Collings through the years and your preferences

Eric Jones
Posts: 108
Joined: Mon Oct 15, 2018 12:05 am

Collings through the years and your preferences

Post: # 238Post Eric Jones
Mon Nov 05, 2018 11:38 pm

Collings guitars have been in production for nearly 30 years...approaching 30,000 acoustics. There has been some evolution along the way and the product line has definitely expanded. Have your preferences changed over these years to embrace Collings’ different styles and expanded product line?

I’m still entrenched in dreadnoughts and the first D1A I purchased nearly 19 years ago is still probably my favorite. But, the Traditional models are very impressive and I really enjoy the ones I have. My forays into Colling’s mandolin, ukulele and electric haven’t been very successful, but they’re fun diversions.

pjkesq
Posts: 88
Joined: Sat Oct 13, 2018 12:45 am

Re: Collings through the years and your preferences

Post: # 239Post pjkesq
Tue Nov 06, 2018 12:56 am

I have had my D2H SB for 18 years. I love it as much now as the first time I picked it up and it spoke to me. I own a Waterloo JK and an OM2H SS VN custom is on the way. I have played their electric guitars and been very impressed as well. It is a top notch company that continues to innovate and produce top notch workmanship.

backdrifter
Posts: 11
Joined: Sun Oct 14, 2018 2:43 pm

Re: Collings through the years and your preferences

Post: # 244Post backdrifter
Tue Nov 06, 2018 11:36 pm

For me, I don’t think my preferences evolved with their line. I think my preferences have been happenstance. I’ve owned 20 Collings now, and currently have three as well as a Waterloo. I have a D1H Maple G that I picked up in Custom Shop Guitars years ago and knew I had to have. I have a D3A Cocobolo that some of you may remember from the old forum - it’s the one that Dwain at Hill Country Guitars generously offered to help me build after I returned a guitar that (unbeknown to me) was stolen from it’s rightful owner before I purchased it. A Waterloo WL-14 was the surprise of the bunch. I had played a handful in stores, but never bonded with them. However, when I saw a used one at a price I couldn’t pass up, I pulled the trigger. It’s probably my most played acoustic now. It’s just a lot of fun! My most recent addition was a 360ST. After years of suspecting it could be THE Collings electric for me, I tried one and bought one shortly after. I love it.

I can’t say my preferences have followed any pattern or evolution. I’ve owned Collings as old as 1997 and as new as 2017. On some days, in any given store, I’ve preferred dreads, CJ’s, SJ’s, maple guitars, mahogany guitars, Sitka tops, Adi tops, you name it. I’ve never been a C10 fan, but one time, I played a C10-35 that just slayed. I still think of it and regret not purchasing it. For me, personally, I believe each instrument has to judged on it’s own merits.

I will say, it’s been a fun journey and I’ve enjoyed the ones that got away, but the current stable feels very (ha!) stable. I have no intentions of parting with the four that I have.

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

Re: Collings through the years and your preferences

Post: # 245Post JohnB
Tue Nov 06, 2018 11:40 pm

My first Collings was an OM2GSS I ordered in 2012 as a consolation gift to myself after shoulder surgery. The smaller guitar was an immediate relief from my Martin HD-28 that my shoulder could barely tolerate at the time. And I found the Collings sound was pretty much precisely the sound I was looking for. Along the way I've picked up a CJ35G (with now a much improved shoulder) and a custom OM1ASB. I ordered a custom OM2G for my son upon his college graduation, and I've recently consigned a D2HA which is a terrific guitar but not the best companion for my vocals.

The three Collings I still have are pretty sensational and won't be leaving. I've played a handful of Collings traditional OMs (and my son reminded me I actually played one before I decided on my OM1A), but I prefer the standard OMs for the music I play and sing. The OM1A has proven to be a fun if anxious ride. It arrived a little tight and brash, and was set up a second time to marginal improvement. After over a year of playing it and trying to make it behave, I called Collings and talked to Mark A, whom I'd talked to before when ordering my son's guitar. I asked if there was anything to do before I sold the guitar and he offered to talk my local luthier through a set up. And, as if by magic, the third set up gave me a remarkable guitar. Some of the change, I imagine, was the adirondack breaking in, but whatever happened, I've a guitar that has made a whole bunch of folks who've heard it immediately want one. The other two are no less terrific. The OM2GSS was this way from the first moment and the change has been pretty subtle. The sound is a little rounder, highs have more texture. Loved it when I got it, love it now. The 2013 CJ35G has matured just how one hopes a guitar will. I've come to like it more with each year, and find I reach for it for all sorts of music I didn't use it for initially. I've also found that EJ16s work much better than EJ17s on it for vocals. The lighter strings add a delicacy and they allow the guitar to sound much better when I capo it up the neck.

The next Collings will be an SJ. These seem the forgotten step children. But there's a particular sound they get that I find seductive and addictive.

And, as for electrics, I've a Statesman LC on the way.

The company is, from my experience, as fine as the products.

6l6
Posts: 55
Joined: Wed Oct 17, 2018 5:29 am
Real Name: Bill
Location: San Francisco, CA

Re: Collings through the years and your preferences

Post: # 280Post 6l6
Thu Nov 08, 2018 11:38 pm

My first Collings guitar was the D-1 I bought new at Gryphon in '99. To this day it still amazes me in every way!

I also LOVE my 2013 D2H and 2014 D2HA.

All are FABULOUS instruments!!!

Bill

12Frets
Posts: 32
Joined: Wed Oct 31, 2018 3:56 pm

Re: Collings through the years and your preferences

Post: # 358Post 12Frets
Thu Nov 29, 2018 4:44 pm

My first Collings was a CW that I bought around 2005. It was an absolute howitzer with beautiful overtones, but it was too much guitar for its usual mission of sitting around the house picking fiddle tunes. I found I just didn't play it that much.

Currently I've got a D1 and a 0001A, both of which are around 10-12 years old. They're both fabulous guitars. I've gone through several other rosewood Collings, but the hogs have stuck. I prefer the tone of the D1 and the playability of the 000. I'd love to have a DS1 someday, but I'm already beginning to think I should focus on smaller bodied guitars to give my shoulders a break.

Hokiebob
Posts: 125
Joined: Fri Nov 09, 2018 1:22 pm
Location: Mint Hill, NC

Re: Collings through the years and your preferences

Post: # 363Post Hokiebob
Fri Nov 30, 2018 1:31 pm

I was a Martin Fan in search of an HD-28 when a friend of a friend asked if I had ever played a Collings. What he told me intrigued me enough that I called my nearest Collings Dealer and arranged a visit. After playing a couple of D2Hs in comparison to HD-28s there was no question in my mind about which guitar brand was going to be my choice. Among the guitars we played was a used D2H from 2,000. My wife and I talked it over at lunch, then went back and made an offer that was accepted. I still have it and love it.

I have a friend and playing partner who records guitar tracks for a Nashville Studio. He has always been a Martin D-18 or 00-18 player but when he is asked for a finger picked track he calls me and borrows my D2H. He and the producer find the intonation to be clearer and the sound to be more balanced than with his Martins.

If I was to pursue another guitar I think that I would like one based upon the Gibson Slope Shoulder look and sound.
Bob

User avatar
elambo
Moderator
Posts: 158
Joined: Fri Oct 12, 2018 5:48 am

Re: Collings through the years and your preferences

Post: # 365Post elambo
Fri Nov 30, 2018 6:28 pm

My tone preferences have ebbed and flowed over the years but never traveled too far away from the pre-war D-18 or D-28 sound, which is where my ears are these days.

I do love that Collings acoustic tone, which isn't exactly vintage Martin, but a broken-in Collings is a thing of beauty. I tend to judge how much I like a guitar by how hard it is to put down. My original 2002 D2H (which a coworker now owns) remains to this day one the toughest to put back in its case, and it's up against some stiff competition.

As far as electrics go, Collings' fit and finish and playability is tough to beat from all angles, and they sure do sound great through an amp.

I know that their acoustics have gone through some changes, and my ears have welcomed those changes, but I don't know if I'd call them improvements or just alterations because it wasn't broken the first time around.

I'm anxious to see where they steer the ship in the future.

f5joe
Posts: 17
Joined: Sat Oct 13, 2018 5:53 pm

Re: Collings through the years and your preferences

Post: # 374Post f5joe
Tue Dec 04, 2018 3:22 am

I have a '95 D2HBAAAA ....... Brazilian, red spruce that is very special to me. It was originally my best friend's and I acquired it upon his passing. Bill Collings acknowledged that he had carved the braces on it.

But ...... I have a new D-1AT baked that will set you free. :D

Silly Moustache
Posts: 103
Joined: Fri Oct 26, 2018 10:58 am

Re: Collings through the years and your preferences

Post: # 455Post Silly Moustache
Sun Dec 23, 2018 4:15 pm

Hi. I bought my first Collings in September '99. I had been searching for a Martin D18/28/35 - S wider fretboard with 1 & 7/8" nut width.

I visited a store in east London and the chap there took a note of what I was searching for.

A few weeks later I got a call from him suggesting I revisit the store asap with "everything I could bear to part with!"
When my wife and I arrived - he had assembled a Martin D28VS, a Santa Cruz D12, and bourgeois DS260 and a Collings DS2h. (the second one to come into the UK.

The Collings was a revelation, and after playing all four for some time a satisfactory deal was done.

In 2005 I bought a 2003 0002h (same neck)
In Oct 2010 I bought a 2008 DS1.
In Oct 2011 I bought another DS2h - (2007).
In May 2012 - I bought a used 2003 DS1 ASB

The '99 DS2h has a considerably more shallow mod.V profile, and the 2008 DS1 has(had) by far the chunkiest neck profile.

I got a tech to do some careful measurements and these necks weer getting progressively thicker - between '99 and '08.
I mailed Mark my findings discussed this with Mark and Steve (three way Transatlantic phone call).

All I wanted was internal dimensions of the necks so I could get my tech to reprofile them.
They decided to have my DS1 shipped back to the factory for inspection, and re-profiled it for me, and shipped it back.
Back then they had very precise dimensions on the website, but they changed the details now saying that neck dimensions can differ.

Collings acoustics are, as we know balanced across the strings, but still, being organic creations they differ from one guitar to another. I have noticed that the amount of bass seems to correspond with the thickness of the neck, and the DS1 had noticeably less bass when returned with the reduced neck, but is still fine.

My preference? Difficult because the shallower neck on the '99 is extremely comfortable , but the later '07 DS2h does sound fuller. Really I love 'em all.

Post Reply