Editing Mosrite (section)

===Mosrite founded===
In 1954, Semie built a triple-neck guitar in his garage (the longest neck was a standard guitar, the second-longest neck an octave higher, the shortest was an eight-string mandolin.) He presented a double-neck to [[Joe Maphis]], a [[Los Angeles]]-area TV performer of country music. He also made several similar twin-neck guitars (with the performer's name inlaid into the neck) for Maphis' protegé, the child prodigy guitarist [[The Collins Kids|Larry Collins]], who still owns his three Mosrite twin-necks. By 1956, with an investment from Ray Boatright, a local Los Angeles Foursquare Gospel minister, Semie and Andy started their company, Mosrite of California. In gratitude to Reverend Boatright, Moseley named the company by combining his and Boatright's last names; the name is properly pronounced MOZE-rite, based on the pronunciation Semie Moseley used for his own name.<ref name=roberts>{{cite book|last=Roberts|first=James H.|title=American basses: an illustrated history & player's guide|year=2003|publisher=Hal Leonard|isbn=978-0-87930-721-9|page=128|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5lBKzcs746oC&pg=PA128}}</ref> Semie, who built guitars for the L.A.-based [[Rickenbacker]] company, told his co-workers that he was making his own product and was fired by Rickenbacker.<ref name="BC"/>

[[File:Joe Maphis double-neck guitar by Semie Moseley - Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum.jpg|thumb|left|170px|[[Joe Maphis]]'s double-neck by Mosrite]]
When they began, their production was all custom, handmade guitars, built in garages, tin storage sheds, wherever the Moseleys could put equipment.<ref name="BC"/>

In 1959, Andy moved to [[Nashville, Tennessee]], for a year to popularize the Mosrite name and sold a few, including to [[Grand Ole Opry]] entertainers and road musicians. Andy said: "And that’s how we kept the factory going at the time: custom guitars".<ref name="BC"/>

Moseley made guitars in Los Angeles until 1959, when he moved to [[Oildale, California]], just north of Bakersfield. In 1962, he moved his shop to Panama Lane where he designed and produced the first Joe Maphis model guitars, one model of which would eventually evolve into the "Ventures model" guitar and bass (Joe Maphis would later get a model of his own, similar to a Mosrite Combo model but without the [[F-hole]]). At this time, Mosrite made everything in-house, except for the tuners.<ref name=hunter/>

Mosrite pickups after the 50s usually came in several ways through Mosrite's history, none with metal casing; 1: the large single coil similar to (but not as long as) a P90, 2: a cheaper version of the first pickup that showed on cheaper models (Celebrity III, Mark V,) 3: a cheaper pickup only found on the first iteration of the Ventures II and 4: a Mosrite Humbucker mostly found on some 1970s models.

The full "The Ventures" line consisted of "the Ventures model" (as several versions: a 6 String Guitar, 4 String Bass, and 12 String Guitar - the "Mark I," "Mark X," and "Mark XII" versions, respectively,) "the Ventures II model" (of several versions,) and "the Ventures Mark V model." "The Ventures" line started in 1963 and ran through 1967 or 1968 when the licensing agreement with The Ventures ended.

At the peak of production, in 1968, Mosrite was making around 600 guitars per month.<ref name=roberts/>