Collings Idiosyncratic sound
Posted: Fri Jun 21, 2019 11:58 am
I know most on this forum are Collings fans (like me) and wanted to ask you about your experience with what seems like a Collings idiosyncrasy. I’ve been tempted to post this in the past, but 1) I didn’t want people to obsess 2) didn’t want to inspire brand bashing. But then I figured I would post it here to see if other Collings enthusiasts have had similar experiences.
Form a G chord with your left hand middle finger on the 3rd fret of the low E string. And hit just the Low E string hard with a flat pick. Do you hear a faint rattle that “seems” like it emanates from the bridge area?
This will help emphasize the sound — move your left hand middle finger off the fret toward the middle of the fretting area and reduce the finger pressure until it is the minimum you need to get a clear note. And hang your head so your ear is near the sound hole in a quiet room. (I know this seems crazy, but it’s just so you identify the sound.) I’ve been able to recognize this “rattle-type” noise on every Collings I’ve tried. I only happens when striking the Low E hard, and only happens when fingering the 3rd fret. However, it doesn’t happen if I put a capo on the first fret. And if I tune down #5 A string to a G to match the #6 string pitch — it doesn’t produce the sound. So it doesn’t seem to be related to resonance of that frequency.
The reason I’m thinking about this? I’ve just had my New Collings set up and have been super focused on what the guitar is doing. I didn’t say a word to my luthier about this when I dropped the guitar off. However he offered the unsolicited comment that the guitar sounded great, but he could hear the faint sound on occasion and said “you can’t believe how many hours I’ve spent chasing down the root of this type of issue. But it really seems impossible to solve.”
Since it happens so infrequently, is so minor and because I’m focused on playing music and not isolating sounds — it doesn’t bother me when I play and doesn’t diminish my appreciation & joy of what Collings provides. However, I figured I’d ask the dealer who sells a ton of Collings guitars about their experience & to get their take. We had a fun & lengthy exchange about this. They too have noticed the noise and has brought it up with Collings several times. The dealer thinks since Collings is so consistent they reproduce everything that’s great and unfortunately things that are not particularly great in every guitar they build. And yes, they hear the rattle-type noise on Collings guitars too. They also think the naturally loud & clear Collings sound might bring it to light.
The solution for me? Ignore the occasional faint occasional noise because you don’t hear it while your focused on making music. It also happens VERY infrequently during the course of normal play. So how about your Collings? Do you have a similar condition?
Form a G chord with your left hand middle finger on the 3rd fret of the low E string. And hit just the Low E string hard with a flat pick. Do you hear a faint rattle that “seems” like it emanates from the bridge area?
This will help emphasize the sound — move your left hand middle finger off the fret toward the middle of the fretting area and reduce the finger pressure until it is the minimum you need to get a clear note. And hang your head so your ear is near the sound hole in a quiet room. (I know this seems crazy, but it’s just so you identify the sound.) I’ve been able to recognize this “rattle-type” noise on every Collings I’ve tried. I only happens when striking the Low E hard, and only happens when fingering the 3rd fret. However, it doesn’t happen if I put a capo on the first fret. And if I tune down #5 A string to a G to match the #6 string pitch — it doesn’t produce the sound. So it doesn’t seem to be related to resonance of that frequency.
The reason I’m thinking about this? I’ve just had my New Collings set up and have been super focused on what the guitar is doing. I didn’t say a word to my luthier about this when I dropped the guitar off. However he offered the unsolicited comment that the guitar sounded great, but he could hear the faint sound on occasion and said “you can’t believe how many hours I’ve spent chasing down the root of this type of issue. But it really seems impossible to solve.”
Since it happens so infrequently, is so minor and because I’m focused on playing music and not isolating sounds — it doesn’t bother me when I play and doesn’t diminish my appreciation & joy of what Collings provides. However, I figured I’d ask the dealer who sells a ton of Collings guitars about their experience & to get their take. We had a fun & lengthy exchange about this. They too have noticed the noise and has brought it up with Collings several times. The dealer thinks since Collings is so consistent they reproduce everything that’s great and unfortunately things that are not particularly great in every guitar they build. And yes, they hear the rattle-type noise on Collings guitars too. They also think the naturally loud & clear Collings sound might bring it to light.
The solution for me? Ignore the occasional faint occasional noise because you don’t hear it while your focused on making music. It also happens VERY infrequently during the course of normal play. So how about your Collings? Do you have a similar condition?