Waterloo WL-K
Ah, the elusive Waterloo WL-K. Seldom found in the wild, the Waterloo genus of guitars are birthed infrequently and only by the full moon when the drier and warmer winds begin to blow in to Austin from the hill country to the west. It can take as long as six years for a Waterloo guitar to be birthed. This particular example was ordered and conceived back in 2019 and took its form very slowly over the intervening years before finally being delivered to its Canadian summering grounds aptly named Waterloo, Ontario.
… but seriously, folks:
The Waterloo WL-K is an amazingly faithful rendition of Gibson's famous Kel Kroydon KK1, built in the early 1930s. The original Kel Kroydons were built incredibly lightly, some weighing in at a scant 2.5 lbs. The Collings-built Waterloo tips the scales at a feathery 3 lbs, which is still remarkably light for a guitar designed for use with standard tension steel strings.
Collings hand-selects their lightest mahogany and spruce for this model, and builds the instrument with extra light bracing, a tiny and thin early 30s sized bridge plate, and lightweight StewMac Golden Age tuners in an effort to keep the guitar as light and responsive as possible. The end result is wonderful - the WL-K is tremendously open, woody, resonant, clean and transparent. The only thing that it isn't is old. And we imagine that 80 years ago, an original Kel Kroydon would have sounded quite a lot like a Waterloo does today.
With a wonderfully comfortable rounded neck carve, perfectly located frets, compound radius fingerboard and perfect set-up, the Waterloo is completely enjoyable to play, too.
Sunburst-finished spruce top with X bracing and white top binding. Unbound back, super-thin lacquer finish. Ebony bridge with bone cut-though saddle and ebony pins. Rosewood fingerboard, 24-7/8" scale, and 1-3/4" ebony nut. The neck has a full-feeling rounded carve with a 1st fret depth that measures .905”. String spread at the saddle is 2-3/8”.
This is the last Waterloo WL-K we have in the queue, and at the time of this writing Collings is not accepting orders for any Waterloo models.
With hardshell case
Individual instruments may vary slightly in appearance
… but seriously, folks:
The Waterloo WL-K is an amazingly faithful rendition of Gibson's famous Kel Kroydon KK1, built in the early 1930s. The original Kel Kroydons were built incredibly lightly, some weighing in at a scant 2.5 lbs. The Collings-built Waterloo tips the scales at a feathery 3 lbs, which is still remarkably light for a guitar designed for use with standard tension steel strings.
Collings hand-selects their lightest mahogany and spruce for this model, and builds the instrument with extra light bracing, a tiny and thin early 30s sized bridge plate, and lightweight StewMac Golden Age tuners in an effort to keep the guitar as light and responsive as possible. The end result is wonderful - the WL-K is tremendously open, woody, resonant, clean and transparent. The only thing that it isn't is old. And we imagine that 80 years ago, an original Kel Kroydon would have sounded quite a lot like a Waterloo does today.
With a wonderfully comfortable rounded neck carve, perfectly located frets, compound radius fingerboard and perfect set-up, the Waterloo is completely enjoyable to play, too.
Sunburst-finished spruce top with X bracing and white top binding. Unbound back, super-thin lacquer finish. Ebony bridge with bone cut-though saddle and ebony pins. Rosewood fingerboard, 24-7/8" scale, and 1-3/4" ebony nut. The neck has a full-feeling rounded carve with a 1st fret depth that measures .905”. String spread at the saddle is 2-3/8”.
This is the last Waterloo WL-K we have in the queue, and at the time of this writing Collings is not accepting orders for any Waterloo models.
With hardshell case
Individual instruments may vary slightly in appearance