Collings Waterloo 14XTR

The WL-14 is the flagship model of the Waterloo guitar line and the inspiration that started it all. Keeping true to the design and style of the era, the WL-14 is available in "ladder" bracing (L) as well as "X" bracing (X). The ladder bracing option provides woody and open tone, with midrange honk that's perfect for fingerstyle blues. The "X" braced version retains tighter focus and balance across the tonal range.

Loaded with character and gently priced, Collings' Waterloo 14XTR really amazes me. It reminds me of the guitars I grew up with, all the old Kays, Harmonys and Stellas that were packed into my fathers music store in Philadelphia. The difference here is that Bill Collings made the Waterloo very player friendly. Great action and a wonderful feeling lower profile neck make this a guitar that is hard to put down. Along with the lower profile neck this model also includes an optional truss rod and X bracing. I invite you to read this interview with Bill Collings to really get what this guitar is all about. Here is the link to the whole interview, below is an excerpt:

http://www.waterlooguitars.com/about/

Interviewer: What was the inspiration behind Waterloo Guitars?

Bill Collings: I've always been infatuated with guitars. Guitars of all kinds. Not just the expensive ones. When I first started working on guitars, there was always the holy grail. It was usually a mid-'30s Martin or Gibson that people were after. It was never the ladder braced guitar or the off-brand guitar, but there was always something intriguing to me in those cheaper guitars from the '20s and '30s. You could pick them up and they had character. The problem was that they rarely played well. If they had played well, a lot of them would still be played today. But since they didn't, these are the guitars that got put in a closet or shoved away in an attic somewhere and forgotten about.

You have to remember that, during the depression, the majority of guitars were sold through mail order catalogs under all kinds of different sub-brand names built by the major guitar companies of the time. They may have been a fraction of the price of the company's main brand, but they were what people could afford and what the companies did to stay afloat. The guitars had simple appointments and weren't built from the most gorgeous wood. They didn't sand the braces. They didn't clean up their excess glue. They were made quickly and were all about function. Some really great guitars were made that way and these were the guitars that ended up in the hands of the influential players of the day.

Right now, I think there's a rebirth of different guitar sounds and tones. People love guitars and all their factions. Every which way there is. I wanted to bring back the voice of some of these old depression era guitars in an instrument that would actually play. There's an awesome space there to explore and enjoy.

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 WATERLOO GUITARS
The Waterloo guitar line, which is produced by Collings Guitars, is a look back in time to when there was a genuine need for soulful tone that could be coaxed from simple instruments. The blues, country, and folk music played on these instruments was made in heartfelt response to the hard times of the depression era. It was music heard in work camps and barn dances, kitchens and honky-tonks, porches, street corners and churches. These musical styles became the roots of popular American music for decades to come. The Waterloo brand is all about capturing the voice and spirit of the very best depression era guitars in well-made and very playable instruments.