2019 Santa Cruz Custom OM

Story

This guitar was made for us by Richard Hoover and Santa Cruz Guitar Company (SCGC) when we produced a documentary about their company. We spent two days with Richard and the Santa Cruz gang to design this guitar. We worked with Richard to pick out every aspect of this guitar, and it was made of the finest parts and with the most amazing skill and care. Not only did we choose the look and features, but we chose the nut width and string distances and neck shape for what felt good. As guided by Richard, we went with a 100-year-old Spruce top for a bright but rounded sound, Adirondack bracing to help with brightening, and Mahogany tone woods on the back and sides (which are feathered and gorgeous, by the way!) for a deep richness to make it be a full sound with some bottom when needed. The guitar sounds amazing. It plays amazing. And it looks amazing.

Santa Cruz Guitar Company

Richard Hoover is guitar-making legend. He founded Santa Cruz Guitar Company (SCGC) in 1976. He learned about luthiery through the art of violin-making, and he brought those methods and standards into making guitars. It’s fun to hear the stories of the guitars he made for Eric Clapton, Tony Rice, and Brad Paisley. But more importantly, SCGC makes each guitar to be an exceptional instrument, in harmony with itself. They start with a sustainably harvested, old-growth top that has a wonderful tone to it when you strike it with your knuckle – rich and full of overtones. They choose the tone wood (for back and sides) and the bracing woods to complement. They custom carve the bracing to be in tune with the top. And they even lean into and emphasize either bass or treble by carving the bracings towards achieving a preference of sound. The point is that every piece of wood is unique. So you can’t just make a guitar to a set of physical specs and expect it to sound beautiful (or to sound the same as the last one). Wood tones are natural and can be matched and shaped harmoniously or can be stifled and muted by dissonant and deadening additions of wood not carved into harmony with the instrument as a whole. Santa Cruz Guitar Company embraces this level of craftsmanship in creating a one-of-a-kind beautifully sounding instrument. They are also at the peak of performance instrument engineering, as well. They maintain a full Pleck process, and utilize tech and machinery for redundant motion tasks, saving their luthiers for the true design and craftsman ship roles. They’re just an all around exceptional company and make the finest guitars. Every part of the process is top notch, as you see in the documentary.

Condition

This guitar is in excellent-to-mint condition as far as we know and can tell.

Specs

Serial #: 5727

Style: OM

Measurements

• Scale Length = 25.375 in.
• Width at 14th Fret = 2 3/16 in.
• String Spacing at Saddle = 2 3/16 in.
• Nut Width = 1 ¾ in.

Top

• Old Growth (100+ Years)
• Sitka Spruce
• Two Piece

Bracing

• Adirondack
• Ladder Bracing
• Hot Hide Glue

Finish

• Custom Sunburst
• Clear Liquid Cellulose

Back & Sides

• Feathered Mahogany

Binding

• Ivoroid for Body, Neck, Headstock
• Paua Shell Purfling

Bridge

• Ebony Fixed Bridge
• Bone Saddle
• 2 3/16” String Spacing
• Ebony Pins with Mother of Pearl Dots

Rosette

• Abalone and Paua Shell

Fingerboard

• Ebony
• Tree of Life Inlay
• Blue Paua Shell

Neck

• Round Shape
• Gloss Finish
• Bone Nut

Headstock

• Closed
• Ivoroid and Paua Shell Design
• Scrip Logo

Tuners

• Silver Tuning Machines
• Ebony Buttons