1997 Collings 0002H Flattop Guitar

I had a different 0002H in for consignment during the winter and this one is every bit as good and perhaps even has a bit more oomph. These are interesting guitars because they look like they ought to sound like a sweetly-voiced, short-scale 000-28 Martin. When you actually play one, though, you realize that the tone is a lot more like a cross between a slope-shoulder 12-fret Martin dreadnought (D-28S) and 000-size OM-28.

That's because it has a long 25 1/2" scale length coupled with the bigger 12-fret 000 body shape. These dang things punch like crazy, have a lot of volume, and have a big, round-sounding tone that's not tubby at all. It's all muscle -- muscular. Yes, that's it. It's like you've got plenty of spare horsepower to dig into these guys. While I'm assuming it's the fingerpicking/folksy/old-time market that these models mostly attract, I've gotta say that they really do make a fine bluegrass picker, too.

Features include herringbone purfling on the top edge, a fancy pyramid-style bridge, ebony board and bridge, silky-looking spruce for the top, nice Indian rosewood for the back and sides, and the durability, solidness, and functional stability that Collings instruments always have. They're honestly a joy to work on when they're in the shop because... they barely ever come into the shop. Once in a while the truss needs to be adjusted on them but otherwise they mostly stay put and the setups remain stable in service.

Repairs included: a light cleaning, light level/dress of the frets in first position, and setup.

Setup notes: action is perfect and fast at 3/32" EA and 1/16" DGBE at the 12th fret. Strings are 54w-12 gauges. The truss works and the neck is straight.

Scale length: 25 1/2"

Nut width: 1 13/16"

String spacing at nut: 1 9/16"

String spacing at bridge: 2 3/8"

Body length: 20 1/8"

Lower bout width: 15"

Waist width: 9"

Upper bout width: 10 3/4"
Side depth at endpin: 4"

Top wood: solid spruce

Back/sides wood: solid Indian rosewood

Bracing type: x

Fretboard: ebony

Bridge: ebony pyramid-shaped

Neck feel: medium C/soft V-shape, ~14" board radius

Condition notes: the finish has aged-in to a beautiful buttery-tan color on the top. Overall the instrument looks like it was babied as it's "near-mint," though it looks like perhaps the bridge was reglued as there's a little bit of disturbance to the finish at its front edge. It also has one small scratch and a teeny one next to it on the lower-bout-top that I've pictured.

It comes with: its presumably-original TKL hard case.