New Collings SJ

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soups
Posts: 7
Joined: Thu Nov 05, 2020 2:06 am
Real Name: Chris Campbell

New Collings SJ

Post: # 3059Post soups
Thu Nov 05, 2020 2:13 am

I'm back in the Collings game after over a decade drought. I had an OM2HC back in the early 00s but sold it after I realized it wasn't the guitar for me.

I've been jonesing for a jumbo, but have never really jived with anything Gibson, but recently got to play a used 2011 Collings SJ and knew I had to have it. Thanks to the folks at Dave's Guitar Shop in Milwaukee, this bad boy is now mine. Anyone else play an SJ? they seem to be much less popular than the D's and OM's.
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armdog
Posts: 52
Joined: Thu Oct 18, 2018 2:13 pm

Re: New Collings SJ

Post: # 3063Post armdog
Fri Nov 06, 2020 2:44 am

Welcome back soups.

Congratulations, that's a beauty. Small Jumbos are special guitars. I have a 71'Guild sj and a luthier built custom sj, never could hookup with a Collings, they are not all that plentiful. My current CJ is my favorite Collings I've ever owned, I know you'll feel that way about the SJ. best regards, bert

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

Re: New Collings SJ

Post: # 3064Post Hokiebob
Fri Nov 06, 2020 2:46 pm

Congratulations on a beautiful guitar. I'm sure that you will enjoy many years of making music together.
Bob

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

Re: New Collings SJ

Post: # 3083Post JohnB
Mon Nov 16, 2020 12:23 am

Soups--I've had my SJG now for five months. This was a custom order, and It was a long wait even before the pandemic closed up Collings. Yours will be nicely broken in. It's taken a while for mine to come around. At first the tone was discontinuous: the bass strings had a relatively muted attack compared to the other four. I got a tip to try Nickel Bronze strings, and they did just as advertised, smoothed the response throughout the range: though robbing the guitar of a little life. I left them on until I thought the guitar might have had enough play in to make a difference, and replaced them last week with D'Addario 80/20s--and now I have the guitar I imagined when I ordered it. The sound is crisp, lively and sweet. It's a great guitar that sounds very different than all my others.

So congratulations, since I imagine you're getting the same kind of response from yours. Yes, it is the overlooked model in the lineup; but it is, on its own terms, spectacular.

JeffM
Posts: 17
Joined: Thu Jun 11, 2020 2:10 am
Real Name: Jeff McCrory

Re: New Collings SJ

Post: # 3089Post JeffM
Tue Nov 17, 2020 4:59 pm

Interested in this thread because I just picked up a 2003 SJ Maple/Sitka cutaway. The guitar had hardly been played. So, I have a close to 18 year old Collings that looks brand new. I have two other Collings guitars, a '93 D2H and a '96 D1A. The SJ is a very different sounding guitar. Currently I have Elixir Nano 13-56 on it. I find the notes are very precise, almost no overtones, very clear, not woody. I'd be interested in your opinions and experience. The body shape is my favorite size lately, I also own a Rockbridge SJ, short scale Mahogany/Ad. I noticed when I got the Collings that the body is really a J-180 copy, that is an Everly Bros depth and not a J-185 depth, as is my Rockbridge.

Jeff

JeffM
Posts: 17
Joined: Thu Jun 11, 2020 2:10 am
Real Name: Jeff McCrory

Re: New Collings SJ

Post: # 3090Post JeffM
Tue Nov 17, 2020 5:07 pm

I do notice that the older models, mine for example, have Schaller tuners and are trimmed in tortoise instead of ivoroid. Don't know when that change occurred.

Jeff

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