Founded in the late 1970s by the late Bill Collings in Texas, Collings Guitars is the flagship of American manufacturing. While the brand now uses modern manufacturing processes, it makes no compromises: every element is carefully selected and every detail is given special attention, so much so that the quality of the models produced systematically exceeds that of the most renowned Custom Shops.

Made especially for us, this I-35 Deluxe is a semi-hollow-body with a Honduran mahogany body, a superb quilted maple top, a 60's neck profile, a flat radius (12") and a long tenon for better vibration transmission. A pair of Lollar Low Wind Imperial humbuckers completes the package, making this one of the best guitars currently produced.

We ordered this Collings I-35 Deluxe in a custom Mermaid Blue finish for the beautiful rendering of the top shown through the black and blue figuring. One of the reasons we also love Collings is that they make no compromises on the quality of the parts their guitars are built with. The Honduran mahogany used for the body and neck offers real depth to the sound you get from it, and the maple top—of the highest grade—provides exceptional sustain. The rosewood is obviously of the highest standard as well, which is evident from its tight grain and even color. The playing comfort is of course very subjective, but it is hard to imagine that it would be difficult to find your marks on the relatively flat fingerboard. The Gotoh tuning machines and the Kluson bridge ensure a perfect tuning, so this is a guitar that you can play for hours, standing or sitting, without getting tired, and with confidence.

We couldn't resist starting with a blues to hear the Lollar Low Wind Imperial's tone. Lollar is one of the best boutique pickup manufacturers around, and the Low Wind series immediately delivers the kind of warmth that jazz guitarists are looking for, as well as the distinctive grain of vintage guitars, whose slightly muffled dynamics make crunches as subtle as humanly possible. Of course, pushing everything to the limit can also lead to richer saturations, and even then we could hear every note or string of a chord with great precision. Even through a fuzz, this guitar delivers a lot of clarity, that's how articulate it is... In short, it looks great and sounds divine.

2 year warranty from our workshop.