On his way out the door, luthier Bruce VanWart let it drop that he'd made something special to leave behind ~ this D-42.

The Collings D-42 Brazilian, serial number 32451, is luthier Bruce VanWart's swan song. Those who know the Collings organization know that Bruce was Bill Collings' most trusted building partner and longest-standing employee until his retirement two years ago. And on his way out the door, Bruce let it drop that he'd made something special to leave behind ~ this D-42. Not even the rest of the Collings crew knew it was in production! We were only too happy to secure it when we found out it was setup and ready to go: this is only the second new Brazilian Rosewood Collings guitar we've received in the last five years (the wood is not currently offered as an option for custom builds). What's more, the guitar is housed in a brand new Collings-made vintage style hard case (yes, that's right, the one that's no longer in production). We won't try to convince you this is a great sounding guitar ~ if you're reading this, you probably already know that it is. We'll just tip our collective caps to Mr. VanWart, as we've done so many times over the years, and wish him many happy returns in retirement. Thanks, Bruce; you're one of a kind.