Short scale Collings with a baked Sitka spruce top
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This gorgeous little O from Collings will have you ditching that dreadnought (at least once in a while!) and enjoying the easy playability and tight response you get from such a small and articulate instrument. Baked Sitka top has a bit more openness than you'd get with a fresh piece of Sitka and the mahogany keeps everything tight and defined for a nice focused sound. If you're looking for a small travel guitar that has a TON of character or a songwriting guitar to keep close by at all times then give us a call about this incredible O1!
In this video, Sound Pure acoustic guitar specialist Barret Brooks compares 2 small body acoustics: a Collings 01 and a Martin 00-42 SC JM.
Bill Collings moved from Ohio to Houston, Texas in the mid-1970s. More interested in guitars and engineering than in his pre-med program, he took a job at a machine shop and began building guitars on his kitchen table with just a few hand tools. Coming from a family of engineers, Bill’s experience as a craftsman and his natural curiosity equipped him to experiment and quickly improve his craft. Before long his instruments were in the hands of local talents Rick Gordon and Lyle Lovett, which led more Texas players to seek out Bill for custom guitars.
After building about fifty guitars and a few banjos in Houston, he headed west to pursue lutherie in southern California. While on a detour in Austin, he befriended Austin luthiers Tom Ellis and Mike Stevens. Having found like-minded instrument makers, Bill decided to stay and share space in Tom’s shop. By the mid-1980s, Bill was building flattop and archtop acoustic guitars in his own small shop. His reputation for outstanding quality and meticulous attention to detail quickly spread. In 1989, he rented a 1,000-square-foot space and hired two helpers.
That same year, George Gruhn, the acclaimed collector and purveyor of vintage fretted instruments and owner of Gruhn Guitars in Nashville, asked Bill to make 24 custom “Gruhn” guitars, giving the Austin luthier national exposure. In the spring of 1992, Bill moved his guitar-making operation into a 3,200-square-foot feed store he purchased on the outskirts of Austin. Soon, musicians such as Pete Townshend, Joni Mitchell and Brian May were playing Collings instruments and demand continued to grow. The existing shop tripled in size and its staff increased to 50 full-time employees. By 2005, Bill broke ground for a new 27,000-square-foot shop featuring CNC technology that modernized machining processes and made parts production more consistent, accurate and safe. As the business grew and processes were refined, one thing remained the same: Bill Collings’ commitment to build the finest stringed instruments available.
Fueled by his fascination with the construction and design of a variety of instruments, Bill soon began crafting more than just acoustic guitars. In 1999, he introduced the first Collings mandolins, which like his guitars, quickly set new standards for the industry. In 2006 his interest in carved top instruments led him to introduce a line of electric guitars that players quickly embraced because of the instruments’ exceptional craftsmanship and tone. In 2009, with a nod to the tradition of some other high-end acoustic guitar makers, Bill created a line of concert and tenor ukuleles that were hugely popular with professional and hobbyist players alike. Due to a sheer lack of “small shop bandwidth”, these were later discontinued after Collings started production of Waterloo Guitars, a stand-alone line of vintage-inspired guitars designed to capture the tone and character of some of the best depression era instruments. In that same “vintage” vein, in 2016, and after years of development, Collings began to sell their own acoustic guitar and mandolin cases, designed and fabricated in their Austin shop, built to match the quality of their instruments.
Today, the mission is to continue Bill Collings’ legacy following his death from cancer in July 2017.
Sound Pure is a proud dealer of Collings Acoustics, Electrics, and Mandolins, with a large inventory and new guitars arriving regularly. Each instrument in stock is professionally photographed, and we have video reviews with studio-quality sound and HD video quality.
Bill Collings has been inspiring generations of guitarists with his fine guitars and mandolins since the 1970s. After dropping out of medical school to pursue his interest in guitar building, he moved to Austin, Texas where he and his company, Collings Guitars, operate to this day. From his humble beginnings as a one-man operation in a two-bedroom apartment to his current 22,000 square-foot facility and approximately 70 employees, Collings has built a reputation for producing high quality instruments with care and precision.
Perhaps best known for flat-top acoustic guitars, Collings excels in a variety of classic-inspired designs and modern build concepts. Their D series guitars represent their take on the iconic 14-fret square-shouldered dreadnought and include the highly-favored D1 and D2H models with mahogany and rosewood back and sides respectively. These guitars are extremely well-balanced and have a strong reputation for reliability and consistently becoming stronger as the woods open up over time. The CW models in this series feature Adirondack tops, larger sound holes, and other specs especially coveted by bluegrass flat pickers for their volume and responsiveness. The Collings OM series guitars tend to be lively, balanced, and lyrical. These guitars are hugely popular amongst fingerstyle players for their dynamic sensitivity, size, and playability. One of the most versatile acoustic guitar designs, Collings OMs can also handle heavy strumming and flat picking easily when the player needs to dig in. The CJ is a fantastic slope-shouldered dreadnought, and the SJ is their incredible small jumbo design. Collings also makes astounding parlor-style 0, 00, 000, and Baby guitars, which are perfect for performance or travel and offered with the same variety of options as the larger lines for true customization of tone and appearance. Rounding out Collings’ acoustic lines is the C10, which is modeled after a parlor guitar but with a design concept that makes it a favorite of electric players.
Collings is ahead of the pack in the acoustic guitar game, but it certainly does not end there. Their electric guitars are highly regarded amongst players across the entire spectrum of musical traditions. Designed and built with the same knowledge and attention to detail as the flat-tops, Collings electrics are quickly gaining recognition as contending with the best of the best of electric guitars. Hard rockers and country pickers and everyone in between can find a Collings electric to fit their style, from the Les Paul-inspired shapes of the 290, 360, and CL series to the semi-hollow I-35s and SoCo Deluxe models. Collings also offers A and T-style mandolins, as well as concert and tenor ukuleles.
Every Collings instrument has been built with the same standard of craftsmanship and quality that any discerning musician deserves to experience in the tools they select for their musical journey. At Sound Pure, we believe that the tools you equip yourself with can either enhance or hinder you on your journey, so we make it our job to research and choose what we find to be the very best instruments for our clients. We are confident that any Collings guitar that leaves the shop will meet their standards, as well as ours. If you find that we do not currently have the exact specs you need we are happy to make custom orders for our customers to build their own dream guitar.
Serial Number: 27632
Top: Sitka spruce (Baked)
Back & Sides: Honduran mahogany
Neck: Honduran mahogany
Body Binding: Tortoise with b/w/b/w top purfling
Fingerboard Binding: None
Peghead Binding: None
Bridge: Ebony belly-style with 2 3/16" spacing
Fingerboard: Ebony with MOP short dots
Bridge Pins/End Pin: Ebony with MOP dot
NutBone, 1 11/16"
Saddle: Bone, drop-in
Neck Profile: Modified V
Peghead Profile: Tapered square
Neck Joint: Mortise & tenon hybrid
Truss Rod: Fully adjustable
Frets: Medium 18% nickel-silver
Peghead Veneer: Ebony with MOP Collings logo
Tuners: Nickel Waverly (16:1 ratio)
Backstrip: 1-style (Walnut)
Rosette: b/w Purfling
Scale Length: 24 7/8"
Brace Material: Adirondack spruce
Brace Pattern: Pre-war scalloped X-brace
Fingerboard Radius: 14" - 26" compound
Body Finish: High gloss nitrocellulose lacquer
Neck Finish: High gloss polyester resin
Pickguard: Tortoise
Strings: D'Addario EJ-16 (.012"- .053")
Case: Deluxe Hardshell case by TKL
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