Hi! What a great concept, a Collings forum! My D1A has a "mastergrade top" (according to the folks I bought it from). It has four very distinct brown 1" stripes runnign with the grain (which is very tight for an ad top).

Can anyone advise me what the brown stripes are (i.e. from minerals, a certain section of the tree, other)., how often this occurs, and how it is viewed from a resale standpoint. I've never seen another ad top like it. I happen to think it quite attractive, and "different", and it sounds fantastic, which is why I bought it.

Tom

Tom,

Well, "mastergrade" is largely in the eyes of the beholder -- usually the seller -- so these things need to be taken with some salt. Wood grading is fairly subjective and somewhat arbitrary. I'm not sure that true "master-grade" Adirondack tops even exist anymore, except perhaps in someone's well-guarded stash of very old wood. The top-quality Adirondack that Collings reserves for its most expensive guitars (e. g. with Brazilian B/S) is usually very clear with no streaking and great cross-silking. The Adir. they use on less expensive, 1-model guitars often has some streaking, and streaking is often considered a trait of lower-grade wood. But that doesn't mean it isn't a 1st class top. There are other criteria to consider, and fineness of the grain is one. Others are the tap-tone of the wood, its resilience and stiffness. Collings seems to have its own mysterious criteria for wood grading, and their standards for grading Brazilian, for instance, are the highest that I've ever seen. But I'd put sound ahead of anything, and if your D-1A sounds amazing then it's clearly got a very fine Adirondack top!

I have just took some pics of my Collings OM-1A..
Its a 3/98 model, I don't think Collings started grading their Adirondack Tops back then...

And the strange thing is... I love those streaks on the top.. more is better to me..

I can never imagine a Adirondack top with so many cross silking!! I am extremely happy with my guitar!!

[This message was edited by Ed on November 26, 2002 at 07:38 AM.]

PS -- I just bought a very fine handmade Merrill OM-28. It's 100% vertical grain Brazilian rosewood and "mastergrade" Adirondack spruce. The top is very fine-grained, and, like the top of your D-1A, it has streaks! Here's a picture of the OM I just bought (you can sort of make out the streaks):

http://www.merrillbros.com/about.html

I currently have two adirondack-topped guitars, a Ds1-A and a 00-1A that have "master-grade" tops. Both of the tops are VERY clean...no mineral streaks or the like. Both guitars were made in the past 5 months, so perhaps the good folks at Collings latched on to a great batch of adirondack. All I know is that the combination of adirondack and mahogany is phenomenal. I still have to pinch myself that I have two guitars this good!

Eugene

Eugene,

Just curious: Did you (or the dealer) specifically order Collings top-grade Adirondack? (Their system of grading Adirondack, and charging more for the top-notch stuff, is relatively recent.) I'm just curious about who identified the wood as "master-grade."

I have a 000-1AC (no streaks there) -- I agree with you that the mahogany-Adir. combination sounds amazing!

quote:

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Originally posted by Phoenix:
Eugene,

Just curious: Did you (or the dealer) specifically order Collings top-grade Adirondack? (Their system of grading Adirondack, and charging more for the top-notch stuff, is relatively recent.) I'm just curious about who identified the wood as "master-grade."

I have a 000-1AC (no streaks there) -- I agree with you that the mahogany-Adir. combination sounds amazing!

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Phoenix,

Yes, the dealer specified the master-grade adirondack from Collings when he spec'd out the guitars. From what I understand, the upcharge varies based on the quality of the wood and apparently Collings has/had a really nice batch pf the stuff. If memory serves, I think the list on the upgraded tops was $600 or $700 (ouch!) However, the combination of the adorondack/mahogany is just wonderful and helped me justify the price. It sounds like you have quite a few nice ones in your stable as well!

Cheers.

Eugen

I understand Collings only grades its Brazilian rosewood and adirondack(according to Steve). Everything else is master grade. i.e. all its koa is master, all its maple is master and all the mahogany. German spruce is really German. Their koa and maple are like 3D marble. Even Goodall doesnt get wood like Collings. Nobody does mahogany and maple and koa like Collings. I owned a koa OM3 and called Steve at Collings, he said they only get one grade "the best". He went on to say koa was a great looking but not a great sounding guitar. I currently own a new maple CJ and C10 boyh with 1 3/4 necks.
Collings versions of the prewar gibsons are amazing guitars.

I like the red streaks....it adds character.

I would be more concerned about how it sounds. And, it sounds like you have a real winner!!!

Phoenix is right. I am not sure whether there is such a thing as Master Grade Adirondack, as the clean white Adirondack, with tremendous cross silking is almost impossible to get.

One thing I have noticed on virtially all Collings' Ad tops, is that the grain spacings appear to be very consistent from guitar to guitar. So, that may be more of a selection criteria than the color. With other makers, the spacings seem to be very inconsistent.

Bottom line is the guitar's sound.

Anyway, to answer your post, I really like a little red streaking in Adirondack tops. I think it looks really cool.

Thanks for the replys everyone !! The dealer was the one that told me that it was mastergrade. There was no price difference. I also noticed at the same time I bought my D1A, that Elderly was advertising a D1A with "a better top" for $100 extra.

The ad grain on my D1A is tight and consistant with some silking. I've seen other non-Collings ad tops with very inconsistent grain, and very wide to the outer side of the bouts. One was a Tippen, which incidently, was an outstanding guitar!! Liked it better than D18-CW and D18-GE (which I also liked), but not my D1A! So it all comes down to sound I guess.

As an aside, my D1A's mahogany is almost perfect.

Tom Friedrichs