My guitar collection - Acoustics
For decades, Collings guitars have come in TKL hardshell cases. Fantastic, high-quality cases for sure and the industry standard used by many brands. But for years, there was something gnawing at Bill Collings. Not so much that the cases in use were bad, more in what they became when heavily used. They just did not have that cachet he was looking for, especially when compared to pre-war cases. In typical Bill fashion, he started building prototype cases in 2011. He explains his rational in this video, with more info in this 2016 archived snapshot from the Collings website, the year these cases were introduced. Unfortunately, Collings stopped production of their Traditional cases in the 2019-2020 time frame due to high production costs and logistic challenges. Due to their rarity, they have become collectors items, trading well above the original $895 price tag. Now they will set you back about as much as a Calton case. Is it worth it? Yes. These cases are super light, sleek, fit the instrument like a glove, and are a sight to behold. But would I swap all my cases? Nope. The TKL cases do just fine.
Collings Traditional hardshell Case vs. TKL hardshell case
The story behind these cases
Serial number:
Serial number:
The pictures show some salient differences between 2 cases used for Collings single-0 models. The case on the left is the Collings Traditional hardshell case my 02H 12-fret T came in. The case on the right is the TKL hardshell case for my 02H 12-string SB. As far as dimensions go, both guitars have the same body size and only differ in total length due to the longer headstock for the 12-string. The Collings case uses 3-ply poplar veneer with a 22oz vinyl covering for the shell whereas the TKL case uses their RigidLite™ HS multiply hardwood with a Durahyde™ vinyl covering. Notice the difference in the latches, the stitching, as well as the amount of foam used around the instrument when the case is opened. The lining on the Collings is a high-density injection-molded foam surrounded by a color-fast rayon with a (re)crushed velvet texture. The foam in the TKL is covered with their Cushion-Soft™ plush lining. That more foam is used for the TKL case is unsurprising since the outside shell is supposed to be suitable for similar sized but differently shaped guitars of different brands, the foam conveniently taking up the slack. For instance, the outside shells for the TKL cases of my 14-fret 01 E VN and the 12-fret 12-string shown here are identical. On the other hand, as Bill tells it in the video referenced above, his Traditional case will only fit the model for which it is designed. This is expressed in the case’s serial number. For the shown case it starts with ‘012-’, indicated it is for any single-0 12-fret model, i.e. either standard build or Traditional build, although not a single-0 12-string for which the case is not long enough to fit the headstock. The first S/N in the list, starting with ‘D-’, is for the aftermarket Traditional case I got for my D2HA. Such a case serves any standard, Traditional, or Hill Country dreadnought. Traditional case serial numbers for the other models either start with ‘OM-’, ‘CJ-’, ‘014-’ (14-fret single-0), ‘C10-’, ‘P-’ (Parlor), ‘MT-’ (A-style mandolin), or ‘MF-’ (F-style mandolin). Hence, Traditional cases were not available for all Collings models. And if one wants to check whether a different guitar and/or brand fits in the case, with the tight tolerances in play, it is worthwhile to carefully compare the dimensions of said instrument with the dimensions Collings posts on their website for the model the case is fitted for.
The sry behind this guitar
D-000575
012-000034
