Hello to everyone here

[Reg]

Hello to all, new member here from Ontario Canada. I ordered a Collings MF on saturday from Greg Boyd and what a great guy to talk to. Gave me a full history of Bill Colling and the build quality of his instruments. I would like to know hows it going to all who own Colling mando's. Any communication regarding this line of mando's will help me count the minutes until Greg Boyd tell's me my mando is in. I look foward to participate in this awsome forum and will communicate my findings when I get my MF. I curently own a 1974 Gibson F5 that I love for recording in my studio. This mando is dark sounding with not much sustain, not the greatest for jamming with but records wonderfull.Thanks to all who reply and look foward to some Colling MF comparison and genaral interest.

[camando]

Hi Reg

I am from Ontario as well. Do you live anywhere near the Twelfth Fret on the Danforth? They had a couple of Collings mandos there the last time I was down. They were up real high so you had to think about it before you made the reach and grab. I loved the neck and fretboard on them, not to mention the tone!

Chris in Canada

[Mike Bunting]

Mike in Alberta here. I bought an MF5 from Greg about a year ago and it just keeps getting better. I was in Toronto in January and got to visit the 12th Fret, had a nice supply of good mandos there.

[Mike Bunting]

Mike in Alberta here. I bought an MF5 from Greg about a year ago and it just keeps getting better. I was in Toronto in January and got to visit the 12th Fret, had a nice supply of good mandos there.

[Reg]

Hello Camando, and Mike Bunting. I live in Sudbury which is five hour north of Toronto. Are you guys satisfied with your decision on the Collings. How would you descibe the tone to the best of your ability. I may get mine in a couple weeks or so. I am the next customer in line when they arrive from Collings. Heard a lot of good feedback on these mando's so I am gambling that I will enjoy the ownership,if not I can return within three days. Good to hear from Collings mando owners and thanks for taking the time to reply.

Reg

[grsnovi]

Hi Reg,

I recently became the owner of a new MF. I've had it now about two months and I love it. I posted a few images in the picture area, I think they're back on the second page by now called "Collings # 208" or something like that.

There is a nice article about Collings in the current issue of Mando magazine (which just showed up yesterday or the day before).

Gary

[peterleyenaar]

Hi Peter here , also from Alberta, 50 Km N.W of Calgary,
I have owned Collings, both A and F and they are great instuments, beautifull tone and finish, if I ever was to buy a serious mandolin from a small factory, it would be again a Collings.
Presently I am very happy with my Peter Sawchyn custom made mandolin which surpasses imo the Collings both in sound and finish and for half the price, Peter is a Luthier in Regina,
Saskachewan, his waiting list is a little over one year.

[Corbin Smith]

Lovin my M2TH

It's #187, I bought it six months ago and it was about a year old then. It's REALLY opened up compared to new Collings I've played.
As for it's tone, the thing I noticed when I was trying all of Greg Boyd's mandos was that each string's tone really stood out as having individual tastes. I might describe it as a clarity of tone versus a melding into each other. It's different than a couple Gibsons my friends play in that it isn't as "dark". It was one of the loudest mandos that I tried at Greg Boyd's and is one of the loudest I've played/heard up till now.

Collings is its own animal. It isn't a Loar copy as far as tone goes. I play mostly bluegrass though, and when I first chopped my M2TH, I felt "it". I broke the bank, but I'm getting my money's worth every time I pick it up.

[MandoCowboy]

I'm enjoying my MF5, had it for 9 mos now. I've played other Collings mando's and they are for the most part very consistent. It's a very versitile instrument and can easily be played in many different genre's of music and hold it's own. Great ring and sustain, clear notes all the way up the neck, great chop, easy to play. Workmanship is first rate.

On my particular mando I found that I had to keep the action at between 4 - 5/64's at the 12th fret to generate tone depth. Any lower that that weakens the tone some.

The Collings mando's do it for me, and I couldn't be happier.

MandoCowboy

[Cary Fagan]

Hey there,
I'm in Toronto, Ontario, and I've just bought a used Collings MT2. Don't expect it to get here for two or three weeks since it can get stuck a while in customs. But I can't wait.

I love the idea of a mando from a good small builder but I didn't want to wait, especially since I'm going to Nashcamp in June. And with Collings being so consistent, it seems you can't go wrong.

By the way, those twelfth fret Collings have been sold for a while now. I noticed the A was gone and two days later saw a band called the Brothers Cosmoline and noticed that the mando player had a brand new looking Collings A. Coincidence?

We can all be a little mando-crazy, but as long as you're making music (even at my level!), every day has a bit more joy in it.

[Tom C]

Welcome from New York

[krishna]

Maybe we should get us our own Canadian mandolin.cafe board. Kerry here from Montreal.Hello to all the Canadians.I have only played One or two of them ,and they were nice!

[Reg]

Thanks for the reply's. It is much appreciated. And yes it would be nice to have a Canadian forum such as this great place.

Thanks to everyone.


Reg

[peterleyenaar]

Reg and Krishna, no need for a Canadian forum imo, there are not enough of us Canucks , and I feel perfecly at home with our American mando friends here on this great forum from whom I have learned a lot.

[mandopete]

I'm curious about how many owners of Collings mandolins have the Gotoh tuners? My MF-5 (#39) has them and i think they are just awful. I'm curious if others have had any problems.

[Scotti Adams]

..greetings..have fun and enjoy the stay..

[Cary Fagan]

I like it here at mandolincafe too much to want a separate Canadian site. But perhaps the occasional Canadian topic being posted would be of interest to us. Such as Canadian summer festivals, favourite Canadian bands and players, etc.

Here's a question. Are there any Canadian bluegrass standards other than St. Anne's Reel? (And where does it come from anyway?)

[grsnovi]

mandopete - Despite what the Collings website states, my MF # 208 has Schallers. I'm happy with them. The Gotoh are 14:1, Schaller 16:1 and Grover 18:1 not sure what the gear class tolerances would be. Why do you hate the Gotohs?

[mandopete]

Well, the first thing is that they slip quite a bit. When I took the strings off for the first time I was very surpised at the amount of "slop" in the gears.

Secondly I had one of the tuning buttons actually come loose when trying to tune. What as especially frustrating about this was that I was in the recording studio when it happened and I was unable to tune the instrument.

I was surprised (shocked actually) when I discovered these things on what is otherwise an impecably built mandolin. I haven't gotten around to having the tuners replaced, but it's has become a real thorn in my side.

[grsnovi]

The good news is: fixing that problem isn't like regraduating the top.

Take 'em off and put on a set of your chosing.

Have you even considered a note to the folks in Texas? I don't know what the general concensus is on the various brands of tuners available. I don't know if Collings uses Gotoh and Schaller as interchangeable component parts or if they decided to change from Gotoh on the earlier ones to Schallers for a reason.

Good luck...