Anybody Disappointed with the OM1AJL

[LakewoodM32Fan]

So I mentioned I was going to try out the JL and some other guitars. The JL there did sound fantastic. But so did something else...

On the right is my Lakewood M32.
On the left was my Taylor 914ce v-class. Past tense. It’s now the shop’s.
In the middle is my new Santa Cruz OM Adi top EIR b/s.

At a friends house visiting and playing and I’ll post a NGD thread later. But thought I’d update this thread because without this thread I’d have never gone to see the shop nor ended up with the SC.

[teleboli]

Congratulations on the NGD. Always fun.

Of course I will need to ask for some details on what you thought of the OM1AJL somewhere in your update

[LakewoodM32Fan]

Haha of course. Apologies, I’m writing this on my phone while at a friend’s house so it may not be fully coherent.

Today I played a Collings OM2HA and OM1AJL, Bourgeois OM Vintage and 0-150, and the Santa Cruz OM. All had Adirondack tops, and the 0-150 (which had a sweet tone but was smaller than what I was looking for) had a torrefied top.

All of the non-JL OMs all were somewhat similar in sound, kind of in the classic Martin OM vein (I mean that in the best way). The JL was considerably brighter with much more present and sparkling highs. It was between the OMs and my now former Taylor in tone. It was flawlessly made, well set up, and the strings that come with it I think are made to accentuate the tone of the guitar (the wound strings are steel colored vs bronze colored). The largest tonal difference of the OMs was between the JL and the other three. You really have to be seeking a brighter sound if you’re pursuing the JL. No don’t worry, it’s not as bright as the Taylor. But using an arbitrary scale of zero being a traditional Martin warm sound and 100 being a Taylor bright sound, the JL would be a 60. Not dead in the middle, a smidge closer to Taylor brightness than Martin warmth.

Since I was after a more pronounced tonal difference from my Lakewood and Taylor (which actually sound very close to each other) that’s how I knew I wasn’t coming home with the JL.

I ended up buying the OM that resonated the most with my playing and singing style. There was just something about the SC that made me sound better as a player and singer. They were all tremendous guitars, without fault. At this level of instrument quality, it’s about what resonates with your personal style and preference.

I knew I made the right choice because I’m playing the SC and I’m not regretting at all leaving the Taylor behind.

[jklotz]

Originally Posted by LakewoodM32Fan

Haha of course. Apologies, I’m writing this on my phone while at a friend’s house so it may not be fully coherent.

Today I played a Collings OM2HA and OM1AJL, Bourgeois OM Vintage and 0-150, and the Santa Cruz OM. All had Adirondack tops, and the 0-150 (which had a sweet tone but was smaller than what I was looking for) had a torrefied top.

All of the non-JL OMs all were somewhat similar in sound, kind of in the classic Martin OM vein (I mean that in the best way). The JL was considerably brighter with much more present and sparkling highs. It was between the OMs and my now former Taylor in tone. It was flawlessly made, well set up, and the strings that come with it I think are made to accentuate the tone of the guitar (the wound strings are steel colored vs bronze colored). The largest tonal difference of the OMs was between the JL and the other three. You really have to be seeking a brighter sound if you’re pursuing the JL. No don’t worry, it’s not as bright as the Taylor. But using an arbitrary scale of zero being a traditional Martin warm sound and 100 being a Taylor bright sound, the JL would be a 60. Not dead in the middle, a smidge closer to Taylor brightness than Martin warmth.

Since I was after a more pronounced tonal difference from my Lakewood and Taylor (which actually sound very close to each other) that’s how I knew I wasn’t coming home with the JL.

I ended up buying the OM that resonated the most with my playing and singing style. There was just something about the SC that made me sound better as a player and singer. They were all tremendous guitars, without fault. At this level of instrument quality, it’s about what resonates with your personal style and preference.

I knew I made the right choice because I’m playing the SC and I’m not regretting at all leaving the Taylor behind.

When you described what you play, and having read what teleboli plays, it sounds like a natural selection for both of you to me. The smoothness of the SC must be a joy to sing over! And to be able to pull those jazz melodies out of complex chord voicing with ease must be, well, just listen to Julian! May we all be so lucky. Enjoy guys.

[EverettWilliams]

Originally Posted by LakewoodM32Fan

Haha of course. Apologies, I’m writing this on my phone while at a friend’s house so it may not be fully coherent.

Today I played a Collings OM2HA and OM1AJL, Bourgeois OM Vintage and 0-150, and the Santa Cruz OM. All had Adirondack tops, and the 0-150 (which had a sweet tone but was smaller than what I was looking for) had a torrefied top.

All of the non-JL OMs all were somewhat similar in sound, kind of in the classic Martin OM vein (I mean that in the best way). The JL was considerably brighter with much more present and sparkling highs. It was between the OMs and my now former Taylor in tone. It was flawlessly made, well set up, and the strings that come with it I think are made to accentuate the tone of the guitar (the wound strings are steel colored vs bronze colored). The largest tonal difference of the OMs was between the JL and the other three. You really have to be seeking a brighter sound if you’re pursuing the JL. No don’t worry, it’s not as bright as the Taylor. But using an arbitrary scale of zero being a traditional Martin warm sound and 100 being a Taylor bright sound, the JL would be a 60. Not dead in the middle, a smidge closer to Taylor brightness than Martin warmth.

Since I was after a more pronounced tonal difference from my Lakewood and Taylor (which actually sound very close to each other) that’s how I knew I wasn’t coming home with the JL.

I ended up buying the OM that resonated the most with my playing and singing style. There was just something about the SC that made me sound better as a player and singer. They were all tremendous guitars, without fault. At this level of instrument quality, it’s about what resonates with your personal style and preference.

I knew I made the right choice because I’m playing the SC and I’m not regretting at all leaving the Taylor behind.

Congrats on finding something you love!

I will say that nobody should ignore the difference those NB strings make on the JL - they are a pretty different and, I think, bright string - so if you played three guitars with phosphor strings and one with NBs and the one with the NBs read differently, it’s not just the guitar.

Enjoy the SCGC!!!

[LakewoodM32Fan]

Originally Posted by EverettWilliams

Congrats on finding something you love!

I will say that nobody should ignore the difference those NB strings make on the JL - they are a pretty different and, I think, bright string - so if you played three guitars with phosphor strings and one with NBs and the one with the NBs read differently, it’s not just the guitar.

Enjoy the SCGC!!!

Thank you! And yes I agree about the strings, the JLs all come with that from the factory so both of the ones I've seen and played had them on by default. I'd wager that it's part of the way Collings envisions the sound of the guitar, so I would bet it's difficult to find a new one in a shop without those strings. I wonder if Collings dealers are instructed to keep always have those strings on, i.e. if a JL is one the wall long enough and its original strings are starting to rust from customer demo-ing, if they have to replace with the same string. Both JLs I played seemed to have almost new looking/sounding NB strings, but they also may have just been new or not demoed very often.

[teleboli]

LakewoodM32Fan. No apologies needed. Thanks for chiming in with your impressions and again, HNGD. The SCGC's are stellar of course and have their own unique sound. I actually just bought a Vintage Southerner but that's another story. A bit of a binge as of late.

It's interesting you mention the brightness of the JL. From the demos I've watched lately I never thought of it as an overly bright guitar. Most of them did sound like a vintage Martin with the woodiness/dryness and rounded highs. If there is a quality of brightness to them I'd regard that as a positive.

Someone who knows Colling's very well said that as the new guitar is played more and more the bass and mids will continue to develop and open up but that the amount of high end present when new is essentially what it will always have. The highs will not increase over time. His point was that it's a good thing to have a good amount of highs present in a guitar when new. Just a thought.

The string component is interesting as well. If you noticed a healthy amount of highs with the NB's imagine what the PB's will do.

As you say, the NB's were a component of the design process of the JL. Chosen to apparently enhance the dry/woody characteristics. I'll have to see when I receive the guitar what some string experimentation brings.

The JL I bought was a 2017 model and was new when the video I included was played. I have to assume it's changed in 2 1/2 years and it could sound completely different now.

Again, happy NGD to you!

[Nanosecond]

Originally Posted by jklotz

When you described what you play, and having read what teleboli plays, it sounds like a natural selection for both of you to me. The smoothness of the SC must be a joy to sing over! And to be able to pull those jazz melodies out of complex chord voicing with ease must be, well, just listen to Julian! May we all be so lucky. Enjoy guys.

I found this quote intriguing, but couldn't find much (other than your quote) about the differences in playing styles between LakewoodM32Fan and teleboli. Do tell!
Very curious how the Lage model would suit (or not suit) strummer vs. flatpicker vs. fingerstyle, etc.

[mauimikey68]

Im not even an OM fan, but I took a chance on a used OM1AJL to see what the fuss was all about.

Its now my favorite guitar.

[hifivic]

Originally Posted by Nanosecond

Very curious how the Lage model would suit (or not suit) strummer vs. flatpicker vs. fingerstyle, etc.

Of the 4 OM's I've personally owned .........Collings, Martin, Bourgeois and Santa Cruz (by far best yet, I would say that an OM doesn't care what you throw at it, it excels at all!