Photo story by, Kelly West News Photography One Class, Fall 15′
Collings Guitars, which started as a one-man shop in the mid-1970s, has grown to include more than 70 full-time employees and an expanding facility on the western edge of Travis County. Bill Collings dropped out of college as a pre-med major and started repairing and building guitars, and eventually hired his first employee in 1989, who still works for the company.
The Collings shop turns out high-quality acoustic and electric guitars, as well as mandolins and ukuleles, and most steps of the production process are performed painstakingly by hand. The cost of the guitars can range anywhere from $3,500 to $6,000 or more, depending on how custom the design is.
Collings instruments are played by a variety of musicians, including Lyle Lovett, Lloyd Maines, and Patti Smith.
[Students from the News Photography 1316 class spent a morning documenting the work and craftsmanship at Collings Guitars, and complied a photo story from the assignment.]
