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  #1  
Old 10-21-2019, 09:54 AM
fenderbender4 fenderbender4 is offline
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Default Santa Cruz H13 Users

I've definitely been eyeing the Santa Cruz H13 for a number of years. Have never played one in person but clips and videos of it seem really good.

I was wondering what kind of stuff people (who own/use an H13) play on it, or what they find it's suited for?

I'm mostly singer songwriter stuff and will switch between fingerpicking and strumming mid song. Not really blues fingerstyle but more "pop genre" if that makes sense.

The smaller body has me interested as I've mostly used an old jumbo guitar that is 16.5" at the lower bout and it's lately been giving me shoulder issues from the sheer size of it.
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Old 10-21-2019, 10:24 AM
jaymarsch jaymarsch is offline
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Originally Posted by fenderbender4 View Post
I've definitely been eyeing the Santa Cruz H13 for a number of years. Have never played one in person but clips and videos of it seem really good.

I was wondering what kind of stuff people (who own/use an H13) play on it, or what they find it's suited for?

I'm mostly singer songwriter stuff and will switch between fingerpicking and strumming mid song. Not really blues fingerstyle but more "pop genre" if that makes sense.

The smaller body has me interested as I've mostly used an old jumbo guitar that is 16.5" at the lower bout and it's lately been giving me shoulder issues from the sheer size of it.
I know several singer songwriters who play the Santa Cruz H model - one a 12 fret and one a 13 fret. They are very versatile guitars that sound great both fingerpicked and strummed. No reason not to play any kind of style of music with it. The ones that I have played also respond well to both a light or heavy attack, though that may be influenced by the tone woods chosen. The Santa Cruz H model is a great all-around guitar.

Best,
Jayne
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Old 10-21-2019, 10:48 AM
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BrunoBlack BrunoBlack is offline
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I like SCGC guitars and currently own an OM and a custom OMG. I consider them to be outstanding guitars in build, tone and playability. I was very interested in the H-13 model and bought one in 2016. I thought it was a terrific guitar, but I found the tone was too dry and fundamental for my liking. I kept it for over a year and played it a lot trying to figure out how to get the tone I liked out of that guitar. I eventually sold it. I was thrilled with how it performed fingerpicking. However, I was never thrilled by its performance with a flat pick. I expected the deeper body would deliver a big deep sound; and while it had miles of headroom, a deep bass end, and clear trebles — the tone seemed narrow and restricted IMO. The guitar played very easily. Every H-13 I’ve played has left me with a similar opinion. Great guitar, but worth playing before buying.
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Old 10-22-2019, 12:15 AM
tadol tadol is offline
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Santa Cruz H model is so hard to classify - they’ve made so many, with so many variations - a wonderful size.

But you are specifically asking about the H-13 - the H-13 is a more specific model of the H body. They always are 13 fret and have a slightly deeper body, normally a slotted headstock, and normally 25-⅜” scale. Santa Cruz voices these to be like the old Nick Lucas model, but between the various woods they’ve used for b&s and tops, you can find some variety of voices. They’ll all have the Santa Cruz balance and clarity, but I’ve played some mahog/adi ones, and rosweood/sitka ones, and really loved them. Except for the slotted headstock - I really don’t like those -

Which is why I am so in love with their regular model H - I have them in 14 fret versions ( they make 12 and 13 frets too), with a paddle headstock, and those are incredible. They land in size between a 00 and an OM, and to me they are either like a 00 on steroids, or an OMs beefy little brother. Its capable of such a range of voicings, they can make them into great little fingerstyle machines, or into the perfect accompaniment for a singer/songwriter. if you are ordering one new from the shop, you can get them to put it together to match your wants perfectly -

If you can work with the slot head, the extra body depth of the H13 gives you a little more thickness to the tone, and the many woods they’ve used give them a real range of colorations. If you have a specific goal, or playing style, it’s worth calling the shop and getting either Carolyn or Richards input -
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Old 10-25-2019, 01:36 PM
Edbuff Edbuff is offline
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I owned a Santa Cruz H-13 for many years. I like the workmanship and wood combo. It was sitka/Mahogany. It is about the size of a 00 with a deep body. My biggest problem was that it had a fairly boomy low end due to the deeper body. I also have a Santa Cruz 00-1929. I play mostly finger style but do strum on it. The 1929 is a better balanced sound for me. I sold The H-13 because I own a lot of guitars and that was no longer in the weekly rotation so wasn't getting played.
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Old 10-25-2019, 06:36 PM
ruby50 ruby50 is offline
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The H-13 was designed by Paul Hostetter, luthier extraordinaire - in 1976 if I recall. He passed away last year and my daughter and her business partner (brooklynlutherie.com) are hosting his voluminous website:

http://www.lutherie.net/luthlinks.html

Lot and lots of history, techniques, and ideas there. Paul was a Nick Lucas specialist. He interviewed Nick twice before his death in 1969. One of his friends sold Dylan the Nick he played. When he first designed the H-13, he had SCGC make a batch of 15 for him and his friends. The "H" stands for Hostetter, and they are heavily influenced by the Nicks. Check them out here:

http://www.lutherie.net/model_h.html

Pink Ivory??

Paul was interesting, very knowledgable, and generous. He gave me a piece of Italian Firestripe pickguard material for a '33 L-00 I was rebuilding, among other tools and materials. He is missed.

Ed
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Old 10-25-2019, 06:57 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ruby50 View Post
The H-13 was designed by Paul Hostetter, luthier extraordinaire - in 1976 if I recall. He passed away last year and my daughter and her business partner (brooklynlutherie.com) are hosting his voluminous website:

http://www.lutherie.net/luthlinks.html

Lot and lots of history, techniques, and ideas there. Paul was a Nick Lucas specialist. He interviewed Nick twice before his death in 1969. One of his friends sold Dylan the Nick he played. When he first designed the H-13, he had SCGC make a batch of 15 for him and his friends. The "H" stands for Hostetter, and they are heavily influenced by the Nicks. Check them out here:

http://www.lutherie.net/model_h.html

Pink Ivory??

Paul was interesting, very knowledgable, and generous. He gave me a piece of Italian Firestripe pickguard material for a '33 L-00 I was rebuilding, among other tools and materials. He is missed.

Ed
That’s a great website resource. Thanks.

http://www.lutherie.net/luthlinks.html
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Old 10-25-2019, 07:47 PM
brandall10 brandall10 is offline
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He interviewed Nick twice before his death in 1969.
Ed
Cool bit of info! Nick died in '82 fwiw.
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Old 10-25-2019, 11:09 PM
tadol tadol is offline
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Pink Ivory??
African wood. Extremely hard and dense. Very pink. Extremely unusual for trees to get to the size necessary for instrument building, and usually use a fair bit of sapwood to make it happen.

I only know as I was given a small chunk as a wedding present many years ago - cherish it very much, and I was supposed to turn a bowl from it, but always been a bit intimidated by it -
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Old 10-25-2019, 11:19 PM
gitarro gitarro is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ruby50 View Post
The H-13 was designed by Paul Hostetter, luthier extraordinaire - in 1976 if I recall. He passed away last year and my daughter and her business partner (brooklynlutherie.com) are hosting his voluminous website:

http://www.lutherie.net/luthlinks.html

Lot and lots of history, techniques, and ideas there. Paul was a Nick Lucas specialist. He interviewed Nick twice before his death in 1969. One of his friends sold Dylan the Nick he played. When he first designed the H-13, he had SCGC make a batch of 15 for him and his friends. The "H" stands for Hostetter, and they are heavily influenced by the Nicks. Check them out here:

http://www.lutherie.net/model_h.html

Pink Ivory??

Paul was interesting, very knowledgable, and generous. He gave me a piece of Italian Firestripe pickguard material for a '33 L-00 I was rebuilding, among other tools and materials. He is missed.

Ed
I didn't hostetter had passed away - sorry to hear that. I recall reading about the h13 and sobell years:ago on his website and enjoying learning about them.
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Old 10-26-2019, 04:39 AM
ruby50 ruby50 is offline
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Brandal10 - thanks for the correction. Makes more sense now.

Ed
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Old 10-26-2019, 07:03 AM
jmat jmat is offline
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Ed - that was an interesting article, thanks for posting.
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Old 10-26-2019, 08:05 AM
jt1 jt1 is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ruby50 View Post
The H-13 was designed by Paul Hostetter, luthier extraordinaire - in 1976 if I recall. He passed away last year and my daughter and her business partner (brooklynlutherie.com) are hosting his voluminous website:

http://www.lutherie.net/luthlinks.html

Lot and lots of history, techniques, and ideas there. Paul was a Nick Lucas specialist. He interviewed Nick twice before his death in 1969. One of his friends sold Dylan the Nick he played. When he first designed the H-13, he had SCGC make a batch of 15 for him and his friends. The "H" stands for Hostetter, and they are heavily influenced by the Nicks. Check them out here:

http://www.lutherie.net/model_h.html

Pink Ivory??

Paul was interesting, very knowledgable, and generous. He gave me a piece of Italian Firestripe pickguard material for a '33 L-00 I was rebuilding, among other tools and materials. He is missed.

Ed
Paul was a friend. Such wonderful human being. I miss him.

I love the H, and the guitar that inspired it, and Paul, the Gibson Nick Lucas. 2 of my favorite guitars are of this ilk, a 1929 Nick Lucas and a Kim Walker “Nick Walker.”
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Old 10-26-2019, 11:15 PM
M Hayden M Hayden is offline
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I’ve played a bunch of H-13s and think they work pretty well for everything. They’re almost as versatile as an OM. Once you get past figuring out that the neck join is at the 13th fret so that’s not where the half-scale harmonic is, you’ll be off and running.
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Old 07-04-2020, 04:42 PM
AllHat,NoCattle AllHat,NoCattle is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ruby50 View Post
The H-13 was designed by Paul Hostetter, luthier extraordinaire - in 1976 if I recall. He passed away last year and my daughter and her business partner (brooklynlutherie.com) are hosting his voluminous website:

http://www.lutherie.net/luthlinks.html

Lot and lots of history, techniques, and ideas there. Paul was a Nick Lucas specialist. He interviewed Nick twice before his death in 1969. One of his friends sold Dylan the Nick he played. When he first designed the H-13, he had SCGC make a batch of 15 for him and his friends. The "H" stands for Hostetter, and they are heavily influenced by the Nicks. Check them out here:

http://www.lutherie.net/model_h.html

Pink Ivory??

Paul was interesting, very knowledgable, and generous. He gave me a piece of Italian Firestripe pickguard material for a '33 L-00 I was rebuilding, among other tools and materials. He is missed.

Ed
New to the board, first post. Just wanted to mention that I was lucky enough to stumble upon one of the original batch of fifteen H-13s that Hostetter designed in 2001. I was on the lookout for an H-13 after strong recommendations from world class fingerstylist Martin Simpson and master folk and blues player Happy Traum, and this incredible instrument fell into my lap. Played that sucker for an hour in the music store and bought it on the spot. Amazing for crosspicking and fingerstyle in particular. My favorite guitar at the moment....
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