The Collings Forum

Being a southpaw it's not often I encounter a Collings instrument. This Statesman LC seems to be a fine starting point for what I wanted in a thin hollow body......let the mods begin!

The pick guard had to go.....a visual distraction to my eye. The numbered top hat knobs have been replaced with a set of facetted ebony....much better tactile contact. I have a set of the same knobs in ivoroid inbound to see how they might look.....they will certainly match the machine head buttons. The black paint on the Bigsby has been removed and I intend to replace it with cherry enamel to match the guitar finish........might be nice, might not.....will be reversible to unpainted, which I do like. The arm stop was ground off and all surfaces re-polished.....now the arm can rise to a much better position for use while chording. Replaced the TOM bridge with a stainless TruArc and removed the pins.....a bar bridge plays much better with a Bigsby and intonation is excellent. TVJ T-Armonds in place of the stock filter'trons......single coil pickups have so much more presence and immediacy that hum buckers, very lively tones.

Some might think it heresy to alter a guitar.......to each his own, I say......

It’s your guitar so your mods work for you. Nice strap!!

All done.....I think. Tried the cherry red paint on the Bigsby but didn't like it......stripped it to bare aluminum again. And the Schaller M6 machines made the guitar head heavy on a strap so I changed them to a set of Grover vintage keystones. Filled the original screw hole and the Grovers more than cover the footprint of the Schallers. Balances perfectly now. An impressive player, this is.

Well done throughout. I had to add vintage Grovers to my LP with added Bigsby B7 to achieve a better balance, and a little more heft.

Flakyfoont wrote: ↑Mon Nov 14, 2022 4:08 pm Well done throughout. I had to add vintage Grovers to my LP with added Bigsby B7 to achieve a better balance, and a little more heft.

I concur. Beautiful instrument.