Santa Cruz RS Custom

A rich-sounding 12-fret dreadnought built with gorgeous Macassar ebony.

March 26, 2025

When the Santa Cruz Guitar Company got its start in the mid-1970s, steel-string flattop guitars were the domain of factories, primarily Martin, Gibson, and Guild. Santa Cruz was among the very first wave of builders who took inspiration from the classical guitar and violin traditions for their approach to construction and attention to detail, while simultaneously studying some of the finest examples of American vintage guitars. The resulting instruments clearly reference their inspirations, but are never straight clones of particular models. Almost 50 years later, the company has perfected the art of putting their own stamp on classic designs. We recently had a chance to check out a customized version of its RS model that proves the point.

The Santa Cruz RS combines a slope-shoulder dreadnought body with a 12-fret neck. The increased body depth and generous neck width make it clear that the inspiration for the RS was the much-coveted vintage Gibson Roy Smeck. That guitar was originally designed for lap-style slide playing, but over the years, many have been converted for conventional playing. Perhaps most famously championed by Jackson Browne, the Roy Smeck-style guitar has features that yield a particularly rich sonic quality.

Standard Santa Cruz RS models are built with mahogany back and sides and a Sitka spruce top, but the guitar we got to demo featured Macassar ebony and Adirondack spruce. Both sets of wood are gorgeous, with perfectly book-matched grain on the top, paired with dark brown color and subtle striping on the back. Ivoroid binding decorates what would otherwise be an unbound fingerboard. Special construction details include Adirondack spruce braces and hot hide glue construction. The guitar’s “S29” herringbone purfling and beautiful reddish “teardrop” sunburst top finish lend a touch of extravagance to otherwise simple appointments.

But don’t let the basic fingerboard dots, ivoroid rosette, and ivoroid body binding fool you: This is an instrument where the closer you look, the more impressed you become. I’ve been around Santa Cruz guitars for about 30 years, and the company’s current level of craftsmanship, fit and finish, and overall execution of details is at the very top of any maker of stringed instruments.

With its deep dreadnought body and wide neck, the RS is far from petite, but the tonal rewards are huge. The combination of the 12th-fret neck joint, which moves the bridge further into the center of the lower bout, and the body’s increased depth result in an incredibly rich sound with a fantastic low-end response. With lesser builders, this might result in an overly bass-heavy tone, but Santa Cruz managed to give the guitar a beautifully balanced tone, with shimmering, fat-sounding highs and substantial mids. Best of all, the RS offers an equally huge dynamic range. I have often found that properly voiced 12-fret dreadnoughts make fabulous fingerstyle guitars for players who need a powerful guitar, and this RS is a great example of this idea. Especially in low tunings, it offers punch and tonal complexity that feel as if someone has turned up a volume knob. The guitar also sounds great played with a pick, and I particularly enjoy playing it for rhythm parts.

Now in its fifth decade of building guitars, Santa Cruz continues to raise the bar while staying true to its mission of inserting original ideas into classic designs, rather than trying to reinvent the wheel. This RS is a fabulous example of what is being created by the company’s talented team!