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Collings OM1A Julian Lage Acoustic Guitar #30163  From Collings

Julian Lage model Collings with an upgraded Adirondack top!

Collings Guitars

Available for Special Order

See something you like? This item is gone, but not forever. It can be special ordered, and even customized!

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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

Worthy of the man himself!  The painstakingly recreated '39 Martin neck profile could not feel more effortless or natural.  We decided to order this one in with Adirondack, as that's what Julian preferred for his own model.  Sensitive, direct, and fair--this guitar lays it all out there with absolute detail and clarity.  Lage himself has remarked that he sees the model "as a teacher"--imagine what it can do for you!

Manufacturer's Description from Collings

When Bill Collings first met the brilliant young jazz musician Julian Lage, in 2014, the two began a series of in-depth conversations about their respective crafts. Lage's profound insights as a guitarist would play a key role in the creation of Collings’ T (Traditional) Series guitars. This rare collaboration, which continued right up until Bill’s passing, in July, 2017, has yielded another exceptional new guitar with an old soul. We are proud to present a highly personal extension of the T Series: the Julian Lage Signature OM1.

Though Lage’s guitar shares the same foundational specs as the OM1 T, it is unique in some key ways. Its neck feels like no other Collings guitar. That’s because it’s modeled after Lage’s cherished 1939 Martin 000-18. This pre-war gem is heard on the guitarist’s 2015 solo album, “World’s Fair,” and was his main touring acoustic for years.

The 000-18’s neck—which was of course originally hand-shaped and sanded—has a distinctive taper altered by decades of wear. For Lage, this particular neck had come to feel like home. Through careful analysis and digitization of its unique dimensions, we were able to precisely recreate its worn-in, asymmetric feel on his signature model. While we maintained the relatively narrow 1 11/16" nut of the 000-18's neck, we extended the fretboard from the original short scale to our standard 25 ½" length for slightly greater presence and note definition.

Lage has an affinity both tonally and aesthetically for vintage guitars whose finishes have mellowed after years of playing. To recreate this effect we initially considered a varnish, but to achieve the ideal combination of a thin finish application and a vintage aesthetic, we landed on a custom satin lacquer. This new finish offering not only feels and looks right to Lage, he finds it has the same inherent openness of tone that is present in the best pre-war instruments.

With his typical descriptive eloquence, Lage characterizes his signature model as a “lovingly neutral” guitar. It has a remarkably even response between registers. It’s not an empty flatterer, but an instrument that rewards you when you’re playing your best. In this way, Lage, whose own education is unending, sees the guitar as a teacher.

Lage’s signature model incorporates a script peghead logo not seen on a new Collings instrument in decades. This is the inlay that Bill hand-cut some 30 years ago when he started out in a tiny shop in Austin, Texas. We see this as a loving tribute to our late leader, who in his final project was able to realize the perfect new steel-string for one of today’s most exacting guitarists.

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

Serial Number: 30163
 
Top: Adirondack spruce
 
Back & Sides: Honduran mahogany
 
Construction: Animal protein glue
 
Neck: Honduran mahogany
 
Body Binding: Tortoise with custom wood purflings
 
Fingerboard Binding: None
 
Peghead Binding: None
 
Bridge: Ebony belly-style with 2 3/16" spacing
 
Fingerboard: Ebony with gold MOP short dots
 
Bridge Pins/End Pin: Ebony with MOP dot
 
Nut: Bone, 1 11/16"
 
Saddle: Bone, drop-in
 
Neck Profile: Custom JL carve
 
Peghead Profile: Tapered square
 
Neck Joint: Mortise & tenon hybrid
 
Truss Rod: Fully adjustable
 
Frets: Medium 18% nickel-silver
 
Peghead Veneer: Ebony with gold MOP Collings script logo
 
Tuners: Relic nickel Waverly with vintage oval buttons (16:1 ratio)
 
Backstrip: 1-style (walnut)
 
Rosette: Custom wood rosette
 
Scale Length: 25 1/2"
 
Brace Material: Sitka spruce
 
Brace Pattern: Custom Traditional Series pre-war scalloped X-brace (no tongue brace)
 
Fingerboard Radius: 14" - 26" compound
 
Body Finish: Custom satin nitrocellulose lacquer
 
Neck Finish: Hand-rubbed satin nitrocellulose lacquer
 
Pickguard: Tortoise
 
Strings: D'Addario NB1253 (.012"- .053")
 
Case: TKL Hardshell Case