Description

Santa Cruz OOO – Ft Ross Chapel Redwood & The Tree Mahogany

Top – Fort Ross Chapel Redwood

The old growth Redwood used on this guitar was reclaimed from the chapel at Fort Ross which was established in 1812 by fur trappers on the West Coast of what would become California, near what is now Bodega Bay in Sonoma County. The Chapel was built circa 1824, entirely of old growth Redwood planks with mortise and tenon joints. An accidental fire destroyed the chapel on October 5, 1970 and during the reconstruction that ensued, a few of these beams that were burned and removed were found to have vertical grain, perfectly suitable for instrument building. Fast forward 50 years and these precious few beams were acquired by Richard Hoover of Santa Cruz Guitars and and just recently have been milled to premium guitar tops. Richard’s assessment is the processed lumber is 200 years old and based upon the thickness of the beams, their width and length, tightness and shape of the annual rings that the original trees were quite massive and possibly thousands of years old.

Back & Sides – The Tree Mahogany

The Tree Quilted Mahogany – One of the finest and rarest tonewoods known to mankind. The signature 3 dimensional quilting pattern to this amazing Mahogany allows it to exist in a class of its own. While its visual presentation is second to none, its tonal properties are what excites luthiers and musicians, alike. The Tree Mahogany possesses a vibrance, responsiveness and overtone presence that is not characteristic of Mahogany… but also quite different than other overtone-rich woods.

Tortoise Bindings

Few guitars in this wood combination sell for under $30,000. This is only one of two 000s made by Santa Cruz. ( we have the other one also)

OHSC