Santa Cruz Guitar Company 50th Anniversary

0:00My name is Rachel Ann Goodman and this is Talk of the Bay on Casequed our Community Radio Station that's been alive for eight years and if you think that's a long time, I'm here with Richard Hoover, the Invector and Founder of the Santa Cruz Guitar Company, which is celebrating its 50th anniversary. So big hats off, that's a long run. Happy birthday to you too, Rachel. That is a long time. I was asked by a journalist on our 40th. If it seemed like it just flew by and he said, no, it seems like about 40 years. Yeah. Well, you're still at it. Tell us where it all began. It was in Santa Cruz. What part of Santa Cruz and who was there besides you at the very beginning? Well, I was sitting on the curb waiting for my girlfriend to come home in high school and I had this inspiration.

1:00Wow, somebody makes these. I was playing my guitar at the time and I said, well, I'd like to do that. If I can make a guitar, can do everything I like at one time. Music, guitars, work in wood. My father was a window tremor. He decorated the windows on the stores on Main Street. And so I worked in metal glass wood, all mediums. And so I grew up with that kind of craftiness. My mom was a superstar reference librarian. And when she saw I took my guitar apart, she said, let's get the books I show you how to put back together. Did you take your guitar apart? Oh, yeah. We grew up going to take apart toasters and so forth and making our toys. So it wasn't too big of a leap of faith. But when I was on, let's get the books I show you how to put it back together. And there weren't any. There's nothing on steel string guitars. But there was a ton of stuff on violins, which gave us our national market today to really control the sound of the instrument.

2:05It does not happen. You by chance. And I was in it a few years. My mentors were locals, Bruce McGuire and Jim Patterson both since past. Really beautiful men. And I was approached by two people from that work that you didn't grow music at the time. We didn't grow, we just opened up Bruce Ross and Will Davis. And he said, you know, we've got some family money to invest. Let's really, you know, make a business out of this. And that was too attractive to turn down. So I work with Bill or Will for a couple of years and then Bruce for about 12 years before I took off my aunt. So it was all to impress a girl and noble pursuit and love for it right for her where? Here we are all these years, 50 years later and a huge legacy out in the music world, which we will be talking about. But I want to stay for a moment with the history because it is fascinating. How does a homegrown company like Santa Cruz guitar company blossom and thrive? And what was the timing?

3:13What was the timing in terms of the popularity of the steel string guitar? Because a lot of people may be familiar with classical guitars. If you don't play, you've seen different types of guitars played. Some of the people who play them are quite famous, the steel string now. But at the time, we're talking about what year? 76 is when we signed our partnership agreement and we traded our lawyer, Chip Rose, our first guitar for a partnership agreement. Is that guitar still around? Yeah, we have it on display at the museum in Martin history right now. That display goes to October 4th, I think. So it's still time to see it. It's fun. And if you weren't pretty embarrassed of your early work, I mean you haven't learned anything about anywhere. So that was quite amazing. It was truly against all odds. We had a new brand, a new concept of building. And people didn't make guitars. Martin Gibson made guitars.

4:29So the idea of people making instruments was pretty novel. It was a new brand, using woods that people weren't familiar with. And just doing it all wrong as far as marketing goes. And what was going for us, it was really novel. We could go to a big lumber yard in San Francisco. And just back in May guitars opened doors. People really wanted to see what you were doing. And it was really an uphill battle. And at first it was like a pyramids game. You sold to a friend and their friend and their friend and pretty soon now what do you do? You know, where do you go with this? I had in a music magazine cost as much as a nice used pickup truck. I think our first ads were something like maybe six post-cishnamps together. And it really hurt to do that. And on the, on the so many people give gratitude is here. Paul Hosteter who is a local Renaissance man, rest his soul. It was really helpful when we began as far as giving us a historical perspective. You know, what Martin really did, et cetera.

5:48The last thing I wanted to do is be thought of as copying Martin. But if it wasn't a dread not, people weren't going to play it. Right? Oh, him was something for a made and had a retired school teacher, you know, to a novel. So what we did get traction with some local really great players. And the real break was, again, we couldn't advertise. We wrote letters and photographs to people that inquired his one day I went to the mailbox and there was lavender from E. Clapton in London, England. And I went right, you know, it is probably Edward Clapton, the plumber. Yeah, a foe key. But it was, it was also goodness, the letter from Eric Clapton asking for this picture he'd seen in the magazine, Fred's magazine at the time. And that changed our life. Now, at the about the same time, we made an instrument for Tony Rice. Tony Rice had joined this new band, the David Grisman Quentette, which like similar earth shattering stuff that they did.

7:01And Tony is playing a lot of horn solos, not in the horn, like using guitar leads coming from horn solos. And he had an old Martin that's now revered back then. It was just like a filthy old modified mark. And it was kind of Tubby and woofy. And he went something with more mid-range and trouble. And Darrell, who had made mandalins with. Darrell, yeah. What a gifted guy. Mostly on the fiddle he's known for. Yeah, we stayed close. And he brought Tony Rice down to my house, Santa Cruz over by the high school. And Tony described what he was after. He showed me his old Martin. And he said, well, we can do that. Because that's the niche we had positioned ourselves in, not just making guitars and then seeing who wanted them, but actually making an instrument for a player, their genre, their style, just like controlling the knobs on your sound system. And that was a big deal.

8:11So the game changer sounds like two guys Eric Clapton and Tony Rice, both gods in their own genre of musical ability on the guitar. People aren't familiar. You should look up Tony Rice. He's really quite amazing. And the blue grass kind of acoustic world. And then Eric Clapton, he's had some acoustic quote unplugged records. And he went very platinum. Does he ever get in touch or have you ever been in touch? I've never spoken to her Clapton. He's pretty insulated. You know, he's an astral of fame. I said he can't go to the grocery store. Oh, that's too bad. But he probably told people that what guitar are you playing? And he probably dropped the name Santa Cruz guitar company. It's so helpful because it's not. You didn't have to explain. Oh, we made a guitar for this guy. He plays with this guy who played with that guy. Oh, I kind of remember that because Eric Clapton's Eric Clapton for having sex. Drop that name in this gold, right? So we went from being one of the first articles on us in one of the free centers and magazines was one of the best craft shops on the West Side of the West.

9:22Cool. That's kind of bad. Backhand accompaniment. Yeah, worldwide fame. So those things were priceless. That really opened up a door and it just gives credibility. Now we had to have the stuff to back that up. And again, we were doing something very different. And we've gotten very good over half a century and listening carefully to people and figuring out what they want. What works exactly. Yeah, you have a Norman Blake model, which we did. But we don't call it that because Norman had, he said, a good old boy down the road that he didn't want to hurt his feelings because he made some guitars. So he'd prefer we didn't be so we call it the NB. Let me show you horn this and a Doc Watson. I'd admit a few times, thank to our civic hero on treasurestly, Polanza. And I sent a prototype of a like T 18 tribute to Doc to get his opinions on because I'm a big, a hog any fan.

10:30And Doc on the phone, he said, this is a dreadnought. I've been looking for all my life. And I said, that's beautiful. Can I use your words and promoting it? He said, sure thing. In fact, I'd like you to make a Doc Watson model for me. And I went, oh dear. I knew Don Gallagher, well Gallagher guitarist who was Doc's maker. And neighbors again. And I went, Doc, I feel like I would be asking somebody's wife out on a date to do that. And we settled on Vinny Jardist. So that's our Vinny Jardist because she'd tribute to Doc. That's so sweet. And the names live on, you know, these are heroes of the guitar. Even though they've passed the music is here. And also the guitars you make are a modest to their greatness because they helped you create in just in the way they play. And you know, at the time you were starting or even, you know, later in that, they were still a huge craze of people learning the guitar because the icons like Bob Dylan and Joan Baez were playing guitars in front of millions of people.

11:42And now anybody thought that's going to get me the girls. I'll learn to play a few chords. And then I'll be off to the races. It was, I just lost my sweetheart of 55 years. And I blame the guitar. I'm so sorry to bring that up so blatantly. No, no, no, no, it's a great transition in life and one on major. Yeah, major, major. Well, you're going to have a big celebration. And I want to get to that in just a moment. I'm talking with Richard Hoover, the founder of Santa Cruz Guitar Company. And lots of people along the way helped. My friend Adam Rose worked there for 30. Oh, some impossible. He was there with you. For a fifth of the time. And I want to talk a little bit about what the magic sauce is for Santa Cruz guitars because you alluded to and maybe some tech gakes of the Lutheran kind are listening. But you alluded to the specific way you make them and that they have a particular, I don't know, millimeters of wood in them. And the bracing is special.

12:52You want to say a little bit about that for the lay person? I'd love to. It's my pleasure. In fact, we're rich because of our policy of being open source. The more information we share, the more we get, the more good will we generate. And what I learned thanks to my Gerald mom in studying the violin is that the irony is is we are really precise in our measurements, but it's mostly recording stuff so that we can do good science. And repeat, repeatability is a hallmark of a successful science. And we can't do a formula of dimensions because wood so different in its densities, even within the same board and the same tree. So what we're doing accurately is we're marrying frequencies. We're reducing our eliminating in harm in this city. So that when the instruments putting emotion excited as they like to say of acoustic physics, it sustains and it develops rich full colorful overtones.

14:04If it's not in tune with each other and discordant, it'll die quickly and it's playing sounding. It's not inspiring. You know, a chord played on a grand piano and a beautiful, acoustically perfect concert hall can make you propose to the person sitting next year, go out on the street and mark for a cause you just heard about, right? Right. Throwing rocks at a piano gets you its noise. But if you throw enough rocks at a piano, you'll get a chord every once in a while. And that's what the big factories count on is those few legendary instruments just kind of hit it, right? By accident. And we do it on purpose. So we're voicing tuning. So there's two parts of sound. There's the, there's a stuff that everyone wants, which moves you emotionally. And then there's the things that are personal choices best represented by the nods and sliders on a sound system. Right? Nobody can tell you right or wrong. Are they just sell you box with presets? So that's what we do. And, and we can nail it. And it's not, it's not a boast we just do the work. And that's thanks to this school of Amati Guanari Strataberry.

15:15Those guys that really spelled the heart of that. So yeah, I wanted to ask you to maybe explode a myth or maybe it's true for me. I've heard many times that you have to play a guitar for a certain number of years before it will open up and really sound the way it's supposed to. And I've heard there's artificial ways of jiggling it. So in things you're playing it. But what's your thought about that belief? Is that true? Well, I, I always, if I'm speaking or doing a question and answer, I promise to stick to physics, laws of science rather than opinion. And the three things that contribute to a guitar sounding like open, as you said, are one is, as would gets further from the living tree, the sticky resins, polymerize and become harder and harder over time. And they become more resonant. So that's the biggest one. Old wood sounds better. So everything we use is a responsible harvest, reclaim, and as old as we can get away with.

16:21The second thing is that the quick guitar is made and to go cheap, you need to go quick. The more tensions built into it. And over time that tension will dissipate. Some guitars probably never because they're just too, too heavy to avoid warranty obligations. But that release of tensions would be the second. And the third is the one that's fraught with mythology. And that's, that's like the more you play it, the more it opens up. But the truth of that is, you may have heard, see, put it in front of the speakers when you're at work. It has to be excited at the frequency that that is either the top or the airspace fundamentally. So if you tap to my guitar, you'll get a note. When that note is played, that frequency is played. It does the wood becomes more elastic and it becomes more resonant in that. And you can imitate that, but I get in trouble with this. It's hard to duplicate commercially without taking on some huge liability.

17:27You could jiggle it apart. So most of the things that are available, I can't say if you don't do anything, they probably do something. But if you really wanted it to make a difference, you'd want it to howl. So anyway, the heavier the stiffer the guitar is built, the longer it takes to make that happen. And we do that. We do the first two. We use old wood. We build with an absence of tension. And then we lead it to the customer to play it. Right. Well, of course you want to play the new brand new Santa Cruz guitar. When it comes in and break it in whatever that means to you. Maybe a certain bands, you know, or certain songs vibrate better. Yeah, we try to make an old sounding guitar to start with. Yeah. Yeah. A lot of people want that. Is there a huge amount of competition from China putting out Eastman's, which seemed really good for the price. Oh, yeah. They're they're they're they do a spectacular job. But it's not going to put you out of business, right? No. I was be interesting to see how this transforms. I never would have expected of what we have today. There's schools that put like three schools come to mind. I immediately put out 30 guitar builders every six months each, you know.

18:40And all of them would hope to put their name on the peghead and a lot of them too. So that's the competition that we're really up against. We really is easy for most people to understand the difference between Santa Cruz and Martin Taylor Gibson Eastman. So there's enough to go around so far. That's good to know. Are there young youth years coming up that want to apprentice at your place or that come to you for training? Oh, yeah. I'm really proud of that. Along with being open source. I don't you know, I don't I'm not that's about training people and having to get really, really good and leave. But I take I take a lot of gratification and people being able to go out on their own and you know, guitar is a dangerous machine. And it's what you mean? You know, you can you can change international borders. You can fall in love. You can be evocative, you know, anything that you can imagine. So the important thing is that guitar making is our vehicle for making the world a better place, giving people the opportunity to express their creativity and their message out.

19:53That's a beautiful statement. And so many people have made the world better with their music through guitar. Plus they have such a curvy body looking shape shape to them that you have to like love that about them. That they almost look human. And I'm sure like people like BB King named his electric guitar. Oh, man, it is amazing. You think if you worked in a donut shop the last thing you want to do is go how many donuts, but I'm still in love with a guitar. Everything about it. What do you like to play on that Richard Hoover? What's your like favorites? Well, my favorite stuff is old jazz for instance, like Eddie Lang. Those Nick Lucas, those those soloists, and acoustic. And I just I've really liked old stuff. Now I if I knew I had a choice, I may have modified my style, but it was kind of like either build guitars forever or play forever. You can't do both. And I kind of I can't keep timing anymore. I kind of worn out my, you know,

20:58tendons and connectivity and stuff, but I still I still can do all my own entertainment myself. Now, a friend of ours just retired from the big O'Rea and we that was 40 years. Oh yeah. John Hamster. So what about you? Are you thinking that at some point you'll hand it off? Well, it it would be absolutely irresponsible and selfish to not look after and provide for the people that broke into the dance. And you know, you spoke of Adam Rose or several other people that I just we wouldn't do it without them. And I want them to have the opportunity to perpetuate it. Now I don't need to legacy. My legacy is what I have now and I live with. But I do want people have opportunity to move forward with this and hopefully benefit from the values we have and enjoy the same mission and life, if you will. So yeah, I have to do that. And Mari in the process. I just turned 75. My Labrador is 15. The business is 50, you know,

22:03there's their big numbers to come to play in life, right? Yeah. So I'm already putting people in place on the con call shots, make decisions and while I'm still here to coach guide and go. Right? Not that kind of well, you know, Rick Turner's guitars are still Renaissance guitars still going without a turner in the home. So that's an encouraging example. As you said, you're like a seas gone to live on many years after your hair. But you've brought so much beautiful music. I play a Santa Cruz guitar. It's my favorite. And anytime. Thank you. Good ask to switch. I get Marose. Go back to it. It's like an old old plan. You can't give up. Yeah, beautiful. Yeah, it's a new season. You know, the last year plus I was caretaking my wife. And so my hand was forced. I couldn't, you know, boys love denial. It feels good for a while. But you can't live on the banks of denial. No, no, no, no, no.

23:05So, but I'm not just a wonderful, wonderful crew that I trust implicitly. And we'll be okay. Yeah, I hear that and I trust you about that. And there's something that I think Santa Cruz longtime residents feel very proud about, which is that you choose to name it Santa Cruz guitars, not who forgets. Talk about your decision and how easy that was or hard. Well, actually, it's combination of serendipity and purpose. I don't I think that probably the purpose of all over time. Santa Cruz both describes. You know, unmatched place of unmatched natural beauty and culture on the Santa Cruz has a quality of tolerance creativity acceptance that few places do. And I when we started Santa Cruz in 1976, there was half as many people in the world. Wow, they all moved here, of course.

24:08Right. They're all living in those big apartments, right? Yeah, affordable housing. The thing is things have changed immensely. It also represents my faith. And I think that's a really nice thing. Otherwise, it could be confusing. Most companies are named after a person. And I'm a product of the 60s. And that was just not how it's done. Right. That's that's good of you. And I'm sure the town of Santa Cruz as far as it being the musical ambassador wherever it travels, the meaning your guitars. The name goes with it. And even if no one's ever been here, they go, I want to check that place out. If they can produce guitars like this, maybe I should go visit there and sit on the beach and play. And that magic. Some people just like it never crossed their mind that that humans make guitars, you know, commodity. And let's talk about the celebration you're about to have and the legacy that's being celebrated here.

25:1050 years of the Santa Cruz guitar company, Richard Hoover, my guest, putting on a big party at the Rio Theatre, what a great place. I was looking back. We were chatting before we went on air about the 35th anniversary celebration. And there was a couple things that happened. It was at Harvey West. So there was like a jam session of some of the people that may be coming back. And then there was a concert at what was then Don Quixote's in Felton. That's right. Yeah. Where we had poor John Sandish, sleepy John fall off the stage, horrified everybody. That was, yeah, someone said, you kill sleepy John. Thankfully, he was okay. Someone caught him. I think that's how it went. But that was a big deal. You know, I still have the t-shirt. Now here we are about 15 years later. And this 50th anniversary concert is got a bunch of people, some of which our listeners may have heard of, and some which maybe knew. So would you go through the roster and talk about why these people particularly were chosen?

26:14I love the fact that, you know, my first move to Santa Cruz playing on the Pacific Garden Mall that people at a company symphony and these now, they're world famous for arresting, playing on the street here. Back then, yeah, there's a block party that proceeds it. And I'm going to tell people to go on our website, www.santa Cruz.com to confirm the venue permits or necessary evil and they're being problematic. So we'll have the, that'll be free. We'll keep it on the down low. Blast and will and will have that enough to see the going to be the park there on Cauga and Soquel. Is that where they have the event Santa Cruz like parties? Yeah.

27:14And or it's going to be Baros Unidos. And that's going to have a San Bada, you know, her local character ones. Sonia from Disappear Fear is a remarkable topical singer songwriter that we've worked with for 40 years. Shane Hall and our four mentioned local hero, Steve Palazzo and his friends. I'm going to be a friend. Yeah. I'll be there. Adam Tromb who is a frightful talent and is on the right great lyricist. And also the son of Happy Tromb who is one of my heroes. I learned to play guitar because of Happy's finger style book, you know. And that's a fun story for a later time. But I really treasure his friendship. He passed away a couple years ago. So this is the 19th of September coming up. Yes. That's right. And this is the hostel we're still on the block party.

28:14Okay. Calling Carter and Soomaya Jackson, Ben Torres with Matt Weir as you can see. And Ben's another amazing singer songwriter that really enjoy his stuff. And then the Rio, the block party, I don't have the times here. I'm so sorry. Sometime before the Rio concert. Yeah. It would be during the day. And then the Rio is headlined by the Brothers Comotose. Great name. James Nash from The Waybacks, a good friend and a spectacular player. Hustle Souls, Billy Litz and Hustle Souls are really dynamic. He plays a coosie guitar, he has a trombone and a trumpet. And he's a great great lyricist. Ron Artees, the second who just, you know, self-described best guitar player in the world.

29:17So that's what's the trip right there. Catfish Keith, or beloved Catfish Keith and Penny, his wife Catfish is a super dynamic blues guy. And Nick Forster. And Hot Rise. Yeah. From Hot Rise. And E-Town is doing the, I was in saying for us. So we're really, really proud to have him. That's going to be fun. Yeah. And that's September 19th. It starts at 5'30. The show starts at 5'30 pm. So we'll be loading people in there. And just quickly, there's a wonderful people that supported us. Jim Ophillis, Mozzali, Snazzie, Biggrey, Sylvan, Woodstock, Pizza. I shouldn't have started this because somebody at a Paradox Hotel, fruition breweries. And that's a wonderful starting musician too. They're great. They were super supportive of our SquidFest.

30:19So yeah. That's great. And we're very supportive of you. So I'm glad to have you on the radio today. And I just want to thank you for all these years of being a community person and opening up your home and your business to the community at times and showing people the factory when they ask. There's probably a lot of drop-ins. And just making this a better place to live. Whenever you look at a poster like this, you just remember all the good things. And all the people we know who play your guitars and what joy they bring us all. So Richard Hoover, you should get a medal and they should call this Richard Hoover Day. Even though you probably like to fight that, it should be Santa Cruz guitar company day. But really, there's got to be somebody who perseveres and you are that person. That's beautiful words. That's very comforting. Thank you. Cynthia Matthews on her 40th gave us the keys of the city and proclaimed that. That September 22nd of Santa Cruz guitar day. And they went, wow, now that's special.

31:20Yeah, where's the lock in the key? Don't be where I gated city just now. Yeah, I didn't figure that part out. Yeah, that's lovely. How beautiful. Yeah, well thank you for coming in to Case School. My pleasure. And good to see you, Rachel Eurow, a local treasure too. And we appreciate each other. Thank you for being here today.