Collings City Limits Deluxe

Standard for a single cut - mahogany body with quilted maple top and brazilian rosewood board. Les Paul control layout and Jason Lollar humbuckers. TonePros tuneomatic style bridge. Beautiful to look at, but stops just shy of "furniture guitar" flash.

I play mainly blues and 70's style rock, so was looking to replace an old Les Paul Standard. THOUGHT I wanted a 59 historic, but, lovely though the LP midrange honk was, when you look at the price in the UK, I couldn't see where the money had gone - ok, some pretty tops and nice vintage style hardware, but the binding was really poor ( and not in a pseudo aged way, just badly done) and the inlays looked like they had been cut with a knife and fork. In comparison, the Collings, although actually more expensive here, is built like a Swiss watch - beautiful attention to detail. I think its probably a more versatile guitar too - acoustically it feels more alive, string separation sounds better to me, and it feels less of a one trick pony than the 59. Admittedly, you can argue it doesn't do the full on Peter Green stuff quite so well, but I think it covers a wider range of ground beautifully - singing sustain that seems to go on forever.

I can only give a 10 here - I think its better put together than my PRS custom 22, which was my previous high water mark. Absolutely flawless. Low medium action with 10s from the factory with no rattles or buzzes - plays like a dream.

Hard to comment - as I've said, its cosmetically beautifully done, and the nitro finish should ensure it ages gracefully. Hardware all looks solid, and I don't imagine theres much to go wrong. Hard to comment on future reliability from here though, so have given 8 accordingly.

Have only had it a few months and no issues, so can't really rate

I have had a few guitars in the last 20 years, amny of them very good ones, including Charvels, Ibanez pointy headed metal mosters right up to Les Paul standards, a PRS custom 22 and an american deluxe strat. This is the finest guitar I have ever been privilaged to own in terms of its fit, finish, and most importantly sounds - it is also, by quite a margin the most expensive, so really it should be. I have given a 10, which shows as fantastic value, as I guess it feels like it is right up at the top of the tree of modern electrics, and I guess you have to pay for the best, but it was eye-wateringly expensive. It is also not a true Les Paul, and it depends on whether you really want the icon - for me, I think this is a better all round guitar than any LP I've ever played, but I understand the draw of the magic of the original - you pays your money and you makes your choice. Don't believe I@ll ever come to regret mine.