pre/post 2013?

Post Reply
wengr
Posts: 15
Joined: Mon Feb 03, 2020 2:08 am

pre/post 2013?

Post: # 2424Post wengr
Sat May 02, 2020 12:08 am

A seller of a 2013 D1A tells me that 2013 and after are superior compared to earlier examples.
Is there any truth to this?
What would the differences be?

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

Re: pre/post 2013?

Post: # 2425Post Hokiebob
Sat May 02, 2020 1:18 pm

That sounds like sellers puffery to me. Collings like any concerned specialty product maker continuously makes refinements in its products. These tend to be incremental not revolutionary. I have not seen any of the members here rushing to trade in their pre2013 guitars on later builds of the same models. What I have seen is that when their are BIG improvements it comes in new models like the "T"s.
Bob

Greg Y
Posts: 208
Joined: Mon Oct 15, 2018 7:35 pm

Re: pre/post 2013?

Post: # 2426Post Greg Y
Sat May 02, 2020 4:52 pm

Hokiebob, I agree with you entirely. There are a great many fine makers, and Collings certainly has hit the mark with the new T series. There a lot of great new guitars being played. Personally my ear gravitates towards Martins of the mid '30s. To relate my biais back to the OP's question re: pre/post 2013..... if you haven't heard a 20 or 30 year old Collings.... you're missing something.

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

Re: pre/post 2013?

Post: # 2427Post elambo
Sat May 02, 2020 4:55 pm

There's some salesmanship in that statement, no doubt, but he may not be wrong. I've never seen a careful poll to validate it, though there have been a few marked changes that most might consider an upgrade to the previous construction methods. As Hokiebob said, these aren't major shifts, but they were noticeable enough to start a long thread on the old forum where people were certainly able to discern differences between different years of the same model, and it might have been around 2013.

With most builders, there are large enough differences between guitars of the same model that it would be tougher to spot these subtle alterations, but with Collings, being so consistent, pre/post 2013 *might* actually be a thing.

Personally, "post 2013" adds no substance whatsoever to the appeal of a Collings guitar. It's not like what Taylor had done previously (a very welcomed improvement, imo).

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

Re: pre/post 2013?

Post: # 2428Post elambo
Sat May 02, 2020 4:58 pm

Greg Y wrote: Sat May 02, 2020 4:52 pmif you haven't heard a 20 or 30 year old Collings.... you're missing something.
Agreed. I think you can also hear great improvements in younger guitars. In my case, it was about 7 years where the 2001 D2H matured into a finer sound. And I've heard that from a few others -- that 5-7 years is where they settle in, depending on many factors, of course.

I don't think I've heard a very early Collings. If anyone is bored with theirs I'd be glad to send my address and pay the shipping! ;)

Greg Y
Posts: 208
Joined: Mon Oct 15, 2018 7:35 pm

Re: pre/post 2013?

Post: # 2429Post Greg Y
Sat May 02, 2020 5:34 pm

Eric, There's a "Collings Gathering" member from the eastern USA, named Jim who has a brazillian CW serial # 300 if I'm not mistaken. One of the finest guitars i've heard. Made in 1990. Wonderful guitar.
http://www.daviddugas.com/guitars/0300/0300.htm

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

Re: pre/post 2013?

Post: # 2430Post elambo
Sat May 02, 2020 5:41 pm

Greg Y wrote: Sat May 02, 2020 5:34 pm Eric, There's a "Collings Gathering" member from the eastern USA, named Jim who has a brazillian CW serial # 300 if I'm not mistaken. One of the finest guitars i've heard. Made in 1990. Wonderful guitar.
http://www.daviddugas.com/guitars/0300/0300.htm
Wow. I'm sure that's a phenomenal guitar.

Greg Y
Posts: 208
Joined: Mon Oct 15, 2018 7:35 pm

Re: pre/post 2013?

Post: # 2431Post Greg Y
Sat May 02, 2020 6:14 pm

Should we be calling them Pre-13?? ;)

Frank Sanns
Posts: 147
Joined: Sun Oct 21, 2018 5:38 pm
Real Name: Frank Sanns
Location: Pittsburgh

Re: pre/post 2013?

Post: # 2433Post Frank Sanns
Sun May 03, 2020 1:15 am

Over the years, there was a little perceived or maybe real, lightening up of the instruments. I know for sure that the newer version of a D2A was just a pinch toward the direction of the current traditional models than the 1990s version that I had.

I believe the official word from Collings was that there was no difference. Still, I think there was some of the heavy slightly overbuilt construction that did change with the guitars somewhere around 2011-2013. If it was there, it was subtle and I would never say that one was better than the other because they weren't. It may have been natural variation in the build but I did see it my numbers and I experienced it playing quite a few.

User avatar
Fidalgo
Posts: 58
Joined: Sun Feb 24, 2019 11:29 pm

Re: pre/post 2013?

Post: # 2434Post Fidalgo
Sun May 03, 2020 3:03 am

The shop I worked in from 2000-06 always had a D1A, or two, on the wall. I owned one from '00 at the time. We noticed a distinct difference in the D1A's we started receiving in 2003. They were lighter in weight and had more bass response. We never confirmed it with Steve or Bill, but we all suspected there was an evolutionary a change of some kind.

I'd love to play my old D1A; 20 years later it has to sound amazing.

Post Reply