When the late flatpicking star Tony Rice was looking for a new dreadnought to give his legendary 1935 Martin D-28 a break from the road in the late 1970s, he found Santa Cruz Guitars, and the result was the company’s first, and still most-popular signature model. Over the years, Tony owned several of the guitars, and the design evolved as he’d give feedback on each instrument. Among the guitars he owned was a 2007 version of his signature model, which recently showed up at the Music Emporium, in Lexington, Massachusetts. In this video, the Music Emporium’s Andy Cambria discusses and demonstrates the instrument. Also featured is a 1991 Santa Cruz Tony Rice anniversary model, which while not owned by Tony, was used by him for one of the Tone Poems tours with David Grisman.

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