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Collins Metal Resonator Acoustic Guitar

 

Review of the Collins Resonator by The Man in the Jar

Fancy a trip to the Bayou? Grab your tootin' jug and climb aboard... 

Features of the Collins Resonator 

Tuners - The unbranded sealed tuners brought the guitar smoothly into tune.

Headstock - Plain and simple paddle-style with three-a-side.

Nut - White plastic nut abuts the rosewood fretboard and is tidily finished.

Neck - The chunky-style neck befits the Resonator heritage that leans heavily towards slide-playing on heavier gauge strings. Although chunky, it is comfortable in the hand and the satin finish makes for easy movement. 

Fretboard - A dry rosewood fretboard with close, tight graining. The dot markers are of white pearloid with (unusually) a single dot at the 12th and a pair of dots at the 15th. The markers on the side of the neck follow the more traditional pattern so it will be a careless driver who gets lost.  

Frets - Very thin and low vintage-style frets that again nod towards the primary use of this guitar as a slide machine.

Action - Quite high action is standard on guitars meant for slide playing. If you've never played slide before this will come as a surprise, but high action and heavy strings are essential to prevent the slide "bottoming-out" on the fretboard and making unattractive clunking noises. I have just set up my Danelectro U2 for slide-playing with 12 gauge strings. The action I settled on pretty well matches the action on this Collins.

Body - Here lies the heart and the soul of this genre of guitar. Inside the chrome-plated brass body sits a round biscuit-cone resonator under a decoratively perforated arched cover. It is this resonator that actually produces the noise within the rigid metal body. Two F-holes in the upper bout allow for air movement. Being largely made of metal, this guitar is heavier than an ordinary acoustic, having about the same overall weight as a decent solid-body electric. 

Bridge - The simple straight saddle bridge sits under a chrome bridge cover. The strings are anchored firmly in a slotted metal tailpiece that sits on the edge of the resonator panel.

Strap-buttons - Only one strap button is provided, situated on the bottom of the body.

Finish - This is a pleasingly solid, well-built guitar.

 

Sound of the Collins Resonator

The Collins dishes up a super blues-vintage sound that is instantly recognisable and under a slide becomes very addictive very quickly. I tuned to open G (what I call "Bad Dog" tuning so I can remember the notes are DoG DoG BaD) and bashed through some old George Thorogood numbers. The little Collins delivered the sweet soul and chime I needed in spades.  

 

Overall Impressions of the Collins Resonator

If you want an affordable guitar for slide playing I really don't think the Collins can be beaten in sound or looks. Most competing resonators at this price point have wooden bodies. Remember the Collins is made of brass and therefore doubles as an extremely effective blunt weapon should your gig descend into a bar-brawl. At this price the Collins Resonator is an un-missable addition to your collection.   

Buy the Collins Resonator Acoustic Guitar

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