Bakersfield Guitars

Book excerpt: From out of the dust of California's San Joaquin Valley . . . The Ventures only endorsed Mosrite guitars for about five years. But the legendary instrumental band's use of the upstart guitar line in the mid-1960s was and is, for many musicians, the first band-brand affiliation they remember. That saga is part of the iconic guitar boom during that decade, which changed the American music scene forever. California's guitar-centric surf music genre was going strong in the early part of that decade . . . but there ain't no surf in Bakersfield, where numerous instrument builders and innovators were toiling in the gritty and dusty clime of Kern County. Bakersfield Guitars: The Illustrated Historycontains the compelling chronologies of numerous intriguing, born-in-Bakersfield guitar brands, including Mosrite, Hallmark, Gruggett, Standel (three different manufacturers), Encor, Epcor, Dobro (by Mosrite), GM Custom, Melobar, Osborne, and Acoustic. Among the noted musicians whose recollections are documented here are Marshall Crenshaw, Tommy Shaw, Jorma Kaukonen, Jeff Carlisi, Fred Newell, Ed King, Chuck Seaton, Eugene Moles, Jim Shaw, Tim Bogert, Davie Allan, Jackson Smith, and others.