Handmade: A tour of the Santa Cruz Guitar Company

A little history on the Santa Cruz Guitar Company: The company began as a partnership of three men: Richard Hoover, Bruce Ross and William Davis who formed the company in 1976. Times were tough in the early years as the market was dominated mainly by Martin and Gibson and one of the partners decided to part ways (Davis, who now works at ILM). Hoover and David continued to run the business together until 1989 when Richard Hoover bough out Ross’s part of the company. Richard Hoover studied under local Santa Cruz luthier Bruce McGuire, a Classical Guitar maker, where he learned the basics of guitar building. From there Richard wanted to expand his understanding of the craft, but there were really no books on the subject at that time. He then turned to the work of the great masters of Violin building for inspiration and new techniques, and began to develop the “Santa Cruz style of guitar building” that he continues to practice today.

The Santa Cruz Guitar Company is housed in a nondescript building in a small business park in Santa Cruz. You walk through the front door that leads to the main offices and are greeted by the kindest of faces and warmest of people. Richard Hoover, owner and founder of the Santa Cruz Guitar Company, introduces himself and I am immediately taken back by how warm and friendly the man is. We speak briefly about what I hope to cover in this story and he is open to anything we want to do. He has a sense of pride that is both inviting and engrossing when he speaks about his guitars.

Richard’s office is decorated with years of guitar production history. You get a sense that this man lives for what he does. I spot a gorgeous piece of wood beside his desk and wonder if it will ever become a guitar? We decide to start with a tour of the factory (though I would hesitate to call it a factory, it is more a workshop- this is far from an assembly line).

The tour of the shop begins with the most important part of the guitar equation: the wood. Richard shows off his stash of rare and beautiful woods that will one day become Santa Cruz guitars. The woods are all kiln dried on site to help speed the aging process, and then stored in the main humidity-controlled shop. Richard is passionate about the sustainable yield and reclaimed woods that are used to make his guitars (check out “A conversation with Richard Hoover for more about the woods used for Santa Cruz Guitars).

Richard walks me through the CNC machine with a full appreciation of the irony of having a CNC in a company that prides itself on hand building all of the instruments. The CNC machine removes all of the repetitive tasks that could cause the craftsmen at Santa Cruz to suffer from any number of repetitive stress disorders. It is used to shape necks, leaving only the final hand shaping for the Luthiers to finish. The software and hardware used allow the precise dimensions of a neck to be fed into a computer using a CAD like software package; the software programs the exact movements of the CNC machine. The neck being “traced” in the photos was hand carved and is used as a template for the neck carves of Santa Cruz Guitars. The Fadal CNC machine is widely used in the high-end guitars by noted makes such as: Bob Taylor, Tom Anderson and James Olsen. The Fadal is also used for routing the gorgeous inlays on the guitars.

In the main shop we get to see Richard’s “Bench Style” of guitar building in action. Each guitar is worked on individually and you really see how much time and effort goes into one of these instruments. The shop truly embodies the idea of hand built; a Santa Cruz Luthier trained by Richard Hoover works each piece of the guitar. They take the instrument from its rudimentary beginnings all the way to the completed guitar. As you walk through the shop you see each of the guitars begin to take shape, from the hand carved neck to the binding scraping, the gluing, clamping and everything in between. All of the binding routing, shaping, etc is all done by hand.

I was treated to a display of the massive talent of the Luthiers at the Santa Cruz Guitar Company when Stephen Ford showed us his personal project guitar. The instrument was unbelievable in terms of the detail and craftsmanship displayed, as you can see in the photos. The guitar has an astounding Brazilian Rosewood Back and matching sides, an arm bevel, side port and beautiful blue accents that really work well with the wood. The instrument is breath taking even in its uncompleted state. Richard is never short of praise for the people who work for him, he is always happy to point out how talented the Luthiers are.

Next it was a visit to the paint and buff room where we were able to see some of the wet sanding and buffing of the guitars. Again, what you immediately gain is a sense of the quality of the people who work at Santa Cruz. All of the employees are committed to the instruments they are creating. You see them approach each section of the creation process with a level of seriousness that is apparent in the finished product.

The final assembly room is where all of the pieces come together. The bridge is glued to the body, the instrument is fretted, and set up is completed in this room. Richard informs me that all the guitars leave this room ready to play “Some guitars you buy require a visit to your local tech for a final set up to play its best, but here at the Santa Cruz shop we are committed to delivering an instrument that is ready to be played right out of the case.

The tour of the Santa Cruz Guitar Company fulfilled my greatest expectations of what I always pictured a guitar company to be about. What I found in Santa Cruz was a group of artists committed to creating the world’s finest acoustic guitars and they do so without a hint of pretension or arrogance. I can say without a doubt that my next acoustic guitar will be a Santa Cruz.

Thanks to Richard, Willie and all the kind people at the Santa Cruz Guitar Company for a wonderful tour and a renewed appreciation for the acoustic guitar.