Collings started experimenting with mandolin family designs in 1999, and Collings quickly became some of the most highly-regarded mandolins made in the US. Constructed of the finest materials available and built with 21st-Century precision, Collings mandolins are serious instruments for serious players. Nowadays, Collings offers a limited lumber of mandolin build slots, so brand new Collings mandolin are harder to find.
This Collings MT2 (#A4743) features an A-style design with a hand-carved Adirondack Spruce top and hand-carved Eastern Flame Maple back and sides. Relative to other varieties, Adirondack Spruce provides excellent clarity and focus with lots of projection and headroom. The top is hard-carved to its own unique thickness to maximize the potential of the instrument. While some MT2s have two-piece backs, this MT2 has a one-piece back. The result is a full, rounded sound with the sweeter, softer subtleties of an A-model mandolin.
The MT2 is Collings' deluxe A-model, so it boasts elegant appointments, such as a Flourish peghead inlay, a high-gloss finish, and fancy binding around the edges. We ordered this one with a Cream Top finish and Red Stain back, sides, and neck. This is an elegant, high-end mandolin.
Like everything Collings, this MT2 was built to perform at the highest level, night after night. It features a 1-1/8" nut width, a 13-7/8" scale, and a super-playable compound radius fingerboard. A combination of exacting PLEK machine leveling and hand fret dressing ensure a comfortable setup and silky fret feel. Heavy duty hardware—Gotoh tuning machines, adjustable ebony bridge, and Collings original tailpiece—make the MT2 a reliable instrument built for the long haul.
- Construction: A-style
- Top: Adirondack Spruce
- Back/Sides/Neck: Eastern Flame Maple
- Soundhole: F-holes
- Body Binding: Ivoroid with b/w top and side purfling
- Fingerboard Binding: Ivoroid with b/w side purfling
- Peghead Binding: Ivoroid with b/w side purfling
- Bracing: Tone bars
- Bridge: Ebony w/ Adjustable Saddle
- Fingerboard: Ebony w/ Mother-of-Pearl dots
- Nut: Bone, 1-1/8"
- String Spacing: 1-9/16"
- Neck Profile: Rounded V
- Neck Joint: Dovetail
- Frets: Medium 18% nickel-silver
- Truss Rod: Fully Adjustable
- Peghead Veneer: Ebony
- Peghead Inlay: Mother-of-Pearl Flourish w/ Collings logo
- Tuners: Nickel Gotoh w/ black buttons
- Scale Length: 13-7/8"
- Fingerboard Radius: 5-1/2" - 11-5/8" compound
- Body Finish: High gloss nitrocellulose lacquer - Cream Top w/ Red Stain back, sides & neck
- Tailpiece: Collings original tailpiece
- Case: Deluxe hardshell case by TKL
