Collings MT Carved Top Mandolin (2018), ser. #4186, original black hard shell case.

Collings MT Model Carved Top Mandolin (2018), made in Austin, TX, serial # 4186, sunburst finish, flame maple back, sides and neck, spruce top, ebony fingerboard, original black hard shell case. The MT model is Collings' plainer F-hole, A-bodied mandolin. It is less ornamented than the more deluxe MT-2 but retains a classic look harking back to the Gibson aesthetic of the 1920s. It is built with a spruce top and flame maple back, sides and neck. This example is fairly recent made in 2018, and appears hardly used. Modeled on Gibson's semi-mythical A-5 (Lloyd Loar had one built as a test for himself) this is an A style model with F holes sporting a lovely Cremona Brown sunburst, with a gloss finish on the top and matte on the back and sides. The figured maple neck has a soft V profile with an unbound ebony fretboard; the body has single binding on the top only. The instrument is equipped with a Loar-era style adjustable ebony bridge, vintage style strip tuners and Collings' own tailpiece. This is one of the company's more original 8-string offerings, an excellent playing and sounding instrument with a lot of style at a much lower price than their comparable sounding F-body models.Overall length is 27 in. (68.6 cm.), 10 in. (25.4 cm.) across at the widest point, and 1 13/16 in. (4.6 cm.) in depth, measured at side of rim. Scale length is 13 7/8 in. (352 mm.). Width of nut is 1 1/8 in. (29 mm.). This MT2 is very clean showing only some minimal handling marks and is free of any really noticeable wear. There are no playability issues, even the frets show virtually no wear. It has been played just a bit and offers a lovely powerful but still warm sound that will likely improve further with time and use. It includes the original HSC. Near Mint Condition.