I first met Mr. Willie Carter when I took a tour of the Santa Cruz Guitar Company in August of last year. Willie was kind enough to arrange for my visit and made the whole experience an absolute pleasure. It had been about six month since I had last heard from Willie when an email arrived in my inbox. As it turns out Willie had started a new guitar company and wanted to see if I was interested it checking out what they were up to – how could I say no?

The first thing that strikes you as you exit the highway and drive into the town of Santa Cruz is the remarkable air of calm that surrounds. Perhaps it is the freshness of the air, or perhaps the surrounding beauty of the trees, but in the end you are left feeling, “I would love to live here.”