Collings Ladybird Aged Antiqued Jet Black w/ Righteous Sound Bishops

With their new Ladybird model, Collings takes the idea of a classic catalog-style guitar and pushes it into entirely new territory.

The Ladybird model marks yet another historic evolution in the canon of Collings electric guitar design. Its unique hollowbody construction, short scale, and custom-voiced pickups exclusively designed for this model make it an instant standout even among some of the modern guitar era's finest examples.

We're huge fans of the catalogue guitars of yore - Sears, Silvertone, Kay, Valco... the list goes on. Following the Mid Century guitar boom, guitar production exploded out of Chicago and all types of quirky, unique, and affordable guitars found their way into homes across the US. Their affordability directly correlated to their quality (well, to some degree), we find these guitars some 60 years later haven't quite held up comparatively to Gibsons and Fenders. Still, their charm and sound continues to leave a lasting impact in music.

That's where the fine folks at Collings step in...

Collings picks up the concept of a catalogue guitar and elevates it to a whole new arena in the Ladybird. Like some of its predecessors, it features a fully hollow body with both a flat top and back. But with a new laminate recipe, trestle bracing, and traditional f-holes, it brings a new voice into the fold. It's bright and lively acoustically, with more emphasis on fundamental and less on sustain. It's quite welcome here, as there's a freshness to its design that instantly takes you in a different direction as a player.

The custom wound Righteous Sound Bishop and Cathedral pickups cater to the guitar's DNA perfectly, with a balance of fidelity and character that further sets this guitar apart from others in the lineup.

Set up from the factory with D'Addario flatwound strings encourages yet another change in approach with the Ladybird. Smoothness, clarity, and note definition are takeaways here, and while you could certainly string the guitar up with roundwounds and explore other styles, the Ladybird seems to lend itself towards a more lyrical style of playing.

It should be no surprise at this point that we're huge fans of the Ladybird, and we feel like this model will further an already robust legacy that Collings has continued to cultivate through unmatched quality and craftsmanship.