Lowden vs Taylor

[nordberg]

Hi,

I have a Taylor 710CE which I am reasonably happy with. I also have an old
Takamine EN10C which still looks slightly like a guitar after 15 years of
abuse! What the Takamine lacks in looks, it more than makes up for in noise.
It sounds amazing. I think it's the cedar top that gives it its wonderful
balanced tone and clarity. Now my Taylor has a spruce top and it just always
sounds too bright for me. It's strung with the obligatory Elixirs which no
doubt contributes to this quality, but even with a set of Martin PB's, it
still sounds too bright.

Now I'm thinking that cedar topped guitars are more to my liking and have
been looking around at possible replacements for my 710. Taylor aren't
really do much with Cedar these days so I'm looking for alternatives. Lowden
immediately comes to mind. I have read countless reviews raving about these
instruments and I'm now genuinelly interested.

So.....to anyone with any experience of Lowdens, I would love to hear from
you and your views/opinions on them.

Cheers,
Matt

[petes...@hotmail.com]

nordberg wrote:

Hi Matt,
Check this:
http://www.taylorguitars.com/guitars/gs/
There is a rosewood/cedar and a mahogany/cedar model avaible.

[nordberg]

<petes...@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:1164020751.5...@m73g2000cwd.googlegroups.com...

> Hi Matt,
> Check this:
> http://www.taylorguitars.com/guitars/gs/
> There is a rosewood/cedar and a mahogany/cedar model avaible.

Thanks for that Pete, I'd not seen that range. I quite like it and will see
if I can find one nearby to tinkle on.

I would still be interested in hearing people's experiences of Lowdens.
>

[David R. Barlow]

Real Lowden's are made by George Lowden and if you want one you have to join
the back of a really long queue. Check out http://www.georgelowden.com/

Avalon guitars are made in the old Lowden factory and are meant to be
excellent instruments (though I have no first hand experience)
http://www.avalonguitars.com/

Not sure where you are based but my store www.machinehead.co.uk is a main
Taylor dealer and has both the Robert Taylor and GS guitars in stock.

My advice (as with any guitar purchase) is get out there and try some.

Dave

[performingchimp]

Lowdens are amazing. They are certainly mellower and rounder in tone
compared to a Taylor.

However, I am at a loss to understand why you don't just get another Tak,
seeing as you liked that one so much? They do vary a bit, but I am a massive
Tak fan and would chuffing love one. I have never owned one. I would endorse
them in a flash, they are brill. The CoolTube is amazing as well. As an
engineer of over 200 acoustic gigs I'd have to say that Taks are BY FAR the
best sounding off-the-peg electros as well.

If it's a perceived quality thing, then that's rubbish. In order to be able
to work on the higher end Takamine guitars, their employees need to have had
7 years guitar building experience. (Or so I am informed). Taylors are built
by, admittedly very experienced, machines.

jon
--
www.jongomm.com
www.myspace.com/jongomm

"nordberg" <nordb...@nospam.hotmail.remove.com> wrote in message
news:45618951$0$2920$9a6e...@unlimited.newshosting.com...

[nordberg]

Thanks for the reply Jon. (We've met a few times and you've engineered a few
gigs I've done at Dr Wu's by the way)

I guess I'm after something a bit more "special" than another Tak. I
appreciate they are wonderful instruments and I concur with everything you
say, but I don't feel the need to get "A.N. Other" guitar. I really fancy
something a bit more, well, special. Lowdens are special because you can
feel that a real person has sweat over it and it hasn't just fallen off a
production line. The same can be said, to an extent, of Taylors. On top of
this, I think Lowdens look and sound amazing.

Who knows, maybe I'll stick with the Taylor a bit longer and I may warm to
it a bit more. It's getting nicely played in now, but still that little bit
too bright for my liking. I may try changing the saddles as I've read real
bone sounds a bit more balanced than the plastic they fit at the factory. In
the meantime, I'm going to try and track down some local Lowdens.....

Matt

"performingchimp" <jon_gom...@hotNOSPAMmail.comNOSPAM> wrote in message
news:Izn8h.6238$0x....@newsfe1-win.ntli.net...

[performingchimp]

Lowdens are very hard to get at the moment - you are buying at the wrong
time. New ones are very expensive because they are in short supply, and old
ones are expensive cause they are in major demand. I bought my second one as
soon as Avalon came along, before the prices went crazy.

Personally I would always say NEVER set out with a brand name in mind.

There's a weird brand-dependency with acoustics at the top end that isn't
tehre with electrics. I think it's simply because Takamine also make cheap
and often not very good guitars that people who want someting a bit specal
are reluctant to buy their higher end ones. But you won;t find anything
better for the money. Try a Takamine Cool Tube.

would recommend a bone saddle, definitely. It will possibly brighten the
very top end of the sound though, which might not be what you want. It will
give more volume throughout the frequency range and as such does seem to
even out the tone. But it will give better intonation for longer.

"nordberg" <nordb...@nospam.hotmail.remove.com> wrote in message

news:4562dac4$0$5601$9a6e...@unlimited.newshosting.com...

[timmyo]

I went out a couple of years ago to buy a s/h Lowden (durint hegap when
they weren't being made). I found and tried 3 and ended up with a new
Avalon (L-25 - Cedar and Rosewood jumbo) - gorgeous gorgeous thing.

imo their market was bazooka'd when George started building again - they
now sell direct and via an eBay store I think and this has dropped the
prices (eg what used to retail in Hanks for c. 1400-1600 is now
1000-1200 direct)

Tim

David R. Barlow wrote:
<snip>

>
> Avalon guitars are made in the old Lowden factory and are meant to be
> excellent instruments (though I have no first hand experience)
> http://www.avalonguitars.com/
>

<snip>

[seymou...@gmail.com]

Hi,
I think it depends totally on what sound you're looking for. Do you want bright and sparkly, or rich and mellow? I have a Taylor 914ce model and although it's very beautifully made and sounds great unplugged, it does sound half as good plugged in. I don't really think the Neve Expression system is that great, personally. I have an old Takamine (FP series, quite old now) with a digital preamp and it blows the Taylor out of the water for expressiveness and sparkle. I'm now keen to sell the Taylor and go for a Lowden instead. The Richard Thompson model sounds perfect (if I can get the funds together, that is)!

[George Weston]

On 11/05/2013 15:03, soupdragon wrote:
> seymou...@gmail.com wrote in news:be118bcc-fe69-4cf7-b90e-4f56760ed552
> @googlegroups.com:

>
>> On Monday, November 20, 2006 10:53:04 AM UTC, nordberg wrote:
>

> Blimey! Who's recycling old posts?

Probably the ghost of the late Pete "Persistent Offender" Gay?
He'd be up to something like that, just to keep Usenet alive...

George

[2pods]

"George Weston" <geow...@NOSPAMgmail.com> wrote in message
news:av7bgk...@mid.individual.net...

I think I said it then, and I'll still say it now:
Buy five of each, pick two, and send me the rest ;-)

Seriously, I regret selling my F25, and the post feels spookily like Pete.