A very early Collings guitar was shipped in from New Mexico. The owner had slipped on ice and split the top, back and sides. This pearl logo was hand-cut by Bill with a very different style.

There was no stamped serial number, just a paper label signed by Bill Collings with a July 1987 date.

I asked Bill about this guitar and he remembered building it and also acquiring the stash of Brazilian Rosewood that makes up the dramatic back and sides of this instrument. This guitar was built before he used standardized jigs but has the clean, sharp construction Collings guitars are known for. This side crack extended from the neck to the endpin.

If you look closely there are two long splits in the Rosewood running the entire length of the back a few inches off the center line.

It technically doesn't have a model number so I call it an 0-40 for the shape and abalone trim around the border. I asked Bill why there was a hole in the top and he didn't remember putting one there but guessed that it could have been for truss rod accessibility.

It turns out he was right, the brass truss rod acorn nut lined up under that hole so it was cut there to make room for the adjusting wrench.

After adhesive was applied and all the cracks aligned the finish was sanded level.

After the sanding was completed the body was wiped down with cleaner to await finishing.

In the spray room to receive several coat of clear nitrocellulose lacquer.

 

Cick on the arrow to see the work progress.