Santa Cruz Coffee Break #35 Zooming’ with Richard Hoover

[indexless]

Greetings Forum,

Well, here it is. Richard Hoover unveils the mystery behind “Moon Spruce” and why to choose it for a custom guitar. Here’s the truth and where to listen:

Apple Podcasts

Soundcloud https://soundcloud.com/rnewman-1/santa-cruz-coffee-break-35-zooming-with-richard-hoover?si=00bd26b99e464abfbca0a3bcfeddddc3&utm_source=clipboard&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=social_sharing

And our NEW IMPROVED YouTube channel https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D3LBorqX1_k

We hope you enjoy it!

 

[Hank]

First….Thanks RH for the info on both Moon Spruce and on Walnut…….Selection, the building artistry, the reputation, the experience ALL play into the tonal voice of the finished product…. and few do it as well as,and none do it better than,  the crew of SCGC. I’m pleased I specked M.S. for the upcoming 000.

Second…Thanks Tad and Richard (Big Mon) Newman for the rapid respnse to the subject appearing on the Forum….Well Done.

Third…. The Youtube production values were very good.

Fourth…..I kept looking at the Canary Date Palm over RH’s shoulder and then lifting my eyes to the one in my front yard……it created a very positive connection.

Fair Winds,

Hank

• This reply was modified 2 years, 3 months ago by Hank.

[haasome]

Always interesting, thanks guys. I feel fortunate and proud to be part of the SCGC family. Special guitars built by special people. I agree with Tad: give me a great guitar. Period. The provenance for me is SCGC. The last 2 custom orders, my Euro/Coco OMG and Euro/Mahogany H13, are heirloom pieces. Thanks go to Richard, Carolyn and the rest of the team who listen so carefully & patiently to our requests. Delivery of my next Euro/Coco OM is expected to be 4/2022. But I realize we are living in challenging times.

---

– Paul –

[bert]

Thanks moon guys for the interview with Mr Hoover, very special. The logging of moon spruce in Europe is so very interesting. The history of Euro spruce is fascinating.

I listen to many types of music but when I hear Yo Yo Ma playing his Moes & Moes 1733 Mantagnana cello (289 yrs old) from Venice… everything stops. The orchestral instrument makers have known about this stuff for centuries.
It’s so great to hear Mr Hoover putting things in proper perspective.   bert

[Chrisakadigdog]

Another enjoyable and informative podcast with Richard  Hoover ,Richard and Tad..

The quarter moon brand image upon the billet has moonstruck me big time.

it’s the physics of a lunar cycle/tidal push and pull hydrology / upon all things living that Richard clarifies so well here.

The next time I go to trim my fruit trees I’ll likely be remembering this podcast.

 

[Hank]

The next time I go to trim my fruit trees I’ll likely be remembering this podcast. Said Digdog.

I’m watching the Wolf Moon plus one day come up North, NorthEast and smelling the scent of burning oak in our fireplace  sitting heavey on a ,for Florida, cold clear night . The humidity is in the 50s and the Ramuda is dry and clear voiced.

Another member of the forum posted a picture of his “Master” Moon Spruce top…..My upcoming 000 is ONLY a AAA……. oh well Se La Vie.

Dee is out at a gig and I’m doing what all us “entertainment Widowers” do and finding happiness in my guitars and having a sip of irish whiskey and thinking how lucky I am as i try out some of the chord progressions that Matt Hayden sent me………But I always seem to fall back on old habits and that’s OK.

The world is upside down but my guitars center “The Wa” and I will sleep well tonight.

Fair Winds

 

[iim7V7IM7]

Hank, up until 15-20 years ago, there was no such thing as “Master Grade”, AAAAA, AAAA etc. AAA was aesthetically as good as it gets. There is way too much focus in today’s market on elevated aesthetic grading of tonewoods in my opinion. A few years back, on a guitar that I had commissioned with a solo luthier, I had a choice between a Master Grade Andrea Florinett Swiss Spruce top or a AA at best, 50-year old German Spruce top with lots of oxidative staining from age that he a luthier Jeffrey Elliott sourced back in the 1980s. I asked the luthier which sound board that he felt would make the superior guitar? With out hesitation he recommended the old top.

[Hank]

iim7v7im7,

I know ……I was just being a bit sarcastic.

Richard and Carolyn know me well and I know that they chose the best/correct top for me regardless of “current popular” gradings.

Congrats on your new SC…it’s going to sound as gooda as it looks.

By the way….is there a phonetic pronunciation for your forum handle ? or a nick name we can use.

 

[iim7V7IM7]

Hank, my name is Bob and thanks for clarifying the sarcasm. My user name “iim7V7IM7” is the most common music progression in jazz music (e.g., D minor 7th > G Dominant 7th > C Major 7th).

[bert]

Bob, thanks for explaining your user name.  I was aware of you from the UMGF where I hang fairly often as Bertram, my late dog’s name.  It’s great reading your excellent post and sharing your deep knowledge of guitar.  It’s guys like you that are helping this forum get some needed traction.  I also belong to the Collings forum, they also are struggling to get traction after their orig forum lost it’s host site.

Wish I had a tad of experience when I first joined the Collings forum as ‘armdog’, long story…. but, I was clueless that I would run into the same people on diff forums… duhhh.  These guitar communities are so great for people who love to commune with other players, Frank Sanns is doing his best over there.

I play songwriters rhythmic arpeggio, notes off chordial patterns with a light touch, my SCGC VJ  is so fab for my vibe.   Thanks again for your contributions to SCGC, Tad and Rich are so down to earth.

best wishes, bert

[Hank]

Bob,

Thanks for the explanation….I should have recgonized the progression. After all Matt Hayden has been trying to intoduce musical ”stuff” into this front porch pickers head….obviously he still has his work cut out for him.

Bert…. I worked for Bertram Yachts for a number of years. For those who don’t know  they were at one time the finest blue water sport fishing boats in the world and were able to handle Huge seas and bring home the fish. I was a test Capt. for the 63 ft. series…..a hell of a boat.

Bertram is a famous name in Florida.

I’m so very glad to know you both.

[iim7V7IM7]

Thanks for your kind comments Bert. I hope that we have discussions here about our common passion of guitars. I see that Santa Cruz is scheduled to exhibit in April at the Artisan Guitar Show in Pennsylvania. It is possible that my FS will be complete by then. If they exhibit, I hope to spend some time with Richard.

Hank, being the son of an avid sports fisherman, I grew up knowing Bertram as being the finest of fishing boats. We were a bit down market from those. Dad got a Grady White which is fished with in his retirement until he passed.

[bert]

Bertram, funny, I had a Boston Whaler Montauk for many years.  doggie

I was playing SCGC long before I had ever heard of Collings.  When I was living in Santa Cruz back in the late 70s, Richard did a setup on my D18.  what goes around…. you know the rest

[Author]

Posts