$275 Orangewood vs $5000 Collings Acoustic Guitar 

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Buy the Orangewood and a nice used Honda Civic for the price of the Collings (unless you are RICH).

You could buy 18 orange wood guitars for the price of 1 Collings. Keep 1 for yourself and donate the other 17 to a music program where it’s needed the most.

For someone who is just starting to play guitar, then I believe having a good setup to ensure playability is the most important regardless of the price paid. Once a person gets to a proficiency level and knows that they will continue playing, then they can upgrade to a more expensive guitar. People's closets are full of $1,200+ guitars that never get played because the owner lost interest. You can get to that point with the $275 guitar.

I've seen several of these types of reviews, comparing two guitars with similar features but vastly different price points. What I would like to see now is a comparison of two guitars with similar prices, but different feature sets and lineages. For example, both Martin and Orangewood offer a dreadnought acoustic 12 string for about $500-600 (Martin X1D12 is about $600, and Orangewood Echo 12 is $495). The Martin has a solid spruce top, laminated sides and back, a *laminated* neck, and a "Richlite" fingerboard. It has basically zero ornamentation . . . no binding anywhere, a basic rosette, and no fret markers on the fingerboard (just dots on the side). Versus the Orangewood which has a solid sitka spruce top, laminated back and sides, solid mahogany neck, and ovangkol fingerboard, with binding everywhere (body top and back, neck, and headstock), fancy fingerboard inlays, abalone rosette, and gold hardware. The Martin is made in Mexico, and the Orangewood in Indonesia. But only one has "Martin" on the headstock. So given a fixed amount of money, is it worth it to forsake a lot of features, both cosmetic (binding, inlays) and functional (solid vs laminated neck, wood vs synthetic fingerboard) to buy a budget version of a "top name" brand, or take a gamble on a (seemingly) much nicer but unknown one?

Skip to the playing examples! Fingerpicking: 1:18 Crosspicking: 4:28 Strumming: 4:48 *Correction: Orangewood Guitars are made in Indonesia.

The strumming playing test showed the most difference for me

A spruce (or cedar) top is the most important thing for sound. Solid back and sides may add some tone, but not that much. The set up, and strings make a huge difference. I find the neck (slightly wider) of the Orangewood Echo Live to be more playable than any acoustic I've ever had. When it comes to expensive guitars, you're paying mostly for aesthetics. When you get rich from your playing ability, you can buy pretty guitars.

I've seen great players make a $200 guitar sound amazing, and players make a $2,000 guitar sound like crap.

Here’s a at home practice trick to make ANY guitar sound like 5 Grand...Play your Guitar in your bathroom or walk in closet. Trust me you’ll get spoiled lol

Law of Diminishing Returns on full display. Yes, the Collings sounds slightly better, but $4,725 better? I saw this in action 28 years ago when I bought my $1,200 (1990 dollars) Taylor 410 and compared it to my $129 (1986 dollars) Alvarez Regent. About the same difference as this test. That and a foray into semi-expensive electrics cured my overspending on guitars. Unless you're a recording artist, the cost/benefit just isn't there.

Nice review! For a more accurate comparison, you should be comparing the Collings to the Orangewood Highland collection, which are all solid guitars instead of laminated sides and back. Granted, the price jumps up to about $645/$945 (difference being the electronics pickup system). As you point out though, part of what you are paying for is the name, prestige, and the backing of the company; similar if you purchase a Martin, Taylor, Guild, or something similar. One thing that improved the playability for my Orangewood was swapping out the Ernie Ball strings for a set of Elixirs, but that's a personal choice.

Great demo - in my experience, a good player really minimizes the difference between lesser and greater guitars. Still the Orangewood is a great value.

no guitar is worth 5k

My personal opinion is that a guitar over 1500 has more to do with ego than quality of the guitar, just my two cents.

The Collings certainly has more dynamic range in the lower frequencies however for the price, I think it’s smarter to buy the best you can afford and put the time into practice with that instrument.

Who is this advice for? Certainly not a beginner... a weekend hobbyist? Studio guitarist? Who would you ever recommend "spend as much as you can afford" for a guitar?? If you are starting and you spend more than 100 bucks at your local pawn shop you are crazy. Heck, Amazon has a bunch for under 200 if you insist on having something brand new. Get it, play it and if you love it, play it till you break it and then go shopping for whatever you can afford. If you don't like it, take it back to the pawn shop and get 20 bucks back for your trouble. Don't get sucked into the tonal differences and imperceptible nuances of the expensive guitars. They are just not worth it.. and if you are a mediocre player (lets face it... most of us are, right? ), you can spend 15k and you will still sound like garbage. Get something cheap and have fun with it!

Do you have a video comparing the Collins with one of the all solid body Orangewood guitars?

I would buy the $275 guitar ......because the$5000 guitar does not sound almost 20 times the price better and you will earn the same amount of money playing the cheaper one and if this $275 fell to bits after 10yrs I would buy it again , the $5000 could also fall to bits as well

The Collings had more presence...You could definitely hear that was somewhat restricted in the Orangewood. Both had great balance across each's spectrums.

Do you ever compare guitars after they have been used for a couple of years? Be interested in hearing how well some of the less expensive ones hold up.

I've only been playing for a year and I'm far from being an expert but I will say this: It's not whether or not people can detect a difference in the sound; it's whether or not people can QUANTIFY that difference. The answer is most likely no and that's because the actual tone of a guitar is highly subjective. Whether its guitars or professional cameras or power tools, the key differences between cheap and expensive equipment are usually based on objective and quantifiable metrics. Flagship cameras aren't $8,000 because they take better pictures; they're $8,000 because they have features that make taking good pictures dramatically easier and more efficient. A guitar that is expensive is only worth the price tag if it is built with things like ease-of-use and versatility in mind. You have to ask yourself different questions than "does it sound better?" like: "Is the intonation good?", "Is the action appropriate?", "Does it have convenience features like an on-board tuner, a pickup and/or level controls?", "Is the build quality solid and are the materials of high quality/rarity?". Those are the types of things that differentiate a $5,000 guitar from a $275 guitar. The difference in sound quality is almost purely subjective; a person might even spend hours in an audio editing suite making their $5,000 guitar sound like a $275 guitar because they like the acoustic qualities of the latter. So the playing comparisons are nice in terms of seeing what the difference is but they're practically meaningless in the context of the guitars' prices. I do like that you guys talked about more than just the sound quality in your comparison. My only issue is that the title is a tad "click-baity" and there just seems to be a pervasive issue in the musical instrument world in regard to comparing instruments based on their sound and trying to relate that to price-when that's only a small piece of the puzzle. A bargain guitar that is hard to play won't be useful no matter how good it sounds and there are so many ways to augment the sound of the guitar for actual recording/performing that I would say playability and ergonomics should be everyone's top priorities, followed by technical aspects like intonation and tuning (i.e. how easy it is to tune, how well it stays in tune, how sensitive it is to weather, etc.). I wish more videos would focus on things like string spacing, fretboard width, tuning and action because those are the pervasive issues that have plagued my guitar learning experience over the past year.

I'm hearing just a little more "bottom" with the Collings.

I'd buy the cheap one, and use the money saved on good lessons 😁

Orangewood is ok just buy as much as you can I bought the oliver and was really poor quality I don't even play it anymore bad experience won't buy any more from them.

Unless you're playing professionally or you're a millionaire, a $5k guitar isn't going to be worth the investment, imo. I love my new Orangewood Brooklyn Live Limited it sounds and looks amazing. If they had them in stock I would probably have gone for the all solid Ava model. That's my unprofessional, unsolicited opinion. That Orangewood sounds pretty dang sweet to my ears. 😍

A $5000 acoustic is probably not worth it for most people. However if you're already signed to a record label or have a large 100k+ subscriber RU-vid channel, I say go for it.

I surprise myself by liking Orangewood better in practically every comparison I have listened to until now. I hope they grow and start delivering in Europe (where I am). I have to plan it delivered to a friend or family in the States, and then shipped to me. But, I am starting to think that $275 (and the more upper-end Orangewoods around $400-$500) are better deals. And definitely not only because of the price.

The difference is almost negligible when you consider they will be eq'd in post to sound too close to really tell, especially in a mix. Orangewood are good guitars. I played an Oliver Jr mahogany live in a streaming concert from a local studio. I have Babicz, Breedlove's, Larivee, Tacoma, first run PRS acoustic with LR Baggs Anthem, and some others, but chose the Oliver Jr for live performance because of the playability. Now, I have a couple newly released all solid wood Breedlove Companions I would've chosen for the playability and all solid wood response for a live set, but I'm stills shopping for another Orangewood because they're just dependable and expanding their selection of different types of acoustic baritone, bass, and other, even higher end all solid wood guitars, still affordable to most.

Collings has more bass. That's about it.

Event hough its so costly sound wise I would prefer collings, it sounds deep, and good

Yes I can hear a difference, the collings definitely has a more warm, full bass sound. But yeah is it worth 10 times as much? I don't think so. It's like when you go to Best buy and see all of the TVs next to each other It's hard to tell a difference. Put that sucker in your house and you won't even know

The solid wood guitar will only get better with time and possibly appreciate its value depending on its brand. If you're going to buy the multi thousand dollar guitar I would say spend it on a old old Martin or gibson just because its value will only rise.

They both sound great but no one can every justify a guitar being 5000 that’s just ridiculous they pretty much sound the same

Biggest question for me is why you would even compare the two? Why not compare it with an 800-1000$$ guitar, I mean what y'all did is like comparing a Malibu against a Cadillac. Redo with a more realistic comparison because I'm sure most of your viewers can't afford a 5000.00$ Guitar.

The country it's made has a bigger impact on price than quality imo. Plenty of good guitars are made overseas in Asian factories

With about 600$ u can buy an "all solid" Orangewood guitar, which is much better of both of them.... Also Orangewood are made in Indonesia, and their founders are Koreans that moved to California in 2004 and made their headquarters there.....

It sounded nice but not in a million years would i chose a guitar over a 3 months island hopping in thailand including elephand riding, surfing, good food you catch my drift, when you can have pretty solid stuff for 1000€. (And personally i wouldn't go higher than 500€ )

The Collings seemed to have a lower, rounded sound, whereas, the Orangewood seemed to have a high, thinner sound that occasisonally tended toward tinny. Overall, the two guitars sounded similar and, I agree, that the Orangewood would certainly be acceptable for a beginner.

The Collings for sure sounded fuller and better. But IMO ~$1500 is where you really start to see diminishing returns on guitars. Its hard to justify spending 5x the money on something just because there is a "thing you cant exactly nail down that you like better". And lets be REALLY honest. 99.9% of the people who buy a guitar dont use it to make their whole living. It is a hobby for them so does the 5x amount of money make you a better player? Nope. I also get what your saying about the dirt bike comment. But dirt bikes are a CHEAP hobby! Parts are cheap and they themselves are about the price of the Collings guitar. If you want a HIGH DOLLAR hobby look into UTV racing. We take a $20k UTV, strip it all down (with no miles on it) chuck another $20k in parts and labor at it and then take it out and break a few thousand dollars worth of parts per weekend. Plus normally you spend a couple thousand dollars just getting to and from the race and entry fees. Normal race seasons cost about $50k per year not counting the price of your race machine.

i think the orangewood sounds atouch better because its got that sort of pingy sound that i like but i would say that because im buying one next week lol loverly sound guitar for the price you can,t go wrong ste from liverpool england lar lol

The major difference, i believe, is that the Orangewood guitar comes with 80/20 Bronze (Earthwood) strings, while I would suspect that the Collings has Phosphor Bronze. The Orangewood sounds brighter, as expected, and the Collings sounds warmer, also as expected with Phosphor Bronze. The Orangewood also sounded like it needed a truss rod adjustment. Action too low from the factory. I would like to see this comparison re-done after changing both with identical strings.

The orangewood reminds me of a Taylor-esque sound in this video. Is the Collings a well broken in guitar? If it is, that trows off the fairness. It's nice and warm.... Kind of Martin-esque.

collings sound is so clean

is it just me or did they not adjust the action on the orangewood to get rid of that slight buzz?

not only sound but playability matters too

The most I have spent on a guitar is $400. All my guitars sound great to me and I don't get complaints from anyone listening. So, $5000 for a guitar? If it floats you boat go for it, but not for this boy. I like to eat. I don't think $5000 guitar would taste good.

The only way to do a valid comparison is to hear it live. The room you record in and the quality of equipment can drastically alter the tone of a guitar.

Orangewood have been making some great-value guitars. Difficult to get in UK.

I have a Gibson that I love, and a Taylor GS mahogany. I'm thinking a boutique brand like Collings or Froggy bottom will be next (OM body). Anyone else have any good boutique references? For $250 that Orangewood sounds really good, and is nice to look at.

I’m using a $45 Glarry

I feel that as long as you have a decent quality guitar, it doesn't matter if it is $200 or $5000 as long as you enjoy the tone it creates. There are definitely some specific tonal qualities that are hard to create without using expensive materials, but that doesn't make its tone superior and there are a lot of great tones that can be created with cheaper materials that some may prefer.

Collins sounds better but the Orangewood sounds great for the price. I agree you definitely can tell the difference when playing a better quality acoustic. I just ordered the Oliver Jr. from Orangewood to take camping etc.

This was well done and helpful... but what would be MORE helpful would be to compare this to, let’s say a 8 or 900 dollar guitar from Martin or Taylor.. thanks for the review!

The only thing this showed me is your $5000 dollar guitar is not one I would buy. I did not think it sounded that good.

Collings really sound great..the tone is way different

ORANGEWOOD SOUNDED BETTER-P

Orangewood sounds better. 👍

I've heard a very good player make a cheap guitar sound Awesome. Then ive heard bad players make a great expensive guitar sound like Crap. The sound comes from the player. But Orangewood is a Great guitar, just bought the Duke. Then I'm getting the Oliver. Good video!

To me the big difference is going to be fit and finish and the quality of the materials used? is the cheap guitar going to play just as good in 50+ years and sound better like the expensive one will?

I can tell that whoever edits your videos loves their job!

It really is the same difference between a Rode NT1-a and a U87. The Orangewood sounds very forward and bright. It would serve a novice well and cut through a mix. The $5k guitar sounds so much more even. It'll sound great in more situation and with less EQ. It's especially important if you're playing live and can't do the same surgical EQ as you can in the studio.

In the first part, they sounded completely different. I'm not even a guitarist and I could tell the second one sounded way better

It's in Indonesia not China

Glen Hansard has had the same $400.00 Takamine for a thousand years played to death with a thousand holes in it in drenched Ireland and it outlasted 2 of my friends newer Martin's that completely fell apart. Believe me no acoustic guitar is worth 5000.00. After a certain point it's all about name and bells and whistles. There's a million vintage Yamaha's out there that sound and feel great for practically nothing. Built like tanks. Of course solid wood is going to sound better but it's not worth the smallest boost in volume and as far as recording goes you can make 100.00 guitar sound like anything.

good review guys. I play strictly by myself in a little corner of one room in the house. Once in a while I post a you tube video. If I were a gigging musician actually getting paid real money $$$$ I'd consider the Collings. But for what I do the Orangewood would work just fine. At this time I play a Breedlove Atlas Studio series 12 string, and I'm looking to add a 6 string and I think the Orangewood will fit the bill perfectly.

Probably not apples to apples here. Are the strings the same? The strings make a HUGE difference in sound of a guitar. I mean he couldn't hear the difference from the get go, sooo it can't be that much difference as they said later in the video. Id say the difference is marginal at best. Are you going to have a different sound with completely solid vs laminate sides and back? Absolutely. In the end, buy what you can afford that sounds great. I'll bet you'll be seeing Orangewoods more in the future.

too say the collings is 20 times better....the orangewood for the win...especially for someone just starting out...you will get a great guitar at a fantastic price and if you stick with it...then by all means upgrade and pass down the orangewood....4-5k is a lot to spend if you are going to just do it as a hobby...the cost has to justify the ends...professional or hobbyist...that is the question.

Try testing a Lowden acoustic guitar against anything.

Love playing and the quality of products simply has no comparison. That being said i have a garage sale guitar i got for $85 and have gotten years of music and joy from it '

I only hear sh#$ty picks and mics....nice try. You can also be sure they feel worlds apart.

I like the sound of both of them even though they are different I think the Orangewood guitar would actually be easier to mix where is the $5k guitar would need more hi-pass shelving eq.

Thanks for this video, played a big part in me finding my great Orangewood. Fyi that Orangewood is also Pau Ferro back n sides and not mahogany and the two woods feel and resonate noticeably differently (Ive played this OW Echo model and preferred mahogany back n sides so returned the Echo and got the new Hudson model in mahogany b & sides).

The collings sounds way way way better

I own a Gibson j45 custom rosewood. Martin d45. Martin 00028 EC. Blah blah. Orangewood sounds great, I played one last year in Glasgow and it was fantastic. What will it sell for in 30 years time? That's the difference. I know a guy who tuned a cheap car so hard it would keep up with a Ferrari. What will sell well in the future. That's why they are expensive.

I just needa highlight. Im a collings user, i play everyday heavily. Ive kept my collings in nesr perfect condition since it left the factory in 2008. Bought it for $3000 the last offer i had for it was $15000 . So there is also a rare item trade that enthusiast are also willing to pay for. Sorta like collecting expensive watches and cars

you guys should instead compare Orangewood Hudson worth $645.00 which is all solid guitar with the Collings.

The conclusion of this video was useless. The message is basically "If you can only spend $200, that's fine. PERSONALLY, I wouldn't...but it's fine."

Hearing it over internet do not do justice to the sounds. There is a hug different between a $300 and a $4,000 guitar. The way it sounds and feel. Best way to judge it is to have it in your hands. I bought a Taylor CE Deluxe, $1,700 and it sounds totally different from all the reviews on YT. Actually it sounds better and warmer.

So fasr I haven't heard any ultra cheap guitars that are painful to listen to. (haven't played them) But there is a difference in sound quality. Just not enough to warrant paying an exra $4600.00. I think there comes a point where you're paying for "jewellery". There definitely IS a "Pt of diminishing returns". I think really in any instrument.

The Collings sounds better. But for people who wouldn’t ever own a guitar if it weren’t for affordable ones, what good is that? I recently bought a very inexpensive Orangewood parlor size guitar and I love it! I have a classical guitar that is just a bit large to sit on my couch and comfortably play. My Orangewood is perfect for doing so; since I enjoy it, I play more. And practicing on my Orangewood has made playing my classical easier for me.

Try orangewood's new all solid wood, torrified top models..... Use the same strings put on at the same time. You'll hear a difference..... But not as extreme. Put the solid wood orangewood against a 2-3 thousand dollarish guitar with mahogany back and sides..... And you could hurt your brain and pick the orangewood in a blind test..... There are some other brands that have models that hit way above their price point as well. These base orangewood's are not that impressive..... Not a bad buy for the price, but there are better but for the money.... Especially buying used.

The Collings sounds better, but the orange sounds amazing for the price...very good starter guitar.

Is it worth 18x more? probably not. You can get great guitars around $1000 that will sound way better than the $5000 ones. At the end of the day, it's all about the brand of the guitar & the quality of materials being used. But most importantly, the sound should come first

Unless you’re Guns n Roses or any other popular artist, there is no reason to buy a 2-5k dollar guitar. Just notice, that $5000 guitar only slightly sounded better lol than the $275.... Like come on lol. Slightly better is worth over 4 grand

$5000 is too much money for a production model made my a team of 100 - 120 people. I guess if Big brands can get away with this robbery on Custom shop models (Usually worn out, or with problems from the past or custom made for an artist but no objective improvement or added cost), this is not that outrageous.

Go with the Orangewood. No need to spend 5000 unless you're rich. The Collings sounds slightly better but it's not worth the price difference IM0. The Orangewood sounds great.

PLEASE KEEP IN MIND WHEN THESE PAID REVIEWS ARE DONE ............. IT'S NOT TO SELL YOU A COLLINGS GUITAR. IT'S A CLEVERLY DISGUISED ADVERTISING FORMAT AND RU-vid IS NOW FLOODED WITH THEM. IF YOU SEE ONE THAT SAYS HEY THESE THINGS SUCK. DON'T BUY ONE ................. YOU KNOW IT'S LEGIT.

Typical guitar sales persons rap. Don’t be a fool if you are a beginner; never pay more than couple hundred for a guitar. It’s just not worth paying so much for a guitar. Did you know that all the famous people who play expensive guitars usually never pay for them? The companies gives it to the For free and even pays them to use their brand so that star struck suckers can be talked into buying expensive guitars by sales guys like these two.

I’d say diminishing returns start at about $1k these days, maybe even $800 usd. Look at Yamahas L or A series, Epiphone masterbuilt, crafter guitars, and sigma guitars.

My 1st guitar was a $200 pawn shop special. Will say, for my tastes, the orangewood sounded better on the Who riff. But collings sounded better for the other riffs, imo.

......Taylor vs Orangewood were very similar as well........with a $1200 difference....

The problem being, you can't sit down w/ an Orangewood before you buy one.Yes, you can return it ...but still.Guitars are individuals and you Have to try them before buying, whatever the price.And there is more than the way they sound ,ie; the way the guitar feels and looks, to the owner.

One guitar is paying for alot of overhead.employee benefits etc. The other simply pays lower wages and overhead to produce.in the end its all preference.if you can afford to buy one that helps other folks earn a good living.then by all means,do so. But enjoy what you can afford. its music,its all wonderful.

If you are a gigging musician, playing a $5k guitar on stage is incredible scary. Bad stuff happens to instruments on the road. I'd feel less upset if something happened to an Orangewood than a Collins. Most listeners, won't be able to tell the difference.

I think it will be wonderful if you consider a very largely ignored segment of Americans. i.e. us baby boomers who finally have the time to start learning to play. Money is no objective amongst some of us - so what do you suggest. I think this is a sector that has been ignored. Thank you.

I wouldn't pay over $500 for the Collins...it's not that great. They both sound good...they should both be the same price.

Not that this vid is of much significance or relevance, but you have to consider that when vids are made comparing whatever to the newest hot affordable acoustic that the new affordable acoustic is in fact that, brand spanking new and hasn't had a chance for it's solid top to open up yet. I imagine these haven't gotten nearly the play as the expensive guitars they get compared to, and that given even just a few months of play they may sound a bit better?

I will say to the untrained ear there are tonal similarities, but a quality instrument is a quality instrument. I think people are upset at the 5k pricetag but you can get a collings or a martin with solid wood construction for half that. I hear the difference and value the quality I get out of something better. I dont personally like this collings, but dont let that speak for all high end guitars. all guitars sound different.

Your sound demo cancelled your argument. Like everything else you pay for a name....it's mostly about the labor cost and profit.