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A 12 fret rosewood Triple O with custom bound neck and peghead.

It’s interesting when you start photographing an instrument... they all have their good angles; favourable aspects and best visual features...
Well, we started taking pictures of this gorgeous custom Collings 12 fret Triple O and ended up with more really good shots that we’ve ever taken (now would be a good time to mock our photographic skills).

It doesn’t matter where you look on this instrument - all aspects have been considered, designed and executed to perfection. Quite simply, everything about it is purposeful and perfectly formed.

The custom element of this instrument lies in the ivroid binding on the neck and peghead - it sounds like a small feature, but when you’re tweaking perfection, broad strokes aren’t necessary - and it really contributes to the outline and overall appearance.

Tonally, it is fabulous - slightly bright in a ’new shoes’ sort of way, but complex with balance, power and great eveness both across the strings and up and down the neck.
The bass is big, but defined and doesn’t lose shape even when tuned down, while the treble is clean but with substance rather than being too transparent - overall there’s a striking similarity of character across the wound and plain strings.

Returning briefly to the ’new’ aspect of the tone - it’s reassuring that Bill Collings and the guys build these instruments to develop throughout their playing lives, rather than just sounding great on guitar shop walls... this is the sort of instrument that gets passed down through generations.

Absolutely amazing.

Dimensions