This guitar's tone is as good as it gets in a modern instrument.

Why We Love This

Our own Brazilian Rosewood. Varnish. Tree of Life. Do we need more reasons to love this? Thankfully, it's not all about the bling here: this guitar has an extraordinarily open voice & resonant responsiveness. It's also very lightweight for a Brazilian Rosewood OM. It's got the magically complex combination of Collings' signature clarity and Brazilian Rosewood's inimitable harmonic complexity. Without getting too flowery about things, we think it's accurate to say that this guitar's tone is as good as it gets in a modern instrument.

We first commissioned this guitar as half of a matched pair using our last remaining sets of Brazilian Rosewood at Collings. This tonewood had been collected by TME founder, Stu Cohen, over several decades; and a significant portion of it was used for our 40th Anniversary Collings collection in 2008. This OM, and an accompanying dreadnought, were made with the final two sets in our stash; and the mentality when we ordered those instruments was definitely, "All in." Style-42. Varnish finish. Tree of Life inlays. Abalone peghead border. No spec was left unturned.

This instrument has been kept in very good condition; but it's also been played (that's what it's made for, after all). The varnish finish is extremely thin, and shows its age in a more pronounced fashion that lacquer does. It has sunk into the rosewood's pores, showing the micro-fissures inherent in the material. The top finish also shows sinkage under close examination ~ though you'll have to look hard, with refracted light, to see any of it. There's an area of pickwear on the bass side of the soundhole, and one ding on the top's treble side. The guitar is extremely stout feeling, and perfectly stable. We don't see the varnish finish doing anything that's unexpected with age; and we feel the condition is a net positive, given the guitar's exceptionally warm, mature sound.

Price includes Calton case (Black, with Gold interior). Please contact us if you'd like an in-hand description.