Great Documentary on Collings Guitars

[twocorgis]

I had sat through this video a few times in the past......just fun to watch to me. A Collings will probably be my next guitar......probably a "CJ".

West

You'll like this one, Jim. That is one righteous slab of Sitka on the top. :shock:

On another note, I owned a Collings D2H for a while that was a bit of a dud. It had already had at least three owners that I knew of before me, and at least two that I know of after me, which was rather a lot for a 2004 guitar. I think that during its time in Denver (two owners before me), it got extremely dried out causing a large crack that ran parallel to the center team from the bridge all the way down. It was cleated and well-repaired, but I think that often cracks of that nature are real tone killers.

 

[Geo]

SGCG parts the hair on the other side.

That's because SGCG has a cowlick. :lol:

George

 

[chazmo]

I think it's a little telling that the shop manager in New Hartford cited Collings as his personal favorite. At least I think that's what he said.

I'd love to visit Collings someday. They've clearly got it goin' on there.

 

[West R Lee]

I had sat through this video a few times in the past......just fun to watch to me. A Collings will probably be my next guitar......probably a "CJ".

West

You'll like this one, Jim. That is one righteous slab of Sitka on the top. :shock:

On another note, I owned a Collings D2H for a while that was a bit of a dud. It had already had at least three owners that I knew of before me, and at least two that I know of after me, which was rather a lot for a 2004 guitar. I think that during its time in Denver (two owners before me), it got extremely dried out causing a large crack that ran parallel to the center team from the bridge all the way down. It was cleated and well-repaired, but I think that often cracks of that nature are real tone killers.

That is a pretty top Sandy, but you know me........a rosewood guy. Man, I do like those chair covers though!

West

 

[Frosty]

I think it's a little telling that the shop manager in New Hartford cited Collings as his personal favorite. At least I think that's what he said.

Good target on which to set your sights!

 

[Geo]

I wish I could play with you big boys. When you start talkin' Collings, Santa Cruz, and the like my wallet looks pretty slim.

Wonderful guitars if you can afford them. 8)

George

 

[twocorgis]

[quote="West R Lee":25cokgu1]I had sat through this video a few times in the past......just fun to watch to me. A Collings will probably be my next guitar......probably a "CJ".

West

You'll like this one, Jim. That is one righteous slab of Sitka on the top. :shock:

On another note, I owned a Collings D2H for a while that was a bit of a dud. It had already had at least three owners that I knew of before me, and at least two that I know of after me, which was rather a lot for a 2004 guitar. I think that during its time in Denver (two owners before me), it got extremely dried out causing a large crack that ran parallel to the center team from the bridge all the way down. It was cleated and well-repaired, but I think that often cracks of that nature are real tone killers.

That is a pretty top Sandy, but you know me........a rosewood guy. Man, I do like those chair covers though!

West[/quote:25cokgu1]

Heck, you've just got to have one hog in the herd, don'tcha? Of course, this is coming from a rosewood guy who has had a change of heart. :roll:

 

[West R Lee]

I wish I could play with you big boys. When you start talkin' Collings, Santa Cruz, and the like my wallet looks pretty slim.

Wonderful guitars if you can afford them. 8)

George

Have you got a credit card George?....... You can afford one. It's how the country does business.

West

 

[Geo]

I wish I could play with you big boys. When you start talkin' Collings, Santa Cruz, and the like my wallet looks pretty slim.

Wonderful guitars if you can afford them. 8)

George

Have you got a credit card George?....... You can afford one. It's how the country does business.

West

:lol: :lol: :lol: Yeah, I have a couple and the all have zero balance on them. I perfer to do business out of my hip pocket.

I'm still trying to save up for a F-47RCE... :lol:

George

 

[Ridgemont]

I wish I could play with you big boys. When you start talkin' Collings, Santa Cruz, and the like my wallet looks pretty slim.

Wonderful guitars if you can afford them. 8)

George

I am sure you could get one after selling a couple out of that collection. You dont really need 2 DV6s...do you? :wink: There would be plenty of folks here that would take if off your hands. Besides, you can only play one guitar at a time.

 

[Geo]

I wish I could play with you big boys. When you start talkin' Collings, Santa Cruz, and the like my wallet looks pretty slim.

Wonderful guitars if you can afford them. 8)

George

I am sure you could get one after selling a couple out of that collection. You dont really need 2 DV6s...do you? :wink: There would be plenty of folks here that would take if off your hands. Besides, you can only play one guitar at a time.

Sell a Guild? :shock:

The thought has never crossed my mind. :? I've never done it.... I don't think I can.

:lol: :lol: George

 

[CA-35]

Great link.

Funny how a guy who admits he is not much of a player builds such a fine instrument.

I know, people build planes that are not pilots and others build sailboats who are not sailors. You would think the one who excels at something would be the most astute at building it. :shock: Apparently not. :wink: I think it was actually a pilot who invented the surf-board (Woody Brown), then a surfer (Hobie Alter) created the Catamaran. Although I always preferred a Prindle to a Hobie Cat because the Hobies (18 foot and up) had dagger boards and the Prindles did not. Dagger boards are like a keel on a sailboat. Prindles avoid this by having asymmetrical hulls. Anybody who has ever done a beach landing at 25 knots on a Hobie and forgets to pull up the daggers know what I'm talking about.

Sorry for the veer, great post about Collings!

 

[Frosty]

I wish I could play with you big boys.

Hmm... the cost of a guitar is not proportionally equal to the the joy
it brings the owner nor is it necessarily in proportion to how well the
guitar plays and sounds.

A $3500 Collings OM-1 does not sound or play 5.38 times better than
a $650 Guild GAD-30. This isn't theory, it's what my ears and hands
tell me!

 

[6L6]

UT there are a bunch of guitar cases out on the lawn. I quipped "maybe there is a yard sale" at the appropriate time during the tour someone asked about these cases and it was explained that the cases have their own humidity level. and often it is no congruent with the humidity of the guitar. So when guitars were shipped they sometimes had to have the neck adjusted before there were hung on the wall. Bill wanted to eliminate this so he checks the humidity level of every case AND dries them out in the sun to make sure they match the guitar.

Bill Collings's first dealer was Gryphon Stringed Instruments in Palo Alto, CA. They remain a big client of Bill's as you can see in the attached link:

http://www.gryphonstrings.com/inven...ar&Type=Steel Str.&Query=Steel String Guitars

Quite a selection!

I remember Frank Ford (half owner of the store and the best luthier in the world) telling me that the first Collings guitars they received had damage that was traceable to the cases not being dry. The guitars had to be shipped back and replaced. That's when Bill started doing the case drying.

Bill

 

[davismanLV]

I wish I could play with you big boys.

Hmm... the cost of a guitar is not proportionally equal to the the joy
it brings the owner nor is it necessarily in proportion to how well the
guitar plays and sounds.

A $3500 Collings OM-1 does not sound or play 5.38 times better than
a $650 Guild GAD-30. This isn't theory, it's what my ears and hands
tell me!

This is a fact. Cheap guitars usually sound bad. Good guitars don't. The difference between a $2K guitar and a $6K guitar is not anywhere as profound as between the $200 and the $2K. Usually.

Guitars are luxury items to me. That doesn't mean they're not necessary. Your budget will determine how extravagant you can be..... But the joys are not always dollar dependent.

 

[Frosty]

Cheap guitars usually sound bad. Good guitars don't

I think we are saying the same thing, Tom. But I wouldn't mix the words "cheap" and "good" together.

Cheap $ guitars usually sound bad, expensive guitars don't.

Bad guitars are usually cheap $, good guitars are not.

Cheap / expensive is personal and relative. The real measure, in my opinion, is value received. Used Guild guitars are a tremendous value as we all know, because they are (relatively) cheap and good at the same time!

 

[davismanLV]

Frosty, we are saying the same thing..... I guess I just said it poorly. I should keep my terms consistent. Cheap/expensive or good/bad.... rather than mix them together. They're different things. Lucky for me you can read through my bad wording and make sense of it..... 8)

 

[chazmo]

I think we can all agree that an expensive guitar that doesn't sound good to your ears is essentially adding insult to injury. Justifying an expensive guitar that *does* sound good is the conundrum we face here with Collings and other more boutique guitars.

 

[Frosty]

Justifying an expensive guitar that *does* sound good is the conundrum we face here with Collings and other more boutique guitars.

Nice inversion, Chaz! We see the same point from a different point of view.

And those justifications, I assert, can easily fall outside of the intrinsic guitar parameters of "sounds good"
and "plays well".

 

[chazmo]

Justifying an expensive guitar that *does* sound good is the conundrum we face here with Collings and other more boutique guitars.

Nice inversion, Chaz! We see the same point from a different point of view.

And those justifications, I assert, can easily fall outside of the intrinsic guitar parameters of "sounds good"
and "plays well".

Quality is far more than just what reaches your ears. Amen to that, brother.
I have to admit, though, I'm totally talking out my patootie when it comes to Collings. I have not had any opportunity to try them out. One of these days I'll make it into Lexington. Or better yet, I'll make it down to Tejas and visit the factory!