leoroberts
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Posts: 24,545
My main instrument is: probably needing new strings
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Post by leoroberts on Feb 10, 2024 7:40:42 GMT
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Post by delb0y on Feb 10, 2024 9:59:21 GMT
There's a chap around this area who plays open mics and has a couple of Lowdens. I must say they do sound nice.
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Post by jonnymosco on Feb 10, 2024 10:13:33 GMT
They seem expensive for a mass-produced guitar - prices have risen dramatically since my mum bought mine (O25) for me in 1998 for £1600.
Forsyths seems great though, fantastic range of sheet music... I shall pop in when I'm visiting my son in Manchester.
Jonny
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Post by earwighoney on Feb 10, 2024 11:12:49 GMT
They seem expensive for a mass-produced guitar - prices have risen dramatically since my mum bought mine (O25) for me in 1998 for £1600.Forsyths seems great though, fantastic range of sheet music... I shall pop in when I'm visiting my son in Manchester. Jonny
I agree. I think it applies to some other brands too, like Martin too. A new Martin D28 is £3500. My memory is a bit shady, but it doesn't seem like too long ago they were about £2k.
Good deal on the Lowdens though, great guitars too.
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Post by otis1960 on Feb 10, 2024 12:10:52 GMT
That's certainly a big chunk of a saving, assuming you want a Lowden; still flipping expensive though!
Forsyths is a grand old store, nothing else like it anywhere around the NW that I have ever come across. They do stock a good range of guitars, and the staff are really helpful.
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Post by delb0y on Feb 10, 2024 13:01:43 GMT
I see they have a 13 fret Atkins model. Could be a sweet spot between 12 and 14, although probably not good for those with OCD!
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Phil Taylor
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Post by Phil Taylor on Feb 10, 2024 13:39:25 GMT
Forsythe's is a nice shop but usually quite expensive in terms of being the top end of street prices and from my experience give poor p/x figures. Not sure if they normally give discounts other than the sales they have from time to time. I popped in last week or so and the Lowdens looked gorgeous. The F23c is a good price.
Phil
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brianr2
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My main instrument is: Brook Lyn guitar
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Post by brianr2 on Feb 10, 2024 13:51:23 GMT
I confess that I am not overly keen on the shape of Lowdens with (what seems to me) disproportionately wide lower bouts. This said, they can sound very good indeed.
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Post by fred7 on Feb 10, 2024 14:50:32 GMT
They seem expensive for a mass-produced guitar - prices have risen dramatically since my mum bought mine (O25) for me in 1998 for £1600. Forsyths seems great though, fantastic range of sheet music... I shall pop in when I'm visiting my son in Manchester. Jonny I bought mine in 1998 (or I should say my wife bought it for me). Ticket price was £1399 but while I was in the shop (about 3 hours) trying everything, a guy came in and spent around £7000 on a few guitars. He paid full price - money obviously no object - which left a very happy salesman to offer me a great deal. Got mine for £1100 plus a load of goodies thrown in (fancy stand, capos strings etc). I narrowed it down to Martin vs Lowden. Salesman said the Martin would hold its value better but to me there was no comparison and I didn't intend to sell anyway. Got the Lowden and now the closest model they do is £4600. Quite pleased they have increased in value so much. Not sure they are as much mass produced or automated as Martin or Taylor but they are remarkable guitars. Watched an interview recently with George Lowden and he said he couldn't understand why more people didn't use his guitar on stage but someone suggested it was because they are too good for that.
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doc
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My main instrument is: A Francis Milsom J-45
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Post by doc on Feb 10, 2024 21:28:21 GMT
I could be wrong (I was mistaken once before ) but I believe Richard Thomson and his lad, Teddy, both play Lowden on stage.
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Post by otis1960 on Feb 10, 2024 23:28:05 GMT
I could be wrong (I was mistaken once before ) but I believe Richard Thomson and his lad, Teddy, both play Lowden on stage. You’re OK Doc, it was just the once 😆 RT has his own artist signature model, with Ziricote b&s, but in an interview I read said that he only has one of those, and keeps it for recording. On stage he apparently uses a stock cedar/walnut model, so he must also consider them a bit pricey. Teddy had a prototype RT signature; I assume Lowden gave Richard that plus the first production model? Unlike Doc, I’ve been wrong on numerous occasions, so I might have mis-remembered all of that.
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doc
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Post by doc on Feb 11, 2024 2:10:32 GMT
I could be wrong (I was mistaken once before ) but I believe Richard Thomson and his lad, Teddy, both play Lowden on stage. You’re OK Doc, it was just the once 😆 RT has his own artist signature model, with Ziricote b&s, but in an interview I read said that he only has one of those, and keeps it for recording. On stage he apparently uses a stock cedar/walnut model, so he must also consider them a bit pricey. Teddy had a prototype RT signature; I assume Lowden gave Richard that plus the first production model? Unlike Doc, I’ve been wrong on numerous occasions, so I might have mis-remembered all of that. No, Otis, I think that your memory is spot on. And you have a lot more to remember than I. I’m delighted if I remember how to get home. I had a go on a couple of Lowdens in Guitar Guitar in Glasgow and I was underwhelmed. Now when I heard Teddy Thomson live I was overwhelmed and just wanted one like his. Of course he would have his sound passing through all kinds of electronic equipment but at the time I was lovestruck. By the Lowden, you understand, not Mr Thompson. I do think that they are beautiful to look at though.
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Post by grayn on Feb 11, 2024 9:10:31 GMT
I great guitar is a great guitar and I think the term " mass produced" doesn't really apply to Lowden. Whether a maker produces 5 or 500 guitars a year is no guarantee of quality. I owned an F35 many years ago and loved it. Forsyths is, as someone said, a fine old shop, but it's staff are a mixed bunch. They vary from knowledgeable and friendly, to snooty and annoying and even a couple of "Tim, nice but dims". They did give me my best Christmas Eve ever, about 15 or 16 years ago. I rang them up saying I wanted to trade a Hawaiian made Goodall acoustic for a Rickenbacker 12-string electric. They were very keen on acquiring the Goodall. The Ricky had a couple of annoying design flaws, so I ended up with a Fender Precision bass, a Fender Tele, a Burns 12-string electric and a small Fender valve amp. And I only had to chip in £18. It was my return to the dark side.
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Post by ianlp59 on Feb 11, 2024 12:00:11 GMT
Oddly, I have never been able to bond with Lowden guitars. I've played a few but they did nothing whatsoever for me. However, each to his/her own I guess...
Cheers,
Ian
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Post by jonnymosco on Feb 11, 2024 12:17:39 GMT
I great guitar is a great guitar and I think the term " mass produced" doesn't really apply to Lowden. I agree they are decent guitars and the holy grail for many guitarists. They make c.160 guitars a month (not including the Sheerans), not as mass-produced as Taylor (100,000+ a year) but more mass-produced than Froggy Bottom (c.6 a month). I wanted to avoid the term 'factory-made' and understand the negative connotations of the term 'mass-produced', they would rather you believe "the guitars feel and sound like individual ‘works of art’", this is sales talk, especially when the thousands of O25s ever made all sound the same (in a good way: warm, full lower end, resonant and very forgiving). If one of my students wanted a Lowden, I would suggest they support a sole-luthier rather than a large company, enter into a personalised process and save some money, somebody like Sam McClaren or one of our own on here. I would recommend other lesser-known makers, but their prices have crept up in recent months to Lowden prices. In 1998 I wanted a Lowden model O because "if it is good enough for Pierre Bensusan, it is good enough for me" and I needed something indestructible to play live touring Europe. It did the job, but didn't have the fat trebles I needed in the higher positions. I replaced it with a Kostal which at that time was less than twice the price I sold the Lowden for! The reductions are good at Forsyths, but there are better guitars out there for less. Jonny
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