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The F I played had a very compliant voicing, what I put in was what I got out and I really liked that. It sounded a tad smaller, but I’m sure it had old strings and was asleep because that shop hadn’t moved any SC guitars in a while. The OM Grand seems like it adds a bit more voicing to the sound. I’ve always been curious about their internal perspective and what guitar belongs to what kind of player
Hey Zorro, glad you got something from it and enjoyed it!
Yeah the OM Grand is kind of in a funny place, I spec’d mine to be good for mediums, but I can’t quite say it likes them as much as lights even though it’s in between smaller and larger body sizes. Blunt is a good word, mine sounds that way too with them despite the help to performance boost wouldn’t you say?
What’s interesting though is the 80/20 strings don’t sound as blunt to me, but they do still a little. I’m going to try 80/20 on the 5th and 6th string and monel on the 3rd and 4th to see if that gives me just a little bit more clear overtones that my guitar needs for balance
That’s a great question Occimoron. One I’ve investigated myself and played as much of each as I could. Looking forward to hearing the answer from Richard.
That’s true Tad, I don’t hear many things that sound bad.. just things that might catch my ear a little more or work more for what I’m doing. I can actually solve problems with the guitar I have, but it seems like it just creates another one to deal with. Circles back around a lot of times to having a larger body than what I have, adi/mahogany. Noticing I tend to like short scale and 12 fret also, so I think a RS will one day give me a closer palette to work with to what I want
Neil , yeah as Zorro said not all of them take years.. just all of mine that I’ve bought took a long time… the Italian took longer than sitka and it’s still not there.
Also, yes do speak with Richard about this ASAP, there is no telling when he will retire!
I’ve never played a OOO that’s not a santa cruz so I’m not sure, but definitely trust your hands… all the marketing pales in comparison to your experience after you play it for yourself and do comparisons! I find their marketing is slanted towards finger style people more also, I don’t find that for strummer singers some of the wordings on the website for smaller guitars has been accurate to my ears. Guitars respond differently to picks and fingers so they can’t describe it one way and expect it to be applicable to all is the issue there.
Also, if I may suggest.. if you’re looking at a VJ…. definitely look at a VS because then you’ll have at least a guitar with a short scale and man oh man santa cruz does really well with short scale guitars in mahogany.
H13 and Firefly are both really pleasing. I had an EIR H13.. I wouldn’t recommend that – I would only buy a mahogany one but mine was a custom. I find that rosewoods for me need 80/20 strings a lot of the times, and that wasn’t something I was aware of back then, so that might’ve helped my case with that guitar a lot.
Age, shape, and wood will definitely all shift it. The OOO is a lot different from the OM, I love it. Cocobolo will have a slight difference from EIR, top wood would make more of a difference… I’d say you’re mostly hearing age and shape of 12 fret
Wow Jeff, thanks so much for trying it out with me and joining in on the conversation – and congrats on the purchase!!
Did you get them from Colosi? I’m guessing not unless you already had them as he doesn’t sell FWI anymore.
Lucky to get a Santa Cruz that’s already had 15 years of time to it!!! I prize used guitars
Welcome to the forum!
I hope I can help as I have gone through a lot of learning with Santa Cruz in the past 8 years.
First off, Richard can definitely build you anything you want/need given a few factors: you truthfully know exactly what you want, you can describe it accurately and concisely to the best of linguistic ability, and you have a reference… perhaps a SC serial number or another video of a guitar etc. Even without these things he can get close, but with them it’s pretty much a guaranteed thing. These guitars take years to really break in though when they’re new so be ready for that.
I would also like to add that of any Santa Cruz guitar, Adirondack has been my favorite wood… and Mahogany has been the favorite for back and sides. Something about the way they build and those woods together just works better than anything else I’ve heard personally.
If you like open definitely check out a OOO. If you want an OM and OOO comparison I can send you a video link or you can just go to youtube channel ‘Carmelo Santini’ and see OOOO vs OOO. The OOO is so open its lovely.
Light, airy, dry, open… definitely wouldn’t recommend EIR or Cocobolo from santa cruz as it will feel dense. You don’t get the air movement that you get from mahogany with them. My italian spruce works sooo well with fingers. With a pick I have to use 80/20 strings. All their guitars are built light, and if you want responsive… definitely make sure you get hide glue with adirondack bracing. I would even suggest trying the old growth woods!!!! You can tell them when they’re building if you want it to be exclusive finger style and always have lights and they’ll build accordingly within a reasonable range. If you sell the guitar they don’t want it to break for someone else etc. I would suggest to you also to check out the firefly for an experience, it is the most responsive guitar I’ve ever played. The OOO seems to fit your description though with some sweetness, and you can get a cutaway if needed. Don’t overlook the 12 fret advantage.
A LOT of benefit does come from the woods, I only at this point like to play fully custom and upgraded santa cruz guitars… they do their best work with the best materials.. and it is TOTALLY satisfying. I spent 11k on mine and was cool with it a week later . . . nothing spare for the build even off spec sheet. And that’s a TON of money for me! I worked in a bar two years to save my money for that. So it’s not like it’s worth it to me because I make 200k a year.
I have an OM Grand with pre-war / advanced x bracing with hide glue upgrade. Super nice italian / cocobolo. . . all bound in Brazilian… built to be a versatile workhorse strummer for someone who doesn’t like square shoulder dreadnought Martins.
If you’re doing finger style only I’d say OOO or OM is definitely big enough. If you wanted to try the redwood, they have a tunnel 13 redwood right now I think that sounds great with the tree or regular mahogany if it’s still available.
So also try the firefly and H13… but I’d recommend:
Opting for the OOO unless you’ve played both and still prefer the OM, specify the type of voice you’re after.
Old Growth Adirondack
Old Growth Mahogany
Hide Glue with Old Growth Adirondack Bracing
If you want a brazilian rosewood bridge, old growth
Cutaway and pickup if you need it
Short scale if you like short scales
Aesthetic appointments up to you, I do all the wood things – binding rosette and all
Inlays etc you want
You may want fossilized ivory vs regular bone, not sure you could ask about that in context
Finish, tuners etc
Bone end pins if you want them
Any custom fit and finish or thematic ideas you have or any specifications on setup
Deep body if that’s your vibe
if not short scale or long scale another scale length variant in between
play it a whole lot, put a tone rite on it, play music to it
be fully satisfied for years to come and never buy another OOO !Whew, those look good bert… i’m becoming a real sucker for arch tops in the past few years as I’ve grown as a player still
Thanks bert, I did record a little over an hour of video today with my mics in stereo since I couldn’t get just my rode to sum to dual mono. I will be releasing them to youtube and the forum staggered so it doesn’t overwhelm
Your video sounds and looks great! And wow that eastman is surprisingly good!
Thank you, I had tried uploading the picture you asked for on the pick shapes on a piece of paper… but it’s not going. I clicked insert image
Today I also recorded three light string examples, an intro to string comparison, the able armrest with/without, pick thickness, pick shape, and pick material. I’ve got them all on my computer and I’ll just be staggering the uploads
