A guitar with a story? Yes. 45,000 year old Ancient wood from the Stone Age? Check. 3000 year old Ancient Alaskan Sitka Spruce? Bingo. An amazing one of kind piece of functional musical history? You bet.
This absolutely jaw dropping one of a kind Style 1 custom guitar from Santa Cruz Guitar Company is built with the oldest known wood from antiquity, extremely rare 45,000 year old Ancient Kauri from New Zealand makes up the back and sides and is perfectly paired with exquisite 3,000 year old Ancient Sitka Spruce from Alaska for the top. Topped with 42-style Blue Paua Pearl top purfling, rosette, snowflakes and logo fretboard inlays and torch headstock inlay, plus full Snakewood bindings, pyramid bridge and headstock overlay. This guitar is seriously a wonder to hold and play.
Ancient Kauri is known for its captivating story. Dating back to nearly 50,000 years ago in the late Stone Age, the Kauri Trees were fallen by cataclysmic forces of nature and preserved in a bog the mud and encapsulated in the oxygen poor environment which aided in the lack of decomposition. These tree lived prior to when Homo Sapiens first inhabited New Zealand! Never to be seen by human eyes until these exotic treasures were recently uncovered in the swamps of New Zealand, this wood has beautiful iridescent hues of gold with wonderful supple figuring throughout. There is no other wood in the world as rare and exclusive as the Ancient Kauri Wood. To think this workable wood which has now been milled and built into an artisan instrument grew in The Later Stone Age is humbling.
The 3,000 year old Ancient Sitka Spruce top is also an extremely rare wood. The Ancient Sitka Spruce was unearthed on an island of Alaska after being buried in a landslide over 3000 years ago. Over the 3 millennia, the color has naturally changed to the ghostly hue it is now. That is not a stain- the smoky green/ grey color is the actual color of the wood. The tree was estimated to be 1000 years old when it fell. Due to the capsulizing of the tree, it did not rot but rather it aged over that time. That it was retrieved, found to be in workable condition, and then quarter sawn to make an amazing guitar, is an extraordinary feat for this piece of wood. There is an amazing tone and clarity of this Ancient Sitka Spruce top, which had been curing and aging already for a 1000 years at the time of Christ. You can feel the history with every strum.
The Style 1 parlor-style body was the pinnacle of the art of guitar making up until the late 19th century. This was the optimal size for tonal perfection. The original body shapes that C.F. Martin & Co. built at that time included the Size 1, a relatively large guitar for the era. Fast-forward to the new millennium where this design is very well suited for contemporary fingerstyle techniques. Santa Cruz Guitar Company’s interpretation of this wonderfully sized instrument is in response to players’ demands for this traditionally sweet sounding guitar. SCGC’s ability to achieve surprising volume and presence in a smaller-bodied instrument gives the Style 1 a solid position in the contemporary guitarist’s repertoire. A deeper body and contemporary design make this 12-fret short scale a comfortable, yet surprising large sounding guitar. The Style 1 is the perfect vehicle for the premium rare ancient wood combo. This custom build produces so much warmth, clarity and presence. More than you would ever expect.
Includes deluxe Ameritage hardshell case and Lifetime Warranty.
Free shipping in the continental United States.
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