Collings guitar cases

N4640W · #1 09-23-2021, 09:13 PM

Spoke to Cust. Svc. at Collings where I have a custom order about to be sent to me. I inquired about the legendary Collings custom cases. I stated before on AGF that they aren’t being built anymore and that the tooling was mothballed….BUT….I was surprised to hear that custom Collings cases had NEVER been built or available for their OM’s and their 000’s. In a way I was relieved.

Matts67 · #2 09-24-2021, 04:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by N4640W

Spoke to Cust. Svc. at Collings where I have a custom order about to be sent to me. I inquired about the legendary Collings custom cases. I stated before on AGF that they aren’t being built anymore and that the tooling was mothballed….BUT….I was surprised to hear that custom Collings cases had NEVER been built or available for their OM’s and their 000’s. In a way I was relieved.

If you're referring to the vintage cases, I don't believe that's true. Seen plenty of Collings OMs in vintage cases.

JohnFrink1 · #3 09-25-2021, 03:19 PM

I have several Collings OMs sitting in Collings cases. I wonder if the Customer Service person misunderstood the question...

dbintegrity · #4 09-28-2021, 04:10 AM

Are those cases actually discontinued? I thought I heard they are still making them...

Tempotantrum · #5 10-13-2021, 08:32 PM

I bought one of the last OM cases directly from the factory for my OM42BaaaV - they are in fact discontinued and not likely to be put back into production.

N4640W · #6 10-23-2021, 08:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Matts67

If you're referring to the vintage cases, I don't believe that's true. Seen plenty of Collings OMs in vintage cases.

Collings at some point built their own proprietary cases. They are discontinued according to Collings cust svc. They are very desirable. The tooling has been stored and not likely to be re-started soon. When you say "vintage" cases for Collings OM's and 000's they may not be part of the limited nos of cases built BY Collings
specifically. Even if the Collings logo is riveted on the case it doesn't imply Collings built it.

jklotz · #7 10-23-2021, 11:02 PM

I recently had some issues with a TKL case that came with my new Collings OM2H. In the process of trying to get it sorted, a discussion came up about the Collings cases with my dealer, who has been a long time Collings dealer. He told me they ordered as many as they could get before they were gone, but the reality is the skilled man hours required to build them in the USA vs what they could sell them for wasn't sustainable. Apparently Bill Collings, when he was still alive, was notorious for walking out of meetings saying "I don't care what it cost, find a way to make it work." From what I've been told, what they'd have had to charge to even break even would have been more that almost anybody would have been willing to pay. So, apparently, they were always sold at a loss, from day one.

From what I have been told, the production line for them has been disassembled and the space allocated has now been devoted to other tasks.

AMW · #8 10-24-2021, 08:13 AM

Collings built their own vintage-inspired custom cases for, at one time or another: dreadnoughts, OMs, CJ (jumbo), C-10, 12 and 14-fret 0, and their parlor guitar.

There are currently no cases being built. Dealers that go deep w/ Collings (like us) have a limited number of instruments still in inventory with the Collings case. When a Collings case is involved, the instrument price goes up by $500 (total $850 case cost built into the instrument, the now-standard-again TKL adds $350)

I recently put in a request to get some of the TKL cases for store stock and Collings told me that they couldn't get them for us, they were having a hard enough time getting enough cases for the guitars they were building for shops. So they can't build em and they can't even buy em! The supply chain strikes again.

jklotz · #9 10-24-2021, 09:59 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by AMW

I recently put in a request to get some of the TKL cases for store stock and Collings told me that they couldn't get them for us, they were having a hard enough time getting enough cases for the guitars they were building for shops. So they can't build em and they can't even buy em! The supply chain strikes again.

I don't know if there is any truth to it, but I read somewhere the latches and hardware are the holdup. I'm guessing that stuff comes from China? Apparently, all of it is on backorder.

Tempotantrum · #10 10-24-2021, 01:25 PM

I ordered a few when they were available - love them. I have an extra "D" size Collings made case still in the shipping box that I am about to post if anyone is interested....

Matts67 · #11 10-24-2021, 01:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by N4640W

Collings at some point built their own proprietary cases. They are discontinued according to Collings cust svc. They are very desirable. The tooling has been stored and not likely to be re-started soon. When you say "vintage" cases for Collings OM's and 000's they may not be part of the limited nos of cases built BY Collings
specifically. Even if the Collings logo is riveted on the case it doesn't imply Collings built it.

I'm aware. I own two of them myself and they're very nice...they are often referred to as Collings "vintage" or "handmade" cases.