My guitar collection - Collings
The vast majority of ukuleles are made with either mahogany or koa bodies as demonstrated by 4 other ukuleles on this site. But in the world of these fine instruments, other tonewoods are used too. For example acacia, mango, ohia, and redwood are very popular nowadays. And this Collings concert ukulele uses (spalted) pecan. The dimensions for this custom concert ukulele are as for any other: a width of 7½”, 11” length, 213⁄16” depth, and a total length of 24”. The ‘2’ in the model designation indicates it is more adorned than any of the ‘1’s. The high-gloss nitrocellulose lacquer finished body has tortoise body binding with grained ivoroid B/W purfling, an ivoroid and wood nitrite strip rosette, and an East Indian rosewood bridge with a bone saddle for 111⁄16” string spacing. The Honduran mahogany neck has a C-shaped profile, a beautiful dark (ebony?) heel cap, 12” radius East Indian rosewood fingerboard with ivoroid dot position markers, and 1⅜” wide bone nut. The so-called “Haircut” headstock has an East Indian rosewood veneer with ivoroid Collings logo and 4:1 gear ratio Pegheds planetary gear tuning machines. It has the Ameritage case. The standard UC2 page on the old Collings website is archive here (2016). Pictures of this exact concert ukulele are featured in the Collings Gallery though with an incorrect serial number (1115?!) and model designation, i.e. ‘Custom’ does not appear on the sticker.
Collings UC2 (spalted pecan)
The story behind this ukulele
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My 7th ukulele and part of a package deal with the 6th, an UT3 Maple SB. I was not aware Collings had built ukuleles with tonewoods other than mahogany and/or koa until I bought my UT2 Custom in mid-2026. But if I would have followed the link to the ukulele gallery on this 2011 snapshot, several nice early custom ukuleles would have proven otherwise. Among them is prototype P-001, a pretty wild Archtop UT with a Sitka spruce top and maple back and sides. While purchased from Sylvan Music in Santa Cruz, CA, a 2014 Sunburst, spruce and rosewood UC2 Indian SB was listed on Reverb by Dolphin Guitars in Suita, Japan. But the hassle of importing an instrument is just too much. And that wood combination is covered by the aforementioned UT2 Custom. Pecan is a very dense, heavy hardwood, with similar characteristics as walnut (see my UT2 Walnut) or ash which gives this concert more sustain. It is a little brighter than the mahogany UC1 and has a more crisp and focussed response compared to the koa UC1K. A nice median indeed.
The story behind this guitar
December 16, 2011
713
Spalted pecan body
