These aren't my words, I'm actually quoting. While searching for the ups and downs of an I-35, I read this exact thing a few times, and not from average Joe's but from guitar manufacturers and serious pro players. The unanimously positive comments had me curious, especially since I hadn't yet played an I-35, so I found one in town today and gave it a shot. Holy crap! Indeed, it is the best guitar I've played to date. This includes the best Gibson has to offer, the best of Suhr's stable, and even my CL Deluxe, which I'm crazy about.

I'll save the glowing adjectives because I haven't given it enough time to properly describe it yet, but in the hour I've played it so far, it's obvious that it's something incredible. In just about each way that you could judge a guitar, it shines. Plays like butter, light as a feather and comfortable on your lap, extremely solid feel, perfect setup, and the tone is every bit as good as the best Les Pauls or Gibby 335s or even the CL Deluxe, but it's a bit fuller and has a new character that I can't yet describe. The added fullness translates to incredible power and authority, and if you throw in a nice overdrive pedal it really does blow your hair back.

My Les Paul Custom had the best rock and roll guts I'd ever come across, but it wouldn't stay in tune long and lacked a bit of refinement in feel. This I-35 has all that cutting power of the LP, and, dare I say, even a little more. By switching between pickups on the I-35 there are a few flavors of R&R to choose from, each being equally usable, depending on the style you're going for. And there's never a feeling of smearing between the six strings - they all speak perfectly, even under heavy distortion. And the clean tones are nothing short of breathtaking. Incredible roundness and ear candy that loves amps with tons of their own character (like a Bad Cat).

I'll cut this short since I don't feel like I know this guitar well enough yet, but my initial impressions are the highest I can remember from any guitar. I wonder if it IS the best guitar ever made...? It's especially amazing when you consider that this is a very early run of electric guitars from Collings.

More from me when I feel better qualified.

(btw - it's a quilted crimson top with black headstock, black fretboard w/bars, purfling, etc. - I think it's basically all the options except gold hardware)

It's very possible that Collings is making the best Gibson style electrics ever made. It sounds like I'm qualifying your statement, however, I still feel I'm saying quite a lot.

I only owned my !-35 for a few months before the tax monster came drooling to the door demanding payment. Hey, bombs are expensive. So, I sold it, but not before I fully recognized that it was far and away the best electric I've owned. Not close. In 43 years of playing, I've owned upwards of thirty electrics, including all the usual suspects. Nothing approached the 35, sonically, visually, aesthetically, fit and finish (oh my gawwwwd that tobacco burst quilt top......), versatility (superb pickups and ultra accurate pots so small changes in volume or treble roll-off made big differences in tone. It was, in short (which I passed about three sentences back), its the "Alien" of electrics. The best there is. Let's see: I've owned a 60 les paul, several 335,345,355, several Fender custom shops, a couple G&L's, Gretch, Anderson, Surh, Valley Arts, and Grosh. I'm sure I've left some out. The Grosh retro classic, for what it is, is the best solid body I've had the pleasure to own, but..... you know the rest. I may have to sell one more acoustic and the Grosh and just get it over with. Times a'wastin'. tom

Wow. I got to play it for about an hour today with the good amps and it is, for me anyway, indeed the best guitar I've had the pleasure of playing, and by a pretty large margin. Of everything I asked it to do, it did, and far beyond. As close to perfect as I could imagine. I'm not one to gush, so this is no casual statement. Through a Komet set to high gain, with the guitar at low volume, it produced the fullest, coolest, greatest tone I've ever heard from a guitar, without being the least bit muddy. The tone remained perfectly balanced as I crawled up the neck and onto higher strings. I'll try to post some clips this week. I'd still call this a honeymoon, so I'll post again later.

Here's the odd thing about the I-35. It doesn't sound like a 335, except for the bark out of the bridge pup, and it doesn't have anywhere near the woodiness of a CS-336, yet the -35 and -336 both have tonally carved bodies. The I-35 is closer to the pure tones a of classical guitar with a really good box, ... to me, there's even a "nylon string sound" to it ... it's hard to put into words.

quote:

Originally posted by maunakea:
Here's the odd thing about the I-35. It doesn't sound like a 335...

I don't know 335s well enough, nor do I really know an I-35 intimately enough to respond with much substance about their similarities, but I am surprised to read this after hearing from several others that an I-35 dead nails a 60's-era 335. I couldn't say, but regardless of the degree to which it matches its cousin, it seems to hit the bases that I'd always assumed a 335 hit. Certainly what a guitar should hit.

quote:

Originally posted by maunakea:
The I-35 is closer to the pure tones a of classical guitar with a really good box, ... to me, there's even a "nylon string sound" to it ... it's hard to put into words.

This is interesting - I haven't yet picked up on that.

I use the I-35 for recording, DI, then through PT plugins (home studio in the 'burbs). That gives a different tonal experience. IIRC, the "mortised sound block" in the -35 contacts both the top and the back to reduce feedback, but it also takes alot of the woody tone away compared to a CS-336. Not everyone wants woody tone, of course (my pet theory: the design goal of the SoCo sound was, inter alia, "more wood" in the tone... ). IIRC the -335 also has a top to back sound block, a solid block, but lacks a routed single-piece back. So, structurally, the -35 is somewhere between a -335 and -336, and the difference in structure necessarily impacts the tone.

My comment about the "nylon string sound" arises from what I think are more even (as in multiples of 2) harmonics in the -35 sound. The sound of the -35 at and above the 12th fret is really different from a -335. The -35 is bell-like, the -335 starts to "rasp". YMMV

This message has been edited. Last edited by: maunakea,

i love my natural quilt topped I-35. it is such a great sounding instrument and the craftsmanship is just so far above what is available elsewhere today. tone-wise, couldn't find a better balanced instrument--too bad they cost so much otherwise more could enjoy. right now they are sort of a rich person's guitar and they may not always fall into the hands of the best players. too bad, as i think a lot of great music would be made on them if they did. a sax player will scrap together 6 large for a mark 6 selmer and use it as their only horn for a career, but guitar players want to be in an out of axes all the time while keeping closets full of them.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: localplayer,

quote:

right now they are sort of a rich person's guitar and they may not always fall into the hands of the best players. too bad, as i think a lot of great music would be made on them if they did. a sax player will scrap together 6 large for a mark 6 selmer and use it as their only horn for a career, but guitar players want to be in an out of axes all the time while keeping closets full of them.

Maybe, then, the I-35 isn't really a rich person's guitar.

ok, then folks with credit cards that are still turned on...anyway, great guitars and not sure how you would make it better.

quote:

Originally posted by maunakea:
I use the I-35 for recording, DI, then through PT plugins (home studio in the 'burbs). That gives a different tonal experience...

...My comment about the "nylon string sound" arises from what I think are more even (as in multiples of 2) harmonics in the -35 sound.

I hope you've had the chance to plug into a real amp as well. Software emulators through studio monitors wouldn't do it any justice.

I do understand the comment about congruent harmonics - its sound is very fundamental - but I'm hearing more mathematically chaotic harmonics that I really enjoy mixed in with these fundamentals. This is part of the reason its tone is more refined than some other guitars, but not so much that it's can't be dirty/grungy/raw.