[devellis]

They're very nice guitars. Perhaps a more relevant question for a Santa Cruz or any other guitar is, "does it fit with the player's needs/desires?"

I owned one and have played several others. As I said, they're very nice. But what they deliver isn't what I find myself looking for these days. The 000-12 that I owned had a rich, full voice with amazing sustain. It enveloped me in sound. Problem was, that wasn't what I came to want from a guitar. I wanted greater clarity and immediacy. So, although it was a great guitar, it wasn't a good fit. I think the sustain in particular was a problem for my style of playing. I couldn't get enough articulation from it and the notes seemed to all run together. For slow, courtly, lyrical pieces, it was superb but for gutsier blues, it was "too pretty." Other Santa Cruz guitars I've played shared that sweetness and sustain, though to varying degrees. Some players can do magical things with those attributes. I, ham-fisted clod that I am, cannot.

Beyond a certain quality point, the issue of "fit" becomes really important to me. There are lots of great guitars, judging by any criterion you can think of. But not all of them will optimally suit a particular player's style.