Home -- Instruments -- Santa Cruz Guitars

Santa Cruz Guitar Company makes some of the world's greatest guitars. Founder Richard Hoover has been accumulating old wood since the 1970s. That & his years of experience as a luthier produces exceptional instruments, lightly built with outstanding clarity & balance. We are proud to be the exclusive dealer for these superlative instruments in San Antonio. In my 40+ years of experience playing, working on & selling guitars, I can truly say that I know of no finers guitars anywhere at any price. One of the most important things that Santa Cruz has that many other "boutique" makers don't is a warmth of tone that invites you in & a graceful neck that feels just right. Many fine guitar builders make guitars that impress you with their power & in-your-face tone, whereas the Santa Cruz seduces like Lauren Bacall in "To Have & Have Not" rather than like Jayne Mansfield in "The Girl Can't Help It". Both have their appeal, but I'll take Laren Bacall any day. 

Santa Cruz makes a total of about 700 guitars a year & 30% of those are sold to dealers overseas, leaving a total of about 450 guitars each year available to the 50 dealers in the US. We try to keep 5 or more Santa Cruz Guitars in stock but the demand sometimes exceeds what we can keep supplied. Many of the guitars we order from Santa Cruz are custom orders for clients who want specific features on their instruments. Lately we've been ordering guitars with some unique touches rather than just catalogue items. For example, I just ordered a VS model with Italian Alpine Spruce top & Indian rosewood back & sides with a natural finish instead of the standard sunburst. We should have it in by July & it will undoubtedly be a spectacular instrument.

In the meantime........ 

In stock:

VINTAGE ARTIST. Sitka & mahogany dreadnought, nicely dressed up with herringbone trim, white/black/white bound fingerboard & headstock. Those who think that mahogany is a lesser wood than rosewood should play this remarkable guitar, which will humble all but the greatest of rosewood dreads. A powerful bluegrass instrument but responds brilliantly for fingerstyle or a lighter attack. $4,150.00.  

Firefly. New. Cedar/rosewood small bodied guitar that we've started calling the "Giant Killer" for reasons that are obvious at first strum. Won Acoustic Guitar Magazine's Guitar of the Year award in 2008. MSRP: $3,950.00 call for details

little David was small but oh my,                                                                                                                                      little David was small but oh my,                                                                                                                                      he fought big Goliath who lay down & dyeth,                                                                                                                      little David was small but oh my

from Porgy & Bess; "It Ain't Necessarily So"

D/PW Limited. Indian rosewood with Italian Alpine spruce. I'm convinced that this spruce is quite special & should be as highly regarded, if not more so, Adirondack spruce. Consider that this is the area from which Stradavari obtained the woods for the tops of the most valuable & desirable stringed intsruments (including some guitars) ever made. After speaking with Richard Hoover at length on the subject it's apparent that he, too, feels that the Italian spruce has special properties. If you're looking for a truly special dreadnought, you should try this one.