merseybeat1963 Posted June 9, 2013 Share Posted June 9, 2013 Starting at 4 min..some good points. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QT1XH2c5w_Y Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hall Posted June 9, 2013 Share Posted June 9, 2013 Thanks, mb. I enjoyed that one and the insights. I like Lowdens. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
merseybeat1963 Posted June 10, 2013 Author Share Posted June 10, 2013 Thats for taking a look . He really is a master guitar maker who actually is in there making guitars,and in a very honorable manner..and a very honest person as well.God Bless him. The point he makes about the slight stiffness of a brand new acoustic compared to one that is great right out of the gate, which he makes in the last minute or so of the video was one of the important points I hadn't been aware of. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
j45nick Posted June 10, 2013 Share Posted June 10, 2013 The point he makes about the slight stiffness of a brand new acoustic compared to one that is great right out of the gate, which he makes in the last minute or so of the video was one of the important points I hadn't been aware of. That's a really interesting point he makes. I wonder how that will relate to the J-35, which everyone talks about as being exceptionally light compared to a J-45? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zombywoof Posted June 10, 2013 Share Posted June 10, 2013 Not a day goes by that I do not wish Oscar Schmidt worried more about stabilizing the top of their guitars around the soundhole. While the very light build (Schmidt only put three tall thin top braces plus the bridge plate in their guitars) is great for sound, I have seen more than my fair share of guitars with buckling around the soundhole. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigKahune Posted June 10, 2013 Share Posted June 10, 2013 ... I have seen more than my fair share of guitars with buckling around the soundhole. Yes indeed. Reminds me of an Epi I had in the 70s. One day I cased it (tuned to pitch) and didn't take it out for like 9 months and the top had buckled around the neck end of the sound hole. Wasn't worth fixing. @merseybeat - Great vid. Many thanks. . @Nick - I like your question on the lightness of the J35 compared to the J45. I haven't play a 35, do they sound great from the get go? . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobouz Posted June 10, 2013 Share Posted June 10, 2013 I haven't play a 35, do they sound great from the get go? Not the one I played. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
merseybeat1963 Posted June 10, 2013 Author Share Posted June 10, 2013 This essay is so very much worth reading.. it mostly concerns vintage guitars & how they were made. The one thing I remember reading was that the old legendary Gibson bracing was thin almost knife edge.. The Lowden I have is braced this way ..Im guessing its how they do them across the whole range. http://www.grevenguitars.com/pdfs/VoicingtheGuitar.pdf Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
j45nick Posted June 10, 2013 Share Posted June 10, 2013 This essay is so very much worth reading.. it mostly concerns vintage guitars & how they were made. The one thing I remember reading was that the old legendary Gibson bracing was thin almost knife edge.. The Lowden I have is braced this way ..Im guessing its how they do them across the whole range. http://www.grevenguitars.com/pdfs/VoicingtheGuitar.pdf The old back bracing, like on my 1948 J-45, is knife-edge--tall and very tapered. The top bracing less so, in large part because of the scalloping. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ballcorner Posted June 11, 2013 Share Posted June 11, 2013 This is a great video, because it shows the truth - Lowden guitars are hand built without using as much as a scrap of wood grown in their country of origin. They are overbearingly loud - often referred to as the loud one instead of the Lowden - and they have aggressive bass overtones that suit celtic music and Michael Hedges or Don Ross style guitar playing, but there is no way on Earth you can sing with one of these boom boxes. The midrange alone will murder any male voice and the harp-like ring of the trebles makes them murderous to strum - they take over the stage and the first three rows. Look in the audience. All men. Guitars are supposed to get us the ladies. Clearly not an attribute that Lowdens manage. And to the spineless cowards putting minus signs on my comments: hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha. Go upstairs and make your mom a cup of tea. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Riptide Posted June 11, 2013 Share Posted June 11, 2013 Cool! Those have a nice sound :) Thanks for the post! Now only if I had a few thousand bucks lying around... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
j45nick Posted June 11, 2013 Share Posted June 11, 2013 This is a great video, because it shows the truth - Lowden guitars are hand built without using as much as a scrap of wood grown in their country of origin. They are overbearingly loud - often referred to as the loud one instead of the Lowden - and they have aggressive bass overtones that suit celtic music and Michael Hedges or Don Ross style guitar playing, but there is no way on Earth you can sing with one of these boom boxes. The midrange alone will murder any male voice and the harp-like ring of the trebles makes them murderous to strum - they take over the stage and the first three rows. Look in the audience. All men. Guitars are supposed to get us the ladies. Clearly not an attribute that Lowdens manage. And to the spineless cowards putting minus signs on my comments: hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha. Go upstairs and make your mom a cup of tea. WTF? I'm sure it must be a struggle, but this guy--think I've heard of him somewhere--seems to manage to sing while playing one of those "loud ones"....... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ballcorner Posted June 11, 2013 Share Posted June 11, 2013 WTF? I'm sure it must be a struggle, but this guy--think I've heard of him somewhere--seems to manage to sing while playing one of those "loud ones"....... THROUGH AN AMPLIFIER, MORON. I AM TALKING ABOUT ACOUSTIC GUITARS, ACOUSTIC VOICES. WTF? RIGHT BACK AT YOU. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ParlourMan Posted June 11, 2013 Share Posted June 11, 2013 As a guitar player who doesn't sing (except to himself) the loudness for me is just a complete plus point... if such generalisations were true I'd be saying where do I sign? of the Lowdens I've played (granted, only a few) they were no shrinking voilets, but not obnoxiously loud as indicated here... had they been I would have already owned one. I do like em though, visually they're a bit 'modern' for my tastes, but everything else about them I really like. Although I would concede that they're a bit of a 'very decent dad guitar' rather than a 'cool' guitar if you know what I mean... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
struma6 Posted June 11, 2013 Share Posted June 11, 2013 This thread merits points just for the RT video! Man he's tremendous. Enjoyed watching the OP video as well, love hearing builders talk about their thought process. And, the rest? lol. Just...lol. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
merseybeat1963 Posted June 11, 2013 Author Share Posted June 11, 2013 This is a great video, because it shows the truth - Lowden guitars are hand built without using as much as a scrap of wood grown in their country of origin. They are overbearingly loud - often referred to as the loud one instead of the Lowden - and they have aggressive bass overtones that suit celtic music and Michael Hedges or Don Ross style guitar playing, but there is no way on Earth you can sing with one of these boom boxes. The midrange alone will murder any male voice and the harp-like ring of the trebles makes them murderous to strum - they take over the stage and the first three rows. Look in the audience. All men. Guitars are supposed to get us the ladies. Clearly not an attribute that Lowdens manage. And to the spineless cowards putting minus signs on my comments: hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha. Go upstairs and make your mom a cup of tea. Balli..Better for the landscape & air quality that he does not use wood grown in that country its not exactly dense with the stuff.. Either way how many guitars can 10 dudes with very few machines make in a year anyway..and think of all the beer they consume while doing it..! The volume issue is such a good point gotta say. I have a medium sized one & they make a small one..the volume is a pretty good match with the voice volume wise. In the past the most common out there and probably biggest sounding most impressive one was the large one...Probably the one you've been tramatized by : ) Volume match to voice is a good thing to keep in mind when you sing & use a flat pick. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
onewilyfool Posted June 11, 2013 Share Posted June 11, 2013 I had an S-32 Lowden, one of their small body (think L-00 size) guitars, but I got it in a trade, and it wasn't a perfect fit for me. It was small like a Gibson L-00 size, but didn't have that compressed woody Gibson sound. I liked the guitar, but I was moving more in a "BLUES" direction, and I Imagine a better player might have got it to sound better as a blues guitar, but it didn't work for me. For such a small box, it had a very "open" and looser, but loud sound if you know what I mean. It had rosewood B&S so it had great overtones, and in my opinion would have made a great "FINGERSTYLE" guitar. Wasn't a great strummer, especially fast strumming, but for some reason I could get great percussive style playing out of it, and that was almost enough for me to keep it. It went to a guy who really likes it so that is good. Fit and finish were impeccable, and although I liked the finish, the hand rubbed matte finish is a turn off for Americans who like that bright shinny new guitar look. I understand that the Lowden is pretty much unknown in America, so for me, it was tough to find someone who wanted it, so be forewarned, it is a tough re-sale item, that being said, it is really an elite guitar that should have a better rep in the USA and is right up there in quality with some premier U.S. builders, but unfortunately is undervalued in today's market ESPECIALLY the USED market. I've played maybe 4 in my life, one in Canada that was maybe one of the best acoustic guitars I've ever played, so like any guitar, they all have to be evaluated on a guitar by guitar basis. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
merseybeat1963 Posted June 12, 2013 Author Share Posted June 12, 2013 I had an S-32 Lowden, one of their small body (think L-00 size) guitars, but I got it in a trade, and it wasn't a perfect fit for me. It was small like a Gibson L-00 size, but didn't have that compressed woody Gibson sound. I liked the guitar, but I was moving more in a "BLUES" direction, and I Imagine a better player might have got it to sound better as a blues guitar, but it didn't work for me. For such a small box, it had a very "open" and looser, but loud sound if you know what I mean. It had rosewood B&S so it had great overtones, and in my opinion would have made a great "FINGERSTYLE" guitar. Wasn't a great strummer, especially fast strumming, but for some reason I could get great percussive style playing out of it, and that was almost enough for me to keep it. It went to a guy who really likes it so that is good. Fit and finish were impeccable, and although I liked the finish, the hand rubbed matte finish is a turn off for Americans who like that bright shinny new guitar look. I understand that the Lowden is pretty much unknown in America, so for me, it was tough to find someone who wanted it, so be forewarned, it is a tough re-sale item, that being said, it is really an elite guitar that should have a better rep in the USA and is right up there in quality with some premier U.S. builders, but unfortunately is undervalued in today's market ESPECIALLY the USED market. I've played maybe 4 in my life, one in Canada that was maybe one of the best acoustic guitars I've ever played, so like any guitar, they all have to be evaluated on a guitar by guitar basis. I ordered the guitar with polished Back & Sides ,the top is left matte. I thought the matte finish dulled the look of the figuring of the nice wood he uses on backs. Thats a good review about the sound. The F I have ..a medium sized thing.. is not really as nice when strummed with flatpick as the Mad/Adi D42 Martin. When strummed that Martin is better but single note lead playing,scales the notes do not stand out... The Braz/Adi Lowden sounds like a hyper Flamenco guitar. At first its kind of alien sounding and its takes a few strums to accustom my ear to it..every time I use it actually. But the single notes really jump out/respond and have headroom within them..and have volume. And its punchy,like a guitar lung. You can tell when it mellows it'll be a perfect guitar. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
onewilyfool Posted June 14, 2013 Share Posted June 14, 2013 Her's mine, traded long ago.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
merseybeat1963 Posted June 14, 2013 Author Share Posted June 14, 2013 Her's mine, traded long ago.... Nice Wily.. Nice quality top. The ones after 2004 (White Label) are under the sole ownership of himself with him actually in there. Before, it was a partnership and he didnt have total say. Main change is they again hand carve the braces a certain tricky time consuming way which the other partners had voted off. I'd be keen on one of those green labeled ones or an Avalon anyway though but they should go for less cost. The S (Small one)is now a short scale guitar. Never enough guitars Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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