My guitar collection - Collings

 
 

There are several Collings acoustic guitar models that fall a tad outside the normal range. The Tenor guitar is one of them. And then this Baritone guitar, introduced during the 2017 Winter NAMM, with a scale length of 27½” and tuned a fourth below standard tuning, i.e. B-to-B. It is based on the DS body, about the largest body found on any Collings acoustic, with dimensions of a 20¾” body length, a body width of 15⅝”, and a body depth of 4⅞”. The body has a Sitka spruce top and East Indian rosewood back and sides with a style-2 zipper backstrip. Unlike the DS, it has a different kind of bracing, i.e. Sitka spruce un-scalloped X-brace with with 3 tone bars, and 13 frets to the body. The Honduran mahogany, high-gloss polyester resin finished neck has a modified V profile, a 14”-26” compound radius ebony fingerboard with Mother-of-Pearl (MOP) dot position markers. The square headstock has en ebony veneer with MOP logo and 16:1 gear ratio Waverly nickel-plated tuning machines. With the AT-17 archtop, at 42” it is the longest acoustic guitar in the Collings lineup. The Baritone models are no longer available as of January 2026. The webpage for the Baritone 2H has been archived and can be accessed through this June 2025 snapshot. That snapshot lists the used string gauges as Phosphor Bronze .016”, .024”, .029”, .049”, .060”, .070”, but I could not find a standard D’Addario set that exactly matches this. The (coated) set listed below comes closest with string gauges .016”, .022”, .029”, .048”, .060”, .070”.

 

Collings Baritone 2H

The story behind this guitar

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The guitar was purchased from Joe Adams on Reverb. I was originally contemplating to buy this Collings Baritone 3 G but in the end the price difference made it a no brainer. Indeed, everything in this package is huge! The guitar. The case. The sound. Deep and satisfying. I recall that after Linda Manzer had built Pat Metheny’s first baritone, he publicly stated he had to figure out how to use it. In the end, he changed the middle A- and D-strings, i.e. the D- and G-string on a normal guitar, with the thinner gauge of a 12-string doublet, similar to Nashville tuning. The result of this can be judge on several solo albums he released. I don’t want to go that far. But when I took her out for the first time in rehearsal with my 2 musical mates, it was undeniable I had a bit of the same problem. What do you play on this thing? The “Wichita Lineman” solo? Can it be used on “Jack Straw”? Any of the other tunes we are regularly playing? Hmmm. And then my fingers spontaneously started playing the opening riff of “My Girl” and all fell into place. The tune just sounded glorious with the right balance of bass line and melody. So it surely is a nice tool to have in your arsenal and it will be used as such.

The story behind this guitar

October 27, 2020

31125

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D’Addario XT 16-70 Phosphor Bronze Medium Coated Baritone (16-70)