C-100

JohnB
Posts: 77
Joined: Mon Oct 15, 2018 7:18 pm

Re: C-100

Post: # 430Post JohnB
Tue Dec 18, 2018 8:02 pm

Eric,

Feel sort of comfortable comparing the C-100 Deluxe to the SJ (in maple). The SJ is louder, can feel up front and more aggressive, crisper and generally brighter. It also seems to me to have a narrower sound signature. While the SJ is fine as a finger style guitar, I think it's real strength is strumming and hybrid picking. In this respect the C-100 is a little more versatile--at least it would be for me. I'm probably best described as a singer who plays guitar rather than a guitarist who sings, and definitely not as, like Vince Gill, a singer/guitarist, and if I were to have only the C-100 Deluxe or the SJ, I probably would choose the C-100. On the website Collings describes the C-100 as an exceptional singer/songwriter guitar, and I think that's accurate: though it might undersell how good it is just as an expressive instrument for any guitarist. I'm getting an SJ with its strength as a great strummer capable of delicate highs. The C-100 is pretty much a great guitar across the board with a beautiful, full voice: except it does not have the power or assertiveness of dreads or the SJ.

In comparison to a Collings OM? That's much more difficult since I didn't play them, as I did with the SJ, back to back. I picked up my OM2G before I wrote this to see if I could begin to compare it to my memory of the C-100 Deluxe. I think the OM2 is a slightly more focused and slightly warmer sound in general. I think because it is a little more focused it has a slightly better attack: though my sense of that could simply be the fact my OM2 has a German top, the C-100 Deluxe I played has a sitka top. My memory is that the C-100 Deluxe produces more overtones and has a more open and delicate nature, particularly when strummed. I love Collings OMs. I have an OM1A as well as my OM2G, and for me they tonally and expressively are perfect for what I sing and play--and I prefer them by a large margin to Martins as well as all the other small shop OMs I've played. Nevertheless, just off the short audition of the C-100, I couldn't tell you which of the two--the C-100 Deluxe or the OM2--I'd prefer. (Theoretically the C-100 is louder, but loudness varies so much from guitar to guitar--my OM1A is as loud as a slope dread I own--that I don't think that would be a consideration. I didn't have a sense of the C-100 as a loud guitar, but rather of a full sounding guitar.)

But take all of this with great skepticism, since I'm comparing all these guitars in memory, and with not more than something like ten minutes of playing the C-100 Deluxe.

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Haasome
Posts: 138
Joined: Fri Oct 19, 2018 2:21 am
Location: Massachusetts

Re: C-100

Post: # 431Post Haasome
Tue Dec 18, 2018 11:21 pm

I’m a big Collings OM fan. I’ve owned my 2 OMs for ~5 years. I love them and they just keep getting better. The only guitar I’ve sold and have seller’s remorse about was for a Sitka/EIR CJ. It’s one of the reasons I was attracted to the C100. My trust in Collings and the guys at The Music Emporium combined with the few videos & recordings I’ve heard of the C100 led me to special order a C100 Deluxe SB with 1-3/4 nut

JohnB, I think your review agrees with Andy at The Music Emporium. I asked Andy at TME what his impressions are comparing the C100 to the OMs. Andy is the guitarist playing in the video I posted above https://youtu.be/IiGrGUiL2dc This is what he said: “The C100 feels a little bigger than an OM b/c of the lower bout, but I don’t mind that at all since I play a dread. It definitely SOUNDS a lot bigger than an OM, with better projection and throatiness in the low end. I think it’s a great addition to the line!”

I can’t wait...
Paul

Red Oak
Posts: 433
Joined: Mon Jan 18, 2021 4:00 am

Re: C-100

Post: # 3854Post Red Oak
Sun Apr 04, 2021 9:44 am

Eric Jones wrote: Tue Oct 16, 2018 12:39 am Back in July, Bruce VanWart and Bob Minner unveiled a couple of C-100 prototypes at Fretboard Journal. Has anyone heard more info about these entering production? I don’t think I ever saw Bob’s video...or maybe I did and just forgot.

Here’s the video: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=u3d7izbaBZE
Bob Minner is such a great musician. If anyone hasn’t seen this video, I highly recommend it!

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