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West R Lee

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This is the first NEW guitar I've bought since 1979. The last was my D25 I bought new a few years after high school. I've been through about 30 of them, but they've all been used guitars. I'd forgotten the joy of a new guitar, and have never had the opportunity to buy a custom built guitar.

West
 
Westerly Wood

Westerly Wood

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West R Lee said:
This is the first NEW guitar I've bought since 1979. The last was my D25 I bought new a few years after high school. I've been through about 30 of them, but they've all been used guitars. I'd forgotten the joy of a new guitar, and have never had the opportunity to buy a custom built guitar.

West
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They should create a new dreadnaught scent cologne or car air freshener.
 
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West R Lee

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Westerly Wood said:
They should create a new dreadnaught scent cologne or car air freshener.
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They should Westerly. I know this may ruffle some feathers, but to me, a dread is the only real guitar. Lord how I love them. As a Texas boy, you really need a Collings in the stable.

I've convinced Mrs. West that since I've got a 5 guitar rack, I'll always have to have 5 guitars.

West
 
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West R Lee

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chazmo said:
The new Collings are beautiful, Jim. Use them in good health.
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Thank you sir, "Health" ha? Health actually was a reason I've thinned the collection so much. Not health per se, but our mortality. Nobody in my family plays Charlie, neither son, nor grandson. I was afraid I'd buy the farm with 15 guitars and nobody in the family have a clue what to do with them. So I trimmed it down.

West
 
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West R Lee

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plaidseason said:
I'm strongly in favor of the small-jumbo, but I can never really decide. Some days I only want to hear a parlor guitar, and other days I want an arched back dread.
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I think sometimes when we get accustomed to a body style, we're hooked. I started playing dreads at about 14 years old and have never really looked back. I think I've owned them all at one time or another........several sloped shoulder guitars, some small bodies like an A25, jumbos like the JF55 and JF65, even a couple of classicals, but I always come back to a trusty ol' dreadnaught.

West
 
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plaidseason

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West R Lee said:
I think sometimes when we get accustomed to a body style, we're hooked. I started playing dreads at about 14 years old and have never really looked back. I think I've owned them all at one time or another........several sloped shoulder guitars, some small bodies like an A25, jumbos like the JF55 and JF65, even a couple of classicals, but I always come back to a trusty ol' dreadnaught.

West
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The thing that I always find funny is when "we" assert that a certain body style is good/bad at certain things. But it often doesn't work that way. I was fingerpicking on my DCE1 today. It's not the same sound/vibe as my smaller guitars, but it works, and it definitely works well. So to me, a great dread is perfect all around guitar.
 
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West R Lee

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plaidseason said:
The thing that I always find funny is when "we" assert that a certain body style is good/bad at certain things. But it often doesn't work that way. I was fingerpicking on my DCE1 today. It's not the same sound/vibe as my smaller guitars, but it works, and it definitely works well. So to me, a great dread is perfect all around guitar.
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Exactly. All my life I've heard that smaller guitars are fingerstyle guitars, the problem was that a small body's sound doesn't compare with a nice dread when played fingerstyle, not in depth or sustain or projection, at least not in my opinion, generally speaking. We had a member here named "Frosty" who played finger style on a jumbo and I could have listened to him all day.....just beautiful.

West
 
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West R Lee said:
Exactly. All my life I've heard that smaller guitars are fingerstyle guitars, the problem was that a small body's sound doesn't compare with a nice dread when played fingerstyle, not in depth or sustain or projection, at least not in my opinion, generally speaking. We had a member here named "Frosty" who played finger style on a jumbo and I could have listened to him all day.....just beautiful.

West
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Right! I have similar thoughts every time I listen to Dave Van Ronk.
 
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West R Lee

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Well I've gone and done it. :giggle: I've never installed a pickup system in a guitar, but that has been the plan all along for the new D1A.

I read everything I could get my hands on and watched all the videos I could find. Today I installed the LR Baggs Anthem system in my new Collings. I could do it in half the time now. You've just got to be slow and deliberate. The process involves drilling a 1/2" hole for the transducer at the endpin (I had Collings drill that one, but had to enlarge it just a few thousandths with my Dremel), and a 3/32" hole in the corner of the saddle slot to accommodate the under saddle (that was the most nerve racking part). The saddle slot was .100" wide and the bit required was .093", so I taped off the sides of the slot and drilled away. It would be easy to nick the slot edge drilling that one and have a round, ugly indentation next to your saddle in the bridge. Tone doesn't sound like it is adversely effected by the under saddle at all. So the Anthem has two pickups, a microphone that attaches (sticks with adhesive) under the bridge plate, and a piezo under the saddle. Then on the preamp, there is a "mixing" adjustment that allows you to throttle either pickup and get the sound you really want.

Now to get in there and play with the "phase" and the mixer.

Don't be afraid to do these things yourself, like string changes, doing these tasks on your own guitar will familiarize you with the guitar. A bonding moment.

West
 
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