Santa Cruz Question

[midstream]

I have several Santa Cruz guitars and really like them, or of course, I wouldn't own them. I have only bought one brand new. I had the occasion to get a dream guitar, and checked into trading some of my Santa Cruz guitars. By three different dealers, I was told mine had a rising belly, too wet or too dry, always something. They also told me that Santa Cruz guitars tend to be more"delicate and develop problems more easily than other brands. Mine still play great, but it seems they are not worth much in trade or for sale. If only one dealer told me this I would blow it off, but it seems to be a pretty wide spread opinion. I keep them in a properly humidified toom and take excellent care. Your thoughts/opinions?

[Rosewood99]

I would question the judgement of your "dealers". Not much worth in trade or sale? Check the classifieds. No better or worse prices than an other boutique guitars such as Huss & Dalton, Collins, etc. True, they are more lightly built (intentionally) but again are no better or worse than anyone else.

I did a lot of research on SC before I purchased my used SC and can tell you that they are right up there in quality with any other guitar. And the price I paid proves they have good resale value.

And you guitars you own supposedly have all kinds of problems yet still play great?????

[sdelsolray]

Perhaps your SCGC guitars have some issues which were caused by he design, or due to mistreatment.

Take them to a qualified luthier for proper measurements and an objective opinion.

[mattwood]

Since your SC guitars aren't worth anything and it looks like you don't like living in the great state of Texas, I'll do the neighborly thing and give you 50 cents on the dollar for your guitars. Then at least they'll be worth something.

[Von Beerhofen]

All my guitars have a slight upward curve in the top and here humidity levels are averagely perfect most of the time. My Martin has a bit of a dip in front of the bridge, the Santa Cruz I have has way less curvature and stay better in tune then my Martins. They're all OM's but even the Taylors I own have a bit of a curve in the top and they're not as fragile build as my other guitars.

They play great and sound great, they'll probably remain like that for at least a decade I would say as long as I take good care of em. If you want to learn about measuring distortions in the guitar, get the right tools for it and visit some Luthier websites so you can do your own assessment instead of having to rely on commercially interested parties who may not have your interest in mind.

If you're not checking your Rh then you're only creating problems yourself, but there's a cheap and worthwhile alternative depending on the environment your guitars are in.

Btw if you loose 10% on a 10.000$ guitar then that's 1000$, if you loose 10% on a 1000$ guitar then that's 100$, hope that makes sense to you.

Ludwig

[blindboyjimi]

Did you take your guitars to a SCGC dealer? I have owned many SCGC guitars and a slight belly is not a bad thing at all. Yes they are lightly built, but that's what you are paying for. The best guitars are built as lightly as the old revered Martin's. You could get an overbuilt guitar but it will sound overbuilt. As said above SCGC are no different that any other high end builders. It is necessary to have a humidifier/dehumidifier and a good meter.

[lfoo6952]

I currently own 3 SCGC's. If I am not mistaken, I believe their guitars are intentionally built with the slight belly which gives the top more strength.

Originally Posted by midstream

I have several Santa Cruz guitars and really like them, or of course, I wouldn't own them. I have only bought one brand new. I had the occasion to get a dream guitar, and checked into trading some of my Santa Cruz guitars. By three different dealers, I was told mine had a rising belly, too wet or too dry, always something. They also told me that Santa Cruz guitars tend to be more"delicate and develop problems more easily than other brands. Mine still play great, but it seems they are not worth much in trade or for sale. If only one dealer told me this I would blow it off, but it seems to be a pretty wide spread opinion. I keep them in a properly humidified toom and take excellent care. Your thoughts/opinions?

The fact that it wasn't a consistent something suggests there may be nothing at all wrong with your guitar. IME Santa Cruz guitars are not built more lightly than comparable guitars by other small builders or even factories building in a prewar Martin style. They're not "built like tanks" but neither are they "on the brink of self destruction".

It's more likely that the dealers you're working with don't typically deal in SCGC guitars and therefore are being overly cautious, or they're just trying to beat you down. We don't like to think the "reputable" dealers would do that, but some will. I once had a well known vintage dealer try to beat me down on a consignment price due to "internal issues that I probably wasn't aware of and wouldn't understand". Of course, I knew the guitar inside and out and had high resolution photos of all the bracing. I thanked him for his time and sold it on my own....for about 3 times what I would have netted on consignment after fees and repairs.

[stuco]

"Never trust a guitar if it doesn't have a belly." -Norman Blake

That being said, I have heard similar things about Santa Cruz's being lightly built. Of course they are built this way intentionally as mentioned. I don't know how you could really measure this unless you compared things like top thickness to other fine guitar builders.

[Orfeas]

Originally Posted by paulzoom

I would question the judgement of your "dealers". Not much worth in trade or sale? Check the classifieds. No better or worse prices than an other boutique guitars such as Huss & Dalton, Collins, etc. True, they are more lightly built (intentionally) but again are no better or worse than anyone else.

I did a lot of research on SC before I purchased my used SC and can tell you that they are right up there in quality with any other guitar. And the price I paid proves they have good resale value.

And you guitars you own supposedly have all kinds of problems yet still play great?????

I am really confused, and I do agree with Paul. You should double-check your sources, because SCGC resale value is very much alike the other small shop guitar makers. Now about the curvature, I think you should share some images. Sometimes a slight belly at the top (after the bridge) is normal.

I do not know how far you live from Weatherford, TX, but I know a very nice luthier there.

[Ted @ LA Guitar Sales]

Originally Posted by midstream

...checked into trading some of my Santa Cruz guitars. ...By three different dealers, I was told mine had a rising belly, ...They also told me that Santa Cruz guitars tend to be more"delicate and develop problems more easily than other brands. ...seems they are not worth much in trade or for sale. ...seems to be a pretty wide spread opinion.

Like other boutique brands, a used Santa Cruz guitar in excellent shape, will be worth about 60% of current list, and a dealer will deduct 20% to 50% off that value, depending on condition, if they accepts trades. FYI, Santa Cruz guitars are no more delicate than other high end acoustics, and they hold their value just as well as the other boutique brands.

I would suggest having your guitar checked out by a qualified luthier, and if there is nothing wrong, than sell it yourself to get top dollar.

[Mr. Jelly]

I have been in the guitar trading business for sometime. So I understood when I bought a Santa Cruz that the resale discount would be a higher percentage of the original price than one of the big three guitar makers models. My vibe is from what you said is that the guitar stores are concerned that they can't move it fast and so they don't really want the guitars unless they can get them at a cheap price. If you feel the guitars are in fine shape I would surmise they googled SC guitar issues or something so they would know what to look for and that's what they laid on you. As for the light build issue so far I've only heard that because SC guitars are so light people worry about them having issues. Where as I haven't actually heard of any real problems with SC guitars. Wait, there was one about a guitar built years ago. If there were some real issues you would see allot of stories about it. I've heard of a boat load of Martin issues. By it stands to reason I would, there have been a monstrous amount of Martins produced.

[nedray]

I'm curious as to who you talked to. I'm familiar with the stores in San Antonio, Houston and Austin, and I could predict most of their reaction to a Santa Cruz guitar being offered in trade.True enough, i think some would not know how to approach buying or selling a SC guitar and might consider it sort of a fruity California thing, at least compared to a Collings, for instance, which is made in Austin. Or, they might just be trying to prepare you for disappointment as to what the trade would be worth to you. Some will be cautious with such a guitar and only take it in for a small fraction of what it's worth. Definitely better to try to sell it yourself, here of on Reverb in particular.

[djg]

I think people have offered up a bunch of reasonable observations already. Of course, any particular guitar might have a problem, and folks here are not looking at your guitars, but the varying stories seem a little odd, and the idea that there's a general problem with SCGC guitars seems just off -- as suggested by at least a couple of people in the thread with considerable more experience buying, selling, and trading guitars than myself. It's a national market but one that could have local quirks as well -- a brand just not as well known in a given town, or a particular dealer biased by who knows what (including, maybe, an atypical experience or two). If that's a problem down the road, there seem to be plenty of folks interested in Santa Cruz guitars, from individuals on this board to well known shops on one or another coast (or TN, etc.) who are more familiar with them.

My own Santa Cruz OM hasn't developed any problems yet, but that's just one guitar. Plus, I've only had it for 21 years.

[tadol]

Your "dream" guitar is probably a few other peoples dream guitar as well, and they probably don't really want to do the trade-in for it, and most other dealers who you might try to sell the guitar to will always offer you a small fraction of what its probably worth - trading it in on one of their high-dollar & high-margin guitars would probably get you a better offer -

And I have heard similar thoughts about SC guitars, and can only say that they are not built "light", they are just built "right" - if a guitar doesn't have a little bit of a belly, its too heavily built and will never live up to its real potential. Now, it may hold up to more abuse or mistreatment, but -

SO - the important question - which one do you want to sell!?!?