yeah, the must be great guitars and that is enough to be excited about, but I have to say that over the years I've been satisfied with G&L "working man's" electrics. Never had any issue with the neck, the sound, looks,... and for a fraction of the price. I did replace some of the stock pickups with Fralins, Bardens, etc., but for the most part, these guitars do what I need them to and replacing the pickups was not a required option. After awhile you learn that no matter what pickups are on guitar, there are some trade-offs and it is sometimes better to take the middle road, i.e., pickups that are not overly vintage sounding vs. newer, more gain style pickups.

besides, I do think that the acoustic guitar offers so much more for the player and listener in the sonic spectrum. I'll stick with the Collings acoustics.

Kenny,
Your comments make perfect sense. However, in terms of high quality electric guitars, I guarantee that the fit/finish and overall quality of Collings electrics will be noticably higher than any G & L (which are fine instruments). Using your logic, there may be players who are perfectly happy with their Yamaha acoustics and think we're crazy for spending the money for a Collings. Most of us Forumites are happy to spend what we do for the quality we enjoy in a Collings acoustic, rather than buy a "working man's acoustic". I bet Bill will sell all the electrics he can produce to satisfied players.

I kinda agree with both of you (is that possible?). We all know that Bill makes some of the best acoustics around. As for electrics, we'll have to wait and see. I personally just got a G&L ASAT Tele (butterscotch with black pickguard and gun metal blue tint on the neck). It's awesome (even though I don't play much electric). I'm sure the Collings electrics will be a breed of their own and certain folks (just like us in the acoustic world) will really like, buy, and play them. I may even be one of those in the future. We'll see.

Ace
-----------------------------------------------

Randy,

I love, I adore my Collings D-1. And as soon as possible, I will add a D-1A to my arsenal. But believe me my Yamaha Ls-400 all solid wood (Sitka/hog) is a great guitar too. Sure it's still far away from Collings sound and finish perfection, but on the road and in the studio at the end of the day, it does the job pretty well.

May be I'm crazy for spending so little money in a Yammy !! (Just kidding !)

Have a good day,

Arnaud
-------------------------
Collings D-1
Martin D-18 GE
Martin D-18 custom (Adi/maho/ scalloped braces)
Martin D-18 Standart
Yamaha Ls-400

Loller pickups have a great reputation. The build quality of the guitar itself will likely be up to Bill's level, which is to say that it will be perfect. I can't help but be excited about them.

But to your point -- I do think there's an unquantifiable mojo about some guitars and it has little to do with their price tag. OK, now with THAT being said, I have yet to play an electric guitar that can hold a candle to my two most expensive ones - a Suhr and a Les Paul Custom - in terms of tone, playability, and "mojo."

Anyone know when the Collings electrics will be available in stores???

elambo, I too have played some very nice electrics (Papple, where are you?) while visiting George P... I think the one I liked the best was a McCarthy? I don't know, but it looked alot like a PRS and it just sang up on the frets above the 15th fret. Unbelievable action, neck, a very fast guitar; yet I must be getting old because I really had no desire to upgrade from G&Ls, maybe investing another $2K for something I might not use much or really get the "bang for da buck"... but yeah, they were nice guitars. I've never played a guitar with a Loller pickup, but I'd say Joe Barden makes some very nice sounding single coils.

It will be nice if Terry at GuitarWorks orders a few Collings electrics. I would be sure to check them out and report back my findings.

btw: One of my favorite electrics is a G&L S-500 in Lake Placid blue (metallic) with a maple neck. I think I paid about $600, including shipping back in 1998. This guitar has never needed a neck adjustment, never fretted out, always sounds good, has a great vibrato system, and looks cool on stage. So how much are those new Collings?

I get the impression that these should be showing up in stores between 1-2 months from now. The factory sure looked like it was in full-production mode for these last weekend. Maybe someone with a store knows exactly when...

I know from talking to Jason Lollar that Collings tried out an incredible amount of pickups (from a slew of manufacturers) before deciding on the few that he did. Jason L had a lot of back-and-forth with Bill & co and it sounded like Collings really did things like blind listening sessions to figure out exactly which ones worked best according to Bill's ears. I know that they sampled pickups from both some very well-known and also obscure pickup winders. I find it admirable that he chose a small company like Lollar as opposed to the marketed-to-death pickups you see everywhere. It shows that Bill is taking this really seriously.

I like the designs that I saw at NAMM. The shapes weren't exactly ground breaking but they were different enough to be special. The build quality was, of course, great. They weren't flashy, but they weren't boring copies, either. I think they'll be a success.

Jason

O.K. I went, saw and played them. The "junior" style with 2 P-90 Lollars was the KILLER. Fit, feel and tone. The "jazz archtop" with the Bartolini was light as a feather and incredibly responsive. The "smaller 335" was a brilliant carve and the ivroid knobs were both beautiful and very comfortable to use.

That said, my'82 G&L SC-2 is one of the great electric guitars of modern times--bar none. Those early pick-ups are way hotter and more toneful than subsequent versions. And the mustang style body? Wonderful.

Me, I'm hoping to own a Collings solid body with Lollar p-90s and a Stets Bar tail piece (my suggestion at NAMM). And I don't mind waiting 'till Bill & Co. are ready.

Clem

I was really taken back by the new thin line Jazz box, until I found out what it is going to cost.
Even with my level of guitar stupidity I won't be buying one of those any time soon.

They are very nice though and deserving of a trial by those into electric.
BTW, I sure hope they stick with their "working" name for the thin line double cutaway model. The I-35 !

With the screamingly obvious difference that an electric requires partner- a well chosen amp- to perform, why in the world is it odd that a better made guitar is preferable? I've owned G&L, and would have to nominate them for the best for the buck in the electric world, but there's no way in the living world bill's won't kick their pickups into galveston bay (or the body of water of your choice). If it's an economic decision, that's an entirely different point. A G&L legacy with fralins would all I'd probably ever need. but then, I could have gotten by with an HD28, too. Sound matters. Life's short. I bought my first Collings, an early 93 D2H, on word of mouth alone. I'd never heard one, never touched one. I'm doing the same thing with the I-35, or whatever they end up calling it. My guess: these things will fly out of the shops and be back ordered in a week. Meanwhile, back to my overprice, overrated varnish OM1A, currently in DADGAD. And Paul freakin' Simon played a Yamaha, so who are we to snob out on this stuff? But what floats your boat. I drive a 94 Buick LeSabre in blue-hair blue so that I can send money to Austin.

Folks who build popular and heavily used
electric guitars, Fender, G&L , Gibson,
etc have no fear about a collings. There
are many designer knockoffs of Gibson
and dare I forget Paul Reed Smiths. The
price probably got up on some models to the
point Collings felt like they could enter the
market and make some. with the new plant expansion that is probably a reality but as
an Ex electric player I went through a ton of
high end PRS and Gibsons and probably would have bought a Collings if they'd made one , but
at the end of the day the American strat or Tele is going to kick all of them in the weeds
sonically and everyother way (sic dare i say weight)

Ever play a 4 hour gig on your feet with a
12 pount Les Paul on your neck. Heck I still
walk funny.

So my opinion is worth about 2 cents and would
say if they are expenive they will probably be
just another guitar on dealers walls and there
wont be any wait to get one after a while JMO

Long live the ubiqitous strat, whether G&L
or fender whahoo.

I agree there is nothing like a good strat but I still fancy owning a Collings electric even though I hardly touch electrics nowdays. Haven't Gibson started making a lighter Les Paul that is chambered ? I would be interested to know how much the Collings version weighs.