Collings Eastside LC

[Jazz_175]

One thing I feel like I need is a rubber friction "stopper" for the tone control. The tone range is nice but there are some really nice sweet spots you want to dial in to the room and amp. I feel like once I get the tone set I want it locked. I think I have seen rubber discs you put under knobs on pedals that hold the settings in place.

I like lollar imperials but they are a bit aggressive full on so you need to dial them back for a mellower tone. This aggressive tone (which is a tough thing to describe with that single adjective) might also be in part from the ebony and strings. I am 90-95% satisfied but there is still something I need to tweak.

I lowered the pickup a hair and that moved things in the right direction. All of my guitars have either had WCR or Lollar PAF style humbuckers. I really would like to try a WCR Darkwood pickup in my Eastside (and I happen to have a few WCR's on hand including a neck wound Darkwood) but I am hesitant to do anything that would lower value/modify the build (though it could be undone).

I often felt the same way about my I35 when I had it (swap to WCR's). Lollar imperials are awesome for their clear articulate tone with slight forward and an aggressive bite. The WCR's are similar but rounder and warmer.

The High Wind choice of Lollar pickups is something that really surprised me.

[Soco]

I agree on the sweet spots on the tone control, there is a lot of tonal variations. The Knobs on the soco deluxe doesn't move so easily.I haven't really considered this a problem on the Eastside-as long as you don't touch the knobs they don't move.
I don't think the lollars in my soco is aggressive at all, rather the opposite.
I think the choice of a higher output version of the lollar on the Eastside makes sense (this pickup isn't really a high gain type of pickup).
I think the fact that it is laminated and hollow might be one of the reasons, you don't have the crank up the amp so much so it is easier to prevent feedback, and it is not as acoustic as a solid woods guitar(although way more acoustic than any other laminated guitars I have tried).
I love how this pickup is voiced and it really let's the acoustic quality of the guitar shine thorough. Perfect imo.If the pickup was that high-gain, the guitar wouldn't be as acoustic. I a sure they tried the lower-wind version and felt like it wasn't working so well for that guitar.
I wouldn't want to change anything with any of my two Collings, they are excellent as they are-that's why I love them so much. It is really easy to get great sounds out of them, almost impossible not to.These guys have spent countless of hours researching and trying out different things(including tons of pickups of course), there is a reason for everything they do to the tiniest detail. I prefer lower action than most of the Collings come with, but I think they are set up with medium/high action with the idea of having the dealer set it up for each customer.

[kris]

"I wouldn't want to change anything with any of my two Collings, they are excellent as they are-that's why I love them so much."

I've changed bridge in my old Ibanez As-200/1982/ yesterday.
I put KTS tytanium saddles and ABR-1 bridge.It sound now like very expensive hand made guitar with perfect tuning,big sustain and much easier to play.KTS saddles are great.

[shawntp]

I agree on the sweet spots on the tone control, there is a lot of tonal variations. The Knobs on the soco deluxe doesn't move so easily.I haven't really considered this a problem on the Eastside-as long as you don't touch the knobs they don't move...

That's a good point you touch on in risking ruining the acoustic tone. The full open tone on this really let's all the information on this guitar come through and it is almost like a hybrid acoustic voice that you can then roll back for a more traditional jazz. I think with my I35 deluxe I always wanted a darker wordier neck tone and really that is a different guitar (now the I35 LC) which didn't exist when I owned the I35. With that guitar I was missing the vintage 335 tone that Bill obviously went for with the LC.

I bought my Eastside used so I a, not sure of the strings/setup it came with so that is where I am focusing. Lowering the pickup by a 1/2 turn of the screw helped bring more body warmth in. For the first month I used an AER Compact 60 which was nice but imparted too much of its own color so I moved to a Henriksen Jazz Amp. With all of that I have a lot of variables in my new rig to explore so I won't be touching the pickup (to change it) anytime soon (thought I am curious).

My Eastside is strung with D'Adarrio Chrome 12's which I need to try swapping next. I also want to try swapping the speaker in my JazzAmp next for a Ragin Cajun just to try out so those are the spots where I will focus.

I also love Collings. I've owned a Collings uke and a mandolin - they are all "Ferriraris" of their respective domains.

I've decided on my bucket list is an AT16 or AT17 acoustic archtop and a Soco 16 LC (plus the eastside).

[Soco]

That's a good point you touch on in risking ruining the acoustic tone. The full open tone on this really let's all the information on this guitar come through and it is almost like a hybrid acoustic voice that you can then roll back for a more traditional jazz. I think with my I35 deluxe I always wanted a darker wordier neck tone and really that is a different guitar (now the I35 LC) which didn't exist when I owned the I35. With that guitar I was missing the vintage 335 tone that Bill obviously went for with the LC.

I bought my Eastside used so I a, not sure of the strings/setup it came with so that is where I am focusing. Lowering the pickup by a 1/2 turn of the screw helped bring more body warmth in. For the first month I used an AER Compact 60 which was nice but imparted too much of its own color so I moved to a Henriksen Jazz Amp. With all of that I have a lot of variables in my new rig to explore so I won't be touching the pickup (to change it) anytime soon (thought I am curious).

My Eastside is strung with D'Adarrio Chrome 12's which I need to try swapping next. I also want to try swapping the speaker in my JazzAmp next for a Ragin Cajun just to try out so those are the spots where I will focus.

I also love Collings. I've owned a Collings uke and a mandolin - they are all "Ferriraris" of their respective domains.

I've decided on my bucket list is an AT16 or AT17 acoustic archtop and a Soco 16 LC (plus the eastside).

Swapping the 12' D'addarios to 12 Thomastiks and lowering the action made a huge difference in the sound and playability.My experience with AER is that it works great for acoustic guitars, but not so much for electrics. I remember playing my PRS hollowbody spruce through one and it didn't sound good. My Godin multiac grand concert nylon sounded great through the AER. How do you like the Henriksen? I have a polytone,but I suspect the Henriksen sounds better and is built better. Owning one of those Collings archtops sure would be a dream. I would love to have the 360 single-coil. Do you still like yours? I think it has a longer scale? How does it feel going between that and the Eastside?

[Jazz_175]

Shawntp:
Is the Henriksen you've got a 10" or 12" speaker amp?

Regarding the I35 LC, I too read that it was built trying to recreate the vintage 335 tone. I'm not sure if they succeeded in that, also because how do you define that vintage tone? Is there a unique one?
It does not matter much to me. I like the I35LC as it is.
Actually I've come to the conclusion that Collings electrics and archtops are so peculiar that I'm very much attracted by their other models.
That is the case of the Eastside, but also like the 290 with P90.
I like this electric sound

[Soco]

To me Collings have developed a sound on it's own, a sound I really like.
The 290 is a great guitar, I tried a few and they where all great, one of them was extra great and was probably one of the best solid-body guitars I have tried. I should have bought it.
The regular 360(with mini-humbuckers) is the most aggressive/rock-sounding out of all the Collings I have tried. I haven't tried the 360 with single-coils yet, but Shawn has one and the soundclips he put up sounded great.

[Likeke]

Soco, beautiful guitar! Can you post a butt-end picture? I'd like to see how the ebony tailpiece is attached. The Collings site doesn't have pictures of it or I wouldn't have asked. Thanks.

[Soco]

Soco, beautiful guitar! Can you post a butt-end picture? I'd like to see how the ebony tailpiece is attached. The Collings site doesn't have pictures of it or I wouldn't have asked. Thanks.

[Likeke]

Thanks Soco. I have a home made Benedetto style tailpiece on my archtop.

[Soco]

Thanks Soco. I have a home made Benedetto style tailpiece on my archtop.

You're welcome. Would love to see your guitar.
Here is one more picture of the Eastside

[Jabberwocky]

Nice, Soco. How is it that your Eastside LC looks like a Deep Body? It looks like 3" instead of 2.5". An artifact of the lens?

[Bluedawg]

Surprisingly ... it sounded great as an acoustic ... better than some carved solid guitars that I've played

I played it through a Fender Super Sonic ..... Based on that little test drive, I think would probably sound great through any Fender or Polytone style amp

I was afraid to spend too much time with it .... my wife was giving me the old evil eye and if I spent too much time with it I would start working on a way to buy it ...

I'm already well set for jazz guitars and don't need another

Rainbow is a good sized store .. and they do have lots of guitars

[Soco]

Here is what the eastside sounds like with overdrive.
No issues with feedback.
SoundClick artist: Jostein Gulbrandsen - page with MP3 music downloads

[kris]

Here is what the eastside sounds like with overdrive.
No issues with feedback.
SoundClick artist: Jostein Gulbrandsen - page with MP3 music downloads

Very nice!
I think you can play all kind of music on this guitar.
Fantastic instrument.

[Soco]

Very nice!
I think you can play all kind of music on this guitar.
Fantastic instrument.

Thank you! I agree, it is a very versatile instrument, even more than I expected. Sounds great totally acoustically too.

[Jazz_175]

Hi Jostein
I'm reviving this thread as I wanted to ask what is your current setup of the Eastside.
Which strings did you finally put on and did you change action and pickup height?
thanks

[Soco]

Hi Jostein
I'm reviving this thread as I wanted to ask what is your current setup of the Eastside.
Which strings did you finally put on and did you change action and pickup height?
thanks

Hi,
did you get yours yet? If so, congratulations!
I felt the eastside was a bit difficult to play when I first got it, the D'Addario 12-54's felt a bit stiff to me and the action was a bit too high for my taste. I was considering switching to 11's, but I tried the thomastik roundwounds 11-50(with plain G), since I recall that they feel quite light.They are expensive but last long. I use Curt Mangan 011's on all my other guitars.
I also lowered the action quite a bit, the result is a guitar that is extremely easy to play. My friend who's main guitar is a Parker fly with 9's, thought the eastside was as easy as that guitar. I might actually raise the action a bit, it is too easy to play. I didn't do anything with the pickup height.
Let me know if you have any more questions.

[Jazz_175]

Yes, thanks!
I received my new Eastside LC Blonde, rosewood fingerboard, two days ago.
I bought it from CR guitars.
The thing the most struck me about this guitar, which is laminate, is the acoustic properties that it shows when played unplugged.
I did not expect such a loud volume.
I don't know if that is really good for me. I have to try it in a rehearsal with a drummer and bassist to see how it goes,
although I listened to a lot of your clips.
The guitar was strung with 012 when I received it.
More later...
That rosewood fingerboard is amazing.

[Soco]

Yes, thanks!
I received my new Eastside LC Blonde, rosewood fingerboard, two days ago.
I bought it from CR guitars.
The thing the most struck me about this guitar, which is laminate, is the acoustic properties that it shows when played unplugged.
I did not expect such a loud volume.
I don't know if that is really good for me. I have to try it in a rehearsal with a drummer and bassist to see how it goes,
although I listened to a lot of your clips.
The guitar was strung with 012 when I received it.
More later...
That rosewood fingerboard is amazing.

Hi, it is very acoustic sounding, but it will mellow out a little after some playing. Lowering the action a bit is also a way of making it a little less acoustic sounding.
The guitar sounds much better now than when I got it in November after playing it a lot.
I hope you had a great rehearsal.

[Jazz_175]

......I tried the thomastik roundwounds 11-50(with plain G), since I recall that they feel quite light.They are expensive but last long...

Did you not find any intonation problem with your plain G?
As far as I know the G string is the one that goes out of intonation when you switch from wound to plain string.
At the Collings website of Eastside LC it is explicitely said "wound G" , so I guess that wooden bridge was built to take into account of that wound string.

[Soco]

Did you not find any intonation problem with your plain G?
As far as I know the G string is the one that goes out of intonation when you switch from wound to plain string.
At the Collings website of Eastside LC it is explicitely said "wound G" , so I guess that wooden bridge was built to take into account of that wound string.

No problems at all with the plain G.

[Jazz_175]

No problems at all with the plain G.

I sent an emal to customer service at Collings asking about the wound and unwound G.
Mark replied that, as I suspected, the Eastside bridge top has a top contour designed for woung G string, so a plain G will not intonate properly. However he said that it might not be that noticeable.
So I guess at some point I will try a lighter gauge with a plain G to see how it goes. The Thomastik-Infeld could be a good choice.
The other information I had is that Lollar recently made a custom version of the "high wind" Imperial humbucker,
very similar to the stock "high wind". They are now installing the custom humbucker. In fact the specs on the website now say "Lollar Imperial humb", without "the high-wind" qualification.

[Soco]

I sent an emal to customer service at Collings asking about the wound and unwound G.
Mark replied that, as I suspected, the Eastside bridge top has a top contour designed for woung G string, so a plain G will not intonate properly. However he said that it might not be that noticeable.
So I guess at some point I will try a lighter gauge with a plain G to see how it goes. The Thomastik-Infeld could be a good choice.
The other information I had is that Lollar recently made a custom version of the "high wind" Imperial humbucker,
very similar to the stock "high wind". They are now installing the custom humbucker. In fact the specs on the website now say "Lollar Imperial humb", without "the high-wind" qualification.

Hi, thanks for the info, I had no idea about this.
I haven't notice any intonation issues, and I am pretty picky about that stuff. The sound of that plain G from Thomastik is a bit bright and jangly, it is possible that a wound one sound better. It is an easy thing to swap out, try both and see what you like bets. Interesting that they are tweaking the pickups, for the CL jazz they used to have a Kent Armstong pickup, not it is a custom lollar. I have heard that they have experimented with the different bracing on the Eastside, I think mine has X-bracing, but they have made a few with parallel bracing.
I can't think of anything I would want to change with mine. The neck is slightly thicker than on my soco, yet it is extremely playable. Somehow the eastside is now after lowering it almost easier to play than the soco(which has 11's). How does the neck on your Eastside compare to the I-35lc?

[Jazz_175]

Hi, thanks for the info, I had no idea about this.

Yes, that is a known issue (which I learnt some time ago just from this forum and could experiment myself on another archtop with wooden bridge when I switched to a plain G).
Sadowsky also sells two different bridges to take into account the problem of wound vs plain G.

How does the neck on your Eastside compare to the I-35lc?

They seem pretty similar. Maybe the Eastside neck slightly thicker, but not so evident