Bill Collings has reinvigorated the industry with his take on classic design. The I-35 is Collings' reinterpretation of the semi-hollow body, two-pickup guitar. The first I-35 in Tiger Eye Burst in our shop did not last long and we are now privileged to offer a classy Tobacco Sunburst finish.
The first customer who tried the I-35 model in our shop was glued to it for nearly 3 hours. You can tell just by playing it acoustically that you have something special in your hands. Plugged into one of our Carr amplifiers, this guitar really screams! You can hear every note in every chord all the way up and down the neck and will hear overtones you never noticed before in tunes you've been playing for years. From soft and sweet to thick and dirty, this guitar is up to the task with a sound is clear, focused, and articulate and sustain that goes on for days.
While the rest of the industry at large uses pressed plywood for their backs, and bent sides, Collings carves the back and sides from one single slab of Mahogany. This preserves the "look" of a semi-hollow bodied guitar while providing noticeable sonic differences to the player's ears. The top is carved from a mineral flamed piece of book matched maple. This not only looks more like the "original" late 50's and early 60's instruments, but more importantly, sounds like an older guitar.
Collings collaborated with Jason Lollar for all their pickup designs. While the particular pickups they use are specially wound to Collings specifications, they are very near in design to the Lollar standard Imperial Humbucking models. Lollar manages to capture the airy top end, tight lows, balanced midrange, and complex overtones of the best original PAF pickups.
In reviews, they are consistently given high marks for their balanced frequency response. Unbalanced coils keep the bottom end tight for the intense richness the pickups provide, as overtones build after each note is played. Alnico 5 magnets are de-gaussed to specific levels, unique to the neck and bridge positions.
The sound Collings has developed with these pickups can certainly be described as mature. The neck position pushes out a lovely warmth and depth - ideal for jazz chording or chunky blues. None of the pesky midrange honkiness that can be found with other bridge humbuckers is present. The bridge pickup is certainly hotter and more aggressive, but maintains full-bodied presence without any harshness.
Specifications:
- Premium Quilted Maple
- Semi-Hollow Mahogany Body
- Inset Alder Center Block
- Fully Carved Top with F-Holes
- Fingerboard: Rosewood
- Ebony Peghead Veneer
- High Gloss Nitrocellulose Lacquer Finish
- Humbucking Pickups by Jason Lollar
- Grained Ivoroid Bindings
- 12" Fingerboard Radius
- Hand Set Mortise and Tenon Neck Joint
- Tone Pros Bridge and Tailpiece
- Sperzel Tuners with Vintage-Style Buttons
- Body Length: 17 5/8"
- Body Depth: 2"
- Lower Bout Width: 15"
- Total Length: 40"
- Scale Length: 24 7/8"
- Nut Width: 1 11/16"
This instrument has been spoken for. Please call 866-265-5993 or email info@artisanguitars.com to inquire about a similar instrument. Tags: collings, humbuckers, lollar, mahogany, maple, semi-hollow, sunburst, tobacco sunburst
