For Sale: Collings D1A Varnish - 2016 - exceptional!

[marc4045]

An exceptional 2016 Collings - D1A – Varnish


Collings at its best! Top-grade, hand selected, quarter-sawn Adirondack Red Spruce tops (with a beautiful subtle bear claw - super even and uniform grain), Honduran mahogany back and sides, pre-war Adirondack scalloped braces, – and hand-rubbed varnish finish. This guitar was custom-ordered by the Music Emporium: premium top, no tongue brace, 3 piece back strip, 1 23/32 fingerboard, tortoise binding, fitted with an expertly installed L.R. Baggs Lyric soundboard mic/pickup. Comes in a new - never used - Collings (TDK) case. $5100, or best reasonable offer (I paid $6700, plus another $300 for the L.R. Baggs Lyric, installed). Click here to send me an email.

This guitar is commanding - loud, punchy, and rich and happy to go as hard as you want without breaking up or distorting - but you really don’t have to push hard at all - even a light touch will fill a room. True to reputation, it will bury banjos, but this one can also be lovely and sweet with an amazing sustain. Some great guitars can do one or the other well, this guitar truly does both exceptionally well - it has a huge dynamic range. The reason is the varnish finish, which alone is a $2000 upgrade from the D1A. It is flexible, and super thin - and allows the guitar to breathe.

I have been very lucky to own and play some beautiful dreadnaught guitars, beauties - each surpassed the previous: ’69 Martin (part Brazilian) D-35, Santa Cruz Brazilian Tony Rice, and over the last 18 years, five wonderful Collings: a D2H, D2HA, a CW Mahogany, a previous D1A and finally this D1A Varnish custom. To compare models, this guitar not quite as “in your face - brash” as the standard lacquered finished D1A. It is more woody, super warm, with a clear fundamental tone, and the right amount of harmonic overtones that never gets muddy. It has a crisp treble - but not the ‘shrill’ treble - a well-known Collings issue - and that definitely a varnish difference. The bass notes are pronounced, super clear, and just have that certain pre-war D-18 tone – and a punch that just hits you in the chest when you play it.

I am struggling with the decision to sell it - and have been procrastinating about doing it (just ask my wife and band mates). I’m not as young as I used to be, and narrow fingerboards are just easier for me. The 1 22/32" width fingerboard is just a hair wider than is comfortable for me. I bought this guitar because once I heard it, I had to. If figured i'd get comfortable with the width I don't want to create the impression that this has one of those old style baseball-bat necks, it isn't - more medium with a slight - v- shape, and the actions is excellent. Most people feel very comfortable on this guitar, but my hands are what they are and I have to face facts - and I also realize it deserves to be played by a serious player who can pull the best out of it. So like the glass slipper, we have to find the right fit.

Some things to know:

Other than the brazilian option, this is Collings most expensive upgrade, but for a reason - nothing new sounds better (including torrefied wood)! My D1A Varnish is made like and sounds like the best D-18s of 70 years ago, and does it without having to artificially age the wood by baking it. But unlike "pre-aged" torrefied guitars – which also sound great when you buy them new - this one already sounds better, and will just continue to do so as it ages naturally. It is only 2 years old. I can only imagine what this will sound like when it gets broken in!

There is a small, expertly repair crack on the side (part that rests on your leg) – you don’t see it unless you search hard for it (look at the picture of the side - zoom in on it - you will not find it, and none of the pictures have been Photoshopped). After nearly having a coronary, I was very relieved when my luthier told me it occurred in possibly the least critical spot it could have happened, with grain and was fixed immediately with hide glue and a very small cleat (had an iphone in my pocket and apparently hit it just right – ugh!). Luckily it was easily patched up and didn’t affect the sound at all. As he said, "Just another wood joint, just like the rest of the guitar."

Also – the top finish has some pick marks (not a lot of them, and not bad - but truth in advertising) – Before you consider a varnish instrument, this important to know they susceptible to imperfections in the finish, especially when they are new (varnish takes nearly 2 years to cure). As strange as it may seem, this is part of the mystique - so much so that Collings varnish guitars come with a letter to new owners telling you to expect this to happen to finish – part of what it means to own varnish instruments. – Collings also said something like if you just want a museum showpiece, then varnish is not the instrument to get. If you want the best sounding instruments made, well.... that is the trade-off. Also, the varnish just looks so much better – not plastic, just cool – lush looking, and the sound is untouchable.

The case is the one it came in from Collings. brand new. The day I got the guitar I put and kept it in my old Mark Leaf case for protection and humidity control.
If you purchase the guitar then decide it is not right for you, you can send it back for a refund. But you will be responsible return shipping and insurance for the full value of the guitar. I’ll accept returns shipped back within 72 hours of when it was delivered to you, and that it returns to me in the exact same condition it was when you received it, and has not been damaged in any way.

My shipping price includes insurance, and in the US to any of the 48 it is around $50 to $60, I also add around $15 in insurance to cover the full value of the instrument.

Also, this is a great price for this guitar, so please, no low-ball offers.

[peteybabes]

trades an option?