Six different guitars that made by the S. L. Mossman Company
Collection: Winfield Notable Artists
Title
Six different guitars that made by the S. L. Mossman Company
Subject
S. L. Mossman Co.
Guitar manufacturing
Article
Description
Stuart Mossman describes six different guitars that they manufacture.
Creator
Stuart Mossman
Source
Winfield Public Library
Publisher
Winfield Public Library, Winfield, Kansas USA
Date
Unknown
Rights
Format
text/plain
Language
English
Type
Miscellaneous Documents
Citation
Stuart Mossman , “Six different guitars that made by the S. L. Mossman Company,” Winfield Digital Collections, accessed June 24, 2026, https://winfield.digitalsckls.info/item/192.
Text
The Golden Era has been copied by many. It is our fancy guitar and we are proud of it. With a two-piece solid Rose-wood back and sides, the Golden Era has the most highly select woods. Its even-grained, vertical sawn Sitka Spruce top is carefully selected and braced with lighter I-beam style Mossman bracing. The Ebony fingerboard is inlaid with red abalone shell vine pattern. The peghead is inlaid with a cameo ‘M’. The gold Grover Rotamatic tuners are engraved with an ‘M’. The top is trimmed with abalone strips and the entire guitar reflects the highest standards in design, materials and workmanship.
Great Plains
Dan Crary, a truly remarkable flat picker, has made the Great Plains with its booming tones our most popular model. This guitar features solid Rosewood sides, three-piece solid Rose-wood back, herringbone sound hole and border purfling. The Sitka Spruce tops are carefully selected from our aged woods. (We maintain a five year supply.) The peghead and Ebony fingerboard are bound. Like the Flint Hills, this model has an Ebony butt pin and 12:1 ratio nickel Grover Rotamatic Tuners.
Great Plains
On the vast expanse of land called the Great Plains, midway between here and there, the land seems to start where the sun comes up, and ends where it goes down. Somewhere between the morning breeze and the last coyote's call, we live rhe joys of the Great Plains. For these joys, we named this guitar.
Body Wood Selection
For the body, sides and wings of the three-piece back, our foreman selects matching rosewood, whenever possible, from the same tree. For the back wedge, we choose either matching or complementary rose-wood. Once it’s patterned and cut, the sides are steam-curved into shape. The Dread-naught forms shape the curves evenly and make our body stronger. For the top, Sitka spruce is quarter-sawn and flitch-matched for both beauty and consistent tonal quality.
Bracing
Braces are of spruce. Craftsmen carefully shave and taper them to reduce mass and enhance sound distribution without reducing structural strength. Interlocking braces
are connected at many points along the inner sides of the guitar. This unique,
lightweight, triangulated system creates a strong, tight body with maximum top vibration.
Body Assembly
Woods are regularly checked for moisture content. All tops are candled with bright lights to detect grain imperfections. Then, back, sides and top are fit and carefully glued.
Binding and Herringbone Purfling
The back and top are trimmed flush to the sides and body. Black and white wooden herringbone inlay and solid white binding are carefully placed in hand-routed grooves around the body edge and sound hole, not only for interest, but added protection as well.
Neck
Across the room, the mahogany neck has been hand-carved, the peg head bound, and the ad-justable, steel truss rod carefully placed down the center. This makes it easier
to adjust the action, from inside the body, to slight player preference, and to correct the small but natural changes that happen in all wood. Nine Mother of Pearl position
markers are set into the ebony fingerboard. The fingerboard is bound and the entire assembly is bonded onto rhe neck. A neck and body are paired and the heel is shaved to fit the body flush.
Finishing
The neck is hand wiped with a stain to match the body and sides. The body is sprayed with several coats of lacquer on the back and sides, and the top sprayed to a 7 millimeter thickness. Between each coat the finish is hand-sanded and the final coat is then buffed.
Final Set-Up
Now the matched neck and body are glued and perma-nently joined. The ebony bridge is carefully placed for proper intonation. The Ivory nut is hand fit and notches are cut for exact string spacing and height. Then, with the saddle set at the correct height, string action is completed
Time to Settle
The Great Plains Guitar is just about finished. But first the woods must be left to adjust and settle, naturally. Then, the nut, saddle and truss rod are checked and given any necessary adjustments.
While many parts of our Great Plains Guitar must be crafted together according to a very detailed plan and schedule, it's still up to individual judgement to decide when our guitar is ready to be your guitar.
That will take many times longer than it takes to make other guitars. You’ll know this pride of craftsmanship is complete when it carries the signatures of the Mossman craftsmen.
S. L. Mossman Guitars.
Available through C. G. Conn, Ltd.
616 Enterprise Drive
Oak Brook, Illinois 60521
Timber Creek
This model is my favorite. The sound hole is ornamented with carefully selected dark greenheart abalone inlaid in wooden rings. The purfling around the top is Rosewood between lines of black and white Maple. The abalone position markers are very small slotted squares and ellipses. Gold Grover Rotamatic tuners set off the bound peghead and fingerboard. The Tim-ber Creek features new style I-beam bracing available on all Mossman models. Like all Mossman guitars, it has solid Rosewood back and sides and Ebony bridge and fingerboard. This is a very simple yet elegant professional concert instrument.
Timber Creek
Homecomings have always been special. For us, the road to Winfield usually begins in Wichita with an overland ride that often seems longer than it really is. Timber Creek comes from the north, flows by our front door, and heads south into the Walnut River. It’s a special landmark. Because when we cross Timber Creek, we re home. For that joy, we named this guitar Timber Creek.
Wood Selection
Each morning, the rosewood for the three-piece back and sides is selected from the same tree, when-ever possible. Depending on grain beauty, the back wings and
wedge will either match or complement each other. Quarter sawn, flitch-matched Sitka spruce is selected for the top.
Patterned and cut, the sides are steam-softened and pressed into Mossman Dreadnaught forms. The curves will be graceful to make our body stronger.
Bracing
To create more top movement and better resonance, craftsmen shave and taper the spruce braces. Lower in mass, strength is still great. Braces interlock and connect all along the inner lining of the guitar. This unique lightweight,
triangulated pattern creates a strong, tight body with best possible sound production.
Body Assembly
Woods are dried and monitored for low moisture level. When ready, the top is candled with bright lights. If the wood is flawless, the back, sides and top are fit, and the body glued.
Body Purfling and Binding
Back and top are now trimmed absolutely flush. A simple five band purfling is carefully placed in hand routed grooves around body edge, and abalone shell
inlay is cut and placed around sound hole. Then, for decoration, and added protection as well, the body is bound in white. When dry, both purfling and binding are hand-shaved smooth.
Neck
Meanwhile, the mahogany neck has been carved to shape, and the adjustable steel truss rod care-fully placed down the center. With the adjust-ment inside the
body, the player can alter the action slightly or correct the small, but natural changes that occur in wood. Delicately hand cut traditional squares and elipses of abalone shell are individually laid into the ebony fingerboard, and the entire assembly is glued onto the neck. The peg head and fingerboard are bound in white. The neck heel is shaved to conform perfectly with a body and will be joined later.
Finishing
In the finishing shop, the neck is sanded and stained to match the back and sides. The back and sides are sprayed with several coats of lacquer and the
top sprayed to 7 millimeters, at most. Between each coat the body is hand-sanded for a smoother finish.
Final Set-Up Mated neck and body are joined. The ebony bridge is care-fully placed for proper intona-tion. The height of strings is set
by hand-notching the Ivory nut
the Ivory nut
and setting the Micarta saddle at the proper height. The notching also spaces the strings evenly, center to center. The entire guitar is then buffed and polished.
Time to Settle
For awhile the Timber Creek Guitar is left for the wood to settle. Later, the final adjustment of nut, saddle and truss rod will complete the guitar.
A Mossman Guitar takes many times longer to complete than it takes to make most guitars. The Timber Creek is hand-made, and carries the pride in craftsmanship of the people who made it. So, judgment makes it right, not fast. If you have to wait a little longer for your Timber Creek, it’s because each guitar only leaves us when we re satisfied with it. Then we know you’ll be.
S. L. Mossman Guitars. Available through C. G. Conn, Ltd. 616 Enterprise Drive Oak Brook, Illinois 60521
PRINTED IN U.S.A. M 8-6
Tennessee Flat Top
For all that Tennessee gave music... the Bluegrass bands, the flat pickers, the front porch sound... for all the inspiration they give us, we give back in their name. The Tennessee Flat Top.
Body Wood Selection For this, our only mahogany guitar, our foreman selects and matches quarter-sawn wood for the back and sides, whenever possible from the same tree. Only the straightest-grained natural Honduras ma-hogany, and flitch-matched, Sitka spruce for the top are marked and cut to the Mossman Dreadnaught pattern. The sides are steam-softened, bound to forms that curve grace-fully, and shaped to make our body stronger.
Bracing
We use a specially developed bracing sys-tem. The spruce braces are gracefully shaved and tapered. Ex-perienced craftsmen re-duce the mass
of each brace to provide even sound dis-tribution, without reducing structural strength. This lightweight, triangulated
PRINTED IN U.S.A.
M 4-6
bracing system gives greater body strength yet more top movement and sound projec-tion. Braces are not only notched and inter-locked to one another, but to all parts of the lining strip inside the guitar.
Purfling and Binding
Now the back and top are trimmed and grooved. We inlay the red-amber Coral Snake wood purfling into these grooves. When dry, we sand both body binding
and purfling to a smooth contour.
The Neck
Meanwhile, in another part of the shop, the Mahogany neck has been carved to shape, and the adjustable truss rod carefully cen-tered in the neck.
This unique Mossman design enables complete neck adjustment from inside the body, to accommodate slight player prefer-ences and natural changes in the wood. Mother of Pearl position markers are inlaid into ebony fingerboard, and the entire board is glued onto the neck. The heel is hand-shaved to mate perfectly with the body. Parts are numbered to bring fitted pieces together in final set-up.
Body Assembly
The moisture content of the wood is con-stantly checked. When properly dried, the top is candled with bright lights to detect undesirable flaws in the wood. If flawless, we hand-fit back, sides and top, and the body is glued together.
Finishing
In the finish-ing room, the neck is stained and inspected. The body is sprayed with several coats of lacquer on the back and sides and the top is coated until the lacquer thickness reaches a maxi-mum of 7 millimeters. All parts are hand-sanded between coats.
Final Set-up Now, the matched neck and body are joined. The bridge is carefully placed for proper intonation. The ebony nut is hand-
notched to space the strings evenly, center to center, and to set the action at the proper height. The saddle is placed in the bridge to complete the proper action setting.
Settling Time
All wood instruments need time to settle. So, for a period of time, the Tennessee Flat Top is left to do nothing. Once stable, we readjust the nut, saddle and truss rod, so it’s ready for you.
Every step in making the parts and putting each guitar together is a matter of careful planning and timing. It takes many times longer to make a Mossman Tennessee Flat Top than many other guitars, because it must satisfy all the craftsmen who work on it and sign it before it leaves.
So when you order one, be patient. Remember, we’re making our guitar your guitar.
S. L. Mossman Guitars. Available through C. G. Conn, Ltd. 616 Enterprise Drive
Oak Brook, Illinois 60521
Original Format
Paper
Title
Six different guitars that made by the S. L. Mossman Company
Subject
S. L. Mossman Co.
Guitar manufacturing
Article
Description
Stuart Mossman describes six different guitars that they manufacture.
Creator
Stuart Mossman
Source
Winfield Public Library
Publisher
Winfield Public Library, Winfield, Kansas USA
Date
Unknown
Rights
Format
text/plain
Language
English
Type
Miscellaneous Documents
Citation
Stuart Mossman , “Six different guitars that made by the S. L. Mossman Company,” Winfield Digital Collections, accessed June 24, 2026, https://winfield.digitalsckls.info/item/192.Text
The Golden Era has been copied by many. It is our fancy guitar and we are proud of it. With a two-piece solid Rose-wood back and sides, the Golden Era has the most highly select woods. Its even-grained, vertical sawn Sitka Spruce top is carefully selected and braced with lighter I-beam style Mossman bracing. The Ebony fingerboard is inlaid with red abalone shell vine pattern. The peghead is inlaid with a cameo ‘M’. The gold Grover Rotamatic tuners are engraved with an ‘M’. The top is trimmed with abalone strips and the entire guitar reflects the highest standards in design, materials and workmanship.
Great Plains
Dan Crary, a truly remarkable flat picker, has made the Great Plains with its booming tones our most popular model. This guitar features solid Rosewood sides, three-piece solid Rose-wood back, herringbone sound hole and border purfling. The Sitka Spruce tops are carefully selected from our aged woods. (We maintain a five year supply.) The peghead and Ebony fingerboard are bound. Like the Flint Hills, this model has an Ebony butt pin and 12:1 ratio nickel Grover Rotamatic Tuners.
Great Plains
On the vast expanse of land called the Great Plains, midway between here and there, the land seems to start where the sun comes up, and ends where it goes down. Somewhere between the morning breeze and the last coyote's call, we live rhe joys of the Great Plains. For these joys, we named this guitar.
Body Wood Selection
For the body, sides and wings of the three-piece back, our foreman selects matching rosewood, whenever possible, from the same tree. For the back wedge, we choose either matching or complementary rose-wood. Once it’s patterned and cut, the sides are steam-curved into shape. The Dread-naught forms shape the curves evenly and make our body stronger. For the top, Sitka spruce is quarter-sawn and flitch-matched for both beauty and consistent tonal quality.
Bracing
Braces are of spruce. Craftsmen carefully shave and taper them to reduce mass and enhance sound distribution without reducing structural strength. Interlocking braces
are connected at many points along the inner sides of the guitar. This unique,
lightweight, triangulated system creates a strong, tight body with maximum top vibration.
Body Assembly
Woods are regularly checked for moisture content. All tops are candled with bright lights to detect grain imperfections. Then, back, sides and top are fit and carefully glued.
Binding and Herringbone Purfling
The back and top are trimmed flush to the sides and body. Black and white wooden herringbone inlay and solid white binding are carefully placed in hand-routed grooves around the body edge and sound hole, not only for interest, but added protection as well.
Neck
Across the room, the mahogany neck has been hand-carved, the peg head bound, and the ad-justable, steel truss rod carefully placed down the center. This makes it easier
to adjust the action, from inside the body, to slight player preference, and to correct the small but natural changes that happen in all wood. Nine Mother of Pearl position
markers are set into the ebony fingerboard. The fingerboard is bound and the entire assembly is bonded onto rhe neck. A neck and body are paired and the heel is shaved to fit the body flush.
Finishing
The neck is hand wiped with a stain to match the body and sides. The body is sprayed with several coats of lacquer on the back and sides, and the top sprayed to a 7 millimeter thickness. Between each coat the finish is hand-sanded and the final coat is then buffed.
Final Set-Up
Now the matched neck and body are glued and perma-nently joined. The ebony bridge is carefully placed for proper intonation. The Ivory nut is hand fit and notches are cut for exact string spacing and height. Then, with the saddle set at the correct height, string action is completed
Time to Settle
The Great Plains Guitar is just about finished. But first the woods must be left to adjust and settle, naturally. Then, the nut, saddle and truss rod are checked and given any necessary adjustments.
While many parts of our Great Plains Guitar must be crafted together according to a very detailed plan and schedule, it's still up to individual judgement to decide when our guitar is ready to be your guitar.
That will take many times longer than it takes to make other guitars. You’ll know this pride of craftsmanship is complete when it carries the signatures of the Mossman craftsmen.
S. L. Mossman Guitars.
Available through C. G. Conn, Ltd.
616 Enterprise Drive
Oak Brook, Illinois 60521
Timber Creek
This model is my favorite. The sound hole is ornamented with carefully selected dark greenheart abalone inlaid in wooden rings. The purfling around the top is Rosewood between lines of black and white Maple. The abalone position markers are very small slotted squares and ellipses. Gold Grover Rotamatic tuners set off the bound peghead and fingerboard. The Tim-ber Creek features new style I-beam bracing available on all Mossman models. Like all Mossman guitars, it has solid Rosewood back and sides and Ebony bridge and fingerboard. This is a very simple yet elegant professional concert instrument.
Timber Creek
Homecomings have always been special. For us, the road to Winfield usually begins in Wichita with an overland ride that often seems longer than it really is. Timber Creek comes from the north, flows by our front door, and heads south into the Walnut River. It’s a special landmark. Because when we cross Timber Creek, we re home. For that joy, we named this guitar Timber Creek.
Wood Selection
Each morning, the rosewood for the three-piece back and sides is selected from the same tree, when-ever possible. Depending on grain beauty, the back wings and
wedge will either match or complement each other. Quarter sawn, flitch-matched Sitka spruce is selected for the top.
Patterned and cut, the sides are steam-softened and pressed into Mossman Dreadnaught forms. The curves will be graceful to make our body stronger.
Bracing
To create more top movement and better resonance, craftsmen shave and taper the spruce braces. Lower in mass, strength is still great. Braces interlock and connect all along the inner lining of the guitar. This unique lightweight,
triangulated pattern creates a strong, tight body with best possible sound production.
Body Assembly
Woods are dried and monitored for low moisture level. When ready, the top is candled with bright lights. If the wood is flawless, the back, sides and top are fit, and the body glued.
Body Purfling and Binding
Back and top are now trimmed absolutely flush. A simple five band purfling is carefully placed in hand routed grooves around body edge, and abalone shell
inlay is cut and placed around sound hole. Then, for decoration, and added protection as well, the body is bound in white. When dry, both purfling and binding are hand-shaved smooth.
Neck
Meanwhile, the mahogany neck has been carved to shape, and the adjustable steel truss rod care-fully placed down the center. With the adjust-ment inside the
body, the player can alter the action slightly or correct the small, but natural changes that occur in wood. Delicately hand cut traditional squares and elipses of abalone shell are individually laid into the ebony fingerboard, and the entire assembly is glued onto the neck. The peg head and fingerboard are bound in white. The neck heel is shaved to conform perfectly with a body and will be joined later.
Finishing
In the finishing shop, the neck is sanded and stained to match the back and sides. The back and sides are sprayed with several coats of lacquer and the
top sprayed to 7 millimeters, at most. Between each coat the body is hand-sanded for a smoother finish.
Final Set-Up Mated neck and body are joined. The ebony bridge is care-fully placed for proper intona-tion. The height of strings is set
by hand-notching the Ivory nut
the Ivory nut
and setting the Micarta saddle at the proper height. The notching also spaces the strings evenly, center to center. The entire guitar is then buffed and polished.
Time to Settle
For awhile the Timber Creek Guitar is left for the wood to settle. Later, the final adjustment of nut, saddle and truss rod will complete the guitar.
A Mossman Guitar takes many times longer to complete than it takes to make most guitars. The Timber Creek is hand-made, and carries the pride in craftsmanship of the people who made it. So, judgment makes it right, not fast. If you have to wait a little longer for your Timber Creek, it’s because each guitar only leaves us when we re satisfied with it. Then we know you’ll be.
S. L. Mossman Guitars. Available through C. G. Conn, Ltd. 616 Enterprise Drive Oak Brook, Illinois 60521
PRINTED IN U.S.A. M 8-6
Tennessee Flat Top
For all that Tennessee gave music... the Bluegrass bands, the flat pickers, the front porch sound... for all the inspiration they give us, we give back in their name. The Tennessee Flat Top.
Body Wood Selection For this, our only mahogany guitar, our foreman selects and matches quarter-sawn wood for the back and sides, whenever possible from the same tree. Only the straightest-grained natural Honduras ma-hogany, and flitch-matched, Sitka spruce for the top are marked and cut to the Mossman Dreadnaught pattern. The sides are steam-softened, bound to forms that curve grace-fully, and shaped to make our body stronger.
Bracing
We use a specially developed bracing sys-tem. The spruce braces are gracefully shaved and tapered. Ex-perienced craftsmen re-duce the mass
of each brace to provide even sound dis-tribution, without reducing structural strength. This lightweight, triangulated
PRINTED IN U.S.A.
M 4-6
bracing system gives greater body strength yet more top movement and sound projec-tion. Braces are not only notched and inter-locked to one another, but to all parts of the lining strip inside the guitar.
Purfling and Binding
Now the back and top are trimmed and grooved. We inlay the red-amber Coral Snake wood purfling into these grooves. When dry, we sand both body binding
and purfling to a smooth contour.
The Neck
Meanwhile, in another part of the shop, the Mahogany neck has been carved to shape, and the adjustable truss rod carefully cen-tered in the neck.
This unique Mossman design enables complete neck adjustment from inside the body, to accommodate slight player prefer-ences and natural changes in the wood. Mother of Pearl position markers are inlaid into ebony fingerboard, and the entire board is glued onto the neck. The heel is hand-shaved to mate perfectly with the body. Parts are numbered to bring fitted pieces together in final set-up.
Body Assembly
The moisture content of the wood is con-stantly checked. When properly dried, the top is candled with bright lights to detect undesirable flaws in the wood. If flawless, we hand-fit back, sides and top, and the body is glued together.
Finishing
In the finish-ing room, the neck is stained and inspected. The body is sprayed with several coats of lacquer on the back and sides and the top is coated until the lacquer thickness reaches a maxi-mum of 7 millimeters. All parts are hand-sanded between coats.
Final Set-up Now, the matched neck and body are joined. The bridge is carefully placed for proper intonation. The ebony nut is hand-
notched to space the strings evenly, center to center, and to set the action at the proper height. The saddle is placed in the bridge to complete the proper action setting.
Settling Time
All wood instruments need time to settle. So, for a period of time, the Tennessee Flat Top is left to do nothing. Once stable, we readjust the nut, saddle and truss rod, so it’s ready for you.
Every step in making the parts and putting each guitar together is a matter of careful planning and timing. It takes many times longer to make a Mossman Tennessee Flat Top than many other guitars, because it must satisfy all the craftsmen who work on it and sign it before it leaves.
So when you order one, be patient. Remember, we’re making our guitar your guitar.
S. L. Mossman Guitars. Available through C. G. Conn, Ltd. 616 Enterprise Drive
Oak Brook, Illinois 60521
Original Format
Paper