Santa Cruz H/13 Custom - Dark Forest Ancient Cypress & Bryn Athyn Indian Rosewood #1942

The Santa Cruz H/13 Custom in Dark Forest Ancient Cypress and Bryn Athyn Indian Rosewood stands as a poetic tribute to the artistry of Richard Hoover and the spirit of preservation that has defined his life's work. Since founding Santa Cruz Guitar Company in 1976, Hoover has shaped the landscape of the modern acoustic guitar not through mass production, but through reverence for wood, for tone, and for the human hands that bring both to life. His dedication to sustainable and reclaimed materials has become not only an ethical calling but a tonal revelation, proving that forgotten timbers and ancient woods still hold voices waiting to sing.

This H/13 Custom is one of those voices. Its top, carved from Dark Forest Ancient Cypress, is a rare and storied tonewood, reclaimed and reborn into resonance. The Bryn Athyn Indian Rosewood back and sides deepen the instrument’s voice, offering a lush harmonic complexity that feels both old and alive, as though the air inside the body carries memories of centuries past. Beneath the surface, Adirondack spruce braces are scalloped and tapered with precision, allowing the soundboard to breathe freely and respond to the most delicate nuance of touch. Every note emerges with a clarity that feels sculpted by time itself.

The guitar’s adornment is as inspired as its tone. Curly koa binding wraps the body, neck, and headstock in warm golden light, while abalone purfling graces both top and back, catching flashes of iridescence with every shift of light. The abalone backstrip and rosette shimmer like reflections on still water, and the Diamonds and Squares inlays along the ebony fingerboard offer a nod to tradition elevated by Santa Cruz’s artistry. Even the smallest details, from abalone side dots to the SCGC fingerboard logo, speak of masterful restraint and devotion to beauty without excess.

The slotted headstock, capped in ebony, carries Waverly nickel tuners with ivoroid buttons that gleam softly against the fully buffed finish. The matte-finished neck, carved in a graceful V profile, invites the hand with quiet comfort and familiarity. Its proportions of 1 3/4 inch nut width, 2 3/16 inch bridge spacing, and a 25.375 inch scale create a perfect balance between intimacy and range. The ebony pyramid bridge, adorned with abalone-dotted pins, completes a picture of refinement that remains grounded in purpose: the pursuit of tone.

At just 3 pounds 14 ounces, this H/13 Custom feels impossibly light, as if it were built from breath and resonance rather than wood and glue. Yet it holds within it a powerful depth, a reminder that guitars like this are more than instruments; they are vessels of care, knowledge, and reverence. In the hands of Richard Hoover and his small team of luthiers, reclaimed wood becomes not merely a material, but a philosophy. The Santa Cruz H/13 Custom stands as an heirloom of that philosophy, singing the beauty of what can be saved, shaped, and given new life through sound.

Other specifications include:

• Dark Forest Ancient Cypress Top
• Bryn Athyn Indian Rosewood Back & Sides
• Adirondack Spruce Braces Scalloped & Tapered
• Curly Koa Body, Neck & Headstock Binding
• Abalone Top & Back Purfling
• Abalone Backstrip
• Abalone Rosette
• Diamonds & Squares Fingerboard Inlay
• Abalone Side Dots
• Ebony Peghead Overlay
• Slotted Headstock
• Ebony Fingerboard & Pyramid Bridge
• Abalone SCGC Fingerboard Logo
• V Neck Profile
• 1 3/4" Nut Width
• 2 3/16" Bridge Spacing
• 25.375" Scale Length
• Fully Buffed Finish on Top & Peghead
• Matte Finish on Neck
• Firestripe Pickguard - Unattached in Case
• Waverly Nickel Tuners w/ Ivoroid Buttons
• Ebony w/Abalone Dot Bridge and End Pins
• Ameritage Hard Case
• 3 lb 14 oz
• #1942

For more information about the Santa Cruz H/13 Custom, please contact us.

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