Collings Ladybird

Condition: brand new

Every so often a guitar comes into the shop and I know within about thirty seconds that it's going to be hard to put down. The Ladybird did exactly that to me. Love at first sight, and it's only gotten worse (or better, depending on how you look at it) the more I play it.

Collings built their name on being about as flawless as a guitar can be, so it's fun to watch them take that precision and point it at something as playful as a mid-century catalog guitar. You know the ones I mean: the old Silvertones, Kays, and Valcos that turned up in living rooms all over the country in the '60s. They had charm and attitude in spades, but let's be honest, most of them didn't hold up the way the Gibsons and Fenders did. The Ladybird takes that whole vibe and rebuilds it from the ground up with Collings engineering underneath. It's the fully-hollow, poplar-bodied, trestle-braced version of that idea, and it works beautifully.

The first thing that gets you is the feel. That 24 1/8" scale is the shortest in the Collings electric line, and it gives the whole guitar a loose, buoyant quality under your hands. Bends come easy, chords ring out fast and lively, and there's a springiness to the response that pulls a different kind of playing out of you. And the neck profile is perfect. It's a medium C with that unmistakable '50s Gibby vibe to it, enough meat to fill your hand without ever feeling like work. As anyone who knows me will tell you, I'm particular about necks, and this one nails it. Acoustically it's bright and immediate, more fundamental than sustain, which is exactly right for what this guitar is. At just under 5 1/2 pounds it's the lightest thing on the Collings wall, and you feel that the moment you strap it on.

Plugged in, the Righteous Sound Cathedral pickups are the heart of it. They're a modern take on that old gold-foil catalog sound, chimey and airy but with real muscle behind them. From a whisper to a howl, and they hold their note clarity the whole way, which is the Collings part of the equation coming through. It'll do lush, shoegaze-y reverb washes just as happily as it'll dig into an Americana edge-of-breakup thing. Collings ships it with D'Addario flatwound 11s and a wound G, and that string choice adds a smooth, slightly muted warmth that leans the guitar toward a lyrical, melodic way of playing. String it with roundwounds if you want more bite, but I'd live with the flats a while first. There's a reason they set it up this way.

Then there's the look, and the Ladybird does not play it safe. The antiqued jet black finish, the leopard tortoise binding, the tortoise inserts set right into the pickups, the Davies Radio knobs. It's bold without being a costume. Classic Collings restraint in the build, a little wildness in the details.

I've had a lot of Collings guitars pass through here over the years and I love them for their consistency. The Ladybird is the one that surprised me. This is a guitar with real personality, and I'd bet it would feel right at home in the hands of players like Daniel Lanois, Marc Ribot, or Ry Cooder. Finally, not another copy of this or that. It responds to whoever's holding it and gives a little of that player back. That's a rare thing, and it's the reason this one has been so hard for me to set down.

If you'd like to find out more about this item, just call or e-mail me. It would be my pleasure to talk to you about it.

ABOUT COLLINGS GUITARS
Bill Collings moved from Ohio to Texas in the mid 1970’s. Spurred by a lack of interest in medical school, this move enabled him to combine lifelong interests in both guitars and tools into the challenge of stringed instrument building and repair. After a couple of years in Houston, several guitars and a few banjos later, he headed west to southern California. Making it only as far as Austin, where he shared shops with fellow luthiers Tom Ellis and Mike Stevens. From there, he set up his own small shop in a wooden "one car" garage. His reputation for outstanding quality and meticulous attention to detail quickly spread. In 1989, he rented a 1000 square foot space and hired two helpers. Fast forward to present day where Collings craftsmanship is respected by professional and amateur musicians alike…anyone on the quest for quality. Some of these include artists; Keith Richards, Lyle Lovett, Pete Townshend, Emmylou Harris, Andy Summers, David Crosby, Chris Hillman, Joni Mitchell, Don Felder, John Sebastian, Lou Reed, John Fogerty, Tim O'Brien, Pete Huttlinger, Kenny Smith, Brian May, Joan Baez, John Prine, Nigel Tufnel of Spinal Tap, and Steven Spielberg to name a few. You owe it to yourself to try one.