Stuart Mossman

Stuart Mossman (May 13, 1942 – March 2, 1999) was an American guitar maker, entertainer and entrepreneur who built 6,000 guitars from 1968 to 1984 that were played by several professional guitarists, including John Denver, Eric Clapton, Albert Lee, Doc Watson, Hank Snow, Cat Stevens and Merle Travis. Mossman's work is seen as the foundation for today's generations of Luthiers who build guitars from fine tone woods.

Background Mossman was born in Hinsdale, Illinois, on May 13, 1942. He began making nylon-string guitars in 1961 and spent several years designing 40 to 50 prototypes in his garage in Winfield, Kansas. Mossman took his first steel-string flat top to legendary acoustic singer-songwriter Doc Watson and asked for his "brutal" opinion. Watson gave it to him, and Mossman took his advice and applied it to his next design. He took another guitar to Watson at the 1969 Philadelphia Folk Festival, where, this time, the guitarist used it on stage, and reportedly told Mossman it was the "second best guitar he'd ever played." Mossman never wanted to produce guitars on a mass scale.

The company gained notable recognition by 1974 and was producing up to eight to ten guitars a day, each one personally inspected by Mossman himself.

"I Personally inspected each guitar we made before shipment. Eight to ten per day is as many as we would ever want to make because it would be difficult to personally inspect more than that amount."

C.G. Conn Company The same year of the company fire Mossman initiated a deal with the C.G. Conn Company and produced 1,200 guitars for dealer set for distribution. The guitars were stored in a warehouse in Nevada, which had minimal controls for heat and humidity and the solid wood of the Mossman guitars were repeatedly 'heated during the day and frozen at night' causing the finish on the guitars to suffer cracks and breaks.

Keith Carradine's Oscar- and Golden Globe-winning song, "I'm Easy", which appeared in the 1975 Robert Altman film, Nashville was performed on his custom-made S.L. Mossman guitar. The same guitar was featured throughout the film as Carradine's character, who is a renowned folk singer, performs with it.

Stuart Mossman: A Modern Stradivari Stuart Mossman: A Modern Stradivari, directed by Barry Brown, premiered at the 25th Santa Barbara International Film Festival, in February 2010 to a sold-out audience. In attendance at the screening were Mossman's wife, and his daughters who thanked the director and audience for the interests and support for their father. The film also screened at the Tallgrass Film Festival in Wichita in October 2010.

The documentary chronicles Mossman's life through testimonials from Mossman's employees, fans, and friends who recount his work, influence and their time shared with the luthier. One scene in the film showcases the world's largest collective of Mossman guitar players gathered at the Smithsonian Memorial to Mossman, in Winfield, Kansas which commemorates his contribution to the guitar and music industries.

The film features the Carradine brothers, David, Keith and Bobby performing on their custom-built Mossman guitars, they all divulge stories of how they became supporters of Mossman and his art. "The story is spoken by those who lived it, directly to the audience with unfiltered emotion-told with purposeful simplicity." Mossman had appeared with David Carradine in Cloud Dancer (1980), which Brown also directed, and with all three of the Carradine brothers mentioned in The Long Riders (1980). The film is also noted as David Carradine's final onscreen performance and the end of the movie attributes to both him and Mossman as Carradine's brother Bobby and his son perform on their Mossman guitars at David Carradine's gravesite.