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Old 12-03-2022, 05:47 PM
jw3571 jw3571 is offline
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Default Santa Cruz Bearclaw Sitka

Anybody have experience with Santa Cruz's Bearclaw Sitka? Does it sound like normal Sitka or does it have different sound characteristics? I typically prefer
Adirondack on most guitars but am curious about this.
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Old 12-03-2022, 05:50 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by jw3571 View Post
Anybody have experience with Santa Cruz's Bearclaw Sitka? Does it sound like normal Sitka or does it have different sound characteristics? I typically prefer
Adirondack on most guitars but am curious about this.
I don't think you can pigeon-hole BC like that....

I've had BC topped guitars I felt were on the soft end of the spectrum and sounded lush and warm, and others that seemed pretty stiff and bright sounding.
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Old 12-03-2022, 05:56 PM
colins colins is offline
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I expect SC’c bearclaw will be similar to bearclaw used by other builders. Here is an interesting thread that talks about the phenomenon - https://www.acousticguitarforum.com/...d.php?t=282811
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Old 12-03-2022, 07:00 PM
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Bear claw is cosmetic. On average it won't sound any different than other examples of the same species.
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Old 12-04-2022, 09:21 AM
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Hey Jon. I see SCGC often marketing their bearclaw Sitka as stiffer than their regular line Sitka. Maybe lob a call into them and ask them about a specific guitar if you have the serial # handy?
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Old 12-04-2022, 09:39 AM
The Bard Rocks The Bard Rocks is offline
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Quote:
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Bear claw is cosmetic. On average it won't sound any different than other examples of the same species.
Yep. And like other woods, individual examples of it can vary.
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Old 12-04-2022, 10:39 AM
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I believe Richard, like Dana Bourgeois, has said something to the effect that on average bear claw has a slightly higher strength to weight ratio. I've had a few bear claw guitars from Santa Cruz, including the bear claw Italian top 00 I used on the "Artifact record with Mark Goldenberg...But who knows? There's so many little things going into acoustic guitar tone
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Old 12-04-2022, 11:20 AM
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I would expect bearclaw sitka to sound almost the same as regular sitka. But it’s all the little “almosts” that create most of the content on these forums -
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