Visited Santa Cruz Guitar (Ukulele) Company today....

garywj

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Melva and I took the tour of the Santa Cruz Guitar Company today. Richard (the owner and person who started the company) was the tour guide. Lots of laughs, questions answered and talking to luthiers along the way. It was obvious that the dozen people who work there are artists and love what they do. SCG makes about 400 guitars a year, and, are you ready for this? 3 or 4 ukuleles. Richard said they make the same number as Martin, but it takes them a year instead of a day.

Richard demonstrated everything from tap-tuning the wood and braces to finalizing the fretboard. He showed us almost every wood they use and let us hear the difference as he struck them. They get their woods from all over the world and are very careful that their wood is from old dead wood. He says that does two things: saves the environment and makes for the best wood. He then demonstrated tops, the thickness and wedge shapes for different styles of music and bracing. He taped them in different spots, letting us hear the obvious difference.

There was no rush. Richard does two tours a week and questions are encouraged. We were in a group of six, so everyone got a chance to chat with the luthiers and Richard. If you ever get to the California central coast, don't miss a chance to visit SCG on a tour day (see their website)

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SCG sure does make some ono instruments.
 
Thanks for this write-up. I'd be happy to visit that fantastic shop sometime.
 
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