Dana Moseley breaks with Fillmore

[rballister]

Read this on Dana Moseley's Facebook page. Does anyone know the reason? Seems like quality control issues are being implied.
"To all my FB friends and family. Today is a very bittersweet day for me. It is time for me to resign from my partnership with Fillmore Co and Jiro Okabe. I no longer endorse any instruments they might make. To anybody who truly knows me knows that I love Mosrite Guitars and that this was a very hard decision for me to make. Please remember If I didn't sign it I didn't make it and if I didn't make it I can not guarantee the quality of the instrument. I have a record of every guitar/bass that I have built since 2008 if anyone wants to check the authenticity of their guitar. To any of my family and friends that have any questions please private message me or call I will be more than happy to answer any questions you may have. If any of this changes I will be the first to let you know."

[Dimeman]

Just wondering who officially owns the trademark and rights of Mosrite, and its products ?

Is it Fillmore in Japan? It is a shame that a Moseley who wants to build guitars the way the original maker did, doesn't own the rights.

[dorkrockrecords]

Yes, Fillmore owns the American rights. Dana was simply an employee.

[rballister]

Doesn't Loretta Moseley (Semie's widow) also claim ownership?

[101Volts]

A bit off-topic but if Fillmore would ever sell the rights to the name I wonder what it would cost.

- Austin

[Dimeman]

Hope she can continue her fathers legacy.

[cincinnatiharry]

Not to be rude, but is Loretta Mosley still alive?

If Dana is not assembling Fillmore guitars in the U.S.A. anymore, is she making her own?

Lots of unanswered questions.

[Hydra19]

am sorry to hear that. I think it's a shame that there's no Moseley connection to Mosrite anymore. As nice guitars as they are, there will still only be one real Mosrite guitar, but the brand now is a different story. They make straps, cables, t-shirts, it's a business and it was made possible by the Japanese people involved buying the rights to the name.

Was it that Semie's death was unexpected and that he, nor any of his family, thought about what would happen to the brand and trademark in case Semie died? It must have been some kind of oversight, or lack of forward planning to allow someone else to legally buy the brand. Sorry if I'm out of line with my assumptions. I love the real Mosrite and Semie for his ideas, although the reissues are nice, they don't really compare to my '66. That thing has some kind of magic in it, to me, I feel it's special but probably every Mosrite Semie was involved in has it - "built in soul", it's no magic, just the built in soul that makes it sound magical

[101Volts]

Was it that Semie's death was unexpected and that he, nor any of his family, thought about what would happen to the brand and trademark in case Semie died? It must have been some kind of oversight, or lack of forward planning to allow someone else to legally buy the brand. Sorry if I'm out of line with my assumptions. I love the real Mosrite and Semie for his ideas, although the reissues are nice, they don't really compare to my '66. That thing has some kind of magic in it, to me, I feel it's special but probably every Mosrite Semie was involved in has it - "built in soul", it's no magic, just the built in soul that makes it sound magical

I know so little about it. I wonder what happened from 1969 to 1980 regarding the name? There were a lot of copies made in those years.

And I do feel the same about my Ventures II. I'm not sure how much of it goes in regards to the age of the wood, but it's very close to guitar tone from the first few B-52's albums.

- Austin

[Hydra19]

I don't know too much about it either, but Semie was trying to get Mosrite back up and running, get the brand name back, etc, so some models were made in the 70's as the New Mosrite name. I think the Gospel brand guitar was also a result of him not being able to get his brand name back at that moment, but such a shame that things like that can be bought and sold just like that.