Santa Cruz Tony Rice

1996 Tony Rice D Model (Std. Features)
Everything about this guitar is perfect.

This guitar is suitable for any type of music, but is most at home as a bluegrass instrument. It is very loud and has tons of bass (mids and treble too, but lots of bass). I LOVE the sound. It sounds like Tony Rice's guitar, which is perfect to my ears.

This guitar is now 5 years old and still is perfect in every way. The fit and finish is just like every other Santa Cruz I have ever seen... perfect. The action is low, with the intent of fast bluegrass runs, but it does not buzz, at all.

I have 2 Santa Cruz guitars, and have never really had any problems that a truss rod adjustment didn't fix quickly. They are amazingly light weight, but appear sturdy.

Here is another big bonus with a Santa Cruz. I have contacted the factory on many occasions (set-up questions and general info) and have always received a quick reply, via e-mail and/or telephone, often by Richard Hoover himself. I'm sold on Santa Cruz. Small shops care about the quality of their product (including their service) much more than the big manufacturers.

I've been playing 6 years and have several other guitars including another Santa Cruz (D Model Mahogany) and a Gibson Les Paul. I wich that I would have bought this guitar first... because I would only have one guitar. I love the other Cruz and the Gibson, but my Tony Rice D is AWESOME!

This guitar is probably the most beautiful guitar I have ever seen with the exception of the Martin 1930 OM-45 deluxe. The craftsmanship that is put into each Santa Cruz guitar is beyond exceptional. Only the finest materials are used for their high quility instruments. This guitar was the toned down version of the Tony Rice Pro model. It is modeled after Tony's 1935 Martin that was previously owned by Clarence White. Some features include larger soundhole which gives you a louder respnose, blank ebony finger board with only the SCGC inlayed (very beautiful job on this), herringbone inlay and rossette, bound ivoroid body and fingerboard, Waverly tuners that seal the deal.

The Tony Rice Pro model was made in conjunction with Tony to meet his needs. The Tony Rice model is only a scaled down version but is still a remarkable instrument. The sound is greatly enhanced by the larger sound hole and has a truly magnificent tone. It respnds Vry well,... especialy for bluegrass.

When I first got it, the string spacing was off a little bit but was shipped back and fixed in days. The finish is still incredible. I have had it for nearly 10 years and it looks brand new, no dent or scratches.

Waverly tuning keys are in my opinion the best in the world, not only do they beautifuly resemble vintage tuners on Martin's but they hold their tune fabulously. This guitar truly is amazing and if you take care of it and treat it with the respect it deserves, it will last a lifetime easily.

They were very friendly and sorry for the little mistake. I talked to the master luthier (Richard Hoover) about builing my guitar, and he let me in on some of his personal tips and secrets. Truly a nice and down to earth man.

I have been playing for a while now and this is an amazing guitar. I would recomend that anyone interested in a fine guitar should seriously condier a Cruz. A guitar is one thing I believe that you should not go short and cheap on.

Modified D-28 herringbone Dreadnought guitar. Premium rosewood dreanought with ebony fretboard, a larger than normal soundhole,pearl SCGC logo. This guitar has no other features - but it's classical!

For me it's the most versatile guitar I own. All styles are possible and sound great. Very good response and sustain on every fret position. Even fingerpicking gives you a great range of dynamic and feedback

The workmanship is clean and the action works well. I use Elixir gore strings 12 and have no problems.
The frets are a little sharp at the edge.

Like all acoustic guitars you have to handle it with care.
Take a look of the air humidity. But I think - if no accident
happends - this would be a guitar for a lifetime!

I asked the company for the age of my guitar (vai e-mail) and
they didn't answered. But if you send the warranty card to the
company - you get a free T-Shirt. Very nice gift - they sent it
to me in Switzerland.

I've been playing for 8 years. This is my 4th acoustic guitar I own.
(Lowden O-35 another 2 SC (OM-PW and H-Koa)I also had a Martin M-38 which I traded for this SC. The Martin was a great strumming guitar - but with no fingerpicking sound. The Tony Rice Model sounds like an old Martin should sound. I would by this guitar if it were stolen - no question. I hope you could understand my Swiss-English.

This is Santa Cruz Guitar Company's interpretation of Tony Rice's classic and modified D-28 herringbone guitar. It is a premium rosewood dreanought with the following modifications: an extended ivroid ebony fretboard, a larger than normal soundhole reflecting Tony's guitar, and a pearl SCGC logo inlaid into the fretboard at the 12th fret. All the appointments are premium with very nice rosewood and spruce for the body, mahogany neck, and ebony on the bridge and fretboard. All binding is ivroid and the construction is typical Santa Cruz elegance.

The sound is perfect for bluegrass: a deep, booming bass, luscious midrange, and sparkling treble. This guitar is designed for bluegrass and is designed to have that old "bone" sound. This guitar is great for flatpicking but is probably not the best choice for fingerpicking, as it takes some work controlling the bass and the inherent boominess of the guitar. Make no doubt about it; this guitar is a premium work of art with a premium sound, but it is a specialized kind of animal.

Generally, the workmanship on all Santa Cruz guitars is excellent, and this guitar is no exception. However, after receiving this guitar (from Rochester, NY) and placing it in my western North Carolina environment (warm and humid), it developed a back bow in the neck which could not be adjusted out with the truss rod. The buzzing was completely unacceptable. I finally put heavy gauge strings on the guitar and left them for awhile. This finally pulled the neck straight enough to make the neck straightness and action acceptable, although this was probably a risky decision. I downgraded the score accordingly for this reason.

These guitars are very lightly built for optimum tone and probably deserve optimum care. I've heard of some Tony Rice models needing premature neck sets, but I can't verify that. They are obviously well built and should last a lifetime with proper care.

I never dealth with them.

This is a premium bluegrass guitar. The only ohter guitar makers in the same league are Collings and Bourgeois. But it is a very specialized animal; it's a thunderously booming guitar designed for flatpicking and rhythm. I felt the tone was too booming and not crisp enough for my "all around" style of picking which is more fingerpicking than flatpicking. It's a great guitar but I feel an OM size works better for me. I traded this guitar and now have a Larrivee OM-09 and a Bourgeois JR-A which do the job for me.