08/12/2026
2026. It’s a big year for me. I’m a bicentennial baby, so, yes, I turned 50 this year. I don’t really consider myself a very remarkable person, but I’ve always thought that one of the cool things about me was that I was born the same year that our country (the good ol’ US of A) turned 200 years old. We even got our own money! My grandmother would always send me bicentennial quarters, half-dollars and $2 bills to remind me how special I was. Cash that I couldn’t really spend, thanks Grandma. I’ve always looked forward to turning 50 and America’s concurrent semiquincentennial, feeling a slight sense of anticipatory wonder at the numeric magic of this time and place. But now that MAGA (and seemingly every business that has me on their email list) has hijacked the USA birthday celebrations, it’s just another one of those things that we used to marvel at (such as space travel) that is now just a casualty of our tiresome culture wars. But hey, I run a business, too, so I guess I’m required to contribute to the noise. So here’s a rare, interesting guitar that also turned 50 this year, Justin Lemons ’s “The New Mosrite” Brass Rail that also celebrates America’s bicentennial with a commemorative plaque. I guess Semie Mosely’s patriotism could not be called into question. A guitar built with this much national spirit may be expected to have some stars and stripes on it, but the only stripe on this one is the (sure enough) brass rail that runs down the middle of the entire length of the fretboard. Never seen anything like that, not even on any of the “hippie sandwich” guitars that have come in over the years. If anything, this guitar is really more of a tribute to the decade of the 70’s, with the brass nut AND brass zero fret and active pickups. Just had to do some minor touchup electrical and fretwork to get this one up and running. Happy golden jubilee to all of us bicentennial Gen-Xer’s! Or maybe it’s just brass...
