1966 Mosrite Combo Body/Joe Maphis Neck

All-original 1966 Combo Body/Joe Maphis Neck Mosrite with a custom Bill Gruggett Blue Sparkle Finish! Rare, funky, and great to play with a slim neck that's a breeze to navigate. Sounds great with a classic 60s sparkle tone from the stock single coils and in great condition overall with a few prominent blemishes. A stunning vintage Mosrite! Includes gigbag.

Check out the feature from our luthier Tyler in the ECG Newsletter:

"Southern California was the absolute epicenter of development for the modern solid body electric guitar in the 1940s an 50s. Names like Bigsby, Rickenbacker, and Fender are still famously lauded as early pioneers, and rightfully so. Like in many industries, though, the American electric guitar was built upon the backs of countless anonymous builders, designers, and engineers whose contributions were every bit as instrumental, but didn’t quite make the history books. In many cases, only a few vague forum posts or an archived column from a local newspaper stand in the way of these names slipping into complete obscurity. As a guitar enthusiast, I’d wager that Mosrite is a name you’re familiar with. With equal certainly I’d wager that Bill Gruggett is a name you’re unfamiliar with. Both are Bakersfield guitar legends, and both had a hand in the creation of this guitar.

The legacy of Mosrite may very well be their association with the band The Ventures and the resulting signature model, however the company’s bread and butter for years was the creation of custom one-off instruments. This particular guitar was a part of a set with a matching bass, which also happens to be available on Reverb from an unrelated seller. The body is from a 1966 Combo model, Mosrite’s semi-hollow offering at that time. The neck is a super slim Joe Maphis signature model, which at the time was very much in style for professional players. Pieced together at the factory, the guitar was then sent to Bill Gruggett for finishing. For years, Bill was in charge of finishing at Mosrite and went on to work at Hallmark before starting his own guitar company in the late 60s. His instruments found their way into the hands of some of the day’s most prominent players, but fame and fortune wasn’t in the cards for Bill. He continued to build custom guitars in relative obscurity well into the 1990s, and remains a fixture in the history of the electric guitar for those who know of him. This custom Mosrite is an amazing piece, not only for its custom nature, but for its association with two Bakersfield legends."