A beautifully preserved and dynamically resonant piece of Santa Cruz history: SCGC OM #11, built in 1987. Straight-lace Brazilian Rosewood, tight-grained Sitka Spruce, and a V neck for vintage vibe. Wrap all that up in a herringbone bow, and you’re looking at a pretty fingerstyle package that’s opened up handsomely.
Not quite as loud as a Tony Rice D, this OM is nonetheless a powerful strummer with lots of projection lurking under the hood. The middle register has a breathy, opened up quality that gives extra color to fingerstyle arrangements, and the setup feels slinky and smooth to the touch. Taken down to Open D, the play feel remained crisp and responsive. It’s hard to put this one down.
We’re impressed by just how clean this 1987 SCGC is: aside from a few pickguard scratches it looks heaps better than guitars a quarter its age. All that and an obviously played-in tone? A winning combination.
Common misspellings: santacruz, sczg, cruze, barzilian, brazilin, brazlian, sika