Collings Guitars

Courtesy of The Music Emporium

Bill Collings has been making guitars out of Austin Texas since the 1980s.  Last night I jumped at the chance to hear from him and sample his latest models at the Music Emporium, our Boston-area high-end acoustic guitar mecca in Lexington MA, and a recently-named Premier Collings Dealer, where he was presenting with his colleague and master craftsman Bruce VanWart.

Collings Guitars is widely recognized as one of the finest high-end boutique guitar makers in the country.  They now produce over 2,000 instruments annually, including acoustic guitars, electrics and archtops, ukuleles, and mandolins.  Bill was able to share a little window into how they are able to maintain the personal, artisanal attention to detail and quality throughout the 30,000 sq. ft., 90-employee shop.  He was especially proud of the fact that at least 50 employees are themselves enthusiastic guitar players, and everyone is there because they enjoy making great instruments.

It all starts and ends, however, with the quality of the woods selected and their cut.  Besides discussing the advantages of different tone woods, Bill passed around two Sitka Spruce guitar tops to help illustrate the importance of selecting properly cut wood.  One top was perfectly quarter sawn.  This means the growth rings of the wood run through the thickness of the top at a perfect 90 degree angle ("dead quarter") to the horizontal top viewed from the bottom bout.  This provides the greatest available stiffness to the width of the top, which translates into the ability to vibrate and quickly return to its original position and thus greater tonal responsiveness.  The second top, cut from the same wood but just five to ten degrees off the quarter, was surprisingly rubbery when flexed from the bass to treble side.  A high quality top thus usually comes from trees like Sitka Spruce well-known for their high density and consistent growth rings, which, when properly cut, provide consistently stiff and resilient tops.

After Bill fielded what felt like a hundred questions from the guitarists in the room, I was itching to actually try some of the Collings guitars in the shop.  I immediately gravitated to the CJ (Collings Jumbo) models, the Collings slope-shouldered dreadnoughts.  The two I played had beautiful sunburst varnish finishes, one with additional style 42 appointments including abalone trim and rosette inlays.  Varnish finishes have recently become popular because they are extremely thin and flexible enough not to impede the wood's vibration.  As such, they can produce a more responsive instrument with greater depth of tone.  While a varnish finish also provides a rich luster, extra care must be taken not to scratch them as the finish is not as protective as thicker lacquer options.

The CJ model is strikingly light for a guitar this size and both guitars were impeccably finished. Interestingly, the more tonally impressive guitar was the less expensive one without the extra bling. It was responsive across all registers, warm and expressive.  Of course, at these prices, the dollar difference is meaningless for most as these particular guitars will set you back approximately $7,500 and $8,500, respectively.  Mere mortals will only enjoy boutique guitars like these in the shop.  And if you are privileged enough to be shopping in this price range, the price difference may be negligible.  Carpe diem!