Santa Cruz 12-Fret Dreadnought

My D12 was built in 2006 it is stock with the exception of a Highland IP1 pickup installed. It has Herringbone inlays around the top and soundhole which are beautiful. This guitar is very light, comfortable and easy to play. The quality of Mahogany and Spruce are the nicest I've seen on pretty much any guitar. It give you a renewed admiration for Mahogany!!! Obviously being a 12 Fret Dreadnought you get the longer and larger dreadnought body which makes it sound powerful!

This guitar sounds amazing!!!!! I has a huge powerful voice with a snappy bright sound as well due to the Mahogany!! It is comparable in tone to the newer Special Edition Martin Ditson 12 Fret models. The Highlander pickup give it a great natural plugged in sound as well. No complaints on this end.

This guitar has an amazing setup and its effortless to play!!! The action seems just right with 12's! The fit and finish were flawless like most Santa Cruz guitars!

The is great in lived plugged in settings as well as in front of a nice mic live or in the studio!! Its only 2-3 years old so its hard to say about reliability but I have heard that just because they are light weight they are still built very well if you take good care of them. The stock TKL SC case is very high quality as well!!

I called Santa Cruz with some questions and they were very helpful even offered to look it over for me. They even let me talk to the owner and master luthier Richard Hoover which was really cool. He was a gentleman and very helpful. It is hard to find this level of dedications to instruments from any other company I have dealt with!!!!

I have own 8 Sant Cruz guitars over the years. I prefer them over Collings which are very simlar high quality guitars!!! I have been playing for about 14 years and I just put out my second album. This guitar is one of the finest acoustic guitars money can buy!!!! If you can deal with lack of access to the upper frets you are rewarded with an amazing guitar!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Everything about this instrument commands attention. Visually it is understated, adorned with simple snowflake position markers and herringbone accents. The slotted headstock, with ebony overlay, is a wonderful element of this vintage design. Nitro cellulose finish, vintage style Waverly tuners. Having owned this guitar for five years I continue to be amazed with the stunning attention to detail. Top-notch in all respects. All solid woods, of course. Mahoghany back and sides, stika spruce top. 12-fret, slope shouldered design. The neck is very large.....probably not suitable for everyone. 2001 model, built in Santa Cruz, California. Magnificent, really.

I play traditional American music, both flat picking and fingerstyle, in standard an open tunings. This thing is a canon. It would be inaccruate to focus on the volume this thing produces---it is quite loud. It is the complexity of tone that is reamrkable. I've played lots of acoustics over the years. The Santa Cruz 12 Fret Dreadnaught is a sobering experience. Lots of bass, mids, and treble...all very clear. It's a cliche to say this guitar is well balanced....the tone is truly magic. Though very light, the D12 can take what you can dish out. Go ahead, thrash it, it only wants to be played. On the otherhand it is a fingerstyle joy, especially in open tunings. Did I mention that it never seems to go out of tune?

The action from the factory was high......just the way I like it. There were no flaws. Zero. None. Remember, I have owned this guitar for five years. The Santa Cruz D12 is a museum quality instrument meant to be played and played. It would be a crime to hang it on a wall.

With this guitar you are ready for anything. The finish, by design, is somewhat thin. With years of active playing it may begin to wear. Again, the thin finish is (I think) a design philosophy. The thin finsih allows to the guitar to sing. Fifteen years from now I may have to send it back to Santa Cruz for a new finish.

Two weeks after I bought it I called Santa Cruz to ask a question about string recommendations. Someone picked up the phone, I could hear a piece of power equipment is the background. I introduced myself and the guy on the phone said "Hang on. Steve, can you turn off that sander? I have someone on the phone!" I was actually talking with one of their luthiers and he actually was personally familiar with my actual guitar. They were great!

I've been playing for 41 years. Currently own numerous guitars: acoutics, resonators, solid body single coil electrics, humbucker solid body electrics, jazz electrics and nylon string acoustics. I compared the Santa Cruz D12 to a similar Martin. I think is was the Mahoghany body that sold me. It produces a much more lively, complex tone that the rosewood Martin. These are large guitars. The body is large (even by dreadnaught standards), the neck is huge. However, players receptive to playing such a large guitar will be richly rewarded.

Spruce top, rosewood back and sides, grover tuners, wider neck than standard.

I play a variety of music from Rock to folk to bluegrass. It has such a beautiful full sound it makes you practice for hours. I love to feel this guitars vibrations in my chest when I play it.

I bought it used and only changed to my favorite strings...it was set up just the way I like it.

I was unable to play for two months...when I was able again I pulled it out of the case and it was still in perfect tune. That amazed me that I didn't even need to fine tune..it was dead on...and it stays in tune no matter how much I get into it.

Friendly bunch

I love this guitar. I have had many cheap guitars and overseas knock offs..I'm so glad I bit the bullet and shelled out the money for this instrument. I actually bought a taylor first and returned it the next day and found this Santa Cruz three days later.

Adirondack top (optional) and maghogany back and sides. Bluestick pick up. Built 2006. Unbeliveable beutiful red spruce and exeptional maghogany. Top notch har case included. Absolutely astonishing features, just begs to be played!

This guitar has 12 frets to the body and has by that, and the woods, got a sort of warm woody vintage sound. It is extremely loud through the whole range. Has a deep but not boomy bass. I play mostly blues, both fingerpicking and with a plektrum. The guitar suites both styles exeptionally well! It has the power to let the light fingerpicking notes be heard very well and does not break if you strum it hard! You can rely on it??s remarkable sustain and bend notes very easily!
Hard to explain sounds, it must be played! But I own a few top ends like Larriv??e, Bourgeois, Taylor and Sand??n. But this one beats them all!
If you just want to own one guitar this one should be it!

It came with a moderately high action from the factory but my guitar tech helped me to set it up low and nice. Now it playes with the greatest ease. The flatpicking -one string at the time- solos are so easy to do! It almost plays itself!
This is a peace of art! The luthiers at Santa Cruz are so skilled and built me a beauty and an already full blown musicmaker! And it will develop during this year.
I use light strings (0.12) but my dealer in Stockhokm (JAM)says that the sound will be even better with mediums (0.13)!
My own guitar tech (luthier as well) said that this guitar is one of the best he has seen and played! Exactly my own opinion.

I play in a acoustic blues bandand will use this as my first guitar. I expect it will withstand hard live playing. It should, because it is so well built. It came with no strap button at the neck so this had to be done. But since I got the Bluestick pick up mounted at the factory it has a rear strap button. I??m also playing sologigs and this one will definitely be my choice.

Lifetime warranty, of course, for this kind of guitar. It gives you security. But it??s important to follow the builders advice concerning humidity and other things. Have not had reason to deal with Santa Cruz yet but I expect great service if I have to. In Sweden you normally turn to the dealer first!

I have bee playing for over 40 years, mostly Delta and Piedmont blues.
Fingerpicking and with a pick. As a solo artist and with bands. I have owned a lot of different guitars and currently owns a great set: a Bourgeois Advanced Slope D, a Sand??n JRB, a Larriv??e OM 60 and a Taylor 310 CE. I use an AER Domino amp (also great!). But this 12 fret is the best of them all! I??ll consider it as my first guitar. If it was stolen I??ll be completely broken down. But I??ll save to buy a new one! I??ll play on street corners if I have to! I love the sound, the exeptional playability, the looks, the feel and the 12-fret warm deep wooden tone! Fantastic!
It is a piece of perfect craftmanship but I wish the neck had a millimeter more space below the thin E-string. It seemes a little bit too narrow. But it??s really a question about playing technique!

Awsome style and sound and plays incredibly well. very inspiring.

i play it through my electric guitar set up most of the time. sounds better than my paul reed smith and strat. i use a sunrise pickup in it. to my ears, it sounds better than any electric guitar i have ever played.

without being plugged in, it sounds very rich, balanced, nice volume....sorta woody sounding. i love it. compared to my taylor, the taylor has a lot of midrange punch, but no bottom end. the santa cruz has much more balance

totally perfect. no flaws whatsoever. its the best of the best.

totally solid. no worries about reliability

I have dealt with them on many occassions with very good results.

I could not imagine a better acoustic guitar. I use it as an electric guitar too. With my sunrise pick-up, it can beat any electric archtop etc.... In my opinion. I love this guitar. I have played many many guitars by spending many hours at Mandolin Brothers on Staten Island. The particular model beats them all, in my opinion.

Love the vintage look..sloped shoulders, big body, slotted headstock, waverly tuners....classy details.

spruce/mahogany 12 fret dread. Ebony fingerboard and bridge, herringbone binding. Slot headstock waverly tuners.classy. no rating here because the sound is the real feature.

Ideal for norman blake style complex flatpicking great volume great tone great separation and definition. you can play this as hard as you like and it will just give you more but it will respond to your touch beatifully too. because of the sensitivity it will do fingerstyle if you use picks for an earthy watson/travis style.but really this is for flatpicking. Honestly this is just great and beats the martin D18S and D28S into a cocked hat!

Really great set up hasn't been touched in ten years. Looks great. beautifully made guitar.Can't fault it. Personally any great sounding guitar i come to love its' looks whatever. so again no actual rating here but it's all there.

see above. This is ten years old and i just take it out and play it whenever wherever it all ways sounds great and i don't think about anything else. These guys know what they are doing- i trust them.

never had any call for it

been playing for 20 years. Bought this specifically for blue grass and Norman Blake style playing. Have a pre-war 12 fret 00 for finger picking and the Santa Cruz for flat-picking, They both do their jobs fantastically! also love goodall,brook,bourgeois but they do different things. Horses for courses!