OKPOP Museum Acquires Historic Mosrite Guitar from Nokie Edwards of The Ventures
Oklahoma Museum of Pop Culture (OKPOP) has acquired an important artifact from instrumental guitar rock luminaries The Ventures. A 1965 candy-apple red Mosrite Ventures II Model guitar played by legendary Ventures guitarist Nokie Edwards has found a new home at the OKPOP Museum. Selling nearly 100 million albums, The Ventures’ hits included classic tracks like “Walk Don’t Run” and the theme for the hit television show, “Hawaii Five-O.” They continue to be the top-selling instrumental rock band of all time and are inductees in both the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and the Grammy Hall of Fame.
Nokie Edwards, born in Lahoma, Oklahoma, joined co-founders Don Wilson and fellow Oklahoman Bob Bogle to form The Ventures in the late 1950s. Together they created their own brand of instrumental rock music that resonated with young guitar players which inspired the instrumental guitar rock sound that was later found in the surf rock genre. Nokie Edwards introduced the band to Durant, Oklahoma-born Semie Moseley. Moseley was a master luthier who co-founded Mosrite Guitars which were gaining popularity with country and rock musicians alike. Moseley’s innovative Mosrite guitars featured high-quality engineering and were preferred among guitarists who liked to ‘shred’ or play fast. In 1963, Moseley designed a guitar to cater to the burgeoning surf rock genre dubbed “the Mosrite Ventures Model.” The Mosrite Ventures models were produced from 1963 to 1968.
The item OKPOP acquired from the Nokie Edwards estate for its collection is a 1965 Ventures II model in candy apple red featuring an innovative German carved body with a thin, narrow neck, single coil pickups and Mosrite’s proprietary vibrato tail piece. This acquisition was made possible by the OKPOP Foundation, OKPOP’s nonprofit fundraising group whose mission is to support the efforts of the OKPOP Museum to collect, preserve, and share Oklahoma’s pop culture history. OKPOP will use this artifact to tell the remarkable story about how these talented Oklahomans made a major impact on rock and roll in OKPOP’s “Musical Journeys” experience on the 3rd floor.
