Lance McCollum Guitars
 

Greetings.
Does anyone out there own or have owned a Lance McCollum guitar?
I used 2 on the road for many years. He was an amazing person,a good friend and one the best builders around.
Best,
Richard Leo Johnson

No, but I always wanted to get hold of one of his his Meghan models! Sweet!
Steve

I'm the proud owner of a McCollum GA in walnut and Italian spruce.

Lance was a regular at our guitar parties, you can see several of his guitars at parties over the years: http://www.fxguidry.com/fran/parties.htm

Fran

me with my LAnce McCollum Double Neck
 

Thanks for the replies...
Lance built me his first double neck...I just signed with Blue Note Records and was doing clinics for Taylor at the time...the guitar was my companion on the road for many years...
I also have a 12 string he made for me as well...both are outstanding.
Here is a pic of the double neck and me from 2000 or so.
https://images.app.goo.gl/Y7jpxvxgmzoQ2dm59

Richard!

I remember fondly seeing/hearing you in Bakersfield.

Cheers,

Matt

Yes, a GA model with an Italian spruce top and Brazilian rosewood back and sides. Some nice Harvey Leach inlay as well.

Yes, I own a GA model with Brazilian and European Spruce.

I consider it the best guitar I've ever played.

My luthier (in Nashville)was once in a luthiers guild with Lance and he said he was quite a character. He was taken too soon and I would have enjoyed seeing him garner the acclaim that would have surely came his way as more of his instruments were produced.

I understand somewhere over 300 were ever made. I'd enjoy learning more from anyone who can shed some light on the subject.

Hey Richard,

Welcome to the AGF! I love Lance's work.... He's definitely missed.

I met you through Richard Gilewitz 20++ years ago or so... I remember seeing you playing in Tarpon Springs and your Taylor fell off the guitar stand and broke the neck! You giggled but didn't miss a beat!! Glidepath is a fabulous record... Hope to hear more recordings soon.

HAHAHA...MAtt and Jeff good to encounter you again...
I probably laughed about the Taylor because it seemed appropriate at the time lol...
Mr G and I did a bunch of shows together back in the day...he was and is still the funniest guy I know.
To everyone else...thanks so much for the memories of LAnce and the kind words about him and his masterful work.

Here is a tune from "Language" ...some of the players on this track are the best in the biz...I felt so honored to be able to record with them.
This one is on the double neck...check out Paul McCandless toward the end...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pzIh....be&autoplay=1

Svea Norton may chime in. She has one of Lances early guitars.

I met Lance at Fran’s House. We all miss him.

There is a McCollum guitar hanging in the local acoustic guitar shop here in Black Mountain, NC. I played it. Sounded great, looked real handsome.

I too have a McCollum GA (Italian/The Tree), also with Harvey Leach inlays. I just changed the strings on it yesterday and it sounds better than ever!

There are 316 McCollum guitars. Some of sources on the numbers out there are misleading. For example, in the obituary he wrote, Leach underestimates the total Lance built.

I helped a friend of mine acquire one of Lance’s GA’s. It was European Spruce/Walnut.

He later sold it to someone on the forum.

Thank you for the word on the number of McCollum guitars that were made.

John, I played that one too! It is fabulous....I didn’t realize you were based in WNC? All the best!

Random story: in the summer of 1999, I decided I wanted to build a guitar, and started writing letters and calling luthiers to see who would be willing to let me apprentice under them to do so. In the end, Hank Mauel in the Grass Valley area agreed to host me. Hank was a terrific guide, and with his equipment and tutelage, I built a redwood walnut 000.

Hank was good friends with Lance and Harvey, who (perhaps together with others) became the regional luthier mafia of sorts. We spent a bunch of time at Lance’s shop, where i remember seeing the most outrageous figured walnut. Lance also let me play his personal Italian / Brazilian grand auditorium which I still remember as one of the most extraordinary instruments I’d ever played. I remember talking to him about his use of laminated necks in particular, which he preferred given the natural stability provided by oppositional grain. I loved his aesthetic, including the knotted rosette inlays that often included the fingerboard.

Lance was generous, patient and funny. A master at his craft. We lost him far too soon.