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I really think that they could detail their string products more effectively than they do. They are fine strings.
My guitar (an FS) came with a set of Low-Tension strings on it. I was not particularly enthralled with them. I put a set of Mid-Tension on it and I greatly preferred them for my playing style. I switch between them and D’Addario XS.
I wish that SCGC made 80/20 alloy sets as well.
John is a good friend and a treasure to the vintage Gibson guitar collecting/playing Community and this podcast is well worth listening to (thanks).
Hank, that set has not been used yet. Mark is saving along with some special 4-piece Brazilian Rosewood back sets to build a matched pair of guitars (a nylon string and a steel string).
Here is a set of more aesthetically mortal “Lucky Strike” Redwood that he will be building me a carved back 12 fret 000 sized guitar with either later this year or early next.
He will use some California Black Walnut from a tree that he harvested in the Bay area (e.g. not orchard wood grafted to English Walnut, aka Claro Walnut). Richard would be happy to know that other reputable builders are using some of the materials that he loves.
Tad will appreciate this one.
One of my luthier friends (Mark Blanchard) arrived late to an NCAL (Northern California Association of Luthiers) being held at one of the builder members shop. A fellow builder who had died was having his estate’s woods for sale at this particular meeting. When he arrived to the meeting a bit late, builders, including some well known luthiers such as Ervin Somogyi were busy going through the piles of wood on the table. They also had a buffet of “free” food available and my friend was hungry. So he went for the food first while others rifled through the wood.
After he was done eating and had seen others go through the piles of wood, he went over to the wood table. He took the piles of sets of wood and inverted them to start at the bottom of the piles first, knowing that some experienced hands had gone through the piles ahead of him. On the bottom of one of the piles he found two sets of redwood that looked like this. The sets with their distinct beeswing interlocking grain he immediately recognized as “Lucky Strike” redwood.
The “story” behind LS is that it was a storm felled Redwood tree up in Humboldt County, CA. The large tree happened to fall over a small ravine and it left a large section suspended up in the air off the forest floor. The felled tree was discovered about 30-years ago and over the next few years, Craig Carter, his wife Alicia and others harvested a 3’ diameter x 60’ long portion of the tree and subsequently processed it as instrument tonewood. The experts have suggested that the redwood tree harvested to make LS tonewood was estimated to be between 600 to 800-years old.
He also saw “CC” initials on it. The two sets were purchased for $50/set! The moral of the story is always flip the wood pile and start from the bottom!
r
Hank, I am not exactly sure what you are asking.
I have many guitars, but only one Santa Cruz. I have a custom FS with an Italian Spruce soundboard from Rudi Bachmann in Italy and a California Claro Walnut back and sides. It has a 25-3/8” scale, 1-3/4” nut and 2-5/8” string spacing. It came strung with parabolic low tension strings, but sounds better to me with standard light gauge stings or parabolic medium tension strings.
Here’s a nice quartersawn, fiddleback Koa set from a luthier built guitar from about 6-years ago.
Here is the same set in the finished instrument.
My last post has been waiting for 3-days for moderator approval. I suspect Richard N does all the moderation and is traveling to NAMM. As I said, not a scalable model, nor one that promotes contemporaneous conversation. I know of no other guitar forum that operates with such a cautious footing for posting images vs. posting words.
I participate in a number of guitar enthusiast forums. This forum is unique in that every post that I contribute that includes an attached image requires moderator approval before it can be shared. I have a post in this thread that has been awaiting moderator approval for days. I assume that this rule applies to other participants, yet I see images from others who posted after I did.
This policy does not promote participation nor is it scalable. When someone is an established forum member, I know of no other forum that operates under such a restrictive policy. This policy makes me not want to participate here. What is odd is my words in this moderation policy gripe are free to be read contemporaneously. The limitation is on images.
Finding well seasoned, quartersawn tonewoods such as Koa or African Blackwood has for years now become more difficult. This set of African Blackwood was one that I selected for a luthier built guitar almost a decade ago. This quality of wood is rarer than hen’s teeth these days. Most of African Blackwood sets that Insee being used these days are flatsawn.
Here is the set in the finished guitar. The set was large enough to eliminate the sapwood and was able to fill some of the small worm holes. You can see the true color in natural sunlight.
While I appreciate the demonstration of the luthier’s craft with the exquisite execution of instrument ornamentation in terms of marquetry, shell, inlay and scrimshaw etc., I do feel it competes and diminishes from the “center of the plate”, which is about the quality of the rare soft and hardwoods. The aesthetic choices are a bit much for me and compete with the beautiful tonewood sets (sorry).
That said, I suspect that I am likely in the minority, and SCGC who understands their market, and retailers who will be receiving these “showcase” guitars will be delighted with the “bling”. The historic Martin paradigm of value is strong in the acoustic guitar market (e.g., Style 45 < Style 42 < Style 28 < Style 18 etc.). This construct has unfortunately influenced many to believe mahogany is an inferior (not different, and preferred) tonewood to many guitarists as well.
My $.02
I live about 1 hour outside NYC. There are fewer and fewer local guitar shops left. There are a few Guitar Centers and a Sam Ash but I need to shower after visiting one of those. Mandolin Brothers is long gone. I purchased guitars there for 20-years.
The nearest SCGC dealers are now >1-1/2 to 2 hours away. When I ordered my Santa Cruz, I ordered through a dealer near St. Louis and worked with Carolyn Sills. I now order strings via the internet (SCGC is part of this channel). The era of the “local” guitar shop for many of us is long gone.
All face-to-face trade shows are in decline. It has been headed that way for decades now. Advances in information technology and tightening of travel budgets all fueled this trend. Throw the pandemic intermission in there and it further erodes. In addition, the trend to go direct to consumer by guitar companies has also arrived which will impact business to business shows as brick and mortar shops get squeezed out.
Small Shop companies like SCGC with a building, 15-20 staff, inventories of materials located in area where the cost of living is 86% higher than the national average (https://www.bestplaces.net/cost_of_living/city/california/santa_cruz) need to charge premium pricing to exist even with a moderate profit. Because they work through brick and mortar resellers, that further adds to their pricing structure. One area of opportunity for profit is in the area of wood upgrades. The purchase price, time value of money and what the market will bear all go into that. Individual luthiers do not have the same overhead structure of SCGC + its retail network and tend to charge less even for seasoned, quartersawn, flitch matched Brazilian Rosewood. Sets like that become rarer and rarer as each year goes on. I wish them well on the project. I suspect they will end up with “collectors” but hopefully as tools will be played and enjoyed.
