Santa Cruz: D-PW

Submitted by elevate155 on 6/2/2012

Where Purchased: Flatpicker Hangout Classifieds

Year Purchased: 2011
Price Paid: Don't Remember (bought USED) historic exchange rates / currency converter

Sound

Great sounding guitar. Well balanced and cuts through a mix pretty well. SCGC really knows what they are doing. I've had several comments like, "it sounds like Tony Rice's guitar!"

Sound Rating: 9

Setup

I bought it used so I had my guy set it up. Plays like butter with a good setup!

Setup Rating: 10

Appearance

Rosewood back/sides
Carpathian spruce top
Simple dreadnought styling
Pretty much a Tony Rice model with no inlay and $4000 cheaper!

Appearance Rating: 8

Reliability

IMHO, a contributing factor to the great sound of the Santa Cruz guitars is their lightness and thin finish so I've had some finish checking already on this 5 year old guitar but the sound is worth it. The tuners don't keep it in tune as well as Waverlys do but they work well.

Reliability Rating: 6

Customer Service

My single request to Santa Cruz was information on the guitar which they provided promptly. They seem like nice folks.

Customer Service: 10

Components

Beautiful woods!
Cheap tuners and not-so-tough finish..

Components Rating: 7

Overall Comments

Fantastic guitar with tone and affordability obviously being the primary focus of this guitar. Highly recommended "players" guitar! Ray Legere plays one on his YouTube videos and recommends them! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vGqfHTxO_8g&feature=youtube_gdata_player

Overall Rating: 9

Elliott: PushButton capo

Submitted by elevate155 on 6/2/2012

Where Purchased: Phil Elliott

Overall Comments

Fantastic material quality and workmanship. I've had mine for 4-5 years and it still works awesome! I would have likely worn the springs on 10 Keysers by now! I had a problem within the first week with the push button not properly working but Phil was very quick to get it repaired and I haven't had a problem since. His wife was very nice throughout the process and even called to confirm exactly how I wanted the engraving done.

Overall Rating: 9