When it comes to building acoustic guitars how can I convey the difference between a luthier made handcrafted instrument by a small staff versus a large production plant with scores of employees ? The small shop may make 50 guitars a month and the large facility may make several hundred guitars a day . In both situations the builder ’ s care about many of the same things , and both try to make the best acoustic instrument they can . Some massproduced guitars feel – well , mass-produced . On the flipside , some handcrafted guitars feel like perhaps the builder had more thumbs than fingers . So , there is something deeper to building guitars . There is something more intrinsic . with a keen eye for detail and coaxing the best sounds possible from them .” Happy Traum , May 2021
With that detailed description of Richard in mind , let ’ s sit down with the man .
[ WM ] It seems that there is a shift going
on in guitar body sizes . Smaller body OM ( Orchestra Model ) sized instruments are gaining in popularity . What playing and tonal characteristics do you find that your OM size guitar has compared to the larger body dreadnought size model ?
[ Richard Hoover ] We made our first OM and
When you find a luthier that has it , you hear it by one strum of a chord on the guitar . You can feel it along the neck and see it in the wood work . A well-crafted guitar speaks for itself .
I met Richard Hoover back in the 80 ’ s and have always enjoyed his gentle nature . He started the Santa Cruz Guitar Co . along the coastline of California in 1976 . He had a background in guitar repair and he and some other young luthiers had an open approach to sharing what they had learned with each other about the craft of building high-quality acoustic guitars . I personally believe this open-handed approach has served him well . In trying to find a way to describe Richard ’ s unique skill sets I found this quote that sums it up better than I could write it …
“ Luthiers are a unique breed of human being : philosopher-craftspeople who are sensitive to and highly knowledgeable in the intricacies of grain , color , shape , thickness , bracing and , above all , tone . Richard Hoover is , to me , in the top echelon of this rarefied world , acutely aware of the origins , history and sustainability of the various woods he works with . He gleans and scavenges them from abandoned railroad tunnels , sunken logs , long-forgotten furniture and ancient , prehistoric boards dug up from the depths of the tundra . He and his talented staff then assemble gorgeously crafted instruments