The Collings OM1 A Julian Lage signature model, using the A for Adirondack Spruce top option, is an exceptional guitar and was the last collaboration by Bill Collings before his death in 2017.
Based on Lange’s original 1939 000-18, the Collings OM1-JL uses traditional materials – spruce top, mahogany back, sides and neck, and ebony for the fingerboard, headplate and bridge. The nut and saddle are bone. The tuners are by Waverly, and work very well. On this guitar, the neck is carved to match Lange’s.
As is always the case, Collings construction is incredibly clean and precise, and the finish is without fault.
Here is some of what Collings has to say about the OM1A Julian Lage Signature model:
“Though Julian Lage’s guitar shares the same foundational specs as the OM1 T, it is unique in some key ways. Its neck feels like no other Collings guitar. That’s because it’s modeled after Lage’s cherished 1939 Martin 000-18. This pre-war gem is heard on the guitarist’s 2015 solo album, “World’s Fair,” and was his main touring acoustic for years.
The 000-18’s neck—which was of course originally hand-shaped and sanded—has a distinctive taper altered by decades of wear. For Lage, this particular neck had come to feel like home. Through careful analysis and digitization of its unique dimensions, we were able to precisely recreate its worn-in, asymmetric feel on his signature model. While we maintained the relatively narrow 1 11/16″ nut of the 000-18’s neck, we extended the fretboard from the original short scale to our standard 25 ½” length for slightly greater presence and note definition.”
DETAILS:
- Neck: Mahogany neck with unbound ebony fingerboard.
- Top: Adirondack spruce
- Back & Sides: Honduran mahogany
- Construction: Traditional Series Build and Voicing
- Neck : Honduran mahogany
- Body Binding: Tortoise with custom wood purflings
- Fingerboard Binding: None
- Peghead Binding: None
- Bridge: Ebony belly-style with 2 3/16" spacing
- Fingerboard: Ebony with gold MOP short dots
- Fingerboard Radius: 14" - 26" compound
- Bridge Pins/End Pin: Ebony with MOP dot
- Nut Bone, 1 11/16"
- Saddle: Bone, drop-in
- Neck Profile: Custom JL carve
- Peghead Profile: Square
- Neck Joint: Mortise & tenon hybrid
- Truss Rod: Fully adjustable
- Frets: Medium 18% nickel-silver
- Peghead Veneer: Ebony with gold MOP Collings script logo
- Tuners: Relic nickel Waverly with vintage oval buttons (16:1 ratio)
- Backstrip: 1-style (walnut)
- Rosette: Custom wood rosette
- Scale Length: 25 1/2"
- Brace Material: Sitka spruce
- Brace Pattern: Custom Traditional Series pre-war scalloped X-brace (no tongue brace)
- Body Finish: Custom satin nitrocellulose lacquer
- Neck Finish: Custom satin nitrocellulose lacquer
- Pickguard: Tortoise
- Strings: D'Addario NB1253 (.012"- .053")
- Case: Deluxe hardshell case
