| Touring a Texas Guitar Shop: Collings Guitar Tour |
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| Written by Luthier Bob | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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On my summer vacation I dragged the family to a tour of Collings Guitars. This was my favorite part of the trip. The family hung in for a three hour tour. A three hour tour! Every Friday Collings Guitars gives a free tour. I was impress at how large the group was. We even had an old Gibson shop veteran in the mix. A little background on Collings GuitarsBill Collings moved from Ohio to Texas in the mid 1970’s. Spurred by a lack of interest in medical school, this move enabled him to combine lifelong interests in both guitars and tools into the challenge of stringed instrument building and repair. After a couple of years in Houston, several guitars and a few banjos later, he headed west to southern California. Making it only as far as Austin, he shared shops with fellow luthiers Tom Ellis and Mike Stevens. From there, he set up his own small shop in a wooden "one car" garage. His reputation for outstanding quality and meticulous attention to detail quickly spread. In 1989, he rented a 1000 square foot space and hired two helpers. His work is respected by professional and amateur musicians alike…anyone on the quest for quality. Some of these include artists: Keith Richards, Lyle Lovett, Pete Townshend, Emmylou Harris, Andy Summers, David Crosby, Chris Hillman, Joni Mitchell, Don Felder, John Sebastian, Lou Reed, John Fogerty, Tim O'Brien, Pete Huttlinger, Kenny Smith, Brian May, Joan Baez, John Prine, Nigel Tufnel of Spinal Tap, and Steven Spielberg to name a few. www.collingsguitars.com
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