My guitar collection - Acoustics
It should be no surprise that, like so many other builders today, Bill Collings attempted to capture that highly desirable tonal quality of the pre-war Martin dreadnought. And Collings achieved just that in their D-series and CW-series, This specific specimen of the D2H (‘H’ for ‘Herringbone’) has an Adirondack (Red) spruce top (‘A’), Sitka spruce pre-war scalloped X-braces, East Indian rosewood back and sides (unfortunately Brazilian is a bit out of my price range), and a Honduran mahogany neck with 14”-26” compound radius ebony fingerboard. The headstock does have a Brazilian rosewood veneer and Waverly nickel-plated machines with vintage-style butterfly buttons. Collings ranks the D-series among their large body guitars. And rightfully so. With a body length of 20”, 15⅝” width at the bout, 4⅞” body depth, 25½” scale length, and 40¼” total length, it indeed is big though outsized by both the CJ Mh and SJ. To read more and hear it from the “horse’s mouth” visit:
Collings D2HA
The story behind this guitar
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My first dreadnought was a no brand “el cheapo” guitar bought in the Netherlands. It fulfilled its purpose while learning to master the art. Here in the US, I bought the Ovation Elite first, but after a while there was an ever growing desire to get a high-quality acoustic. At first, I tried some Martins at the local Guitar Center, predominantly D-28 or HD-28. After all, those were the guitars that were touted as the best in the business in Tom Wheeler’s standard ‘The Guitar Book: A Handbook for Electric and Acoustic Guitars’, which I read in the Dutch translation in my youth.
But for one, that book was written in the seventies, and for seconds, it has been a public secret that, at least until maybe the turn of the century, the quality of Martin’s was not the same as the pre-war guitars. Hence, one starts looking elsewhere. And Bill Collings had built up a name as a master in the recreation not only of quintessential Martin pre-war models but Gibsons as well, with some of his own ideas sprinkled in for good measure. All reviews I’ve read about his guitars were always raving. And it tells you something when people like Lyle Lovett and Keith Richards are playing Collings guitars without getting the stuff for free. Yes you read that right, Bill Collings did not believe in endorsers unless they are paying customers! So every one of these instruments you see in their gorgeous ad-campaigns is truly owned by the artist mentioned in the caption.
When this beautiful instrument became available as a second-hand through Buffalo Brothers in Carlsbad, CA, I jumped on it, my very first Collings, and never regretted it. To make a slight improvement, I replaced the pins by dark fossilized mammoth pins with an ebony dot inlay. In 2025, about 20 years after purchasing this guitar, I got a Collings Traditional hardshell case with serial number D-000575 from Willow River Music in Loveland, CO, replacing the TKL case it originally came in. That case id now used for ‘The Ol’ Lady’, my Ibanez AW-25 12-string. The pronounced bass, trebles, and harmonics provided by the dynamic response of the Adirondack spruce top, combined with the rosewood back and sides, give the guitar balanced lows, sparkling highs, and a wonderful sound. The thing is loud, and the sound opens up and gets better over time. What is not to like?
The story behind this guitar
May 10, 2004
9736
Adirondack spruce top
