Beautiful guitar - congrats!
New Member/New Collings: DS1A
Re: New Member/New Collings: DS1A
Absurdly late to this party, and indeed to the now not so "new" Collings Forum. But I thought better late than never to offer a welcome to the comparatively small fraternity of diehard Collings 12-fret dreadnought fans.
I've now had my own DS1A for 23 years. And still vividly recall my astonishment taking it off the wall at Mandolin Bros (alas now gone) during a marathon afternoon of test driving new and vintage instruments, assuming that I'd leave with a rosewood Martin of some kind--hoping to replace as best I could a 1940 Herringbone D-28 stolen in London half a dozen years earlier (and yes, still missed). Mahogany had simply never ever quickened my own heartbeat--so I was, in a word, skeptical.
But very much to my surprise Collings seemed to possess the secret of unlocking mahogany's magic. So, in addition to the usual comparison to concert grand pianos, there was a combination of the intimate sweetness that 12-frets can have with both clarity, and a precision of craft that vintage instruments generally lack.
Use a capo much above the fifth fret, and it's not hard to run out of road. But as with all things, you figure out workarounds--and almost always they'll have some creative silver lining.
I have and have had other Collings D models, and think highly of them all. But the DS1s are really worth taking time to get to know. So, congratulations.
I've now had my own DS1A for 23 years. And still vividly recall my astonishment taking it off the wall at Mandolin Bros (alas now gone) during a marathon afternoon of test driving new and vintage instruments, assuming that I'd leave with a rosewood Martin of some kind--hoping to replace as best I could a 1940 Herringbone D-28 stolen in London half a dozen years earlier (and yes, still missed). Mahogany had simply never ever quickened my own heartbeat--so I was, in a word, skeptical.
But very much to my surprise Collings seemed to possess the secret of unlocking mahogany's magic. So, in addition to the usual comparison to concert grand pianos, there was a combination of the intimate sweetness that 12-frets can have with both clarity, and a precision of craft that vintage instruments generally lack.
Use a capo much above the fifth fret, and it's not hard to run out of road. But as with all things, you figure out workarounds--and almost always they'll have some creative silver lining.
I have and have had other Collings D models, and think highly of them all. But the DS1s are really worth taking time to get to know. So, congratulations.