Pricing and availability
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Average Price: $6,400
High-end/Boutique
$200
$601+
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Budget
Standard
High-end
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Description
The Santa Cruz Tony Rice Professional Model is a masterfully crafted steel-string acoustic guitar, designed to meet the demands of discerning musicians. Born from a collaboration between Santa Cruz Guitar Company and legendary bluegrass guitarist Tony Rice, this instrument is a tribute to both tradition and innovation. Its pre-war inspired design captures the essence of vintage guitars, offering a rich, resonant tone that is both powerful and nuanced.
Crafted with a select Sitka spruce top and Indian rosewood back and sides, the Tony Rice Professional Model delivers a balanced tonal palette suitable for various playing styles, from flatpicking to fingerstyle. The guitar features a comfortable, modified V-shaped neck, allowing for smooth playability across the fretboard. The intricate herringbone purfling and ivoroid bindings add a touch of elegance, reflecting the meticulous attention to detail that Santa Cruz is renowned for.
This model is equipped with a 25.375-inch scale length, providing a responsive feel and enhanced projection. The ebony fingerboard and bridge contribute to its refined tonal qualities, ensuring clarity and sustain in every note. Whether you're a professional performer or an avid enthusiast, the Santa Cruz Tony Rice Professional Model is an exceptional choice for those seeking a high-caliber acoustic guitar that stands the test of time.
Key Features:
- Select Sitka spruce top and Indian rosewood back and sides
- Pre-war inspired design
- Modified V-shaped neck for comfortable playability
- Intricate herringbone purfling and ivoroid bindings
- 25.375-inch scale length for enhanced projection
- Ebony fingerboard and bridge
Product specs
| Brand | Santa Cruz |
| Model | Tony Rice Professional |
| Made In | United States |
| Categories | Dreadnought Acoustic Guitars |
| Active Preamp | No |
| Back Material | Rosewood |
| Body Shape | Dreadnought |
| Fretboard Material | Rosewood |
| Number of Frets | 21 |
| Number of Strings | 6-String |
| Pickup | None |
| Right / Left Handed | Right Handed |
| Sides Material | Rosewood |
| String Type | Steel |
| Top Material | Spruce |
FAQs
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What type of wood is used in the Santa Cruz Tony Rice Professional Model guitar?
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The Santa Cruz Tony Rice Professional Model features a spruce top and rosewood back and sides, offering a rich, resonant tone with excellent projection and clarity.
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Is the Santa Cruz Tony Rice Professional Model suitable for bluegrass music?
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Yes, the Santa Cruz Tony Rice Professional Model is designed with bluegrass in mind, providing a powerful, balanced sound that cuts through in ensemble settings, making it ideal for bluegrass musicians.
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Does the Santa Cruz Tony Rice Professional Model guitar come with a pickup system?
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No, the Santa Cruz Tony Rice Professional Model does not include a built-in pickup system, emphasizing its acoustic performance. However, external pickups can be added if needed.
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How many frets does the Santa Cruz Tony Rice Professional Model have?
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The Santa Cruz Tony Rice Professional Model is equipped with 21 frets, allowing for a wide range of notes and versatile playing styles.
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What is the body shape of the Santa Cruz Tony Rice Professional Model guitar?
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The Santa Cruz Tony Rice Professional Model features a dreadnought body shape, known for its robust sound and strong bass response, suitable for various musical genres.
Videos
Carter Vintage Guitars
Carter Vintage Guitars - Santa Cruz Tony Rice Professional
Carter Vintage Guitars - Santa Cruz Tony Rice Professional
Carter Vintage Guitars
Santa Cruz - Tony Rice Professional
Guitar Gallery
Reviews
Owner Insights
We analyzed real musician discussions from forums and Reddit to find what players love, question, and tweak about Santa Cruz Tony Rice Professional Model.
Features and functionality
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The logo is placed on the fretboard to honor the original guitar's condition when Tony Rice acquired it.
Source
Use cases and applications
User experience
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Some owners store their guitars in secure studios, limiting home usage to a few instruments for composing.
Source
Comparisons
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Brazilian rosewood guitars are becoming increasingly scarce, making models like the Tony Rice Professional highly coveted.
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The Blueridge BR-5060 is noted as the most affordable large sound hole model, though it is difficult to find.
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A used Martin D-28 LSV, praised for its quality, is recommended as a more affordable alternative under $3K.
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The Martin HD-16R, often found around $2K, is likened to an HD28V but may lack forward-shifted bracing.
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Eastman E8-D or E20-D models are suggested for herringbone dreadnoughts, with possible sound hole enlargement for a custom feel.
Source
Based on 0 Reviews and 0 Ratings
Artist usage
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HAPPY TRAUM: Tony, tell me about this guitar. This is really a very pretty instrument here.
TONY RICE: This one is made by Santa Cruz Company, a company that I've had a very long-standing relationship with. It goes back to around 1977, I think. And this particular one is a very incredible, incredible, powerful instrument, the best one that I've had to day . . . to date. And I've had quite a few of 'em. This particular one I've only had a year, a year in December actually.
HAPPY TRAUM: Is this a signature model?
TONY RICE: Yeah, it's a . . . it's a, it's a, it's a Tony Rice Deluxe model is what it is. A very dressed-up in terms of trim, and double binding and Brazilian rosewood, and each guitar that they have built for me has been, its been, it's been like a slow, evolutionary process of guitar-making for Richard Hoover. And they've all been successful. And each one's been made for me . . . I'll play on it for a while and then I'll think of some little change that I want to experiment with, like a different, a little different bracing pattern, or braces slid slightly forward, or wood thickness, neck shape . . . all of these little changes that I can think of . . . that, that I like to think of as improvements, but they're always experimental. And so this one, this particular instrument here I've enjoyed playing more than I have any other instrument that I've had in my hands--period!--for many, many years. Something magical about this one. And like I say, it's been a very good relationship with . . . with that Company. And I guess I can let the instrument speak for itself in the way it sounds and the way it notes, and plays; and cosmetically, it's certainly not what any body would consider "an eyesore."
HAPPY TRAUM: No, no, it's a very pretty guitar.
TONY RICE: It's a very beautiful instrument.
HAPPY TRAUM: It really is.
TONY RICE: And it plays, it plays good. This neck shape (which I don't know if you can see that or not) is --ah, it's kind of experimental too. It's actually going back to the way the Martin factory had shaped guitar necks around the turn of the [20th] century, which was with a slight "V" at the back part of the neck, which feels very good on the back of mine, on my hand where I put my thumb, but not quite so exaggerated and an over-wrap in this direction on both ends of the fingerboard . . . makes it very comfortable playing guitar (begins to strum the instrument) and very easy . . . (adjusts the tuning and briefly begins to play) And extremely accurate, in terms of notation. (continuing to play, occasionally checking the tuning using harmonics) Most acoustic guitars don't do that, especially in "A". It's got enormous power and depth (continues to play various runs). Oh well, it speaks for itself. [FADE OUT]
According to Premier Guitar's interview done in 2020, one of the guitars Hughes uses is the Santa Cruz Tony Rice Professional Model.
Genre Usage
Based on how artists on Equipboard use this gear, it is most commonly found in the following genres.
Used With
Based on how musicians on Equipboard use Santa Cruz Tony Rice Professional Model, it is most commonly used with the following gear.
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