Inside The Trojan Horse: Santa Cruz Guitar Company

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Videos by American Songwriter

The ability to produce custom guitars also gives Santa Cruz dealers an edge. Rick Fagan, of Rick’s Guitar Shop in San Diego, California, is able to order custom instruments that he believes have an appeal to his clientele.

Walking through the shop, Fagan points out custom-ordered guitars and the features and variations he requested based on his customers’ preferences.

“Sometimes customers may have different playing options,” says Fagan. “Somebody says, ‘I really like this OM model, but the 1 ¾” neck is just a little too narrow for me.’  So, I’m happy to custom order the guitar with the wider neck.”

“Sometimes people come in, and they would like to add special inlay, maybe an abalone top. So, there are two things: the performance option, and the more visual,” Fagan says.

And while Santa Cruz’s catalog mostly features guitars with what Hoover describes as “simple elegance,” he is willing to indulge any request for opulence and ornamentation. But, Hoover adds, “The important thing is, we put the same body of knowledge, skills and talent in our plainest guitars as we do in our fanciest.”

Even more revered than the visual appeal of Santa Cruz guitars is their sound. They have a reputation for being highly resonate and having a complexity of overtones, thanks to the highly resonant tonewoods of the body and the finely tuned braces hidden beneath the top.

So what’s on the horizon for the next 35 years? Will Santa Cruz Guitar Company be swallowed up by one of the larger music conglomerates? Sold off to the highest bidder?

Hoover is quick to squash such ideas. “I’m doing exactly what I want to do. What price would you put on that?”

 

 

 

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