Musings

Articles and thoughts from the mind of Deke

At Gene’s Country Club in Pevely

At Gene’s Country Club in Pevely

We played outside St. Louis tonight at an amazing venue: Gene’s Country Club in Pevely. It’s a real old-time honky-tonk, out in the country on Indian Foot Lake.

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Report from Toledo

Report from Toledo

Rust Belt cities in America are always a bit depressing, but I also find them endlessly fascinating. I’ve never had a chance to walk around Toledo before.

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Wichita Falls, Texas, and Nesman Studios

Wichita Falls, Texas, and Nesman Studios

We passed through Wichita Falls, Texas, and I had to take a little detour to see the building where Nesman recording studios used to be, back in the day. The Sprague Brothers were the first ones to tell me about Nesman Studios.

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Memories of Ron Testerman

Memories of Ron Testerman

Ron was a freewheeling bachelor who loved women and cars and planes and having a good time. He wasn’t particularly interested in all the serious, “settling down” nonsense that all the churchgoing people we knew were so concerned with.

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Al Hartel and the Mosrite “Surfrite” Guitar

Al Hartel and the Mosrite “Surfrite” Guitar

I spent the afternoon with Thomas Hartel, whose father, Al Hartel, made the famous “Surfrite” surfboard Guitars for Mosrite in the 1960s. Thomas contacted me recently after seeing a video I shot at Norman’s Rare Guitars.

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A Visit to Ridgecrest, California

A Visit to Ridgecrest, California

Yesterday I drove up to Ridgecrest, on the edge of China Lake (where the Navy has their Naval Air Weapons Station), close to Death Valley. You don’t accidentally go to Ridgecrest. It’s a town on the edge of nowhere out in the hot California desert.

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On the Mosrite Trail at the Kern County Museum

On the Mosrite Trail at the Kern County Museum

Had an amazing but VERY HOT and sweltering day in Bakersfield to wrap up this particular research trip. In the afternoon I went over to the Kern County Museum, where the staff treated me like a visiting dignitary.

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On the Mosrite Trail with David McCarthy

On the Mosrite Trail with David McCarthy

Had an amazing evening and morning with David McCarthy in the Bay Area. We photographed a bunch of his Mosrite guitars for the book, but he also pulled out some other amazing stuff.

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The Mosrite “Johnny” Guitar

The Mosrite “Johnny” Guitar

The Mosrite “Johnny” guitar I photographed today is one of the earliest Mosrite guitars I’ve ever seen. It could possibly be the first Mosrite guitar that Semie Moseley made for someone other than himself.

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“The Hag” Model Mosrite

“The Hag” Model Mosrite

“The Hag” model Mosrite was never put into production, and until today it was just a rumor that this guitar existed. It has never been photographed.

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