Collings C-100 help. I'm confused.

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ward8001@gmail.com
Posts: 2
Joined: Tue Apr 26, 2022 7:49 pm
Real Name: Craig Ward

Collings C-100 help. I'm confused.

Post: # 5590Post ward8001@gmail.com
Sun May 29, 2022 12:20 am

Forum folks

I'm a newbie to this forum and am very confused about the descriptions I read about the Collings C-100. I have one on order and am excited for its delivery in August. It's a deluxe model with a little more extra bling, sunburst torrified sitka top and a couple of other minor tweaks. I'm pairing this guitar with my custom shop Martin J-40 and Gibson J-185 reissue 1952 model which are both awesome but very different. I was originally looking at a Collings SJ but that seemed too similar to the J-185 to make sense. My confusion about the C-100 is that it is commonly described as "parlor" in dimensions or "small bodied" and other such terms when to me it is clearly in the "small jumbo" category with a 16 inch lower bout. Can anyone clarify or set me straight? Thanks.

dadgad6strings
Posts: 77
Joined: Wed Nov 14, 2018 9:48 pm

Re: Collings C-100 help. I'm confused.

Post: # 5591Post dadgad6strings
Sun May 29, 2022 1:48 am

I think you may be confusing it with the C10 which is a small body guitar.

https://www.collingsguitars.com/acoustic-guitars/c10/

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

Re: Collings C-100 help. I'm confused.

Post: # 5592Post Greg Y
Sun May 29, 2022 3:09 pm

Congratulations on the C100, I can see why the confusion. The ad copy for the C100 on the Collings website describes the guitar as having "parlor style proportions." ....what ever that means. If you look at specifications, neither the C100 nor the C10 are remotely close to parlor guitars. In fact both the C100 and C10 are long scale (25 1/2") guitars....that is the same scale as dreadnaughts. The C10 is loosely based on the vintage Gibson L-00 .... "Grand Concert" in Martin naming convention.

"Parlor" guitars of the 19th century were short scale (circa 24") and 12 fret (long narrow bodies).
The C-100 does closely resemble the SJ, albeit with a somewhat less curvy body......
Its not a model that has been in Collings lineup very long, although its been said that it harkens back to some early guitars that Bill Collings built.
It should be a great guitar.

If you haven't seen it, here's a video of Bob Minner playing one
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u3d7izbaBZE

godfreydaniel
Posts: 34
Joined: Mon Oct 15, 2018 1:46 pm

Re: Collings C-100 help. I'm confused.

Post: # 5619Post godfreydaniel
Sat Jun 11, 2022 6:03 pm

The C-100 is 1/8” narrower in the lower bout than the SJ (which is based on Gibson’s J-185), but it’s 1/4” deeper. I never cared much for the Collings SJ, but I always remember playing a C-100 (in the late 1990s I think) with spruce top and koa b&s that was a great guitar.

Collings only made the original C-100s for a short time. I read somewhere that they stopped making them because they were too close in size to the SJ.

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

Re: Collings C-100 help. I'm confused.

Post: # 5626Post soups
Mon Jun 13, 2022 3:15 am

I believe the narrow waist and its relationship to the C10 allows the nomenclature of "parlor" to remain. It's most definitely not a parlor.
I have a C-100 Deluxe and it's the only deluxe model to have been topped with Adirondack. The guitar is LOUD and very responsive. It's an interesting mix between the SJ and an OM (i have both). It gives more of an SJ resonance, but also the focus of an OM. The depth is the thing that makes it unique - it's deeper than a dread. Such a good instrumet. Congrats!

ward8001@gmail.com
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Joined: Tue Apr 26, 2022 7:49 pm
Real Name: Craig Ward

Re: Collings C-100 help. I'm confused.

Post: # 5998Post ward8001@gmail.com
Wed Dec 21, 2022 6:14 pm

Thanks guys for your responses. I finally got my C-100 Deluxe in Mahogony in early December (not August as originally estimated) and it is AWESOME! Very different from my Martin J-40 (rosewood) and Gibson J-185 (maple). It very much is more balanced than the other two with a bit less low end but it sings and is loud. The J-40 is also loud, the J-185 not so much. In no way is it a parlor guitar - I'm really not sure why they even say that. I'd love to play a C-10 sometime but never have. I really don't run into many Collings (if any) in my circles. Mostly bluegrass and folkey stuff. They look a little sideways even at the J-40 much less the C-100. They love 'em when they play 'em though.

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

Re: Collings C-100 help. I'm confused.

Post: # 6001Post soups
Sat Dec 24, 2022 7:53 pm

Congrats on your c-100. I have a C100 Deluxe (rosewood) with a torrefied Adirondack top. It's a very unique mix of an OM and a SJ, both of which I have also. The C-100 is a little odd in that it's got somewhat of an identity crisis. I love mine too...its loud!!

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