Damn, I always saw Collings as "that ferrari I'd love to own one day". But I really liked the santa cruz here..!

I love the selection of the head to head comparison of these two great guitars. Unfortunately to really determine the differences, which are actually significant, each player should play both guitars with the same exact sample piece. Mic placement and the clear differences in the two player techniques here pretty much make the comparison mute. Not one better than the other but very different technique. Also string type and age make a huge difference in tonal-nuance. They should both be strung with the same string make and string gauge FYI. My Santa Cruz OM #218 is celebrating its 30th year this year. It is fully mature, light as a feather and blows away everyone who plays or hears it. I’ve played many Collings guitars. I’ve never played one that I didn’t love. Guitars at this level are all about the player and what is put into the instrument by that player. No bad choiceshere

Thanks for this comparison guys! The SC sounds a bit fuller to my ears and the Collings more direct and more even over the whole register. For finger picking recordings i would certainly pick the Collings!

great video my friend ! ^^

Another Great Collings, Never any surprises , Collings are great guitars, I own several Martins , Wish I could afford a Collings.

Both beautiful guitars. I own a 2013 Collings OM2H - i love it. It took me a long time to get the action just right, and it plays incredibly. Flat picking just sounds awesome - especially Celtic style songs.

its a personal thing.. love them all. i have a sc d mdl. 1995 yr. love it.

The Collings headstock is ebony too, not rosewood :) Both wonderful, can't go wrong with either.

Both Legendary - the Santa Cruz has warmth and bloom (they often sound broken in from new) the Collings is a more woody, dry tone that will warm up with playing in. I have a Martin OM28V a legendary guitar too but I would have either of those guitars in a heartbeat!

Great comparison! Really cool to see the nuanced differences between these two great guitars. I’d love to see a comparison between a Goodall TROM and Collings OM2H (or another boutique OM).

Would love to see a comparison between a Collings 000, santa cruz 000 and a Martin 000-42. Both amazingly beautiful guitars, with a really good comparison. In this video, I surprisingly prefer the Santa Cruz as it has more depth to my ear. Might need to consider them for my next purchase. Great job guys!

Hi guys, I really enjoy your "battles" and i think yuo make a great pair - and for an old British guy like me its great to see two young bucks playing so nicely. This is an observation rather than criticism - about the variables. Same strings? New? same pick? ad of course, whilst you are both fine musicians, I know of some people that can make a e5000 guitar sound like an Eko, and others that can make a wooden beer crate sound like a heavenly harp. For info I don't have an OM, but I do have four Collings and one Santa Cruz, and have a friend who plays a Collings OM3 and truly makes it sound heavenly. Anyway, thanks for the videos -please keep them coming!

Both are awesome. I have owned both but kept the Collings. Santa Cruz was really good for a light touch and rhythm strumming. Collings is better for fingerstyle, flat picking, lead, and power without losing any of its articulation.

Great video but the mics are in different places I would say. Impossible to get it perfect but the mic on the Santa Cruz is closer to the sound hole making it sound more bassy.

Great that you are comparing these 2 guitars. I own a Santa Cruz OM, so I’m slightly prejudiced. 😊 I love the character that these guitars have, and they play so easy! But the Collings sounds great too and I’m definitely gonna try one in the future.

I had a Collings D2H from 1995 to 1998. I traded it in on a Santa Cruz Tony Rice model. I'll keep the Santa Cruz.

Both sound fantastic, as one would expect. The Santa Cruz to my ears had more of the Hi-Def, 3D tone. It was full, loaded with lots of bass, and it surprisingly had a good bit of warmth to it as well. I felt like it also had bit more clarity on the high end. The Collings was a bit simpler in tone. Like it’s using one really amazing flavor of dry, woody goodness. I personally liked the tones of the Collings a bit more than the SC, but I can see why someone would choose one or the other. I would like to hear an Eastman E6D vs a Martin D-18 or a Eastman E10D vs a boutique Adi top dread.

Hello Gents, both fine instruments, and always difficult to get a true image from the mics, but the Santa Cruz seems to have more dimension across the register; strong bass, mids and lovely round trebles.

Hey guys! That was a great choice for a head to head challenge! I have owned Collings guitars, but not Santa Cruz, so I favour the Collings. But truthfully, through my television speakers, I could not hear a perceptible difference between the two! I like Richard Hoover’s “green” business practices, but I would rather have sat and had a beer with Bill Collings (rip). I no longer have an OM guitar at all - I’m favouring my Martin 000-28h at this point in my playing journey! I’m a long time sub - always look forward to your new postings. ( I specialize in vintage restoration, here in Ontario Canada) Cheers!

Hey guys, great comparison. Two excellent guitars. I think your recommendation (living room, studio) is accurate. I heard that a Collings can need a bit more time to open up. Could you do a Rozawood vs. Collings/Santa Cruz/Bourgeois? That would be interesting...

Great demo! I've got Martin and mine is more similar to Santa Cruz one to my ears. I wanna buy a vintage acoustic guitar but too expensive for me. When I play on fingerstyle, I choose an electric classical guitar now.

To my ears the Santa Cruz sounds much better because of its overtones. But at the same time the Collings with its distinct notes would probably work better in a studio situation. Great comparison this time because you both played the same chord progressions making it very easy to listen and compare. Thank you.

I love Santa Cruz guitars but the Collings is a clear winner to me here. I see the difference here in 2 similar spec guitars is the Rosewood. Typically I believe the darker the Indian Rosewood is, the more overtones and articulation it gives and that is a stunning piece of rosewood on the Collings.

i would pick Collings, they are limited number in europe for sale though

Hallo , leuke video ! Misschien een bourgeois met een huss & dalton?

At this level of build there is no contest only preference 🐸 and every individual build can be a better tone or not as good as the last ; that said I've owned from Âll recognizable custom shop builder names - Ând here is the essential line up of preference from actual ownership experience .... SCGC Collings * Martin * Bourgeoise Larrivee ** Breedlove ** Taylor * / ** essentially tied never owned a Gibson acoustic 😝

I would choose the Santa Cruz.

Collings! 🤗

What is the scale length of the guitars? Collings will usually use a full length 25.4" to bring out the brightness of the trebles. The SC may be a shorter scale which would explain allot in the tones. Pick one over the other? Fat chance.

Boucher vs Bourguois OM's, please

The angle of the pick attack on the strings is making the biggest difference here.

An important and unseen difference between the two is that the Santa Cruz has a Dove-Tail neck-joint, and the Collings has a bolt-on neck-joint.

I prefer the Collings OM2H over a Santa Cruz but I will add that my OM2H is more full-sounding and laden with overtones than the example recorded above.

Do they have the same strings?

The Santa Cruz to me captures what the essence of a rosewood OM should be, which is to create a room filling sound. The Collings is nice too, but my vote goes to SCGC.

please compare aLowden F50

I'll take the one you don't want please.

die Santa Cruz is nu in mijn bezit

I''ve owned Santa Cruz and Collings. Both are great, but to me for pure tone the SCGC wins it. The test would be more valid if each played each guitar. Collings are great for recording because they have less overtones and you won't get feedback as much. Playing in the living room the Santa Cruz rules. In the studio for the reasons stated, Collings wins. Martin rosewood guitars tend to have lots of overtones as well so you also have those problems, but the higher end ones sound great. If you are a traditionalist, you'll go with Santa Cruz, Martin (and many others), but if you are in to the modern sound more you'll go for Collings, Boucher, Atkins, etc. Lots of great players use each one of the first three I mentioned. Martin still has many great guitars,but they have tried to cover all the inexpensive bases and make a model for every application. I don't think this was the model of the Martin company until Chris Martin changed it in about the nineties if memory serves. The other two only make higher end guitars and being low volume manufacturers they can pay more attention to fit and finish on every guitar. Now you can find a guitars of okay quality for less than $500 and you can see these Martins being played in poorer countries, so I like that aspect of it. Martin has had a lot of problems with the binding coming loose because the state told them they couldn't use the correct glue in Pennsylvania anymore. so that has been a constant headache for them. There are lots of other companies putting out decent guitars (like Boucher, Atkins, Furch, etc) and you can find truly great guitars by independent luthiers but you usually end up waiting longer.

Collings

Santa Cruz is for the player collings is for the audience.

I prefer the Collings, but I'd never turn down the SC

Collings.

The Santa Cruz seemed to project a little better. Tell Doc Brown to turn down the flash. It's a comparison of guitars, not players.

The Collings is a VERY GOOD MARTIN!!!.:. love it!

The pick and the technique of playing has everything to do with the tone of the guitar. They should’ve had the same person, playing both guitars and editing the film.

🔵 OMGosh~don't be crazy with your guitars ❕ ⚡🚨⚡ - don't hold them as a weapon ❕😣😫😡

Personally I don't really understand what you mean when you say the sound is more "precise" and "detailed" etc.

My Guild USA California made is cooler.

What are we supposed to gather from hearing a couple of beginners playing guitars they can't play?