Introduction
The first solid wood acoustic guitar I ever purchased was a 1994 era Taylor 510 (Mahogany and Spruce) Dreadnought. After I learned through hard knocks and dirty socks that I was not quick enough to be a bluegrass flat picker, I dumped the Dread and worked my way through a series of other Taylors more suitable for fingerstyle, including a 1997 612 (Spruce and Maple, now owned by my son), an early 2000’s 714ce (Cedar and Rosewood, traded away), a 2015 914ce (Spruce and Rosewood), and finally a 2016 812ce (Spruce and Rosewood). In short, I was a Taylor fan-boy. The brighter, more modern sound of Taylors, for a long time, appealed to my ears and sensibility. Over the years, I auditioned other major brands but they fell short of my expectations in tonality, as well as fit, finish and value.
Then several months ago, my opinion about acoustic guitars took an abrupt change in direction when I traded my Taylor 812ce and purchased a Collings 0002H, which I discussed in some detail here. In sum, the 0002H bloomed with overtone when plucked, whereas the Taylor 812ce’s tone was more fundamental and somewhat anemic sounding by comparison. As a result I suffered zero remorse replacing the 812ce with the 0002H and have since greatly enjoyed playing it at home and when performing.
The 0002H and I were largely inseparable, except when I played slide in Open D on my National M1, which created a dilemma for me because I had my remaining Taylor acoustic, a 914ce, sitting idle and unplayed for an extended period of time. To try to remedy this situation, I put new strings on the Taylor and played it a bit to see if I could get some traction with it. Not suprislingly my expectations for acoustic guitar tonality had changed and the 914ce was now irretrievably disappointing to me ear… really disappointing.
In sum, the 914ce became a candidate for trade. Sadly, there really were no acoustic guitars at the local guitar store that interested me. They have a fine selection of Taylors but I was done with Taylors as I’d owned two of their finest instruments for several years. Further, I was pretty much underwhelmed by the tonality of their newer, reinvented, heavily marketed V-Class line of acoustics. The Taylor Guitar Company is a great company and over the years they’ve been very kind to me, but for now I am done with their guitars, with the exception of a T5z which I am hanging onto. My local shop also has some nice Martins in their inventory, but those guitars have always left me cold.
My thinking was that it might be really nice to have another Collings acoustic in my stable to replace the 914ce, so I asked the Collings Enthusiasts Facebook crowd what they might recommend in a small bodied guitar that would complement my 0002H. Several members made a variety of suggestions. I followed up with research on their recommendations and decided that the best candidate was perhaps the C10 model. Given that the 0002H’s body was constructed of Sitka Spruce and East Indian Rosewood, the C10 offered a nice contrast with a body of Sitka Spruce and Mahogany, The only store within distance that sells Collings Acoustic was Dave’s Guitars in LaCrosse, WI which is about 3 hours away by car. I thus cross-matched the Facebook recommendations with Dave’s inventory, which at the time was 12 guitars. Sure enough, they had a C10-35 in stock, which is a variation of the C10 and it was finished in a lovely sunburst! So I decided to take a trip to the store to check it out. There were some other models too, such as the Collings OM that I wanted to look more closely at also, but the C10-35 was at the top of the list.
Collings is well know for designing guitar models based upon or inspired by highly regarded vintage classics of the past. But instead of duplicating the older guitars they apply a combination of precision machine technology, skilled, meticulous handwork, and the finest materials (i.e. tone woods) available to produce an instrument that exceeds the original vintage design in both tonality as well as fit and finish. It’s my understanding that the C10 was inspired by the Gibson L-00 guitars of the 1930’s. Vintage versions of this instrument are highly sought after by musicians and collectors. Collings’ limited production C10-35 variant pushes the voicing of the original C10 to more closely emulate a vintage instrument by using ultra-light tone woods, non-scalloped Adirondack bracing, a long cutthrough saddle, and other vintage inspired features such as an abbreviated tongue brace.
It is difficult for me to articulate the care, time and detail that goes into making a Collings instrument, which sets them apart from the big time manufacturers such as Taylor, Gibson and Martin. While a large manufacturer like Taylor makes consistent and beautiful guitars, they are still, in my experience, missing the fairy dust that makes them singular instruments. The brief documentary film I share below does clarify what the Collings philosophy is and why their guitars stand out in the marketplace:
As I wrote earlier, Collings often designs guitars that are inspired by the past, so as the highly regarded 1930’s era Gibsons. Below you can see Steve Earle speak to his vintage L-00, which inspired the C10-35.
If you’re interested in more background regarding Gibson acoustic guitars, the following video is quite informative:
I Purchase a C10-35
As I mentioned above, Dave’s Guitars had a relatively large inventory of Collings acoustics when I initially decided to trade-off the Taylor 914ce. Collings is a smallish operation, so the marketplace is not flooded with their instruments. It’s nice for me that a store just three hours away sells them. It was on a Saturday when I made the decision to move on the C10-35, but I also wanted to audition an OM too before making the final purchase. At that moment in time there were 12 Collings acoustics hanging on the wall at Dave’s. Sunday when I again checked into Dave’s inventory they were down to just 8 and the two OM’s in stock were gone! I was astonished and unnerved. There was a run on Collings guitars going on at Dave’s! In response, without even playing the C10-35, I put it on my credit card, and let the store know I would drive over the following Tuesday to pick it up as well as trade-in the 914ce. I figured that if I really did not like the C10-35, the folks at Dave’s would just refund what I’d paid… no harm no foul…
So I went to Dave’s early Tuesday morning with my friend Grant. The C10-35 was sitting there waiting for me to pick up; however, I sat in the corner and auditioned it for quite a while before closing the deal. I also checked out a Collings CJ-45, a larger Gibson Jumbo inspired guitar but thought it was way too large for my comfort. While auditioning the two Collings, the store examined my Taylor and made, what I thought, was a very fair trade offer, considering that the guitar was pretty dinged up (it sold within the week, so they knew what they were doing).
I closed the deal and remanded the guitar to the custody of Dave’s luthier shop to have a K&K Pure Mini pickup installed. I like to play through an acoustic amp at home and I typically perform plugged into a PA system, so a pickup is a necessity. Dave’s acoustic guy, JR Rabie is emphatic that the K&K is the best choice for a Collings acoustic. I put one into my 0002H and was very please with its simplicity and transparency.
Grant and I grabbed lunch, checked out Dave’s upstairs collection of vintage guitars, visited Daves’ Drum Depot and by then the C10-35 was ready for pickup. I gave the guitar a cursory examination while in the case, then Grant and I headed home with the Collings in the back of car.
Ruh-Roh… This Is All Wrong!!!
When I got home, I promptly pulled the guitar out of its case and the first thing I did was look at the bottom of the guitar to study what the pickup jack looked like and I was appalled to see that there was a circumferential gouge or scar around the jack’s location. It seemed pretty obvious to me that the luthier/tech damaged the wood around the jack when either enlarging the hole for the jack or when tightening the jack into its final location. Sadly, the damage was not reported at the time it occurred, leading me to have to find it after I got home.
I contacted several people at Dave’s Guitars via email with the above photograph and in very short order they responded with an apology and an offer to either repair the damage or refund me $200. The monetary refund was not very much considering the overall cost of the guitar, suggesting to me that what they really wanted to do was repair the instrument. I was informed that with a nitrocellulose finish, such as on this guitar, the luthiers would be able to repair the damage. At my request, Dave’s shipped me a suitable box and a prepaid return UPS label. I played the guitar for several days bonding with it before the shipping box arrived, and that same day I shipped the guitar back to Wisconsin. About a week after the guitar had arrived at Dave’s they completed the repair and shipped it back to me. Since it was so cold here in Iowa when the box arrived, I had to let it acclimate in my house for 24 hours before opening. That was a long day! You can see in the photo above the guitar bottom after repair. The damage is largely gone; however, if you look closely enough there’s still some slight evidence of the mishap, but not enough to quibble with. I am very glad to have it back.
I Review the Collings C10-35
On the right you can see the C10-35 in the TKL hardcase that Collings uses to protect their guitars. It’s a decent case with a nice tight fit for the guitar, but the Tolex covering is vulnerable to tearing if not handled gently. As with a typical guitar case, there’s a compartment for storing necessities and there’s a key included to lock the case if desired. There is a cushioned, comfortable handle but rugged enough to last the life of the case.
Looking very much like a vintage Gibson L-00 the Collings C10-35 is larger than a parlor guitar but still in a relatively small body. Coming with a paddle style headstock, a mahogany neck, a Wenge fingerboard and bridge, with back and sides of mahogany and a top of sitka spruce. The nitrocellulose coating is so glossy and mirror-like it’s hard to photograph the guitar without revealing whatever is in the background.
The guitar is significantly lighter than my 0002H, which is probably a function of its somewhat smaller size, but also thinned out tone woods for the body. Internally is a pre-war, non-scalloped X bracing, composed of light Adirondack spruce.
The guitar is quite beautiful but spare in adornment. Other than the “just-showy” Ivoroid tuners, the body is bound by thin strips of Ivoroid with no purfling. The sound hole rosette is also basic Ivoroid with some simple black and white purfling. It’s the combination of the high gloss nitrocellulose finish over the stunning sunburst staining of the soundboard that gives the guitar its “wow” factor. As a rule, I do not like pickguards, but the vintage tiger stripe guard also adds to the guitars stunning appearance. The Taylor 914ce I traded for this Collings was a highly embellished instrument and physically stunning in its own right, but in the end when your playing a guitar, it’s not really what it looks like, but what it sounds like, as well as its playability and the C10-35 wins “hands-down” for me!
The C10-35’s headstock is carved with their recognizable haircut profile and topped with a gloss Ebony veneer and an Ivoroid Collings logo. The tuners are nickel Waverly brand with a 16:1 ratio, which makes tuning a pleasure. The tuner buttons are Ivoroid and the gearing is open in the back adding to he vintage appearance for the guitar.
I have some reservations about Ivoroid tuning buttons because my former Taylor 812ce tuners had Ivoroid buttons, one of which blew apart when I was restringing the guitar with an powered auto-winder. Straight metal knobs like the 0002H is equipped with would have been just fine. Still… the Ivoroid knobs are pretty and add to the vintage look. I really like the appearance of a slothead like the 0002H possesses, but they are considerably more fiddly to restring than a paddle head like the C10-35 has, so that’s good!
Note also, the 1 3/4 inch bone nut. That is a standard width nowadays and fine for finger picking.
While the other C10 models are built with Ebony fingerboards, the C10-35 possesses the very grainy appearing Wenge wood. It’s the first guitar I’ve ever owned that has any Wenge on it. Why Collings made this decision eludes me, but I think it has a rather stunning and antique-like appearance with its broad and distinctive grain, The Wenge looks like it might be coarse feeling, but it’s quite smooth making for a functional fingerboard.
The guitar was shipped with D’Addario EJ 16’s, which I like and they’re pretty affordable; however, I’ve replaced them with Santa Cruz Low Tension Parabellum strings because they are easier on my hands and they sound good. They are very expensive strings so their longevity will determine whether or not I keep using them. Since they are micro-coated hopefully they will last a while.
To the right you can see a close-up of the C10-35’s body. Note the sunburst stain, the simple unadorned bindings and paired-down soundhole rosette, the tiger-striped pickguard, the Wenge bridge, the vintage cut-through saddle and the plain Ivoroid bridge pins. Simple but stunning in appearance.
Some guitar designers believe the larger cut through saddle creates a different tonality for the guitar because of the larger surface area contact with the bridge. This is open to continuing debate; however, these cut through saddles were very common on pre-war guitars, which is what inspires the C10-35 design.
The guitar’s body has an elegantly narrow waist and proportionately different sized upper and lower bouts giving the guitar aesthetically pleasing dimensions and appearance. Highly regarded independent luthier Ernst Somogyi would point out that the Greek Golden Rule of Proportion was applied by constructing the waist of the guitar to give a perfect ratio of top bout size compared to the lower bout. Further, the shoulders of the guitar add a subtle sloping drop which enhances its elegance giving it an altogether more appealing shape to the human eye!
To the left is a section of the guitar’s back showing the rich Honduran Mahogany color and the stunning grain. There is a barely visible Walnut backstrip joining the two pieces of Mahogany that comprise the back.
Conclusion
This guitar, like my 0002H has great presence, both in tonality and appearance. Unlike the 0002H which blooms with a cascade of overtone, the C10-35 is somewhat dryer and more straightforward, but still dwarfs my Taylor 812ce and 914ce with it’s sonic personality. It is a very comfortable guitar to play with its small-but-not-too-small body size and its shorter 24&7/8 inch scale. In fact, it is easier to play than the longer scaled stiffer 0002H. It’s an instrument that earns respect and demands to be played!
Below is a Vimeo clip of me playing the C10-35. I play strictly fingerstyle and this piece is a section of the guitar accompaniment to Steve Earle’s tune Goodbye, which was arranged by Tom Feldmann in one of his online lessons, a teacher I highly recommend. As I said above I use a K&K Pure Mini pickup run through the following signal chain: First into an and L.R. Baggs Venue, which is a DI and tone control; Second, in my effects loop, that runs through the Venue, I applied some light compression using the L.R. Baggs Session Align Pedal, and finally through a Genzler Pro Array acoustic amp. I also have L.R. Baggs Delay and Reverb pedals in the signal chain but chose not to use them to keep the soundclip as natural as possible. The settings of the signal chain devices are such that the guitar sounds louder but matches, to the extent possible, the tonality of the C10-35 unplugged, and it comes pretty close. I recorded the clip with an iPhone 11, equipped with a Shure MV88 mic plugged into its jack, and did final processing in Apple’s iMovie. Probably best appreciated with decent headphones.
If you’d like to hear more samples from this guitar, I suggest you visit this blog entry and scroll down to the bottom:
Finally, thanks again to the Collings Guitars Enthusiasts Facebook page for their suggestions during my hunt for guitar tone transcendence!