Collings D2HA Adirondack Spruce and Sacha Rosewood ID-7298

Collings D2HA Adirondack Spruce and Sacha Rosewood

Any dreadnought with a spruce top, rosewood back and sides, with a herringbone top purfle is going to immediately bring comparison to the standard bearer - the Martin HD28. While Collings is certainly not the first to build 14-fret dreadnoughts, they have brought a new tonal clarity to the depth and warmth usually associated with such a large, deep-bodied guitars. The Collings D2H model has commanding presence with balanced tone and clarity, while still being incredibly powerful in any register - the signature Collings voicing.

Instrument builders are continually searching for alternative woods that can match the tonal qualities that Brazilian Rosewood brings to the table, as well as the aesthetic beauty of this wood species. In this custom D2H, Collings has chosen to present a new species of custom wood for use on their instruments - introducing, Sacha Rosewood.

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 (*) !!

In this special D2H, Adirondack is matched with the Sacha for obvious reasons. Adirondack provided a high stiffness across and along the grain, making it one of the go-to soundboards for flat-pickers. It has the highest cross-sectional strength and across-the-grain stiffness of all spruce species.

Played in tandem with another D2HA with standard Indian Rosewood back and sides, the contrast is striking. While both are wonderfully defined in the trebles, with a crisp defined bass note, the mid-range on the Sacha dreadnought was crystal clear, and almost dripping in resonance.

Specifications:

• Shipping Weight: 68
• Serial: 21564
• Top Wood: Adirondack Spruce
• Back Wood: Sacha Rosewood
• Nut Width: 1 23/32"
• Scale: 25 1/2"
• Bracing: Pre-War Scalloped
• Inlays: Mother of pearl diamond and square fingerboard inlays
• Rosette: Cross-cut grained ivoroid and wood nitrate strip rosette
• Neck Wood: Mahogany
• Fretboard: Ebony 14"-26" Compound fingerboard radius
• Nut Material: Bone
• Saddle Material: Bone
• Saddle Spacing: 2 3/16"
• Bridge: Ebony Belly-Style
• Bridge Pins: Ebony
• Tuners: Nickel Waverly tuners with 16:1 ratio
• Purfling: Herringbone
• Body Binding: Grained Ivoroid
• Pickguard: Tortoise
• Backstrip: Herringbone
• Headstock Shape: Square headstock with volute
• Headstock Overlay: Ebony
• Headstock Inlay: Mother of Pearl Logo
• Frets To Body: 14
• Neck Profile: Modified V neck profile
• Body Depth: 4 7/8"
• Lower Bout Width: 15 5/8"
• Body Length: 20"
• Total Length: 40 1/4"
• Case: Hardshell Case Included
• Misc. 1: Mortise and tenon hybrid neck joint
• Misc. 2: High gloss nitrocellulose lacquer finish