Santa Cruz 00

2005 Santa Cruz 00-42, slot head, 12 fret, Sitka spruce top, East Indian Rosewood back and sides, ebony fretboard with style 42 snowflake inlays, ebony bridge with six point snowflake inlays, ebony peghead overlay with custom torch inlay, maple bridge plate, bone nut, FWI bridge pins and saddle, herringbone trim, waverly open back butterbean tuners.

Not as much bass nor as rich a bass response as my Martin Brazilian dread, but much brighter midrange and treble. Wonderful note separation and sustain. Enough volume to punch through a 22 member church group with no problem (better than the Martin in this regard). Great finger picking guitar, very good strumming. Great for percussive jazz rhythm playing. Great for folk style music. Not a bluegrass instrument (hey, it's a 00). No internal pickup.

Flawless construction
Bridge was actually a bit low making it easy to buzz the strings in dry winter weather. Raising the bridge (thank you Bob Colosi) put an end to that and resulted in a bit of increased volume in the process. Action remains very easy, probably due to the shorter scale.

No reliability/durability issues, tho its only been 7 months.

Unlike the previous reviewer, I've emailed Richard Hoover(founder, owner,CEO, head honcho of SCGC) directly and both times received a prompt response (once even on a Sunday afternoon).

Limited original owner lifetime warranty,

I've played for 39 years.

I have an ancient (not Vintage) Epiphone electric, a low rent Epiphone 12 String, a 1978 Martin D-19, a 1986 Martin J-40M, a 2001 Martin Custom D-41 with Adirondack and Brazilian, and this SCGC 00-42. Would I buy it again? In a heartbeat. If I had to order a new one, I'd ask for a bit more bass response, but that's kind of like complaining about the size of cup-holders on a Mercedes, if you get my drift.

Regular (if that's appropriate for such an instrument!) OO as on the catalog. 12 frets clear. All-solid wood: Sitka spruce top, Indian rosewood back and sides. Ebony fingerboard, slotted peghead (looks great) and Waverly tuners.
The combination if the very light colored Sitka spruce and the herringbone purfling looks absolutely beautiful (and classy).
So, not tons of features, but in my view, anything extra would be out of place for such a guitar.
Hardshell case is (included) is top quality and holds the guitar very firmly.

Let's make it clear, this guitar has written fingerpicking all-over. Sound is extremely well balanced and sweet. Bass is well present without being overwhelming, whilst medium and treble are very well defined and sweet.
Now, I have tried to flatpick (just to get a feel...) and there, no surprise, it sounds bright and even fairly thin (That's when I go back to my Martin Dreadnought...unfair comparison however).
So not the most polyvalent guitar, but let's stress it, I have never heard a guitar sounding so precise and well balanced. Surprisingly also, for such a small body, the sustain is quite impressive and you wonder where it comes from (more central bridge position due to 12 frets clear? maybe?).
Ideal to fingerpick some old 30s'blues and all sort of American folk music. I also love to play it when the kids are in bed, it sounds so sweet that it would never wake them up...

Immaculate finish (I tried to spot some glue inside, but there was nothing to be seen...). Flawless.
Low action makes it very easy to play (no buzzing frets).

Only bought this guitar recently, but it looks very well put together. I have read it in other reviews, but I was still surprised how light it is. Surely a sign of very good fabrication. The fact that Santa Cruz provides lifetime warranty tells you something about their confidence.

Not required any assistance yet. As stated above, lifetime warranty, which always gives a reassuring feeling.
I purchased it from Kelvyn Guitars, Santa Cruz's worldwide distributor. Shipped in Europe with Fedex, everything went smoothly, no problems.

I own a few different guitars (Martin D, Takamine Electro-acoustic, Gibson Les Paul) and I use this one mainly to play at home some sweeter stuff (again, this is not a strumming guitar). I absolutely love it. It is beautiful and it may look funny for a guitar at this price, but I really believe that it is good value for money. Before buying it, I compared it with equivalent instruments from Froggy Bottom, Bourgeois, Collings, Huss&Dalton (all great, I'm sure) and this Santa Cruz appeared to be a very good deal.

I bought it new back in 2001 ( sorry for the delay in submitting a review but you need time with it to really speak to it )
This is a 00 body size with a German Spruce top, East Indian Rosewood Sides and back. It is 12 frets to the neck with Waverly Tuners
It is Fingerstyle all the way !!!

I am a fingerstyle player singer songwriter and I record on to a Tascam DA88 using a pair of Neumann KM184's. This little 00 is so perfectly balanced it frightens me at times. Nothing rings too long or drowns out another frequency range. From Bass to Highs this Santa Cruz is like a Stradivarius. With the German Spruce top my highs are clear as a bell and with the small body the bass and mids are just right - no boom - no mud. The complexity of tonal colors this SC creates is a stunner. Now the best part - the intonation - all over the guitar every note is dead on - Che Bella !

The german spruce top has some bearclaw in it - some might not like it but I do..inside and out the guitar is meticulous. The guitar looks like a throwback with its'headstock and the Waverly tuners etc..etc... The action is best I've ever felt - this 00 is THE easiest guitar to play !

Considering I treat this guitar like it was my child - I have no doubt it will out live me !

When I went shopping for a small bodied guitar I had SC in mind from day one. I exchanged many emails and made many calls to SC and they were wonderful - very helpful " tech support ". Hey they even sent me a cool SC T-Shirt ! BUT I want to make one complaint. I recently sent a thank you email to Richard Hoover telling him how much I've loved having this instrument and how my musical friends think it's magical. I also mentioned that I turned a fellow player on to SC and he bought the FS model - to date I've recd no reply from Richard or any employee. Mike Millard at Froggy on the other hand ALWAY took the time to say thanks.

Hey Richard - I made you over $6000.00 how about a thank you !

Been playing acoustic for over 25 years- been through Martin's and Taylor's and I played all the major high end luthiers models. I also own an incredible Froggy Bottom M series that I recently purchased.
This SC is a masterpiece - as I said above it is a Stradivarius.
It's SO easy to play and record. It's not as warm and woody as the Froggy Bottom M - but hey the Frog is a Grand Concert body - the SC is 00 ! To those raised on the Dreadnaught the 00 might sound thin - but put a pair of Neumann's in front of her and you will think twice ! It sounds INCREDIBLE !

I give the 00 an overall 10 but I will say I love the Froggy M more !
If I had to do it all over again - I MIGHT consider the Froggy H or Parlor - their bodies are deeper than the SC and I love that Woody/Warm sound Michael seems to nail down on all his instruments

But man this SC sounds REEEEEEEEEEEEEAL GOOD !