Mccollum Tree Mahogany

[fitness1]

Showed up on Tuesday - couple of surprises....

First, a good one - it was listed as 1 3/4 nut and it's actually 1 25/32!!
Second - not as good......listed as spruce and showed up cedar (not my fave)

Cleaner than I expected cosmetically - sounds really nice for sure. I've buffed out the body twice, tweaked the setup (new bone saddle) cleaned and conditioned the Braz fingerboard and bridge.

I am going to have to take it to Elderly and have the frets reseated/glued/dressed and leveled - there are several that have lifted due to exposure to excessive humidity.

The wood is pretty 3D in person!

It's an honor to have a Tree guitar built by Lance - by all accounts he was a wonderful guy. While I was doing the work on it I had his picture on my computer monitor watching over me

[The Bard Rocks]

I have my eye on that as a guitar that was mostly likely well undervalued. Glad you gave it a home and stopped making me feel guilty for not wanting it. I can't have them all.

[gitarro]

How did it sound like when played?

[TomB'sox]

I also thought about picking this one up, but it seemed to be in really rough shape, at least the top....glad you like it though, it is pretty

[Guitars44me]

Glad this found a fine home! It is in good hands indeed with you.

If I was going to have that much fret work done I would seriously consider new evo gold frets. They last forever and look cool to boot.

Have fun with this cool axe!

Cheers

Paul

[El Conquistador]

Originally Posted by fitness1

Showed up on Tuesday - couple of surprises....

Second - not as good......listed as spruce and showed up cedar (not my fave)

Wow, that is the spruciest looking cedar I have ever seen.

Cool ax.

Steve

[perttime]

Originally Posted by El Conquistador

Wow, that is the spruciest looking cedar I have ever seen.

Cool ax.

My thoughts exactly.
The top just has more of that small figure than my much more pedestrian (North European) spruce top.

[colins]

Congratulations. Lance made amazing guitars; I hope this one gives you a lot of enjoyment.

Col

[cigarfan]

Great to hear you are getting this beauty back in playing shape. Congrats!

[fitness1]

The top had me fooled in the pics in the original listing too - but there's no question it's Cedar - the aroma is unmistakable and the grain up close has that Cedar consistency.

The frets are fine as far as wear - almost none. My tech at Elderly will do the needed work for under 100.00, so the complete refret isn't really an option.

The top is actually in great shape overall....the "crack" that was made note of in the listing was actually a center seam separation - there are a couple cleats on it. The back and sides are very near perfect.

The sound is very dynamic and responsive - it's already waking up from it's "shipping sleep" - I also believe from what I was told that it has not been played much for a very long time....so it probably has a long way to go. The long term test for me will be if I can tolerate that upper midrange quality of the Cedar top.

[DavidE]

For two grand, it was a bargain for sure. I bought the italian spruce/brazilian one for quite a bit more and it too came with some surprises despite Vy's efforts to describe it and provide photos. Took it to my favorite luthier and it plays so much better and now has a nice Anthem pickup installed.

[fitness1]

Originally Posted by DavidE

For two grand, it was a bargain for sure. I bought the italian spruce/brazilian one for quite a bit more and it too came with some surprises despite Vy's efforts to describe it and provide photos. Took it to my favorite luthier and it plays so much better and now has a nice Anthem pickup installed.

Yes - I had a good bit of work in before it was "right" One thing I also noticed right off the top was that the neck profile is about as shallow as I've come across in 40 years of playing - was the Braz the same? I like it myself.....wide nut and shallow profile!

[Teleplucker]

I've owned a couple of McCollums and played several others, his typical neck profile is definitely on the slim side.

[Diamondave]

Fun Score...!

[fitness1]

Originally Posted by Diamondave

Fun Score...!

It has been - definitely has a mesmerizing tone. It's starting to wake up some already. Gotta get those frets taken care of though - driving me crazy!!! When the frets are lifting on the treble side it's a nightmare!!