ON THE PASSING OF BILL COLLINGS – A NOTE FROM ERIN HUTTLINGER

The first time Pete played a Collings guitar it became his -- his sound. He called his main Collings guitar "God's Guitar" because, he said, "if God played a guitar, it would be this one."  Pete toured all over the world with that instrument, and it truly was an extension of him.  It moved him. He owned many Collings of different models, but still, when he’d pick up God’s Guitar, he would shake his head and say "this guitar just sounds so good." He played different brands and styles of guitars for different needs. But it was that guitar that healed him--through a stroke and heart failure. Bill Collings and his whole crew were so much more than our guitar builder. Bill felt a responsibility and a love for the musicians that played the instruments he made. The Pete Huttlinger signature models they created helped us through hugely difficult times when Pete was recovering, and still now that he’s gone. Not only are we forever grateful, we know how rare that kind of pure love is. As a friend told me this week, "Bill cried for Pete, and now we all cry for Bill."