Counterfeit Mosrite Guitars

MOSRITE IS THE THIRD MOST COUNTERFEITED BRAND

JOHNNY RAMONE 

Dear Ed -

Just wanted to drop you a line and point out this crazy Johnny Ramone Rip-off guitar from Hallmark Guitars.

Looks like they copied the Mosrite original, even down to the headstock. I looked at the history of the company and thought since they seemed to have ties to Mosrite that maybe the guitar might be half decent.

Imagine my surprise when I tried this guitar out and realized it was a cheap piece of crap. Had to be an Asian import, and the sound was nothing like the original!

It's on the market for less than a grand, but who cares when the quality is less than a $150 beginner guitar you can pick up at Guitar Center?

So how the hell does this cheap-ass imitation get made by Hallmark guitars?? How do they get the blessing of the Ramone Army to make this junk? Why didn't Mosrite get the deal to make these? At least it'd be the REAL DEAL!

Screw Hallmark and SCREW the rights holders of Johnny's estate for agreeing to put this cheap toy on the market with Johnny's name on it.

- Frank Jansen,
  A pissed off Ramones fan

Dear Frank

There are other people & corporations who control many artists names when they die. Johnny Ramone is no exception now that he is dead. Just like Jimi Hendrix, Jim Morrison, Elvis Presley & many others. If you choose to buy into that hype, I feel sorry for you, because in many cases, these people are simply profiteering on your idol. Be aware that Johnny Ramone, always throughout his entire career, played a Mosrite guitar. Anyone who tells you different is lying. Anyone that shows you a picture of Johnny playing a Mosrite guitar with another name on the headstock, The picture has been photo-shopped. I have seen such pictures and It makes me quite upset. I myself was there the day Johnny kicked off the Mosrite model named after him. I am positive that he would never have played anything but a Mosrite !!!!!
In this country we are fed so much Bullshit that eventually it becomes true,  I can remember when people would never buy Chinese products. Nowadays our country owes the Chinese 15 trillion dollars because all the kids today have been "Dumbed Down" so that they would not recognize good quality any longer. For example Today, Everyone knows that Johnny Ramone played a Mosrite. But in 20 years from now whoever owns the name, will potentially reap the profits. Unless of course they go out of business before that.
Ed Roman 
February 2011

 

We Always Have a Good Supply of Used Old Mosrite Ventures Models,  Call for Current Deals.

The real Ventures Model Mosrite was extremely short lived. In fact  "The Ventures" supposedly didn't get paid their royalties on the few that were made.

Mosrite is probably one of the most copied brands of guitars out there besides Fender & Gibson!!!

I have seen over 50 brands names like Dillion, Madore, Aria, Wosrite, Excellent, Fernandes, Guitar Punk, Moserite, Mosrita, Mosright, Tokai, Jay Turser, Wilson Brothers, Univox, Eastwood, Sunsmile, and many others too numerous to mention and there are many who actually go right ahead and actually copy the name.  Every year at NAMM I see yet another couple of Mosrite copies.

The Kings of the copy guitars is of course Ibanez, They copied hundreds of companies during the 70's. Many of their copies were better than the originals. I believe their Gibson copies (At least 100 different models were far better than the originals) For some unknown reason I don't think Ibanez ever copied Mosrite.

The only copy I have seen that I thought was decent was the one that Nokie Edwards is making "The Hitchhiker" That guitar feels and plays like a real Mosrite it also sports Seymour Duncan custom designed Nokie Edwards pickups.  (I have decided to carry it myself) I don't feel it will compete with Mosrite because it costs a great deal more.

Most of the copy brands are pretty poor. occasionally someone comes out with a direct forgery. currently there is one coming out of New York & our New York Attorneys are getting ready to serve this little maggot papers so be careful if you see one on ebay because real Mosrite dealers are not allowed to sell Mosrite on Ebay new or used. 

January 2001 Ed Roman Guitars Distributes Mosrite Guitars in The USA, Canada, Mexico & South America.     Dealer Inquiries are invited


 

<<<<<  NEWSFLASH  >>>>>

There is a little slimeball operating out of his garage on Long Island somewhere who is selling totally faked Korean Mosrite guitars.  He is your typical E-bay "Trunk Gypsy" type who pretends to be holier than thou. Watch out - his guitars don't sound or play like the real guitars. In the pictures they look pretty accurate but the nut is different, the frets are different and the whole general attitude of the guitar is different.

I have seen countless Les Paul Copies.  All of them much cheaper and many of them every bit as good as an original. In some cases I have seen them that decimate the original Gibson. The Mosrite copies I have seen that are even acceptable are few and far between.

 

 

 

Mosrite Copies & Fakes 2004

News Flash...

The real Ventures Model Mosrite was extremely short lived. In fact  "The Ventures" supposedly didn't get paid their royalties on the few that were made.

Question
So how come there are so many Mosrite guitars out there that say "The Ventures" on them?

Answer
Dealers actually affixed decals on guitars that were already sold to them. In fact some of the Ventures models predate the original contract with "The Ventures".

Mosrite is probably one of the most copied brands of guitars out there besides Fender & Gibson!!!

I have seen over 50 brands names like Dillion, Madore Aria, Wosrite, Excellent, Fernandes, Guitar Punk, Moserite, Mosrita, Mosright, Tokai, Jay Turser, Wilson Brothers, Univox, Sunsmile, and many others too numerous to mention and there are many who actually go right ahead and actually copy the name.  Every year at NAMM I see yet another couple of Mosrite copies.
In 2008 It was confirmed that Loretta Moseley (Semie's 4th Wife) was involved with some one who was illegally making the guitars in the Orient.

The Kings of the copy guitars is of course Ibanez, They copied hundreds of companies during the 70's. Many of their copies were better than the originals. I believe their Gibson copies (At least 100 different models were far better than the originals) For some unknown reason I don't think Ibanez ever copied Mosrite. I could be wrong about that but I have never seen one.

(The Japanese are very reverent when it comes to Mosrite,)

The only copy I have seen that I thought was decent was the one that Nokie Edwards is playing "The Hitchhiker." That guitar feels and plays like a real Mosrite it also sports Seymour Duncan custom designed Nokie Edwards pickups.  (See Above ) I don't feel it will compete with Mosrite because it costs a great deal more.

Most of the copy brands are pretty poor. Occasionally someone comes out with a direct forgery. Currently there is one coming out of New York & our New York Attorneys are getting ready to serve this little maggot papers so be careful if you see one on ebay because real Mosrite dealers are not allowed to sell Mosrite on Ebay new or used. (Read his website carefully it actually states that he buys them from Excellent which is a copycat company. He tries to word it so it sounds like he is buying Excellent Mosrites as if to say these guitars were excellent.  It's nothing more than a play on words.  His website talks about aftermarket parts for Mosrite so as long as you realize these are not the original guitars no harm no foul.  He has opened himself up to massive litigation because his website is confusing the market.

Ed Roman

The Mosrite Guitars that I carry in my store are 100% authentic and I will put my name and reputation on the line to prove it. At your request I will give you a signed statement that these are the only actual legal Mosrite Guitars you can buy anywhere in the United States, Canada or South America.

Sole Distributor for Mosrite

As of January 2000 Ed Roman Guitars is the sole USA & Canadian distributor for the real Mosrite guitars. Due to the extremely limited quantities available we are currently not selling to any dealers so please stop calling us for dealerships. Please contact us before the NAMM show in January if you are interested in a dealership. We will not award a franchise unless you have a full repair facility on premises and carry a minimum of 6 assorted other specialty brands in your store.   Gibson, Fender, PRS & Ibanez don't count as specialty brands they are sold everywhere and are more like commodities.

We will be offering USA made models. They play like warm butter. I defy anyone to tell the difference between a new one and an old one. In actuality the new one seem to be made better. Even though they are still 100% handmade, modern construction techniques are used to build these guitars to an uncompromising standard.

Mosrite Skullduggery!

I am sorry to say that there are certain lowlifes out there copying the original Mosrite designs, logo, headstock, registered trademarks and even using the Ventures logo illegally.  One company had actually illegally secured the domain name "Mosrite Guitars." I had to go to the Internic to wrestle it from them legally. Fortunately they didn't put up much of a fight, my legal expenses were almost negligible. Currently some other maggot has secured  "mosriteguitar.com"  He doesn't appear to be selling Mosrites, It appears he is using it to shill for several other megastore, big box music store operations.

 

 We released a lower cost Mosrite Guitar back in February 2004. It looked almost exactly like the original. The quality was OK but not excellent. They were Chinese made and the price was  $499.00 each. The entire first shipment of 24 were purchased from us by an enterprising individual who sold every one of them in 2 weeks on Ebay for approximately $1,595.00 each. He made approximately $1,100.00 on each one of them and he only ran one ad with one picture.  Talk about an Ebay scam from Hell. Personally, I don't feel the least bit sorry for any of the people that bought them. If you are unwise enough to buy guitars on Ebay I would feel no sorrow  for you either. These individuals all thought they were going to save money by buying the guitar from an individual. They could have spent about $288.00 more and gotten the real thing with a warranty.

Someone made a lot of money !!!!

Later on the Ebay seller actually told me that he even got good feedback from the one person who bought the guitar as an actual Ebay deal. The rest of the deals were made by him contacting the people outside of Ebay and closing deals with them in such a way that Feebay would be cheated from their commission and that this customer couldn't even send negative feedback because the deals were all sold outside of Ebay.

Ed Roman

April 2004

 
Know This
 Any Guitar Represented As A Mosrite
Has The Name Hallmark Or Excellent
 IT IS A FAKE
 

A Word About Johnny Ramone & Mosrite Guitars

Now that Johnny Ramone & Semie Moseley are no longer with us, there are people out there who are claiming things that I am sure are simply not true.
These people want you to think that Johnny played their guitars when he was alive.  
 NOT !!!!
I was one of the lucky people who got to meet both Johnny & Semie. Personally, I think it's despicable for any company to take credit for designing any part of any of the Mosrite Guitars.  Especially when they know damn well that Semie himself isn't around to call them a liar.
I think it's totally despicable for any company, to use representations or pictures of Johnny Ramone, who always played real Mosrite guitars,  posing with something that is obviously an absolute fake.
If you are going to make a fake, I guess I can understand that,  but to use a persons name after he is dead to try and represent that he actually played a different brand. That just plain sucks !!!!
Fakes will always exist, lets face it not everyone can afford the real thing. My thoughts are a fake is OK as long as it is represented as a fake.
Ed Roman
December 2010

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