collings guitar tour

A Friday Afternoon Visit to the Collings Shop

• August 1, 2018

On a blazing hot July afternoon in Austin, Texas, a patter of guitarspeak could be heard in the front office of Collings Guitars . Mark Althans , the company’s esteemed artist relations and product specialist, expertly fielded a caller’s many questions about tonewoods and body styles, while sales director Angela Wade handled an inquiry about new orders.

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Guests filed into the adjacent lobby, arriving early for a factory tour. To keep them entertained during their wait, Tanya Jauregui, in customer service, turned on one of the company’s videos in which Bill Collings speaks about his building philosophy. Alex Rueb, Collings’ marketing guru, staff photographer, and resident mandolinist—apparently startled by hearing his late boss’s voice—strode into the lobby with a fresh MT mandolin at hand.

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It had been a year since Collings died, but his presence was clearly felt throughout the shop, in the pictures of his bearded mug posted on workbenches, doors, and other random surfaces, and especially in the fine acoustic and electric guitars, mandolins, and hardshell cases seen at varying stages of completion.

Neatly perched on a workbench in the wood-acclimation room were stacks of spruce, mahogany, and rosewood, on which guitar tops and backs were outlined in pencil or chalk, having just entered the production phase. Bruce Van Wart—Collings’ first official employee, who has personally selected the woods for some 30,000 instruments—picked up the rough Adirondack spruce soundboard destined to be an orchestra model, and bent it, to demonstrate both its strength and its thinness.

Though Collings, like any maker of its scale, uses CNC machinery for efficiency’s sake, it was striking to see the amount of handwork that goes into every aspect of production—from the voicing of each soundboard to the shaping of each neck. In the mandolin department, the craftsman Joshua Bridgewater was hand-sanding an F-style mandolin, with its ornate curves, in preparation for finishing. He explained that this critical job takes at least eight hours.

One of Bill Collings’ last projects involved designing sleek, vintage-style hardshell cases for Collings guitars and mandolins, and tooling up to build them in house. The cases are assembled in a smaller building across from the main shop, as are Waterloo guitars, Collings’ line of instruments inspired by 1930s budget models. In that building, an enormous fan blew as Audrey Bartlett, Waterloo’s lead builder, carefully bent the sides of a WL-14 Scissortail . A large cart of shopworn Waterloo cases awaited the instruments that would be wheeled to the main shop for finishing.

Back in the other shop, a small workbench accommodated the raw components for not one but two examples of Collings’ rarest and most coveted guitar—the AT 16  16-inch acoustic archtop. Semi-completed necks, glued-up curly maple blanks, ebony fretboards, and bindings in the shape of Collings’ trademark haircut headstock were ready for Aaron Huff—the brilliant luthier who presides over the archtop and electric department (and whose wife, the artist Tiffany Huff, designed the avian headstock detail on the Scissortail)—to assemble them.

The tour ended in the lobby, where in an adjacent conference room, Steve McCreary, Collings’ illustrious general manager, fingerpicked an attractive passage with Amaj7 and Am9 chords on his 1983 Collings roundhole archtop. As the guests made their exit, at least a few could be heard plotting the specs for their next Collings instruments.

Adam Perlmutter

Adam Perlmutter holds a bachelor of music degree from the University of North Carolina-Greensboro and a master's degree in Contemporary Improvisation from the New England Conservatory. He is the editor of Acoustic Guitar .

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Collings Guitars & Mandolins

Fueled by his fascination with the construction and design of a variety of instruments, Bill soon began crafting more than just acoustic guitars. In 1999, he introduced the first Collings mandolins, which like his guitars, quickly set new standards for the industry. In 2006 his interest in carved top instruments led him to introduce a line of electric  guitars that players quickly embraced because of the instruments’ exceptional craftsmanship and tone.In 2009, with a nod to the tradition of some other high-end acoustic guitar makers, Bill created a line of concert and tenor ukuleles that have been hugely popular with professional and hobbyist players alike.

In late 2014, Collings started production of Waterloo Guitars , a stand-alone line of vintage-inspired guitars designed to capture the tone and character of some of the best depression era instruments.

For the past 40 years, Collings Guitars have been the choice of musicians who seek the finest handmade instruments available. You owe it to yourself to try a Collings.

Visit us at CollingsGuitars.com

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Collings Electric Guitars - 290 DC S - Aged Oxblood

In Stock - Free Shipping Eligible

This Collings 290 DC S, here in an Oxblood finish, encapsulates the simplicity and sophistication for which Collings guitars are so well known. Named after the scenic highway that runs through the Texas Hill Country, the 290 embodies what it means to rock - a versatile double-cutaway one-piece electric, with the simplicity of a single pickup setup.

That single P90 pickup, a ThroBak 52/54 Bridge, delivers some of the most accurate, vintage P90 tones around, thanks to ThroBak's meticulous construction and pickup winding on vintage winding machines. That level of attention to tone and detail, when paired with the outstanding build quality from Collings, makes for a set-neck guitar that truly is more than the sum of its parts. The single pickup choice also allows for a stripped down wiring setup which presents that clear P90 tone directly into your pedalboard or amp.

This 290 is light and extremely well balanced, you can feel the guitar resonate against your body and all the way up the neck. Playing this guitar feels like being at the apex of modern guitar design, but miles beyond in vintage appeal. Includes a hardshell case and free setup by our repair shop to your specs.

• Select solid Mahogany Double-Cutaway (DC) body
• Aged Oxblood High gloss nitrocellulose lacquer finish and 3-ply black pickguard
• 24 7/8" scale length
• Select solid Mahogany neck with Collings C shape Electric profile
• Rosewood fingerboard with 12" radius, 22 frets, and grained Ivoroid dot inlays
• 1 11/16" nut width, Bone
• ThroBak P90 Dogear 52/54-Bridge-Black pickup
• Volume and Tone controls
• MojoAxe CWT (Wraparound) Bridge
• Aged Hardware
• Nickel Gotoh tuners with Ivoroid buttons
• Collings hardshell case
• Serial# 24562
• Browse More Collings Guitars
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We take the time to set up every new guitar, mando, bass, uke, or banjo for every player, whether it was purchased here in Lawrence, Kansas or on our website. Large retailers are content to ship you a guitar right off of the warehouse shelf, while we take pride in the fact that your new instrument will be set up to be truly ready to play - for you.

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Jane’s Addiction Concert Ends Abruptly After Perry Farrell Throws a Punch at Dave Navarro, Is Forced Offstage by Crew

Fans posted dramatic video of the escalating confrontation and the enraged singer's removal from the stage.

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Been caught sparring: A concert by the reunited Jane’s Addiction in Boston came to a sudden end Friday night when a clearly enraged Perry Farrell threw a punch at guitarist Dave Navarro — and was restrained by crew members, still appearing physically agitated as he was hustled offstage.

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Video of the lead-up to the scuffle shows Ferrell fiercely grunting in the direction of the audience, before he turns to his right and begins issuing those bellows at Navarro, face to face. He appears to aggressively bump shoulders with the guitarist during a solo, and Navarro eventually stops playing and puts a hand up to Farrell’s chest to establish distance. Then the singer appears to deliver a punch. At that point, as the stage lights are lowered, three men, including bassist Eric Avery, surround and grab hold of Farrell, who is finally forced offstage, still apparently struggling as he’s hustled into the wings.

Once Farrell was gone, the rest of the band — including Navarro — stepped to the front of the stage to give the crowd a gentler farewell, appearing calm as they hugged one another, applauded the audience, tapped their hearts and offered a peace sign.

The altercation immediately blew up on social media, with no shortage of jokes — including countless Oasis comparisons — along with more serious concerns expressed for the well-being of the band members involved.

“Jane’s Addiction broke up before Oasis omg,” came a typical tweet, from the user @Tribecalledflex .

On setlist.fm , the notations section for the Boston show offered an ironic juxtaposition of trivia about the gig, reading: “Note: Stephen Perkins’ drum kit was outfitted with balloons in celebraton of his birthday. The set ended early after Perry Farell punched Dave Navarro.” 

Press representatives for Jane’s Addiction and the tour promoter, Live Nation, could not immediately be reached for comment Friday night.

Chatter had already circulated in social media about the Jane’s Addiction shows earlier this week in New York City, held at the Rooftop at Pier 51. At the first of two concerts there, Farrell admitted to the audience he was not in great vocal shape, reportedly saying, “Ladies and gentlemen, I have to be honest with you. Something’s wrong with my voice. I just can’t get the notes out all of a sudden.” The next day, bandmate Eric Avery posted to Instagram, “Looking forward to getting another crack at this spectacular rooftop venue tonight. I’m optimistic we will be better.”

The following night in New York, things indeed took a turn for the better, according to a reviewer for JamBase who wrote, “I had seen the reports of Farrell’s condition on Tuesday, so I had trepidation as Jane’s Addiction came on. All my fears quickly eased away as my first Jane’s experience was a great one. Farrell sang well, Perkins crushed it behind the kit, Navarro shredded and Avery anchored the band with his steady work on bass. … Some of (Farrell’s) stories were engaging and others rambled as he chugged from a bottle of wine. He also was fixated on a device that I’d imagine was supposed to add effects to his voice but didn’t have much impact to my ear. However, when it came to singing the songs, Farrell nailed most of them.”

Ironically, in light of what has since transpired, the singer halted a beef at the band’s second New York show. “Farrell actually stopped the latter tune after he spotted a fight in the audience,” JamBase reported. “Farrell had a fan named ‘Bobby’ make up with the crowd member he was feuding with.”

Jane’s Addiction’s first tour in 15 years is a co-headlining one, with another beloved ’90s group, Love & Rockets, sharing the bill.

Friday night’s fateful Boston show came about 20 dates into the groups’ dual tour itinerary, with 15 left to go. As of this writing, the tour is still scheduled to continue and wrap up Oct. 16 at L.A.’s YouTube Theater, returning to where the group already successfully performed once near the beginning of their outing in mid-August.

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