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Mandolin

Collings MT

Name: Collings MT
Brand: Collings

Collings · MT Mandolin

Price: 3.647 EUR – 4.956 EUR

Price history

Cheapest seen Most expensive seen

Availability: 2/10 (Very rare)

The entry point into a small, obsessively precise American maker's mandolin line: carved Engelmann spruce top over figured maple back and sides, satin-finished and simply appointed, positioned as the understated option below the fancier MT2.

Where available? Go to the best price – 3.694 EUR About this instrument

About the Collings MT

Collings built its reputation on archtop-guitar-level top carving before entering mandolins in 1999, and the MT applies that background to a deliberately understated F-style instrument: a carved Engelmann spruce top (a lighter, more responsive spruce than the Sitka used on many production mandolins) over seasoned figured maple back and sides, at the standard 13 7/8-inch scale. Where Collings' step-up MT2 uses Adirondack spruce, an all-gloss finish and upgraded ivoroid binding with a decorative "Flourish" peghead inlay, the MT keeps a full-satin lacquer finish and simpler appointments - the same core carving and tonewood quality without the ornamentation.

This makes the MT a genuinely professional-grade instrument rather than a step-up hobbyist mandolin: Collings builds each top individually carved rather than press-formed, in a shop known in the guitar and mandolin world for unusually tight build tolerances and consistency between individual instruments.

Where to buy

Reverb 3.694 EUR Best price View details
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Reverb 4.956 EUR View details

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Source: https://reverb.com/item/90539225-collings-mt-mandolin-left-handed-2014-sunburst

Sound character of the Collings MT

The carved Engelmann spruce top - lighter and more responsive than the Sitka spruce used on most production mandolins - combined with individually hand-carved (rather than press-formed) construction gives the MT a clearer, more articulate note separation than typical F-style mandolins, especially useful in dense bluegrass tremolo and chop-chord playing. Figured maple back and sides add brightness and quick note decay rather than the sustained warmth of mahogany, keeping the tone cutting and percussive.

Bright Crisp Percussive Resonant

Technical data for the Collings MT

Top	Carved Engelmann spruce
Back/Sides	Figured maple
Body style	F-style
Scale length	13 7/8"
Finish	Full-satin lacquer
Origin	Collings, Austin, Texas, USA

Price history for the Collings MT

Cheapest seen: 3.647 EUR · Most expensive seen: 4.956 EUR

Cheapest seen Most expensive seen

The history of the Collings MT

Collings Guitars, founded by Bill Collings in Austin, Texas, added mandolins to its lineup in 1999 after decades of archtop guitar-building experience; the MT and its F-style siblings were immediately regarded among bluegrass players as instruments that could compete with vintage Gibson F-5s on build quality, if not vintage mystiqü.