[stephenT]

I ended up w/ two sunburst Waterloos, which isn't hard to do. Got the WL-12 first and liked it so much i bought a WL-14xt w/ the slightly smaller profile neck, only one I could find at the time was sunburst. I did wish it black at first but I've adjusted. Collings does a great burst even when they are not trying.

I don't think of Waterloos as blues guitars, even though the primary music i play is blues. I like the voicing, with John Pearse Phosphor Bronze on the WL-12 the overtones are so much fun. Playing chords up the neck w/ some open strings, it's fun to hear the overtones jumble around. The WL-14 has Martin Retros on it and a Sunrise in it and it's my gig acoustic. The Retros work well w/ the pickup but I do like Phosphor Bronze on the guitar as well.

I bought the WL-12 used, I'm the third owner and that underscores what folks have written here, it's not a guitar that everyone loves but for what I want to hear, the Waterloos (and a Martin OO-15m) pretty much hit all the bases for me except,...

I do wish Collings would do a Waterloo WL-12 w/ rosewood sides and back. I know there's a rosewood upgrade in the WL-JK model but it's just too big for me.