1966 Moseley/Mosrite Dobro Electric 12 string guitar D-12E “The Columbia Electric” Extremely Rare Collector/Investor-grade, electric acoustic DOBRO12-String Electric Resonator Guitar It is ribbon-grained, African Mahogany (Sapelle) with a double-bound Indian Rosewood fingerboard. Semi Mosely of Mosrite took over the Dobro operation from the Dopyera brothers in 1966. Their factory was based in Gardena California. The first instruments that Mosrite made were assembled from original Dopyera parts in the Gardena factory. Semi phased in his own components and concepts. After about 12 months, Mosrite relocated the business to Bakersfied. The early guitars from Gardena have the serial number on the top of the headstock. Bakersfield built instruments have the serial number stamped into the last fret on the top of the body. We've only seen 9 other 12-string DOBRO electric guitars in the last 20 years and 6 of those were ones from our shop. Condition: This instrument is in Extremely Fine Condition. As good as the best we’ve seen. There are a few surface smudges but nothing that penetrates the original finish. They are too indistinct to show in a photograph. This is an exceptionally clean example. It has never been oversprayed or refinished. Suitable for any player or collector. It comes in a hard shell case in good condition.  Attributes: It has a Mosrite neck for bottleneck style play. This has been my favorite neck on any 12 string. It plays easier than other makes & models. There is a stainless steel screw on the back which adjusts the tilt/neck angle, making it easy to change the action height to suit your personal style. Present action @ the 12th fret is 3/32", with no buzzes or rattles. Mosrites are collector’s items today. The first three 1963 production-line guitars, originally sold to Rich, Moles and Edwards, are said to be worth $30,000 each. And Bakersfield-era Ventures models are worth $2,000 to $2,500 in new condition. “They really represented some of the finest craftsmanship in guitar-making anywhere,” said Artie Niesen, owner of Bakersfield’s Front Porch Music, and a collector who owns more than 100 Mosrites. “They were great guitars.” Semie Mosely purchased the company that manufactured Dobros in 1966. And then produced a larger, thick larger, thick gospel-acoustic model (Semie gave away dozens to churches across the country); the Serenade acoustic; and the electric Californian, which had a Mosrite neck and a Dobro body. He lost rights to the Dobro name in 1968. The Columbian 12 string with it’s custom design is a rare model that is highly prized. It has a Sapele African Mahogany body with a D style resonator & coverplate. Veteran Slide Player Extroidinaire Roy Rogers said, “When I found a 12 string Dobro, I was in 7th Heaven. I hadn’t even known they made any. They are extremely rare. Now I play it more than my other guitars. I love the sound it gives.” I highly recommend listening to Roy’s Live at the Sierra Nevada Brewery CD. He also has a great instructional DVD on playing bottleneck slide. His 12 string Dobro is a sister to this one and is featured on these as well as several other of his CD’s. You can also see Roy playing his 12 string Dobro on YouTube.com & MySpace.com. I agree with Roy. I’ve had or played more than 950 slide guitars & this has some of the best tones I’ve heard. As previously stated, it is quite rare. And well worth having as the sound is quite unique. I am also impressed with the construction quality and choice of materials. And of course, only a very few were made. This is a very fine as well as rare guitar. Rare enough that the serial number classifications for this model are not available. But we know he only made a few of these and it was in 1966-1967.