I picked up a Collings tenor a few months ago (UT-1 satin finish mahogany). There are all ready lots of reviews in the review section of the forum, but I thought I'd share some interesting luthier related details of it.
The bracing is a 3 fan pattern, but there are also two small braces running at ~90 degrees to the two outer fan braces. They are maybe an inch long or so running out toward the kerfing at the widest part of the lower bout.
Bridge plate is strange in that there isn't one? The bridge is not a string through.
The neck joins the body at the 13th fret. I think it is a dovetail or mortise & tennon joint. I cut the neck in half to see if there was a stiffener of some sort....just kidding!
Fret board is radiused slightly. The position markers look like they are ivoroid materiel and get progressively smaller as you move down the neck.
The compensation on the saddle is very elegant looking, you almost don't notice it unless you look very close. It's a single sweeping curve filed into the saddle. I haven't checked the intonation with a strobe tuner but it seems to be spot on to my ear (which is to say it could be off).
The bracing is a 3 fan pattern, but there are also two small braces running at ~90 degrees to the two outer fan braces. They are maybe an inch long or so running out toward the kerfing at the widest part of the lower bout.
Bridge plate is strange in that there isn't one? The bridge is not a string through.
The neck joins the body at the 13th fret. I think it is a dovetail or mortise & tennon joint. I cut the neck in half to see if there was a stiffener of some sort....just kidding!
Fret board is radiused slightly. The position markers look like they are ivoroid materiel and get progressively smaller as you move down the neck.
The compensation on the saddle is very elegant looking, you almost don't notice it unless you look very close. It's a single sweeping curve filed into the saddle. I haven't checked the intonation with a strobe tuner but it seems to be spot on to my ear (which is to say it could be off).