Collings Baby 1 German Spruce and Sacha Rosewood ID-8107

Collings Baby 1 German Spruce and Sacha Rosewood

Collings smallest model is a rarity among fractional size guitars: most listeners never guess that it's not a full-size instrument unless they see it being played. The Collings Baby is approximately a 3/4 size version of their OM, 12 1/2 inches wide in the lower bout with a 24 1/8 inch scale, and the headstock and bridge are scaled to match. Sometimes the Baby is used as a travel guitar, but it often sees duty as a songwriter's tool, the guitar that's ready at a moment's notice and can be played while seated in any position.

Upon arrival at Artisan, we were all continually impressed with these small-bodied wonders. We find the tone to be quite large compared to what we expected out of such a small guitar. The low end is remarkable, even on par with many of the single and 00 models we see come through the shop. This is a guitar you can sit and play for hours on end without fatigue, thanks to the small profile and short-scale length. It's almost impossible to put down and offers many creative possibilities that you may not come up with on larger guitars.

In this special Baby 1, the custom German Spruce top is matched with the Sacha Rosewood back and sides.

The German Spruce top is highly responsive and can handle flatpicking quite well with a clear, focused, and round tone, although the guitar practically begs to be played fingerstyle with notes that seem to leap from the small sound cavity of this baby all the way up the neck.

The scientific name for Sacha Rosewood or "Higuerilla" is Micandra spruceana. Sacha Rosewood is an excellent wood for acoustic guitar backs and sides. It's appearance is very reminiscent of traditional old world Madagascar Rosewood with rich colors ranging from light coffee to mid orange brown with dark brown stripes. The sapwood is strong and stable with a light-beige color, so there is no jarring contrast, and it looks fantastic on the sides of the instrument. When book matched, Sacha Rosewood presents a strong and colorful linear figure for backboards.

Tonally, Sacha Rosewood reminds us of Palo Escrito (the Rosewood from Mexico known for making great sounding instruments), Madagascar Rosewood with a bold glassy tap tone that belies the low weight of the wood. While the overall tonal palette settles in tones midway between mahogany and rosewood, it delivers an immensely satisfying richer overtones akin to Brazilian Rosewood. When coupled with an Adirondack Spruce top, Sacha Rosewood brings the guitar strong fundamentals, a lightning quick response, clear trebles, well defined mid-range, and a solid bass register - or in other words, simply wild (*) !!

Other appointments include a custom nut width of 1 3/4" for those who find the standard 1 11/16" a bit too narrow for their playing style. Rope purfling, tortoise style body bindings, long dot fingerboard inlays and Nickel Waverly tuners with Ivoroid buttons finish out this gorgeous guitar.

Check out some of our other Collings Guitars

Specifications:

Shipping Weight: 68

Serial: 22623

Top Wood: German Spruce

Back Wood: Sacha Rosewood

Nut Width: 1 3/4"

Scale: 24 1/8"

Bracing: Pre-War Scalloped

Inlays: Long Dots

Rosette: Cross-cut grained ivoroid and wood nitrate strip

Neck Wood: Mahogany

Fretboard: Ebony

Nut Material: Bone

Saddle Material: Bone

Saddle Spacing: 2 3/16"

Bridge: Ebony

Bridge Pins: Ebony

Tuners: Nickel Waverly w/Ivoroid Buttons

Purfling: Rope

Body Binding: Tortoise-style binding

Pickguard: Tortoise Style

Headstock Shape: Solid

Headstock Overlay: Ebony

Headstock Inlay: Pearl Logo

Frets To Body: 14

Neck Profile: Modified V

Body Depth: 3 15/16"

Lower Bout Width: 12 1/2"

Body Length: 17 1/8"

Total Length: 36 1/2"

Case: Hardshell Case Included

FP Featured - Line 1: Collings Baby

FP Featured - Line 2: German Spruce