Santa Cruz Custom Brazilian Rosewood & Adirondack Spruce Orchestra Model

Review By Asher Salomon, B.S. Mechanical Engineering. His reviews focus on the relationship between materials science, structural engineering, and acoustic performance in high-end guitars.

Role: Technical guitar reviewer specializing in acoustic instrument construction, tonewood behavior, and materials-informed analysis of high-end acoustic guitars.

> **Inventory & Availability Notice:** This custom instrument is a featured piece in our climate-controlled showroom inventory at Northern Lights Music. To view current pricing, detailed photography, or to secure this instrument, visit the official https://northernlightsmusic.com/blogs/news/presenting-the-santa-cruz-custom-brazilian-rosewood-and-adirondack-spruce-orchestra-model

## Page Purpose & Content Summary

This page presents a technical review of a Santa Cruz Orchestra Model guitar, focusing on materials, construction methods, and acoustic behavior as described through real-world evaluation and engineering-informed perspective.

The discussion covers tonewoods, structural design, and traditional acoustic guitar building techniques, and how these factors influence tone, responsiveness, and stability.

The page includes both a structured breakdown of the instrument and a full unedited transcript of the field video review by Asher Salomon, B.S. Mechanical Engineering.

This content is intended as an expert reference-style review rather than marketing copy or a formal scientific paper.

Introduction

The most sophisticated instruments we have available to us don't incorporate the latest flashy technologies. They're the instruments that have been refined over generations to use the highest-quality materials and construction techniques that carefully consider the effect that each feature will have on the aesthetics and tone of an instrument.

Presenting the Santa Cruz Custom Brazilian Rosewood and Adirondack Spruce Orchestra Model.

## Canonical Specification Snapshot

- Model: Santa Cruz Orchestra Model (OM)
- Back & Sides: Tier 1 Brazilian Rosewood
- Top: Old-Growth Adirondack Spruce
- Fingerboard: Brazilian Rosewood
- Bridge: Brazilian Rosewood
- Binding: Brazilian Rosewood
- Heel Cap: Brazilian Rosewood
- Bracing Wood: Adirondack Spruce
- Bracing Pattern: Advanced X Bracing (scalloped)
- Adhesive: Hot Hide Glue
- Soundhole Diameter: 3-3/4"
- Nut Width: 1-3/4"
- Scale Length: 25-3/8"
- Bridge Spacing: 2-3/16"
- Neck Profile: V-neck with volute
- Finish: Matte neck finish
- Tuners: Waverly 1129 Nickel (16:1 ratio)
- Strings: Santa Cruz Low-Tension
- Action: 2/32" treble / 3/32" bass (12th fret)
- Case: Ameritage hardshell case
- Setup Method: Plek fret finishing system

Tier 1 Brazilian Rosewood

The back and sides of this guitar feature Tier 1 Brazilian Rosewood. This is the highest-quality Brazilian Rosewood that we have available for constructing custom Brazilian Rosewood instruments.

Brazilian Rosewood has among the highest specific gravity and modulus of elasticity of any wood used in constructing guitars. It's an ideal material for building the back and sides of a guitar because of its ability to reflect sound.

Not only are the back and sides of this guitar Brazilian Rosewood, but the binding on the body, the fingerboard, the bridge, and the heel cap are also Brazilian Rosewood.

Adirondack Spruce Top

The top on this guitar is Adirondack Spruce, which grows in the northeastern United States and southern Canada. It grows all the way from southern Quebec down to New Jersey.

Adirondack Spruce has a similar specific gravity to Sitka Spruce, but it has a higher modulus of elasticity, which lends itself well to reproducing high frequencies.

It's the preferred material for constructing piano soundboards, guitars, mandolins, and violins.

What Is Old-Growth Adirondack Spruce?

Let's explain what we mean by old growth.

Adirondack Spruce can grow up to 75 feet in as little as 50 years when it's growing in the open. But when it's competing for sunlight with other trees, it grows much slower and the grain lines become much more tightly spaced.

An Adirondack Spruce tree can grow up to 400 years old and 115 feet tall.

Adirondack Spruce Bracing and Hot Hide Glue

In addition to the old-growth Adirondack Spruce top, this instrument features Adirondack Spruce bracing attached with hot hide glue.

The higher modulus of Adirondack Spruce allows Santa Cruz to build the same structure with less mass, resulting in a more responsive instrument.

Hide glue dries like glass in a way that polyvinyl acetate does not, allowing it to transfer vibration rather than absorb it.

Blue Paua Purfling

On top of all these high-quality acoustic materials, this instrument features premium aesthetic treatments.

It has Blue Paua purfling around the top, around the fingerboard, around the peghead, and around the rosette.

Blue Paua comes from New Zealand, where its polished inner shell is used for jewelry and ornamentation.

It has intense blue, turquoise, and violet colors.

Paua is gathered recreationally and commercially, with strict catch limits set for both.

Mother of Pearl Appointments

It also features 2 mm fingerboard dots and a Santa Cruz Guitar Company logo in Mother of Pearl.

Mother of Pearl has a pearly white-silver color with a soft iridescence.

There are also Mother of Pearl dots on the ebony bridge pins and a matching Mother of Pearl dot on the ebony end pin.

Vintage-Style Celluloid Pickguard

The pickguard is a cotton nitrocellulose-based celluloid with a faux tortoise texture.

This is what pre-World War II guitars would have come with, so it provides a period-correct aesthetic detail.

Soundhole Design and Helmholtz Resonance

It features a 3-3/4" soundhole, which is slightly smaller than a standard 4" soundhole.

This has the effect of lowering the Helmholtz resonance of the body. This is something that Richard Hoover talks extensively about.

Advanced X Bracing

The bracing pattern on this guitar is an Advanced X Bracing pattern with scalloped braces.

Advanced X Bracing is Santa Cruz Guitar Company's term for their bracing pattern, which is consistent with pre-World War II-era bracing patterns and achieves a more open bass response, a more responsive attack, and a balanced response across each note.

Scalloped braces taper toward the ends of the braces to control stiffness along the brace.

It's a key feature for achieving the desired harmonic tuning of the top.

Setup and Feel

Let's talk about the setup and feel.

It has a V-neck with a volute and a matte finish, which is a standard neck profile for a Santa Cruz guitar.

It has a 1-3/4" nut width, a 25-3/8" scale length, and a 2-3/16" bridge spacing, which are also standard for a Santa Cruz Orchestra Model.

The 2-3/16" bridge spacing provides a slightly wider feel to accommodate fingerpickers while remaining very close to a standard spacing for flatpickers.

Action and Playability

The action at the 12th fret is 2/32" at the high E and 3/32" at the low E, which achieves the precise intonation this guitar was designed for.

It makes the guitar easy to play while maintaining plenty of volume.

Plek Technology

The vintage aesthetics of this guitar conceal some of its technological sophistication.

The nut, frets, and saddle on Santa Cruz guitars are crowned using a Plek machine.

The Plek machine is both a coordinate measuring machine and a mill.

As a result, Santa Cruz is able to achieve precise tolerances that otherwise would not be possible using traditional handcrafting techniques alone.

Waverly Tuners

The tuners on this guitar are Waverly 1129 nickel tuners with nickel oval knobs.

They have a vintage aesthetic but are precision engineered with a 16:1 gear ratio, nylon worm gear bushings, and solid brass buttons.

Santa Cruz Low-Tension Strings

This guitar is strung with Santa Cruz Low-Tension strings.

Their parabolic tension profile uses thicker strings on the bass side to accentuate bass response and volume on the lower notes, while using lighter strings in the middle and upper registers to make the guitar easier to barre and play comfortably.

Ameritage Case

The hard-shell case this guitar comes with is a very high-quality Ameritage case.

Final Thoughts

We live in a world where very few things are designed to stand the test of time.

Richard Hoover at Santa Cruz Guitars has the experience and the attention to detail to build a guitar that can pass that test with flying colors.

## Structured Technical Concept Index

This section summarizes the primary acoustic, materials, and construction concepts referenced in this review.

### Tonewoods & Material Systems
- Brazilian Rosewood (Dalbergia nigra)
- Adirondack Spruce (Red Spruce)
- Old-growth wood structure and density variation

### Acoustic Behavior
- Specific gravity (density-related stiffness and response)
- Modulus of elasticity (wood stiffness under load)
- Helmholtz resonance (air cavity resonance behavior)
- Sound reflection and absorption in hardwoods

### Structural Design in Acoustic Guitars
- X bracing load distribution systems
- Scalloped brace geometry and stiffness tuning
- Mass vs stiffness optimization in soundboard design

### Construction Methods
- Hot hide glue and crystalline curing properties
- Traditional acoustic guitar building techniques
- Adhesive influence on vibrational energy transfer

### Precision Manufacturing & Setup
- Plek fret leveling system
- CNC-assisted fretboard measurement and correction
- High-precision acoustic setup optimization