lowden and avalon...what's the story?
Dlg
Do Avalon own Lowden?
Did George Lowden fall out with Avalon? Why?
Will there be any more Lowdens made?
Are Avalon like Squire is to the Fender brand?
Dlg.
Jonathan J Quick
news:bmjeqr$1p3e$1...@sp15at20.hursley.ibm.com...
From what I understand, George Lowden left the company he created and wanted
to take the brand name (his name) with him. The company wanted to keep the
name, it went to court, he won. So Lowden guitars are still in production,
made by George Lowden himself I think... Avalon is the name his old company
chose after they lost the court case. Some Avalon guitars are made under
licence on Korea btw.
JJ
Email: jj at jjquick dot com
Home: www.jjquick.com
David Kilpatrick
Dlg wrote:
George recommences Lowden workshop manufacture in 2004. He continues to
make handmade guitars himself, with a long waiting list and a price
around £4-5,000 UK.
Avalan (the former Lowden workshop and company) continue to make Lowden
guitars only to the end of 2003, but have already replaced most
production with either imported Korean Avalon models, or Irish made
'Legacy' etc which continue from where Lowden left off (in their
opinion). George continues to have a problem with the US Lowden Inc
company belonging to Avalon, and the matter of their 'inheriting' much
of his design; they in return say that much of the design of recent
Lowdens was developed by staff luthiers, so wherever they go from here,
is as much theirs as his.
My response is to order a hand-built Lowden for delivery in 2005, and
pray that I can afford to pay for it!
David
Dlg
news:bmjioc$bta$1...@sparta.btinternet.com...
>
> Avalan (the former Lowden workshop and company) continue to make Lowden
> guitars only to the end of 2003, but have already replaced most
> production with either imported Korean Avalon models, or Irish made
> 'Legacy' etc which continue from where Lowden left off (in their
> opinion). George continues to have a problem with the US Lowden Inc
> company belonging to Avalon, and the matter of their 'inheriting' much
> of his design; they in return say that much of the design of recent
> Lowdens was developed by staff luthiers, so wherever they go from here,
> is as much theirs as his.
Cheers guys. I always wanted a Lowden so I was getting around to saving up...then
he goes and leaves. So now I'm probably interested in an Irish-made Avalon...
there's more availability and you can get in at just under a grand.
I A/B'd Avalon and Lowden 'equivalents' the other day...I was more impressed with the
Avalon
to my surprise. What is the concensus here? Surely one man's departure cannot cause a
downturn
in quality.
Can you do better with a grand?
> My response is to order a hand-built Lowden for delivery in 2005, and
> pray that I can afford to pay for it!
;-) Good luck. That's a bit rich for me.
Dlg.
adrianfoden
> "David Kilpatrick" <icon...@btconnect.com> wrote in message
> news:bmjioc$bta$1...@sparta.btinternet.com...
> >
<snips Davids succint summation of the 'issues'>
> Cheers guys. I always wanted a Lowden so I was getting around to saving
up...then
> he goes and leaves.
Well, if the Lowden _name_ on the headstock is important to you then there
will still be stock out there in dealer-land but... when they're gone
they're gone. As David points out that's not the end of the line - far from
it. George Lowden has said he will start another, new facility from January
2004 but that's untried and untested right now.
> So now I'm probably interested in an Irish-made Avalon...
> there's more availability and you can get in at just under a grand.
>
> I A/B'd Avalon and Lowden 'equivalents' the other day...I was more
impressed with the
> Avalon to my surprise.
I've yet to have a hands-on with one of the 'Avalon legacy' instruments made
at the Newtownards facility so it's difficult to comment however, the
Lowdens manufactured there are some of the best value and best sounding
instruments I've ever come across. If it was an Avalon Legacy that you tried
and you thought it better (remember it was built in the same place, by the
same builders) then that's a great thing and bodes well for the future of
Avalon.
I guess the only crucially important thing that is of any relevance in this
whole issue is selecting the instrument that sounds the best to your ears -
only you can be the judge of that.
> What is the concensus here? Surely one man's departure cannot cause a
> downturn
> in quality.
>
> Can you do better with a grand?
Nothing else I've ever played comes remotely close.
> > My response is to order a hand-built Lowden for delivery in 2005, and
> > pray that I can afford to pay for it!
Yikes! A hand built Lowden! I'm green around the gills. What Body style?
Which woods? Tell me more!
Steve Cobham
<d...@nospam.davidgelder.fsnet.co.uk> wrote:
>What is the concensus here? Surely one man's departure cannot cause a
>downturn
>in quality.
Two words - Fender and Leo.
It took Fender a long time to get quality back into their guitars.
There are some who say that they still haven't.
But not me.
Steve.
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Roy
"adrianfoden" <n...@thank.you> wrote in message
news:bmjr3g$te0$1...@newsg3.svr.pol.co.uk...
>
> "Dlg" <d...@nospam.davidgelder.fsnet.co.uk> wrote in message
> news:bmjjvu$1ih6$1...@sp15at20.hursley.ibm.com...
> > "David Kilpatrick" <icon...@btconnect.com> wrote in message
> > news:bmjioc$bta$1...@sparta.btinternet.com...
> > >
>>
>
How about McIlroy? http://www.mcilroyguitars.co.uk/
Roy.
David Kilpatrick
adrianfoden wrote:
>>>My response is to order a hand-built Lowden for delivery in 2005, and
>>>pray that I can afford to pay for it!
>
>
> Yikes! A hand built Lowden! I'm green around the gills. What Body style?
> Which woods? Tell me more!
>
New small S style, 14 frets to body, 630mm short scale, no cutaway,
mahogany/cedar and no frills, no electrics, slotted headstock with those
rather well-made Northumbrian tuning machines wot cost £450 a set...
probably a 45mm nut and 60mm bridge spacing. Chance to change to walnut
if I think that's better before the beginning of 2005, which is when the
guitar would be started (no 24 or something in George's waiting list -
and with a new business to start, I might well be waiting longer - this
is a long-term decision). But the general feeling is that mahogany/cedar
is not easily bettered for sound, and in the end it's sound not looks I
am after.
My O-12, S25J and several other instruments will go when the final
payment is due. Possibly even my 1770 Simpson? English guittar will go.
What I'm looking for is a single guitar which will combine everything I
have liked in guitars, even down to allowing to play pieces originally
written for nylon string, and to be retunable with ease to cover the two
or three tunings I keep different guitars in at different times. Also,
to have one made by George, himself. I reckon in 20 years time he will
be recognised as one of those periodic innovators who define an era. I
do not think of this as wasting my kids' inheritance! Quite the opposite.
Reason for no electrics: over the last few months I've concluded that
amps like the AER, combined with new condensor mics, offer a much better
image of a performance than any pickup system. And future development
will be wireless and non-invasive.
David
adrianfoden
I like them, a lot!
I played a cedar/walnut McIlroy that was probably the most lowden sounding
non-lowden that I've come across. Their heritage is crystal clear and shines
through, very nice guitars indeed.