My guitar collection - Acoustics
Wait! I thought all “aught”-models were 12 frets to the body. And this one is 14 frets? Yes it is. Weirdly enough, within the Collings ecosystem, the single-0 by default is 14 frets to the body and the 12-fret single-0 would have the qualifier in its model designation, see e.g. this 02H 12-fret T. On their website they market this model as a travel guitar or a small OM model. And small it is. With a lower bout width of 137⁄16”, body depth of 4”, body length of 183⁄16”, scale length of 24⅞”, and a total length of 38”, it is just a tad bigger than my Baby 1 Walnut G. And just like that guitar, this one also has some upgrades. First, a tight grained Engelmann spruce top (‘E’) with some interesting streaks. As expected for a 1-style model, this top is combined with Honduran mahogany back and sides. The body, finished in a high-gloss nitro lacquer, has the standard 1-style appointments, i.e. Sitka spruce pre-war scalloped X-braces, tortoise binding with B/W/B/W purfling, B/W rosette, a tortoise pickguard, belly-style ebony bridge, and a walnut backstrip. Second, the Honduran mahogany neck is not standard either. Its appearance is much like a 3-style with a bound 14”-26” compound radius ebony fingerboard, no position markers, and a bound headstock with an ebony veneer, Mother-of-Pearl logo, and 16:1 gear ratio Waverly nickel-plated tuning machines with butterbean buttons. Neither is the neck profile standard. Instead of the standard modified V, with a thickness measuring 0.840” at the 1st fret and 0.930” at the 9th fret, this guitar has the Vintage Now (‘VN’) profile, measuring 0.945” and 0.960” at the same frets. This neck profile is also reflected in a slightly wider string spacing of 25⁄16” at the bone saddle, instead of 23⁄16”, and a 1¾” bone nut width by default. For more info on the standard 01 model, see:
Collings 01 E VN
The story behind this guitar
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How does one pick a guitar? My fascination with the single-0 started with a beautiful full body Sunburst 01 Mh which reminded me of the Martin 0-17 played by Kenneth Pattengale of the Milk Carton Kids. That one sold fast. Then for months I was eying 2 particular 01 SB guitars on Reverb, both built around 2010. But when Clint Jordan posted this guitar, including a short but sweet YouTube sound sample, it was clear this one became the prime candidate. A different top, different neck profile, all things that spiked my curiosity. And Clint, who runs the Oxford House of Music in Oxford, MS, kindly accepted my offer. A beauty to behold, visually and sonically, and a nice compliment to all other 0-models in my collection. When it arrived, it was pretty late in the evening. But my spouse put on John Hyatt’s ”Comes alive at Budokan?” and this little tone monster fit right in replicating all acoustic guitar parts on that fine album. The next day was more focussed on fingerpicking, which showcased the warmth haloed by a veneer of highs and lows. In short, it was very hard to put it down. I had to ask Clint why he ever wanted to sell this guitar. His answer was that he needed to thin the herd. My gain. Easily one of my favorite guitars.
The story behind this guitar
April 8, 2011
18219
Engelmann spruce top, Vintage Now neck profile (includes 25⁄16” string spacing at
saddle, 1¾” nut), fingerboard binding, no fingerboard inlay, headstock binding
