When Bill Collings launched the Waterloo line in 2014, his intention was to build guitars that look back in time to an era when soulful tone could be coaxed from simple instruments. Stripped-down instruments were available to player who pioneered blues, country, and folk music in heartfelt response to the hard times of the depression era. Proudly made by Collings in Austin, the Waterloo line captures the sound and vibe of yesteryear—but with modern precision and attention to detail.

The WL-14 is the flagship model of the Waterloo brand. The WL-14X is the model version with X-Bracing, which lends a balanced voice with smooth, immediate response and a wider dynamic range than its ladder-braced counterparts. This WL-14X (serial #WL4007) rolled out of Austin just last year, and it features a Spruce top with Mahogany back and sides. It has the standard, vintage-inspired prominent "V" neck shape, which provides authentic feel to match the tone. While genuine '30s boxes are often finicky and hard to set up, the Waterloos are made with 21st-Century precision. For ease of adjustment, this WL-14X has an adjustable truss rod and a modern drop-in saddle. The result is a guitar that will never hold you back from expression!

With the sunburst top finish and tiger stripe pickguard, this Waterloo WL-14X taps into the Depression-Era spirit, but in an artful package that only Collings can deliver. This Wl-14X dates to 2025, so in many ways it still feels fresh from the factory. It shows some superficial signs of wear and use—the satin nitro finish is fairly thin, so it will pick up wear more readily. In particular, the back of the neck gets shiny as it's played more and more. But all around, this is about as clean of a used guitar as you could ask for. The setup is excellent, and like a lot of Waterloos, it has a certain charm. These are fun guitars!

Bill Collings was really onto something when he launched the Waterloo brand. There's a sincere vibe to the lower-end depression-era guitars, but most have their quirks and aren't usable by today's standards. The Waterloos capture that vibe, but in a package made with modern-day precision. They play and function 100% as you could want them to. These days, it's hard for Collings to produce sufficient numbers of Waterloos, so used examples rarely last long. This 2025 WL-14X includes its original case!