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Location: Phoenix AZ | Photos from the Collings factory tour
HERE |
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Location: Tennessee | Nice. WIHBT. How many guitars do they build a year/month/day in their shop? And how long will a supply of almost 1600 mando fretboards last them? :eek: |
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Location: Phoenix AZ | Mandos = 12 / wk
Acoustic guitars = 20 / wk
Electric guitars = 5 / wk
Good catch on the mando fboards. That's about a 20 year supply. Hope they got a good deal on them.
It was an interesting mix of old style workmanship and modern technology. Yes, there are targets for quantity, but you got the distinct feeling that the only thing that mattered was perfection. Nothing less than a perfect instrument would leave the building.
A good example of their obcessive perfection is actually the cases. While a lot of guitar builders just throw their finished product into the cheapest molded piece of shit case they can buy, Collings starts out with buying the finest wooden TKL Gieb style case and then takes 2 days to dehumidify the interior of excess moisture and then realigns and adjusts all latches.
Not bashing other builders, just pointing out that for 5-10 grand this is the kind of perfection that you get.
Toby |
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Location: Phoenix AZ | This sums up a lot ...
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Location: Rego Park, NY, | Very nice photos Dave. I can almost smell the wood and hear the machines churning out those guitars. I see Al is in charge of quality/quantity control again.
Phil |
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Location: Florida Central Gulf Coast | Great pics! One day I need to take a 'tour'. |
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| What's the beer? |
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Location: Earth·SolarSystem·LocalInterstellarCloud·Local Bub | Yellow... The New mauve. |
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| Did anyone get to play any of the archtops - particularly the City Limits small-bodied model? |
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Location: Boise, Idaho | I noticed that Al is too shy to wear his Mr. Big shirt. |
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Location: Latitude 39.56819, Longitude -105.080066 | Al is a walking billboard for Mr. Big so no need to wear a T-shirt.
We had A LOT OF FUN with the MB T-Shirts. All week long people would come up to one of us (but NEVER to Mr. Big) and ask who he was. I guess they were afraid to approach the man.
I had one kid (a mando player) that BEGGED me to introduce him to Al. I refused and told him that Mr. Big was usually a friendly guy and that he should just go up and introduce himself (which he never did).
Too much fun!!!! |
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Location: Latitude 39.56819, Longitude -105.080066 | Originally posted by Gallerinski:
This sums up a lot ...
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Location: Phoenix AZ | People will think we moved all these empty bottles into position just for the photo. Well we did rearrange them a little, but none came from more than 6 inches away. Toby |
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Location: SoCal | That pic is even more impressive when you realize that one of the OFC contingent doesn't drink..... |
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Location: Latitude 39.56819, Longitude -105.080066 | but he sure knows how to eat!
man we had some great meals!!!!!!!!!! |
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Location: closely held secret | ... Toby? |
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Location: NJ | I think Witko's dreaming of becoming Toby Tyler & running away t'join th'Circus . . . |
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Location: Earth·SolarSystem·LocalInterstellarCloud·Local Bub | I don't even wanna know... |
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| Toby or not Toby, that is the question... |
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Location: closely held secret | Thank you, Sir Francis. |
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Location: Yucaipa, California | Toby Tyler |
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Location: Latitude 39.56819, Longitude -105.080066 | Little Toby (aka Russell) does look a bit like a little Witko! |
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Location: Upper Left USA | Koonta! |
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Location: closely held secret | Originally posted by stephent28:
Little Toby (aka Russell) does look a bit like a little Witko! I never noticed that before. But now that you mention it...
Yah, I can see that...
  
..but which one is the real Dave? |
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Location: NJ | Sorry Guys, . . but that was probably the only Disney flick that Kurt Russell WASn't in . . .
. . it was Kevin Corcoran.
. . or did you mean the chimp?? |
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Photos Collings Factory Tour
