The Santa Cruz FTC, a guitar originally conceived in the 1980's, was brought back to their production line in 2016 after Richard Hoover repaired and restored an 80's FTC for Eric Clapton. These hybrid guitars, part flat top, part archtop, were a unique addition to Santa Cruz's already illustrious lineup- with a body the shape of a J-185, a flat top, and, most notably, a carved back, this spruce and maple beauty has a very forward, very punchy, vintage inspired sound that is definitely one of a kind.
This particular example has a top from a material known as "Moon Spruce", a high-elevation alpine spruce harvested in Bergün, Switzerland in the winter between specific phases of the moon, a timing which is purported to have an effect on the wood's physical makeup. In general, it's a very clear, crystalline sound that is at least aided by the location of its source tree, high in the Alps in an environment that creates tight grained, strong trees that are hardy against the changing weather.
The gorgeously flamed maple body in a small jumbo size, gives the player a large amount of presence and control, while still providing a strong, robust bass, leaning into maple's tendency to be naturally even and compressed, a common benefit to a carved maple back on archtop Jazz guitars, and present here as well.
The equally pretty flamed maple neck is a comfortable C (leaning towards very soft V) shape, almost perfectly even up the whole neck for a great consistent feel. The bone nut is 1 11/16ths for modern playability, paired with the very familiar 25.375" scale length. Top off the Kalamazoo inspired headstock with a set of smooth-as-silk Schaller Imperials, and you've got a guitar ready for any jazz, blues, country, or really anything, session. Serial #FTC1395 comes with a gorgeous Santa Cruz hard case.
