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Collings CJ35 Slope Shoulder Dreadnought Acoustic #24046  From Collings

Extremely powerful, extremely defined. Every note's in its own postal code!

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Our product photos are the actual, specific serial number for sale!

This specific item was photographed by us here in Durham, North Carolina. We are a very small team dedicated to providing you the most accurate photos possible, through our obsessive focus - individually photographing nearly everything that comes through the door. Questions about what you see? Want more information, photos, or just a friendly conversation with someone that cares and who has actually had their hands on this exact item? Contact us now!
Collings Guitars

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Because of our special relationship with Collings we can get this as fast, or faster than anyone in the industry. In some cases, we even have preferred build slots we can offer you.

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What We Think

I was staying late this past Wednesday finishing up some e-mails when my co-worker Corey called and asked me a question about the specs on the "new CJ35". We let them sit for a day before opening them up in the winter, so although I'd signed for it on Tuesday, I'd suppressed my excitement to the degree that I'd totally forgotten it was here! I slammed my computer shut and hustled over to the photo room to pick it.

I LOVE THE CJ35. It's bold and forward. Woody and sweet. It's your big, rugged buddy that you can always count on to tell it like it is. I dig the tiger guard and the two subtle bear claws in the top. Combine that all with a lion's roar (oh my!) and you've got one mighty beast of a guitar. Check out the elegant streaks in the African Rosewood board, too. 

All in all, there's not much that DOESN'T sound good on this guitar. It's versatile while always sounding unique. I personally like playing it with a thumb pick because it allows me to combine styles on the fly. It's just so balanced and strong. Must be the straight braces and the extra particular care they take in selecting the Stika for this model.  This is a guitar that's always gonna' have your back.  

Collings CJ35 Slope Shoulder Dreadnought Acoustic Guitar

The Collings CJ35 Slope shoulder dreadnought is an extremely powerful and defined acoustic guitar. It's hard to find anything that doesn’t sound great on this guitar. The Collings CJ35 is available for SoundPure's Try-Before-You-Buy program, so shoot us an email at Acoustics@SoundPure.com to see how this guitar sounds in your studio with your gear. If you like what you hear check out the gear used in this video at SoundPure.com or call us anytime at 919.682.5552. Thanks for watching!

Manufacturer's Description from Collings

The pre-war era of American flattop guitar making has come to be known as "golden" for a reason. Lauded for its short but brilliant periods of construction innovation, the years from 1930-1942 were filled with new instrument runs that featured bracing, fret access and body dimension changes that would define the features and sounds of the modern acoustic guitar. Emerging out of our fascination with this era of guitar making history, Collings is proud to introduce the CJ35. Available with a mahogany back and slope-shouldered body, this new variation of our CJ model incorporates a non-scalloped bracing configuration featuring three tone bars and a short 24 7/8" scale length. This new design provides the CJ35 with a beautiful balance of deep piano-like bass and powerful full-bodied highs, complimented by a focused dynamic range for exceptionally even note projection. As a result, the CJ35 is one of our most versatile large-bodied guitars, well suited to both fingerstyle and strumming techniques.

 

Bill Collings moved from Ohio to Houston, Texas in the mid-1970s.  More interested in guitars and engineering than in medical school, 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. Along the way, 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.  By this time 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 have been hugely popular with professional and hobbyist players alike.

For the past 30 years, Collings Guitars have been the choice of musicians who seek the finest handmade instruments available.  You owe it to yourself to try a Collings.

 
Collings Guitars

About Manufacturer

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.

 

Specifications

  • Select sitka spruce top
  • Mahogany back and sides
  • Simple ivoroid rosette
  • Ivoroid top/back binding
  • 1-style walnut backstrip
  • Pre-war non-scalloped Adirondack bracing with 3 tone bars
  • Abbreviated tongue brace
  • Tigerstripe celluloid pickguard
  • High gloss nitrocellulose lacquer finish
  • Mahogany neck
  • Unbound "Haircut" headstock
  • 15 degree headstock angle
  • Ebony peghead overlay with inlaid ivoroid Collings logo
  • African rosewood fingerboard with straight-style bridge
  • Mortise and tenon hybrid neck joint
  • 20 Frets, neck joins the body at the 14th fret
  • Vintage-inspired neck profile with 2 5/16" string spacing
  • 14"-26" Compound fingerboard radius
  • 1 3/4" Bone nut and cutthrough saddle
  • 24 7/8" Scale length
  • Medium 18% nickel-silver fretwire
  • Mother of pearl dot fingerboard inlays
  • Fully adjustable truss rod
  • Ivoroid bridge pins and ebony end pin
  • Nickel Waverly tuners with ivoroid buttons & 16:1 ratio
  • Recommended string gauge - D'Addario EJ-17 (.013"-.056")
  • Collings deluxe hardshell case by TKL