Tony Rice brought jazz influences into bluegrass music in the late 1970s and he brought a new level of prestige to the Santa Cruz Guitar Company with the Tony Rice signature model in 1981.

Santa Cruz started as a custom shop, founded in 1976 by luthier Richard Hoover and repairman Bruce Ross and William Davis. Rice was one of the most influencial acoustic guitarists of the 1970s, thanks to his work with J.D. Crowe and the New South and then with David Grisman.

His favorite guitar was a 1935 D-28 that had been owned by hot-picking country-rock pioneer Clarence Ehite. It was in poor condition, with an enlarged soundhole, a replaced fingerboard made by Gretsch, and a bullet hole in the top.

Santa Cruz reproduced the guitar, sans bullet hole, and Rice began using it onstage. Within two years, Rice had generated enough demand that Santa Cruz made it an official model.