View Poll Results: Which one?
- Voters
- 244. You may not vote on this poll
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Gibson
73 29.92% -
Sadowsky
31 12.70% -
Collings
40 16.39% -
Others (ibanez, yamaha, heritage, etc)
100 40.98%
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I am very happy with my Collings Soco Deluxe not especially because of its sound (although very nice) but because it is so pretty looking and made from very high quality components and wood- also sentimental because my wife gifted it. I am sure that I cannot discriminate it from my $700 D'Angelico Mini DC in a blind tone or play comparison test.
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02-08-2023 01:16 PM
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I'm aware this is a zombie thread but I'll share my personal opinion, which others might not share.
Collings makes fantastic (electric) guitars. But since Bill's death they seem to be leaning more and more into the image of luxury, appealing to wealthy hobbyists. Nothing wrong with being a wealthy hobbyist or marketing to them. But this move has basically made their prices inaccessible and has resulted kinda weird marketing and product design. The best example that comes to my mind is the I35 LC "Vintage", which they launched at a 1k premium to their exiting I35 LC with pretty meaningless marketing about how it was better than the existing model. One dealer at a popular and reputable guitar store gave me his personal opinion that it was basically a scam. I thought Collings guitars were a lot when they were $4k. Now a collings semihollow is 7-8k new.
As for Gibson, their murphy lab stuff is also charging really high prices. But for the money I'd rather buy the Gibson. I've played a handful of 2020-2022 Murphy labs and I do have to say the setup, playability, and attention to detail are superior to collings in my experience. Additionally, Murphy lab has really succeeded in emulating an old and naturally aged finish. Collings' aged finish is an absolute joke by comparison.
Last thing I'll say about collings vs gibson is that the comparison of the sounds is not apples to apples. Only a Gibson sounds like a 335/345/355. Collings semihollows sound nice but it's a less beefy sound. The midrange is not as bold, they sound more "refined" for lack of a better word. When I hear a Gibson semihollow I get an image of BB King. That's a memorable sound. When I hear a collings, there isn't any historically influential player I can refer the sound back do. Some people aren't after a 335 sound. I get that.
I've never played any sadowsky guitar ever. Also have no experience with Ibanez or Yamaha.
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There is nothing special about the Gibson and it's laminate body that makes it immediately distinguishable over other same body size semi hollow ES guitars. You can put '57 classics or other quality pickup in any number of semis and have the same general sound. You wouldn't be able to determine the difference in a blind test in a live setting with a band. The collings body is smaller so there is that. But Gibson hype is strong.
Originally Posted by omphalopsychos
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Oh I’ve drunk the Kool Aid, but I swear it’s built in the acoustic tone of those guitars, even the semis. Ah well, a fool and his money and all of that haha. I like my guitar. It’s that simple.
Im also not saying it’s impossible to replicate (Slaman does a mean 175), I’m saying that Ibanezes sound different unplugged and that this quality carries into the amplified tone. It’s apples and oranges, and some people prefer one to the other.
I probably wouldn’t notice the difference eq’d in a blind test. It’s super subjective. But I play the guitar with my heart and soul, not my brain.
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That’s it! The midrange. It just sits in the mix. It’s almost ugly in isolation. Originally Posted by omphalopsychos
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I have to agree with Miller. I have 1975 Guild Starfire IV in mahogany, a 2009 Gibson ES345 and a 2012 Guild Starfire VI with a spruce top. All three have it's own unique tone and feel. I thought I could get by with only the Guild Starfire VI but the Gibson definitely has it own thing going on. When I play it it has "that sound". I guess I am stuck with all 3.
Thanks JohnLast edited by powerwagonjohn; 02-09-2023 at 11:54 AM.
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Lol yes. Couldn’t have said it better. Originally Posted by Christian Miller
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Gibson is the only one I’ll consider. Collings leave a bad taste imo.
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Besides Eastman, can anyone suggest good semi-hollow options with a 1.75 nut? I just don’t get why Teles, Strats, and 335 types all have 1.69 nuts while most arch tops and dreadnoughts have 1.75. I have medium to large hands and really feel the crimp...
Rustic
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The Collings I-35 models are specified with a 1.730" nut width. IMO, they are excellent guitars. Originally Posted by Rustic
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I love my I-35. It sounds great. But I got it in 2009. Originally Posted by Hammertone
Since then the prices have have gone out of sight. Also it seems to be a controversial guitar brand. I gotten 'reactions' when I tell some people I play their guitars.
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I fail to see why. Ten years ago I bought a car which is still being made today, but now at double the price. Literally. A PRS S2 went up around 80% in ten years. Two years ago I bought a custom shop 335, one week later its list price went up by €900. Same guitar. Collings are a smallish-scale business that doesn’t have much economy of scale (like PRS) nor much flexibility (like a one-man shop). It is what it is. Originally Posted by SoftwareGuy
Their quality is impeccable, whether or not their guitars are right for anyone is personal. I had a CL Jazz which is probably the best guitar I’ve ever played, but I never bonded with it. Many others do.
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I basically agree with you. There guitars are great. Also, the price seems to be what the market will bear. Originally Posted by Oscar67
I was just pointing out that, being an owner, I do get comments. I own a Fender Strat and nobody ever says that is a rip off.
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I know this is a pretty old post, but how do the Yamaha SA2200 and Eastman T185MX compare? Originally Posted by West LA Jazz
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I have been trying a few ES variants.
the first I got was a d‘Angelica excel dc, which is pretty much almost a 1:1 335 clone. The tone is in my view impeccable, very comprehensive across all octaves and I love the fast slightly wider neck. For me it’s though a little to big and definitely way to heavy with almost 4 kg.
So I was looking for something lighter and smaller. And I found the fugigen Masterfield. It comes at a 15“ body with less than 3 kg. It’s carved from a solid and block and play’s incredibly well. I pimped it with kms bridge a as by tail piece s as by now it is a fantastic workhorse with rich overtones and amazing sustain. what I thought it could have a little more for my Jazz, was more PAF, maybe more punch/directness. But I wasn’t missing anything.
then I had the chance to get a Collings I 35lc, different price tag for sure, but I knew from my other boutique Guitar that it may be worth it. And it combines all the great things I love from the D’Angelico and the fgn albeit at a slightly heavier tag. And then it has just a little more in tone complexity, playability sustain, responsiveness on tone poti and glamour.
Is it worth the price difference? Everyone to decide on their own funds. What I can say is that without passion, heart and soul any guitar will sound like crap
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Weirdly, the guitar I’m most interested in comparing to a real 335 is actually the Sire 335 copy (forget the name). Given Carlton is touring with these guitars and clips suggest they have the 335 mid range… should be interesting.
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I wonder how the Sire H7 compares to the Ibanez AS95. They're around the same price. Originally Posted by Christian Miller
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The latest item to grace Nate's Shack of Sit is a 2022 ES-335 that, as far as I can tell, was purchased with the intent of making it into a much nicer guitar. The experiment worked!
It has a '50s-style neck, weighs only 7.55 lbs., and is a knockout. Refinished, re-fretted, new wiring loom, swapped tuners, long guard, with a set of 1980 Shawbuckers.
I've played a lot of of these guitars, but have never really been a fan of the style, until now. This one just hits it out of the park. I definitely want to spend more quality time with it before releasing it into the wild.Last edited by Hammertone; 01-22-2024 at 09:44 PM.
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i would expect the Ibanez would be more it’s own thing, and the sire more like the 335, but that’s conjecture really. But I don’t find Ibanezes to be much like gibbons generally. Originally Posted by dconeill
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I've had 3 Gibson 335s, and didn't bond with any of them even though I really wanted to. I've had better luck with Ibanez AS200s. My current AS200 I went through about 5 sets of strings before I found the ones that really suited it, so now it wears TI Benson 12s and will likely stay that way as long as I have it.
I did get a used '14 Tokai ES-168 recently, which was Tokai's high end at the time and a '59 335 copy. Evidently the tops on the Gibsons in '58 and '59 were a hair thinner than subsequent years, but I don't really know. That is a gorgeous guitar I wish I had tried years ago though, and I would consider getting another if I saw one at a great price. Tokai's in general are very well made Japanese guitars and are very reasonably priced compared to US guitars.
I also had a Heritage 555 that was stunningly gorgeous, but it also wasn't for me. I never measured it, but the nut was too thin for me from E to shining E
I never played a Collings, at the prices they run I would likely get an acoustic anyway.
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They're a several 335 vs Sire comparisons on Youtube. On all of them say the Sire sounds a bit brighter than the 335 it's being compared to. There's the other stuff, like nitro vs. poly finish and better overall fit and finish that make the Gibson a better guitar, but it's pretty subtle. as with all kinds of electric guitars, lower end stuff has gotten so good that for many people there's no real value or justification in going for something more upscale. The electric guitar is a solved problem, and now we pay mainly for subjective distinctions and brand psychology (as opposed to the old days when cheap stuff really was markedly worse). Originally Posted by Christian Miller
Ya think? Originally Posted by Christian Miller
Last edited by John A.; 01-22-2024 at 05:00 PM.
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Has the issue of tailpiece design come up?
I'm referring to stop vs trapeze.
That extra length of vibrating string behind the bridge actually changes the feel of the action. It's because the string behind the bridge stretches when you fret a note. The more length behind the bridge the less pressure required to fret the string. Also, if you want to bend to pitch, you have to bend further.
If you break a string, the trapeze makes tuning go off. I suppose a stop tailpiece in the same position wouldn't do that while retaining the benefits but I'm not sure I've ever seen that.
The D'A EXDC exists in both bridge style. Not sure about the others.
I tend to prefer the feel of trapeze, even though I currently play a stop tailpiece instrument.
I think it's important because it's a hard thing to change without making new holes, or so I think.
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If this is true, why is there no change in pitch when I pluck the string behind the bridge as I fret anywhere on the neck? Originally Posted by rpjazzguitar
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Because the string doesn't audibly vibrate behind the bridge. The bridge stops vibration. But, it doesn't stop stretching if you deflect the string.
Since the string slides over the bridge easily (except for locking bridges and nuts) how could it not stretch?
Thought experiment: Instead of a few inches from bridge to tailpiece, imagine that that tailpiece was a mile away and so the string was 25.5 inches more than a mile long (locking nut to make these numbers work).
Now you try to bend the string. You stretch it and it slides over the bridge, thereby stretching the entire mile long string. Could you bend the string enough to raise the pitch by a whole step? You'd have to bend it further than usual, right? And, with all that stretchiness, would it require the same force to bend it a specific distance?
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I guess my confusion stems from your assertion that "the string slides over the bridge easily". Does it really? I can easily see how this kind of movement occurs when you use a tremolo bar. But otherwise, how can I observe this movement you're talking about? Thanks in advance. Originally Posted by rpjazzguitar
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