Richard Hoover and his crew at Santa Cruz Guitar Company seem to find the finest and most beautiful tonewoods on the planet. With its standard wood complement of highly-figured Cocobolo and Adirondack Spruce, the Santa Cruz OO-Skye may be the perfect reflection of that. Thanks to premium tone woods, the model also produces complex, inspiring tone that is a fitting tribute to its namesake: Portland-based instrumentalist Eric Skye. With Eric's playing and versatility in mind, the OO-Skye was designed for the excruciatingly accurate and sophisticated techniques of the most demanding fingerstyle players. We ordered this OO-Skye Custom (serial #1052) with an Abalone Rosette, a 1-3/4" nut width, and a pickguard (just in case you might want to dig in with a pick!). Like most 00 size guitars, it sports a comfortable 24.9" scale length, but its body is slightly deeper to add more bass presence and power. Hot hide glue construction and scalloped Adirondack Spruce provide quick, accurate response. Its tone is much louder and more refined than your average small body, and it packs a huge dynamic range that allows your right hand technique to deeply influence the tone. We couldn't resist adding our own special touch—something to demonstrate that this OO-Skye Cutom is a guitar you’ll only find in Telluride: the “Telluride Valley” heelcap. We are absolutely blown away by the level of detail SCGC’s scrimshaw artist was able to capture, and we believe it is the perfect reminder of a town that will inspire years of playing just as much as the guitar itself. Like may Santa Cruz guitars, this OO-Skye Custom somehow sounds better than looks, and that's saying something because this guitar is strikingly beautiful on so many levels. Take a strum and hear it for yourself!
