Santa Cruz D/PWM

2005 model, made in southern California. Solid sitka top, solid mahogany back/sides/neck, ebony fretboard and bridge, rosewood peghead overlay. Beautifully simple black binding, tiny pearl dot position markers on fingerboard. Santa Cruz's own open back Waverly style tuners(they look and work just fine). Included was a sturdy TKL case.

Great dry, crisp mahogany tones from this guitar. Quite loud with excellent bass response and crisp midrange and treble. Great guitar for flatpicking bluegrass/old time music which is what I mostly play. I have owned two other mahogany guitars, a Bourgeois Country Boy(Sitka) and a Martin D-18GE. The Country Boy was a really nice instrument, but it's treble notes had a really fat sound(great for flatpicking solos, but those same treble notes were hard to hear when playing rhythm - especially open D position). The D-18GE was nice too but a bit too bright(the neck was too big for me too, especially when capoed high). The D/PWM really solved many of the above problems for me, the trebles are a bit thinner/crisper than the Country Boy, making it a great instument for flatpicking solos AND rhythm. I think all of these guitars are top notch mahogany boxes, it just comes down to personal preference. I will also add that my friend just purchased a new Martin D-18V and we both agree that the D/PWM is significantly louder, and more rich and crisp. If you are flatpicking and duking it out with mandolins and banjos, I think that the above guitars have an advantage over most D-18V's.

Sitka top is beatiful with nice silking. Mahogany back and sides are also nice and incidently smell wonderful. Nice peghead overlay(looks like Brazilian RW) and I have always like the strange Santa Cruz Logo. Action is medium, in fact I thought I might like to lower it just a bit, but it really plays quite easily. I notice that Bourgeois guitars are often like this, the action looks higher than I would like, but they play like butter and more importantly don't buzz.

Santa Cruz is one of the only high end medium sized shops that still builds them with dovetail joints like Martin did/does. I think this really does affect the nuance of the sound as Santa Cruz claims. But when coupled with a very lightly built guitar(as SCGC is known for), it does give me just a slight bit of concern regarding the possible frequency(let alone cost) of neck resets. Only time will tell and I put a lot of trust in their guitar building skills and in their customer service.

This is a 2005 model made in Santa Cruz, California, Luthier credit went to Richard Hoover. This is model is a standard Dreadnaught with 14 frets clear, and a total of 21 altogether. It is all solid woods, Spruce top, mahogany back and sides. There is no electronics installed, nor shall there ever be. The neck is mahogany with a dark rosewood fingerboard, and a light colored rosewood laminate plate over the headstock. It has a high gloss finish, open back butterbean tuners. The neck's scale is 25.4 inches with standard sized frets, and it came with a hardshell case by TKL of Canada.

I do a lot of mixed strumming with a pick and my middle and ring fingers, I also play to accompany my singing, so rhythm is a major portion of my playing. I played a Santa Cruz D about six years ago while my wife was with me at the Denver Folklore Center, and she liked the sound and said I should get one if I came into some money. I did, so I followed her advice. If I do amplify this, I'll be using a Shure SM-57 mic. It has an excellent balance between the bass and treble, which is perfect for a performing singer/songwriter. It's a great guitar for the one instrument owner, too. The sound is clean and clear with the elixer mediums it was strung with, but I'll probably be changing them out for SP lights when they need new strings. The dealer, Gyphon in Palo Alto, advised me that the guitar may need an adjustment for lighter gauge strings when I do change them. I love this guitar!!!

Off the shelf, this was a great guitar. The set up was perfect and comfortable (it was set up for finger picking with the strings slightly higher toward the bridge than I like them, but in this case it works for me.) Nick Forster told me he likes instruments that are not garish...this one is visually simple, no elaborate inlays, simple binding, and the rosette is wood and ebony. The Santa Cruz emblem is the only piece of large inlay, and is abalone. The simple appearance belies the warm voice.

I bought a Santa Cruz because of the number of artists, including Tony Rice, featured in their ads. The guitar is durable and universally usable for a wide variety of styles and performance techniques. The finish is deep enough to resist moderate to heavy duty use...but I would not advise abuse unless that's your style with a hand made guitar. As I said before, I would use this instrument without hesitation as a sole instrument.

The guitar comes with a limited lifetime warranty for the orginal owner. Check the website for authorized dealers and service folks.

Been playing 40 years and have an extensive collection of guitars and stringed instruments including a Martin D-15, Martin DVM, Gibson J-180 EC, and a Taylor 555. If this instrument were lost or stolen I would replace it with the same model. I love the instruments understated appointments and the incredible sound. It's an all around winner.