Lowden F35C Walnut Back??

[nikku]

Has anyone experience with one of these?? The one I am looking at (on an auction site so i can't play it first!) is a premium model with redwood top and gorgeous Claro-Walnut back and sides...

Can anyone tell me what knd of tonal signature the walnut back and sides give the guitar opposed to Rosewood or Mahogany (I like both!)

Thanks for any input!

 

[riffmeister]

I've played one of the new Lowdens, and it was simply amazing! I liked it so much that I have one on order......an F10C (cedar/mahogany with cutaway).

I don't know what the tonal signature of walnut is. But my guess is that it is closer to rosewood than mahogany.

 

[hey_day]

I play a McIlroy A25c. Dermot McIlory was one of the main builders for George Lowden for some of the best years of Lowden GUitars in North Ireland. THey had a small falling out and Dermot opened his own shop where he Builds McIlroys which are similar to lowdens in many ways but with some good differences, regardless they are very comparible. my McIlroy has a walnut back and Cedar top and it is excellent. THe body shape is the same as the lowden you are looking at and the tone is great. Smooth but with incredible and very controllable volume. The neck is amazing (i have played every lowden i have seen in person and they play the same.) the overall quality of the builds are amazing too. If i ever find a Lowden i can find i will buy it just to have a cousin for mine. i dont really know how to compare the walnut to the rosewood. its not as deep but still has some great bass tones. i commonly refer to http://www.dreamguitars.com/tonewoods.htm when i am researching tone woods. I would also highly recommend you email john i believe at www.samusic.com he is a big fan of lowdens and one of the first and only dealers in the US to sell McIlroys and is very knowledgable about lowdens tone wise. How much is the lowden you are looking at?

 

[riffmeister]

Originally posted by hey_day
How much is the lowden you are looking at?

The ebay seller wanted too much for it, IMO......essentially the price of a new one.

 

[hey_day]

if you are looking into a lowden and have the option i would do some research, some years are better than others and a small amount were actually built out of ireland for a short time. the price is generally too high for me so i had dermot mcilroy make a brand new one with my own specs and it was a great experience. all under $3000 too

 

[nikku]

The one I am looking at is about $2300, looks gorgeous but it does have a scratch on the top! Pity I can't play one first.

There is also a very nice Huss and Dalton M Custom with lots of nice extras on it for 2k so I might go for that, body is a bit smaller though.

 

[hey_day]

ive never played a bad lowden, the 10 models are not as good as the 25,35 and so on. there are allot of them on ebay, im dying to get a jumbo model as i have the small jumbo. from what ive been told rosewood/cedar is their specialty.

 

[Claytone]

I've owned an 0-10 Lowden made in Japan back in the 90s and currently have an 0-12 sprice and mahogany jumbo. These are terrific sounding guitars, big and articulate, made w/ beautiful woods, well-priced considering the prices of other high end acoustics like Olsen, etc.

 

[customandrew]

I own that guitar and it is one of the most responsive guitars acoustic guitars i have ever owned.

you could strum it with a feather and the voice of that beauty would fill an entire room.

 

[customandrew]

when i said that guitar, i meant i own a f35c with claro walnut and californian redwood top.

when i talked to george lowden about them he said it was his current favorite wood combo...

if that helps at all.

 

[PB Wilson]

Walnut doesn't have the hard, metallic, reflective feel of a rosewood to me. It has been described as being more neutral to the tone of the top like a soft maple can be. It does seem to compliment a Redwood top though. I played a Redwood/Claro Walnut McCollum and thought it was a great guitar.

 

[royd]

hmm... a lot of stuff here.

I'm one of the moderators of the Lowden list and have played Lowdens since '87. I've had 3 - an L25C from about the first year the shop moved back to Ireland. That guitar was stolen in '99 in Philadelphia and I'd love to get it back someday (serial number 271 if you run into it). Then a friend loaned me an O10C while the company built my custom O25C. It took about 9 months I think. I loved all three of those guitars. I've played hundreds of Lowdens through the years and have only played one that didn't thrill me. It may have had bad strings on it. The sound of Lowdens is one of the most consistent from guitar to guitar that I've experienced so it is one of the few companies that I would trust buying a guitar of that price without having played it first.

The different lines 10-50, are not "better" than each other. The different wood choices give different character to the sound and it is just which one you like. The more expensive models are fancier and have more figured woods but don't necessarily sound better. An old O23 and a walnut 035 from the same year should sound very similar although the 35 will have more figure. George's design gives his signature sound to any wood combo. I never liked maple acoustics - they seemed thin and sterile to me - until I played a Lowden. It sounded like a Lowden! And it was gorgeous! I've played a few since then and each was wonderful.

The company built guitars in Japan for a while in the early '80's and through the years George has had differing amounts of connection with the Irish company from being a consultant to having hands on involvement. The design was always his and from what I can see, quality control and consistancy were always excellent. There were some design changes through the years including a change in the bracing pattern to make production easier. The current guitars have some design differences over the previous generations and do sound amazing. Still, I think they all sound like Lowdens to me.

I think that walnut falls somewhere between rosewood and mahogany in sound and in the premium models, the wood choices are just gorgeous.

For anyone who is interested, you can learn about the Lowden e-mail list at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Lowden-L/