1973 Mossman Great Plains Custom Guitar

(Serial No. 73-252) My first "real" guitar was a Mossman. I still think they are outstanding guitars. I'm not sure if this is a Flint Hills model with Brazilain rosewood back and sides, or a Great Plains model with B/W/B top trim. Mossman built a number of custom and one-offs, and this may easily be one of them. I'm going to call it a Great Plains. Excellent condition with old growth straight grain Brazilian rosewood back and beautifully figured Brazilian sides (all sourced from Martin, as evidenced by the checker backstripe), solid Sitka spruce top, ebony fingerboard with pearl dots, nickel Schaller tuners that appear original to the guitar, and an ebony bridge. Built pre-fire in the Winfield, KS shop (the Mossman factory had a devastating fire in 1975 which destoyed the company’s considerable stash of Brazilian rosewood), 1 and 11/16″ nut, low profile neck, ivoroid binding, B/W/B purfling and that GREAT strong Mossman sound, very good condition overall, and signed on the label by all the craftsmen that worked on it. Finish and hardware is all original with no repairs noted. Shows some minor finish checking. Stu Mossman was a builder 20 years ahead of his time, with some early innovations: bolt on neck, low profile necks, mortoise and tenon neck joints, and an attention to quality that was not prevelant in other American guitar factories in the early 70’s – which many regard as the dark years for certain American brands. Mossmans were hand built, very high quality guitars. Excellent action and playability, as the neck was just reset and the guitar was set up by Richie Dotson of Acoustic Box LLC in Chesterfield VA. Here is a video clip of this guitar as played by Richie. This is an excellent US made bluegrass guitar with lots of volume and tone. Why play the same thing everyone else has? Comes with a very clean periold Ess and Ess hard case with gold lining.

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