The Collings Forum

I found this "Collings" 0001 on eBay this morning. is it just me; or do too many things look 'not right'?

https://www.ebay.com/itm/202627498881?ul_noapp=true

- No label? I'm pretty sure ALL of Bills guitar had labels. Even the earliest examples?...

- Says tuners are Waverlys, when clearly they are Klusons or Kluson clones

- Headstock slots look very odd with rounded top of the slots

- 'Carve' at neck/headstock joint does not look 'Collings-like'

- Small pyramid style bridge;' but with no pyramids

There's probably even more; but this I saw just at a quick glance ...

Hmmmmmmmm?????????????..........

I have a three digit serial number Collings (#313). The logo inlay was different then and this one matches mine. I thought the eBay one was fake too because the headstock shape looks so odd, but now I think it legit. I do know of another Collings that didn’t have a paper label. It was a lefty 000-45 that the owner requested the label be left off. Bill signed the underside of the top instead.

PS. I forgot to add that I’ve owned over a dozen Collings acoustics over the years. Brazilian, Madagascar, Indian, mahogany and my early Collings is the best sounding guitar of the bunch. I never thought a maple guitar could be so good. I think it was just Bill and Bruce and maybe one other guy then. Bill’s reputation was built off his early guitars and I think it’s because the guy was a great guitar builder. It stands to reason the ones he built himself have a little “extra”....

elkabong wrote: ↑Sun Mar 17, 2019 2:46 pm I found this "Collings" 0001 on eBay this morning. is it just me; or do too many things look 'not right'?

https://www.ebay.com/itm/202627498881?ul_noapp=true

- No label? I'm pretty sure ALL of Bills guitar had labels. Even the earliest examples?...

- Says tuners are Waverlys, when clearly they are Klusons or Kluson clones

- Headstock slots look very odd with rounded top of the slots

- 'Carve' at neck/headstock joint does not look 'Collings-like'

- Small pyramid style bridge;' but with no pyramids

There's probably even more; but this I saw just at a quick glance ...

Hmmmmmmmm?????????????..........

It does look fishy, but it is such an early collings that it could be legit? The Ebay seller seems like a legit guy with positive customer feedback?

I wouldn't hesitate to call it fake if it was a later Collings, but I don't know much about the earliest period of Bill's career. Even if I did, I've seen clearer pictures of Bigfoot riding sidesaddle on the Loch Ness Monster than the pictures in that listing. Even for an expert (and ignoring that slot head!) I'd think it would be sort of tough to make a definitive call.

I wonder why he posted such terrible pictures.

I'm far from an expert on early Collings guitars, but I wouldn't guess this one to be a fake. The craftsmanship seems very good if you're going to counterfeit a guitar, this model and period probably wouldn't bring the biggest payoff. The description of the tuners is wrong, but I've often seen sellers grab the current specs off a website for earlier instruments. They don't know enough to know there was a change at some point.

The spruce type may be wrong as well, or not, but 1990 is very early for the reintroduction of red spruce on factory built guitars. Does anyone know if Collings offered red spruce that early?

Bill had just finished up the guitars for Gruhn that brought him to everyone’s attention in 1990. Those guitars had Engelmann tops, as I suspect my Oct. 1990 guitar has. Here’s a link to a pic of the early type logo on my guitar that is exactly like the logo on the eBay guitar.
https://www.dropbox.com/s/f7oa9de5f2jxe ... .jpeg?dl=0

I could be persuaded the the guitar on eBay has an Engelmann top. That makes more sense that red spruce for that period.

i remember seeing an older 12-fret collings with the same slotted headstock. i remember it well, because i prefer that more martin-like style.

The ad says, “circa 1990”, I wonder what the serial number is? Oct 1990 is low 300s. If it was left handed I would have already made an offer for it. The early guitars are very special (IMHO).