New Used Gear Day: Waterloo WL-14L

LuckyLabRat · #1 03-13-2022, 06:12 PM

I posted last week about finishing my first recording project and anticipating a new guitar day… Well, Friday I visited the Manchester Music Mill for the first time and had an absolutely wonderful experience and bought my third acoustic guitar: a used Waterloo WL-14L.

Ben at the Music Mill was super awesome. I tried a bunch of smaller bodied guitars, including a Martin 00-15m and a 000-15m, a Martin 000-28, a Gibson G-00, a Guild M40, an Eastman, a Yamaha, and an American Dream Taylor. All were amazing instruments, with the 000-28 being close to my favorite.

But this Waterloo grew and grew on me. I was skeptical at first because the pick guard is quite loud aesthetically, but upon playing it I was immediately questioning my initial scorn because I just LOVE the sound. In the following days, I am now appreciating the overall aesthetic quite a lot. This guitar sounded the most unique of all the guitars I played that day, and I got a great (i think) deal on this used guitar. I am loving the playability and overall sound quite a bit in my first couple hours of playing.

I’ll post again with a proper review. I reached out to Collings to figure out the manufacture date. I’m also gonna bring it to my guy and have him look it over.

Cheers everyone!

The guitar:
https://imgur.com/yGaNL6B

The collection:
https://imgur.com/2S6LTWH

Me playing guitar:
https://imgur.com/J1RzYJ4

Glennwillow · #2 03-13-2022, 06:13 PM

Very nice guitar! Congratulations!

- Glenn

sinistral · #3 03-13-2022, 06:38 PM

By “L” and not “LTR,” I assume that this is one without an adjustable truss rod. I hear these are super light and super resonant. I picked up a used WL-14 LTR not long ago and love it. It has a very pronounced V neck which took some time to get used to, but it has a lovely, full sound. They really are special (and becoming rare) guitars—enjoy it!

LuckyLabRat · #4 03-13-2022, 06:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sinistral

By “L” and not “LTR,” I assume that this is one without an adjustable truss rod. I hear these are super light and super resonant. I picked up a used WL-14 LTR not long ago and love it. It has a very pronounced V neck which took some time to get used to, but it has a lovely, full sound. They really are special (and becoming rare) guitars—enjoy it!

Hey there, this is new information for me! What does it mean to not have an adjustable truss rod? Like how are adjustments made without a truss rod?

BluesKing777 · #5 03-13-2022, 06:59 PM

Congrats!

Going by your label, the guitar was built before Bill Collings died - after that a pic of Bill was on the labels.

Both my Waterloos, X and L are just a glorious delight. I think Bill came up with that something that a lot of people were looking for....a reissue of Kalamazoo type guitars but with great build and playability.

And if you fingerpick blues, the ladder is the ONE! Yep, a lot of what people were buying vintage boxes to try and find. But there it is.

But I fingerpick all kinds of things, and a great sound from the ladder can be had by playing the melody lines of songs and adding a few simple chords. Bingo! The treble notes ring out......wow.

BluesKing777.

LuckyLabRat · #6 03-13-2022, 07:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Glennwillow

Very nice guitar! Congratulations!

- Glenn

Thanks, Glenn!

LuckyLabRat · #7 03-13-2022, 07:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BluesKing777

Congrats!

Going by your label, the guitar was built before Bill Collings died - after that a pic of Bill was on the labels.

Both my Waterloos, X and L are just a glorious delight. I think Bill came up with that something that a lot of people were looking for....a reissue of Kalamazoo type guitars but with great build and playability.

And if you fingerpick blues, the ladder is the ONE! Yep, a lot of what people were buying vintage boxes to try and find. But there it is.

But I fingerpick all kinds of things, and a great sound from the ladder can be had by playing the melody lines of songs and adding a few simple chords. Bingo! The treble notes ring out......wow.

BluesKing777.

Thanks for that information! I will post back if Collings gives me a specific year! Very cool!

jricc · #8 03-13-2022, 07:52 PM

Congrats LuckyLabRat! Sweet Waterloo you got there. Enjoy and play in good health.

joeappel · #9 03-13-2022, 09:27 PM

Congrats! It’s a beauty. They are so light and resonant. Just wonderful to play, too. The folks at Collings are very responsive. You’ll hear back from them very shortly with the specs on this lovely little guitar.

emtsteve · #10 03-13-2022, 09:35 PM

Very nice guitar, those sure are lookers! Nice fit with the chocolate dread. Enjoy!

CopyCat · #11 03-13-2022, 10:04 PM

Nice guitar! Waterloos are special. And so light they melt right into you

LuckyLabRat · #12 03-15-2022, 07:27 AM

Thank you all for the comments.
Collings replied, my guitar was shipped to the music emporium in Boston in June of 2016.

Sent from my Pixel 2 using Acoustic Guitar Forum mobile app

jklotz · #13 03-15-2022, 07:43 AM

Congrats! I love me some Waterloo!

A.Wilder1 · #14 03-15-2022, 01:16 PM

Congratulations on the 14L!! Just wait… that burst and pickguard will grow on you!

We have a Waterloo Owners club floating around here somewhere too… you should join.

Cheers!

rollypolly · #15 03-15-2022, 02:27 PM

Congrats on the Waterloo! They look like special guitars!