The Thrill of Acquisition
For quite some time I have wanted to purchase a new acoustic guitar. Now mind you, I am not a great guitar player. I would classify my skill level as fair and improving. I would also note that my current Yamaha guitar that I purchased in 1990 is a decent instrument. Throughout the last 21 years, it has moved with me from Rhode Island to Virginia to California and then to North Carolina. It has been out to sea while I was in the Navy and occasionally has gone on vacation with me. For a few years, I allowed it to sit in the corner - collecting dust. In recent years, however, I have enjoyed playing it quite regularly. Sometimes I would play with others, but mostly I play alone for my personal entertainment. Nevertheless and despite having a guitar, I was ready for a new instrument and I wanted to ensure I acquired one that I would truly enjoy.
A Year Long Process that Started as a Gift
The journey to my recent purchase started last Christmas when my wife and daughters gave me a card with a picture of a guitar on it. They wanted to give me a new guitar as a gift, but knew that obtaining one was a personal process and told me to pick out what I wanted.At first, I wanted to go to the closest guitar shop and just buy one, but realized that this purchase required due diligence. Of course, there are several good acoustic guitar manufacturers to choose from and initially I wanted to purchase a Taylor. Many of my friends owned Taylors and I always enjoyed the sound, look, and feel of the Taylor acoustic guitar. I also tried various Gibson and Martin models, and briefly considered buying a Gibson instead.Ironically, as I tested and played more and more models, I kept discovering things I liked and didn’t like in an acoustic guitar. This only complicated the purchasing process because it started to become harder to find what I was looking for.The gift really was more than the actual guitar, it also included the experience of shopping and purchasing, which as it turns out would be just as exciting.
Santa Cruz Guitar Company
I discovered Santa Cruz Guitar Company (SCGC) with my wife while we were walking through a vendor tent at Merlefest last May. She pointed them out to me and I was immediately drawn to the beauty of the instruments on display. I became even more impressed as I played several of the models. The model I was most interested in was the Orchestra Model (OM). It was the perfect size and the sound was beautiful. The other unique feature that drew my attention was the gorgeous sunburst finish on the top wood. This was the guitar I wanted or at least this was what I was looking for. Now, at this point I should have decided to purchase it then and maybe I should have. But I am so glad I didn’t.After Merlefest, I started researching SCGC. The more I learned, the more I realized that I wanted my guitar to come from this company. To begin, SCGC only produces about 600 – 700 guitars per year. They are hand crafted and not mass-produced. But even more impressive, was the company’s desire to use reclaimed and sustainable sources of wood vice virgin sources wherever possible in the construction. As someone who believes in using more sustainable practices, this was a no-brainer. It was clear to me that SCGC shared similar values that I have on minimizing society's impact to the environment. A fact that is at the core of SCGC's business.
Finding the Guitar I Wanted
I knew I wanted an OM, but I also wanted it to have a sunburst top as well. Unfortunately, the standard OM has a clear finish top. From May through September, I reviewed all the domestic dealer inventories and inquired with SCGC to find an OM with a sunburst top. This proved to be quite complicated, leading me to believe that I may just have to “settle” for a standard OM.
Then Came a Trip to Portland Oregon
In early October I had a chance to travel to Portland on a business trip. While visiting there I met Chuck Johnson at Apple Music. I specifically wanted to check out Apple Music while in Portland because I knew they carried Santa Cruz Guitars and had a couple OM’s in stock. Chuck was great – he set me up in a room with the instruments and allowed me as much time as I wanted to play and check them out. Although the OM’s Chuck had at Apple were amazing instruments, they were still not what I was looking for. Chuck and I discussed what I was looking for and he suggested having one custom made. What’s more, he had one slot open at the end of the year for a custom build at Santa Cruz. It could be mine if I wanted it – meaning I could have my new guitar soon.This sounded too good to be true. So after discussing with Lisa, I called Chuck and ordered my custom made OM with a Sunburst finish.Then Chuck invited me to join him in Santa Cruz to actually pick out the wood for my new guitar. In addition to selecting the woods, he wanted me to tour the shop with him and meet the people who would be making it. This is “crazy” I thought, but decided “why not.”
Traveling to Santa Cruz
During the first weekend in November, I flew to California and met Chuck in Santa Cruz. He drove me to the SCGC shop where I met the company’s Founder & Owner: Richard Hoover.The next two days were amazing. What I learned and experienced went beyond what I had expected, providing me with something Richard coined as the “Thrill of Acquisition.” In addition, Richard and I discovered that we shared a similar passion for sustainability and environmental responsibility. By the end of my visit, I had developed a friendship with an amazing craftsman who has made guitars for some of music's greatest guitar players including Eric Clapton, Johnny Cash, Elvis Costello, Dave Mathews, Tony Rice, & Doc Watson.
Learning about the Process
After introductions and discussing what I was looking for in a a guitar, Richard provided me with a personal tour of his shop.
During the tour he shared with me his story about how he came into making guitars, which I encourage you to read on the SCGC website. It is a fascinating story and hearing it first hand added an additional dimension that is hard to describe in words.We also spent a great bit of time discussing where and how he obtains his wood thru sustainable or reclamation sources. For example, he obtains his Indian Rosewoods from a sustainably run plantation in India.
He also had examples of pieces of reclaimed woods that came from old buildings and sunk timber logs. One of the more interesting sustainable sources was a mahogany plantation in Fiji. It was established by Great Britain during WW I as a sustainable source of wood for ship building. They secretly acquired trees from South America and established this plantation - keeping its location unknown from the Germans.An area of specific interest to me was how SCGC “tunes” the wood in order to obtain the desired sound. I learned that you can pick a wood for a specific tone – bright versus warm, but to obtain the desired balance of sound (bass, treble, etc), the luthier has to tune the wood.
This is a manual process that ensures that each guitar is tuned to the desired sound – optimizing what sound the wood can generate. It is literally art & science combined. I was amazed as music lover and intrigued as an engineer. I was now even more convinced that this is where I wanted my guitar to be made
Picking the Woods
After learning about the process, it was time to choose the details for my instrument – starting with the woods. The first selection I had to make was the desired body wood. I chose a beautiful set of Indian Rosewood, which is known for its warm, dark, blended and rich tones.
Next, I chose Sitka Spruce for the top wood. The most frequent choice in acoustic steel string guitars, Sitka is known for how it accentuates the warm round aspects of the guitar's tone - a perfect match for the Indian Rosewood.Finally, Richard had me pick a piece of Mahogany that would be used for the guitar’s neck. What made the experience even more personal was with each wood I chose, Richard had me write my name on it. These were now my pieces of wood for my guitar.
In addition to the selection of woods, I had to decide some of the finishing details. The most important finishing detail was my choice for the sunburst top design.
Besides that, I had not considered other finishing details. In fact, I was looking for what I would call “simple elegance”. The woods and the sunburst pattern I chose were so beautiful and perfect, that I didn’t really need any additional flare on the guitar. Therefore, I made some basic finishing choices on inlays and chose some nickel tuners with a vintage style.After returning home, I realized this was a once-in-a-lifetime experience that truly provided me the “Thrill of Acquisition.” I designed the instrument I wanted with the materials I chose. In addition, I did it with the luthier who will ensure its perfection. In the end, I am so glad I chose to do. It will only add to the beauty and enjoyment of the guitar for years to come.As I was finishing this post, I received word that my order went into production this week. Now comes the hard part – waiting for it to be completed. But it will be so worth the wait.