Santa Cruz Tony Rice Pro - How does it sound ?

[TheTAKAMINE15]

some nice guys on here, sound more like 10 yr olds---old saying your losing the argument when you get nasty and mean.

[BlindTom61]

Wow... hard to believe the comments and language here. Martins -- at least the Authentic series - -are fine guitars. So are Santa Cruz guitars. Collings are pretty good too as are Huss&Daltons. It's whatever floats yer boat. As far as TR, he gets a new Santa Cruz from time to time, plays it a bit and sells it. The old box is still his go-to guitar and always will be. Wish he's lay off the coffee and butts and get away from them damn watches of his... -L-

[bluegrasssingingman]

@BlindTom61 Collings is no better then a Taylor. They have bolt on necks.

[BlindTom61]

@bluegrasssingingman Well some people like them. i've never owned one myself, I play Martins

[popoaggie]

@bluegrasssingingman And your point is what? So do Bourgois. It doesn't make it any less a great instrument. I've owned many Martin D-18's and 28's and I'll put my Collings D1 over any of them.

[bluegrasssingingman]

@popoaggie That is your choice to buy a guitar and pay thousands for it. When they can't carve a DT, or MT. So they use bolt ons. That is real great craftsmanship.

[BlindTom61]

@bluegrasssingingman

Martin uses CNC machines for their carving. It is no more difficult to carve a dovetail joint with one of those setups than locking a neck with bolts, same as Fender has done for more than half a century. A mortise&tenon connection is even easier and tend to be sloppy. It is only used on cheaper Martins...

[bluegrasssingingman]

@BlindTom61 What is your point? Martin neck joints are carved to fit. They are not bolt ons like Collings,or other companies. Their is nothing cheap about,the D-16 line. To add to your knowledge. A DT joint is another form of a MT. A DT joint is preferred, because the claim is they transfer vibrations better. Which produces a better sound. It is alot harder to carve MT and DT. Then just bolt them on.You're pretty much full of shit.

[BlindTom61]

@bluegrasssingingman Listen asshole, I was a cabinet maker for 20 years. I've forgotten more about joinery than you will ever know with your pea-sized brain. You have to be one of the dumbest fucks on youtube. Get lost and let the grownups have a conversation.

[bluegrasssingingman]

@BlindTom61 Well you need to learn about guitars then. You have pretty big balls. To sit here saying how Martins are CNC Machined. Martin are still carving there necks and neck joints. Your Collings is not hand made, and they use bolt ons. Collings are CNC Machined. Collings also cut there tops out with a laser. LOL You are the dumbest fucks on you tube. Hey cabinet maker ask a true Luther, if it matters in sound.A cheap HD-16R LSH will eat your Collings up. As you called them cheap.

[BlindTom61]

@bluegrasssingingman @bluegrasssingingman You must be genetically stupid. First, I don't own a Collings, they come through my hands cause I deal about $30K of premium guitars a month. I play Martins, have since 1957.

Collings uses a M/T joint AND bolt attachments. Check the Collings Site if oyu ca spell. And if you are dumb enough to think Martin still hand carves their joints well I'm glad you married your cousin.

[bluegrasssingingman]

@BlindTom61 First of all Martin still carves their joints. Matter a fact is the only company making real MT and DT. Yeah I said, Collings uses bolt ons.Collings sounds like a Gibson and Taylor. Now what did I say that wasn't the truth? I also said, Collings isn't handmade like everyone wants to believe. So tell me what I said, that wasn't true? Yes Martin cuts their necks to block form. They are carved to fit and shape. What can't you understand? Your mother should of swallowed.

[popoaggie]

@BlindTom61 Always comments like this when ever bluegrassingingman jumps in. He can't even spell his username right. Or he studders even when he types?

[BlindTom61]

@popoaggie Sorry but I have no clue what you are talking about. I have a Brazilian Rosewood/Red Spruce Collings D41 that just arrived. It 's going to its owner on Monday. In the meantime I've played it and it a is a killer guitar. The rosewood is as good as anything in a 30s Martin as is the top. Huge sound and dead-on intonation. Would I trade my D-18 for it? No, I prefer mahogany. But this Collings is a great guitar.

[popoaggie]

@BlindTom61 Refering to certain posts made on here. Agreed on the Collings. I've had a couple Martin D 18's and the Collings D1A is the keeper. I too, prefer Mahagany for back and side wood. I wonder if people in the first couple of rows of seats at the jams I play at can tell it has a bolt on neck?

[BlindTom61]

@popoaggie Okay, got it... :- )

Takes all kinds, Empty barrels make the most noise etc. -L- This Collings is really something. They tend to set the action too high for my taste, same as my Authentic was when I got it in 2006. But the "pow!" factor of this Collings is unreal. Where are you picking Po?

[popoaggie]

@BlindTom61 Northern Illinois, but I travel down to Merlefest every year and eastern Tennesee and West virginia through out the summer. I have been in the Maggie Valley area of N.C. and played at a few jams near Lake Toxaway, but am not familiar with Zane. I'll have to check him out.

[BlindTom61]

@popoaggie There's a grainy video here of Zane and a friend from years ago. It is of poor quality and only hints at Zane's chops. You won't meet a nicer, more humble guy than him. And as I said, I've never heard anyone come close to what he can do with a six-string flattop dread...

[BlindTom61]

@popoaggie Po, you hear Zane Fairchild pick? There is precious little of him around, one very blurry video here. He's a young guy and good friend of Tony. Zane is about the best picker I've ever had the privilege of hearing. He's played some incredible stuff for me over the phone. Not only Bluegrass, but Gypsy stuff, even heavy metal on his '30s D-28. Plus he is a heck of a good guy, he's Raymond's son, lives in Maggie Valley.

[popoaggie]

@BlindTom61 Have checked out his videos. Wow! That boy can pick and does remind me of Rice in the way he moves along the fingerboard. Economy of motion and a right hand that moves with little effort. Does he have any recordings out?

[BlindTom61]

@popoaggie No, Zane is an intensely private guy for a young man. He plays around the Maggie Valley/Asheville area.  Funny, he ordered a D-45 from John Arnold in 1994, finally got it last September. From what I've heard, it is an off-the-charts guitar. Funny story, a pedal-steel playing friend of mine stopped by the Fairchild home when Zane was 14. He was sitting on the couch picking the tar out of a D-18. Friend stopped by 15 years later and Zane was still on that couch practicing... -L-

[bluegrasssingingman]

@popoaggie You are clueless, 2500-8000 for a Collings. Then the Collings doesn't even have a true MT or DT neck. It is a bolt on, because they don't have the skill to make one. Yes it does effect the sound. I'm just referring to a couple post here. So go build your cabinets. Hey dummy a D-18 is Mahogany.

[TheNextHendrix14]

I hate this guy. Plays boring stuff, and strums too damn hard

[mindbodylightsound10]

the little genre/technique subtitles are pretty stupid

[advaldez92]

i hate the way this guy strums

[druno82]

@advaldez92 At first I did too, but I think he's trying to see if the guitar will 'overdrive'. By that I mean hard strumming will show weaknesses in materials, craftsmanship etc. It's made me listen for any unwanted buzzing and other noise.

[bluegrasssingingman]

A guitar made for bluegrass and he plays everything, but Bluegrass.

[Patriksundvik]

@bluegrasssingingman hahaha

[stratplayer123]

How can you demo a TONY RICE santa cruz and not play ANY bluegrass?!?!?!

Thats like not playing jazz on a 335!

[chillichomper]

@stratplayer123 Or metal on a Jackson guitar. This guitar doesn't remotely sound as good a martin anyway. Poor tony associating himself with the POS

[bluegrasssingingman]

@stratplayer123 Because he doesn't know how to pick Bluegrass.

[inky960]

Practically every guitar brand since 1934 has copied the Martin "dreadnought" guitar. Santa Cruz is an American company, and their "copies" are usually wa-a-a-a-a-ay better than anything Martin makes. Usually. Tony Rice plays his old Martin ("The Bone") in concerts, mostly because people want to see it (and it sounds awesome, too!) At home, though, he plays Santa Cruz. His brother Wyatt plays Santa Cruz, too.

[bluegrasssingingman]

@inky960 Martin is still the best guitars made. Santa Cruz is a very nice guitar. It is not as good as a Martin D-28 Clarence White. My HD-28 and HD-16RLSH. are a better sounding guitar. No Tony plays his D-28 Clarence White, because the sound and quality of a Martin is the greatest still today. You are so full of shittttt. Nobody wants to hear your mass produce bull shit either. Santa Cruz is not hand curved from a tree either. So shut up about your hand built crap. We know that is coming.

[inky960]

@bluegrasssingingman Like it or not, Rice prefers the Santa Cruz. Here he is again (Google it): “This new prototype is the best one I've ever played by them. I got it on Dec 24, 2000...I've played it almost exclusively since then. It just has a sound of its own, real precision and beautiful tone. It's a delight to own and play. I've used the antique guitar very little. I still love my antique, but there's something about this Santa Cruz. At times, it's magical just to be able to play and own."

[inky960]

@bluegrasssingingman I never said Santa Cruz guitars were hand-"curved" from a tree. However, I think your head might have been.

[bluegrasssingingman]

@inky960 I never said you did. I said this was coming next from your mouth. Like all Santa Cruz and Collings lovers. You make up in your minds that they are some how more handmade,and hand carved. Santa Cruz is a very nice guitar, but I wouldn't trade any of my Martins for one. Collings sound no better then a Taylor. Santa Cruz is the second best guitar on the market. Don't act like you know about Bluegrass. You can't flat pick. You talk like you personally know Tony Rice. Just shut the hell up.

[inky960]

@bluegrasssingingman Okay: I don't believe Santa Cruz guitars are hand "curved" from a tree. But now I *know* your head was.

Unless everything Rice has said in the past 20 years has been a lie, he much prefers (much) his SC to the "antique," as he calls it (or "The Bone"). Read any interview, if you can. Type these words into Google: "Tony Rice I've used the antique guitar very little". First hit. Scroll to the last quote of the interview. Now get over it. (The SC on eBay is NOT his main SC.)

[ZOMBIELANDakaUSA]

@bluegrasssingingman

Huh? With respect to Martins, Santa Cruz guitars are hard to beat...period. Mass produced bullshit...another lol, Martin is mass produced, Santa Cruz is not...ever played a Santa Cruz guitar(rhetorical)...

never mind...

[bluegrasssingingman]

@ZOMBIELANDakaUSA LOL You are so for of crap. Santa Cruz is no more handmade then the next. Santa Cruz is a great guitar. I never said it wasn't. Martin are still the best guitars on the Market. They are top notch quality. Martin sound and quality is very consistence. When you buy a Martin. So you can believe what you like in the lose term MASS PRODUCED. Santa Cruz must be also. They do use power tools and machines also. They aren't made one person from start to finished.

[ZOMBIELANDakaUSA]

@bluegrasssingingman

Maybe take a downer.Sure i'm full of crap,i haven't had a good release in a while.I adore Martin guitars,perhaps my favorite overall,but seriously,you think Cruz guitars are as popular(thus having to be mass produced) as Martins, or any other big name out there? Using power tolls etc makes them mass produced? you're full of crap(or just semi retarded)

and your broad assumptions are laughable, again, have you ever played a Santa Cruz, be honest

[popoaggie]

@ZOMBIELANDakaUSA We're all beginning to think this Martin lover doesn't even play at all. Quick to jump down everybody's throat but has yet to post anything with him playing. I think he's a "Plant" for the Martin Company or a mentally challanged kid posting on his mother's computer.

[bluegrasssingingman]

@popoaggie You say I don't know what I'm talking about. or can't pick. I don't care what you think. At lease I know Collings uses bolt on necks. You Collings owners brag. That your Collings is handmade and how great they are,but can't carve a DT or MT. I think you're the one clueless.

[ZOMBIELANDakaUSA]

@popoaggie

right on, at least we all can agree that most here appreciate fine guitars, but i'm gonna throw a HUGE wrench into the mix here...it seems that most "traditional"(being all wood) guitar enthusiasts despise Ovation guitars. But there's a lot of Ovations that sound amazing.I recently purchased an Ovation(CS347) over a Martin(DX1E),i tested them side by side,in all fairness.

My point? to each his own,and some should be more open minded,theres so many hidden gems out there

[popoaggie]

@ZOMBIELANDakaUSA Actually, Tony loves and uses an Ovation Guitar. Manszanita was recorded with an Ovation. Almost every cut on that album was. But yet most people can't tell the difference from the old Clarence White D-28. His tone comes from his attack and fingers. Tony could sound like Tony on anything handed to him. Same with Clapton. He's used many different guitars but still sounds like Eric.

[bluegrasssingingman]

@popoaggie You are so full of shit.

[popoaggie]

@bluegrasssingingman Take time to read the most famous "Martin Man''s" biography. He says it all in the book. "Martin Hasn't Made a Guitar Worth a Shit Since 1955" was quoted twice in his biography.. He even had a chance to have Martin make a Tony Rice model but chose to colaberate with Richard Hoover from Santa Cruz. Nuff Said, Jerk.

[ZOMBIELANDakaUSA]

@popoaggie

sweet, i didn't know this info per Rice and Ovation...

[bluegrasssingingman]

@ZOMBIELANDakaUSA full of crap

[ZOMBIELANDakaUSA]

@bluegrasssingingman

Why are we arguing? Seriously,i appreciate your favor for the Martin(they are stellar,& i adore them), but this isn't an argument because you obviously haven't touched a SC guitar,for if you did,you would STFU and realize that SC guitars are amazing,and comparable to the tops in the world...period

you sound so naive...i feel pity for you

[popoaggie]

@bluegrasssingingman READ HIS BIOGRAPHY ! I know it might be a challenge because of your Kentucky 5th grade education, but we're all rooting for you, asshole.

[popoaggie]

@bluegrasssingingman He also loves his Ovation. You probably didn't know that nearly every track on his famous Mansanita Album was recorded using his Ovation, a guitar that was built totally by machine and no human hands. He also made the comment twice in his biography that the Martin company hasn't "Made a Guitar Worth a Shit Since 1955". His own words.

[jacobguitar1]

wow looks just like a martin. even has the old scool tuners

[bluegrasssingingman]

@jacobguitar1 Yeah it is a copy of a Martin d28 Clarence White. Played by the greatest guitar player to ever live, Tony Rice. I also believe these video's should be blocked. When you show a guitar made for the hardest music there is to pick. Then play shit like rock,blues,and country. That is the lowest insult.

[bluegrasssingingman]

Santa Cruz makes some very nice guitars. I'd have one as a back up,but I'm not paying more for a copy, of my #1 guitar.

[ghaibboy]

i think the most musical guitar comes from Martin Family

[YofterMofter]

@ghaibboy Yeah they breed 'em.

[ghaibboy]

@YofterMofter are SC's engineer comes from martin ?

[YofterMofter]

@ghaibboy Well since the dreadnought is originally Martin's design, we can say that, at least in the case of this guitar.

[inky960]

@ghaibboy I think a guitar, by itself, has little to do with "being musical." It's only when someone takes it in his hands and coaxes music from the guitar that there's music. And how musical that is, or is not, depends on the player. A gifted guitarist can make more "musical" sounds from $200 Yamaha than a wannabe can make from a $10,000 D-45.

[bluegrasssingingman]

@inky960 Your are dreaming to much. A junk Yamaha can limit the most experienced musician from doing what he wants. Just from the fact the guitar is limited in its quality. That is why it cost 200 dollars.

[bluegrasssingingman]

@inky960 I read your comment again. Yes your right about a talented musician making a 200 Yamaha sound better then a guy like this. Playing on a 10000 dollar guitar. but not a 200 dollar Yamaha sound as good as a 10000 d-45, or this Santa Cruz. That 200 Yamaha is 200 for a reason. I missed understood what you was saying.

[inky960]

@bluegrasssingingman Cool --- but please understand that I'm not saying that "THIS" guy isn't playing well. Actually, he plays just fine, IMO.

[Vapor40]

What strings are you using here?