Is Collings changing after Bill?

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

Re: Is Collings changing after Bill?

Post: # 1190Post pjkesq
Sun May 12, 2019 9:50 pm

jackorion wrote: Sat May 11, 2019 10:17 am The Traditional case is beautiful - as a work of art and as a match to my OM2hT I love it...

BUT... as a gigging musician who wants to take my best guitars to gigs and play them I felt the Traditional case had some faults:

1. I felt I had to be more careful with it when loading it in the boot of my car
2. I don't know how strong it is and how it would handle an accidental dropping or something falling on it
3. It looks expensive and that is a worry to me as it is an advert to thieves!

So both my Collings (OM2hT and OM2h ss vn) travel and live in Hiscox cases - they're tough, they're boring looking, they have decent sized neck pockets.

The Traditonal case and TKL case live under my bed. I'll hang onto them and will sometimes take the Traditional case with me if I'm travelling to friends or family but, most of the time it's the hiscox cases for me.

Anyway, I'd have happily saved £800 and had a TKL with my Traditional but, at the time, that wasn't an option but I suppose I'm glad I've got the T case now, even if it is just for bragging rights...
The vintage case was gorgeous. I had a custom OM2 SS VN built and it came with the case. BUT, on the way home on the train, I got two significant dings in the soft leather of the case. I just didn't think the case was practical for someone who travels a lot outside of the house with the guitar. I sold the Collings case and bought a nice new Calton case. Makes more sense in terms of protecting the guitar!

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

Re: Is Collings changing after Bill?

Post: # 1191Post Greg Y
Sun May 12, 2019 10:15 pm

PJ, I saw your post on p4 of this thread. What's practical for one is impractical for another. I take my Bill cases anywhere there is car travel or around town. The guitars that live in them aren't guitars i would travel with by air....so i got rid of the Caltons, except for one for my 00. Like many things at Collings that Bill put untold time and effort in to, the instruments and cases are somehow more than the sum of the parts and worthy of admiration.

For a while I had a Pre*War 000-18 & a Collings OM1aJL. Eventually I sold the JL...in the beefy, heavy, new Harptone case & kept the Collings case to use with my 000s.

ImageIMG_8465 by , on Flickr

pjkesq
Posts: 88
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Re: Is Collings changing after Bill?

Post: # 1194Post pjkesq
Tue May 14, 2019 12:28 pm

Greg Y wrote: Sun May 12, 2019 10:15 pm PJ, I saw your post on p4 of this thread. What's practical for one is impractical for another. I take my Bill cases anywhere there is car travel or around town. The guitars that live in them aren't guitars i would travel with by air....so i got rid of the Caltons, except for one for my 00. Like many things at Collings that Bill put untold time and effort in to, the instruments and cases are somehow more than the sum of the parts and worthy of admiration.

For a while I had a Pre*War 000-18 & a Collings OM1aJL. Eventually I sold the JL...in the beefy, heavy, new Harptone case & kept the Collings case to use with my 000s.

ImageIMG_8465 by , on Flickr
I hear you Greg! I absolutely loved the case. It was beautiful. But I was careful with it on a single ride home from the music store on a the train. In that short ride, the soft beautiful leather of the case got two significant dings/rips in it. I know me, and I know that I would have always been worried about getting more of them on the case. I am confident that the case could have protected the guitar adequately! But I fly with instruments at least a few times a year and there is no way I would even gate check that case with a guitar as expensive as the one I bought. The cases are the essence though of Bills' vision. Just perfect in their design and construction from aesthetic point of view. They are indeed worthy of admiration. I wish I could have kept mine, but thought it more prudent to sell it to finance the Calton Case which has become very expensive. (Although I got a great bargain when finding a new one for "ONLY" $1,000 :lol: )

pjkesq
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Re: Is Collings changing after Bill?

Post: # 1195Post pjkesq
Tue May 14, 2019 12:34 pm

Greg Y wrote: Sun May 12, 2019 10:15 pm PJ, I saw your post on p4 of this thread. What's practical for one is impractical for another. I take my Bill cases anywhere there is car travel or around town. The guitars that live in them aren't guitars i would travel with by air....so i got rid of the Caltons, except for one for my 00. Like many things at Collings that Bill put untold time and effort in to, the instruments and cases are somehow more than the sum of the parts and worthy of admiration.

For a while I had a Pre*War 000-18 & a Collings OM1aJL. Eventually I sold the JL...in the beefy, heavy, new Harptone case & kept the Collings case to use with my 000s.

ImageIMG_8465 by , on Flickr
And as an aside, that is only tangentially related to this thread; I will tell you a horror story that is burned into my brain! About 15 years ago, I was at Jorma Kaukonen's Fur Peace Ranch for what has become a yearly visit for a weekend of guitar lessons. A fellow student flew to Ohio with his Pre War Martin. As we sat down in Jorma's class for the first session, this gentleman opened his sturdy looking (non flight case) case and the blood literally drained from his face. He looked woozy and I thought he was going to cry/faint. His precious Martins' headstock was in two pieces. It was one of the saddest things I have ever seen.

Greg Y
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Re: Is Collings changing after Bill?

Post: # 1196Post Greg Y
Tue May 14, 2019 2:45 pm

PJ, to your story, re: guitar/flight accidents. That is certainly a very sad story. I personally would never use a non-flight case to fly with a guitar. Ever. Even in Caltons/Hoffee there has been mishandling and damage. Bill did not design his case as a flight case...& he was the first person to tell you this. It's a carrying case. I leave my house with a guitar a couple of times a week, as well as attending a few workshops and festivals. A carrying case is perfect for this. I have a couple of guitars that don't fly. I let others play them, but they are on my no fly list. I will not ever hand them to anyone wearing an airline company uniform, coveralls, or (as sometimes is the case) shorts, ear protectors & a hi-viz vest. If they need work, or an eventual neck re-set I get in my car and drive the two days (each way) to see Dennis Berck in Eugene.
If you remember the photo I posted in #1171 of Bill & Jon Green (Calton Case Austin), facing off jokingly. Neither said "My case is better".... but clearly each has its purpose. Laminated ply cases are not flight cases, & Caltons are a pain to carry around. Regardless of their age (new or vintage) we're still just stewards of our instruments and hope to keep them in good shape until they get passed on to the next generation for their continued use.

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Haasome
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Location: Massachusetts

Re: Is Collings changing after Bill?

Post: # 1201Post Haasome
Tue May 14, 2019 10:33 pm

I was reluctant at first, but did buy one. After using it for home storage and local travel I loved it and bought another for a 2nd Collings OM. They are fantastic and I’ve found them to be as durable as my TKL cases. I wouldn’t use them as a flight case and probably not for heavy gigging either. But they are so light, compact and well built, I would sorely miss them.
Paul

pto
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Re: Is Collings changing after Bill?

Post: # 1203Post pto
Wed May 15, 2019 2:04 am

i bought one for Bob Shane's 1958 D-28, 800 Kingston Trio concerts and 6 gold albums from 1958 to 1961. took photos of the guitar in the case and sent to Bill. he wrote back and said This is what i designed it for!:)

pjkesq
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Re: Is Collings changing after Bill?

Post: # 1209Post pjkesq
Wed May 15, 2019 11:58 am

Greg Y wrote: Tue May 14, 2019 2:45 pm PJ, to your story, re: guitar/flight accidents. That is certainly a very sad story. I personally would never use a non-flight case to fly with a guitar. Ever. Even in Caltons/Hoffee there has been mishandling and damage. Bill did not design his case as a flight case...& he was the first person to tell you this. It's a carrying case. I leave my house with a guitar a couple of times a week, as well as attending a few workshops and festivals. A carrying case is perfect for this. I have a couple of guitars that don't fly. I let others play them, but they are on my no fly list. I will not ever hand them to anyone wearing an airline company uniform, coveralls, or (as sometimes is the case) shorts, ear protectors & a hi-viz vest. If they need work, or an eventual neck re-set I get in my car and drive the two days (each way) to see Dennis Berck in Eugene.
If you remember the photo I posted in #1171 of Bill & Jon Green (Calton Case Austin), facing off jokingly. Neither said "My case is better".... but clearly each has its purpose. Laminated ply cases are not flight cases, & Caltons are a pain to carry around. Regardless of their age (new or vintage) we're still just stewards of our instruments and hope to keep them in good shape until they get passed on to the next generation for their continued use.
Call me paranoid! Yes, my Caltons and my Hoffee weigh a ton. But, I am so paranoid about damage to the guitars that I eschew the ease of a lighter carry case and always use my flight cases when my babies leave the house. Sort of like when my kids started driving, making them drive our TANK cars as opposed to my smaller more sporty wheels. :lol:

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elambo
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Re: Is Collings changing after Bill?

Post: # 1212Post elambo
Wed May 15, 2019 4:47 pm

I think we all agree that there is no single case designed for every scenario, which is why most of us have multiple types.

Greg Y
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Re: Is Collings changing after Bill?

Post: # 1213Post Greg Y
Wed May 15, 2019 4:55 pm

Well Eric, It got us beyond talking about picks & strings for a while.... ;)

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