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Originally Posted by feet
If you can live without Nitrolacquer and maybe do some subtle mods you‘ll get an equal substitute. They‘re built flawless, same woods, same pickups. Fantastic guitars.
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01-20-2021 10:58 AM
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Originally Posted by omphalopsychos
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Collings guitars are unreal, just as Stout said. The factory setup is the best you will ever see and the neck shapes are perfect. They are also researched/engineered very precisely to achieve the sonic qualities they want out of their instruments. The I-30 LC is a great example: hollow body like a Gibson 330 but with trestle bracing to give it more sustain and feedback resistance. It's nice to see builders who continually put research into improving on the design of guitars. It raises the whole level of guitar building. On top of that, QA at Collings is great, so those meticulously engineered designs are actually fulfilled in production (unlike a certain brand that we all know and love but obviously peaked in the 50s).
That said, a Collings guitar really sounds and feels like a new guitar. This is the primary reason I would rather get a vintage Duojet rather than the Collings version. The vintage duojets sell for about the same as this new model, so it's not outrageous. If we were talking about a 59 ES-335 ($40k+) it would be different. But my point is that I think "mojo" is a real thing - not in a spiritual or metaphysical sense, but vintage guitars have a categorically distinct quality that lacks in modern guitars, with some exceptions. The two exceptions I can think of from experience are Slaman and Nacho. I don't know how they achieve it but both builders manage to reproduce the feel of a vintage guitar. Collings has an "aged finish" option. It's cool but doesn't feel anything like an old guitar.
Btw since nacho has come up I thought I'd add I played one and holy shit it was awesome. I think it weighed something like 6 lbs total. I was blown away by it before hitting a single note. I don't know how to describe the experience of playing other than "inspiring". There is something very special about them. Julian Lage has said in interviews that he actually prefers it to his blackguard and I totally get it.
Originally Posted by Stefan Eff
It's funny this comes up because the Guild M-75 is the guitar that always comes to my mind when people talk about chambered or "trestle block", whatever that means, construction. I feel like everything you could say about a duojet's or this Lage model's acoustic properties is even more true of the M-75. Any time I think wow I need a duo jet (which is rare but more common than I would expect), the M-75 instantly comes to mind. Other ones I think of are obviously Yanuziello and Grez. I think Grez are some of the most undervalued modern guitars out there given their design and unreal acoustic resonance.
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Originally Posted by omphalopsychos
One important detail on the korean Newark St. Guilds: they‘re really thin coated. No comparison to (proline) Gretsches. I‘m a sucker for weight, lacquer and even small details on instruments but those guitars are really cool.
Flawless built quality and the Franz pickups are amazing. Yes, I can live with no nitro on this guitar. And man, it‘s a gold sparkle top!
But I‘m with you, Nitro is always first choice and yup, Grez are great guitars!
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Nice photo but it doesn't make me want a Newark, it makes me want a 50s Guild.
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Originally Posted by omphalopsychos
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Originally Posted by omphalopsychos
Note that Collings has both their standard "50's" neck shape and their more rare "60's" neck shape. I had the 50's on mine reshaped to a 60's, which IMO is closer to what you find on most modern jazz guitars.
As for mojo, it's true that Collings are super squeaky clean and a bit sterile when you first get them, but just play the heck out of it for a year and it will feel much better. I got mine in early 2018 and it's now got some dings, sweat, saliva, etc. plus the white binding has darkened a little bit, the finish is not as glossy, etc.
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One more promotional vid from Julian posted an hour age
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Very nice and of course superb playing. I love that crunchy attack of the Ellis pkups and that well balanced volume on all strings. Sounds not like a Duo Jet since it isn‘t a Duo Jet (copy)
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Originally Posted by Stefan Eff
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Originally Posted by ruger9
It's great for Gretsch to have such loyal fans like you, anyway.
This guitar is obviously a Jet inspired instrument but it‘s nevertheless something different and not just a copy. It looks different, it‘s got different details* and it sounds different. That doesn't mean better or worse. And I love Gretsches, especially Duo Jets, but honestly and also obviously Collings is a different league (talking about Gretsch Proline).
*Collings differentiates between semi-hollow and full hollow.
The 470JL is listed as Full Hollow.
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^ ridiculous!! that's like saying the collings i-35 is not based on the gibby 335!
plus lage was playing a real gretsch duo jet just prior!! so there was intent!
gretsch rules! hah
cheers
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Originally Posted by Stefan Eff
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Originally Posted by ruger9
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Got that Email today from Collingsguitars:
“Hi Stefan,
Thank you for the inquiry. The 470 JL is a hollowbody guitar with a single 4" wide trestle "block", or more of a single brace, if you prefer, that has one single "foot" that makes contact with the back. It is not chambered. It is a custom design specifically made for this guitar to ensure proper structural rigidity and note density while maintaining the weight, feel, and response of a hollowbody instrument.
The weight of the one I put on the scale yesterday was 6 lbs 5 ounces with the Bigsby and fully strung up ready to go. There will be a little variance from one to the next but they will all be in the 6 to 6 1/2pound range.
I hope this helps.
Joe Bastura
Collings Guitars“
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Originally Posted by Stefan Eff
Pic of Gretsch ML braces:
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Originally Posted by ruger9
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most jets come in around the low 7s in weight, i think. then again, i googled gretsch duo jet demos to get to the bottom of this, and i don't know. it sounds pretty hollow to me.
i don't understand much portuguese but i assume she mentions that at some point. what a helpful demo indeed.
anyhow, most electric collings are just gibsons with the details ironed out (or the mojo removed) depending on who you ask. i guess it's nice to see them move on to gretsch. maybe they'll get to guild, next.
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Some of that ASMR stuff is bizarre....
Last edited by ruger9; 01-24-2021 at 09:10 AM.
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i don't see what's so odd about a brazilian girl with giant cans babbling inaudibly while tapping on a nearly seventy year old guitar that we just happened to be discussing. i can only imagine collings and lage studied the video for hours to get some inspiration for their model.
this might crack the list of the top ten weirdest things i've stumbled upon while still actually looking for that thing, sort of. what are the odds?
and though i normally think black is kinda plain, that's a really good looking guitar. sounds pretty good, too.
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Originally Posted by Lobomov;[URL="tel:1092002"
cant get the smile off my face
so inventive and ingenious
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All I see is a beautiful set of Brazilian Duo, feet, and gams. I guess that's the whole point of that video. I gotta flagellate meself now with the cat o'nine tails to dispel such unholy thoughts, a favourite instrument of dominatrices.
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If the provocative YT video of the Portuguese lady was designed to stimulate sales of this guitar - it missed big time( for that purpose).
It was likely more successful in providing something else as Jabs poignantly stated.
Maybe I’m missing something about this guitar - but I don’t find it too appealing.
However - Julian is a brilliant guitarist - and his creativity has no boundaries. I would have enjoyed seeing perhaps a Julian Lage signature Telecaster.
Sent from my iPhone using TapatalkLast edited by QAman; 01-27-2021 at 03:27 PM.
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Originally Posted by QAman
I mean it won't say Julian Lage or Fender on the headstock, but buying the exact same guitar he plays is doable
No many builders doing 50s Gretsch reissues, so he went to Collings ... I guess Gretsch themselves didn't see a business case in hiring Julian?
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Originally Posted by Lobomov
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
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