I have several SCGC guitars. I think they are VERY well-built guitars.... The fit and finish are way up there. To my eye, they are the equal of Collings.

There is a different design/build philosophy at work at both factories (not a bad word, IMHO! LOL!), hence a different tone. It comes down to preference.

By the way, NOTHING beats getting out there and playing these things. No advice, opinions, or theories. Nothing. It all comes down to your taste. As someone said, when you get to guitars at this level, "bad" gets pretty hard to find. "What I like" becomes much easier...

Norman, not sure which post your reply was directed to, but if it was mine, my main comment was directed at consistency in quality of sound, not build quality. Several have already commented on this forum that with Santa Cruz if you play 5 guitars or more in a particular model you may and likely will find some that our outstanding sounding guitars, while others are just OK (relatively at this price level), and some claim to have found "dogs" (I've yet to play a Cruz I'd characterize as a dog mind you). In contrast, the quality of the sound of the Collings is, in a phrase, consistently great. So much so, that I was willing to buy my D1A through the net. Guess what: It sounded exactly as others had described their D1As, i.e. a great sounding dread. Frankly, I don't think there is another brand out there that I'd feel comfortable buying without first playing. But again, keep in mind I'm certainly a Santa Cruz fan; I played a fair number, found my keeper, and bought it on the spot.

Owned a mahogany 00 (number 16, in fact), that was a nice little guitar. However, there was an issue with the binding around the top. There was a joint in the binding right at the waist. It took forever to get Mr. Hoover to agree to do anything about that. His first response was, "Well, you know strips of binding aren't long enough to go all the way around." I couldn't believe what I was hearing. If they aren't long enough to go all the way around, put the joint at the middle of the lower bout, just above the end pin. $3200 (at that time, 1997) and that was the best they could do? And the sound was nowhere near a small body Collings.

I've played a number of SCGCs over the years. Many dreds, including both IR and BR Tony Rice models and found them to be very inconsistent. In sound quality and workmanship. Even small things like string spacing at the bridge. Overall, just not what I expect for that kind of money.

Tom,

I was pretty much responding to the original post. I fully recognize that this is the Collings Forum, and most posters here have already voted their guitar preference with their wallet....

I think I may have had a different experience with SCGCs than some folks here. I used to spend quite a bit of time (and WAY too much money!) at a high-end guitar store. The owner gave me pretty much full run of the place. In exchange for that I bought a bunch of guitars from him.

I played most high-end guitars that are made in any sort of numbers, and some that are rarely see in almost any shop. I really settled in on Martin, Collings, and Santa Cruz guitars. I liked others, but those were the three that had a particular pull on me. I'll leave Martins out of the equation for the moment.

There were two guitars that will forever be in my "the one that got away" category. One was a D1A that haunts me to this day. What's worse is that a buddy of mine I took up to the store bought it!! The other was was SCGC D model, with a German top. I went back twice and hesitated to pull the trigger; the third time it was gone....

I guess my point with all this is that I have played what I think is a fairly large number of guitars from both makers. I have found "guitar of a lifetime" instruments from both companies. MOST of the guitars from both companies were in the good to very good range, but not anything I would buy. I NEVER came across a "dog" from either builder, but I played a bunch that I thought were good... merely good.

I have the same amount of respect for both builders. I think both build generally superior guitars that run from really good to... well, I can't imagine finding a guitar that would be "better", at least to my ear. Again, at this level, really good indicates a very fine instrument.

I mentioned voting with ones wallet.... I've done the same. At the moment, the Collings in my house have a lead over the SCGCs. I am hoping that my GAS days are behind me... LOL!! But I certainly know there could be another guitar from either builder out there with my name all over it....

I hope this all makes sense and didn't offend anyone.....


Norman Draper