely.....BIZARRO!!

[Texasbob]

That rules.