Post by earwighoney on Jul 9, 2013 22:04:19 GMT
I was walking through Tin Pan Alley on my way to The Crown (Sam Smiths off New Oxford Street) to meet a mate of mine, who dropped me a text to say he was running late which I took a cue to pop into Wunjo's. They had a new Fan Fret Lowden F23 Cedar/EIR, which I looked at with wonder and astonishment. It was tuned in Standard tuning which didn't quite feel right; like being a champion breakdancer and wearing a baseball facing forward (it should be facing backwards if you spin the grooves on your back), so I liberated it to DADGAD - the tuning off the devil.
It's the first Fan Fret guitar I've ever played and was a very strange experience in many ways. In terms of the open sound when tuned to a Open Tuning, it sounded wonderful, but I felt it made a lot of compromises to right hand picking. Due to the extreme Fan Fret (680mm on bass, 635mm on treble) it was difficult to have the kind of right handing picking sound I like. I like to pick not too close to the saddle normally, but close enough so there is a bit of tightness on the bass; but too close and the trebles sound a bit tinny. On the Lowden Fan Fret I noticed it's impossible to have that; it's either too tight/bright sounding at the treble or not enough tightness on the bass. This particular issue seemed to create as many problems as the issue of Multiscale seeks to solve. The issue of of fretting the lowest string with my little finger seemed very awkward too.
Which isn't to say the Fan Fret Lowden wasn't a a amazing guitar. I generally don't get on with Lowdens, not sure why, but I loved this one, if I had £4k in my pocket (the FF Lowden was just over £3k, I'd spend the remaining on bacon, crisps, Vimto and jellybeans to keep me going whilst I was playing the FF Lowden) I'd buy it in a heartbeat, it sounded amazing, the basses in particular, crisp yet warm with sweet trebles. If I could choose I'd gor for a Multiscale guitar but one with less of a difference eg of 26" bass to 25" treble perhaps.
I also played the Richard Thompson Cedar/Ziricote model, which wasn't the greatest, it seemed unresponsive and overbuilt, which was a shame. Of all Lowden's it was probably the one I was most eager to play; not just for the combination of tonewoods which I keen to try but I have a lot of admiration for the mighty hat wearing, beard sporting one time member of Fairport Convention.
In Westside I tried one of the new Sigma OM models. After trying two Lowdens, it was clear in terms of sound it was a budget instrument but a really well designed one. It has a 25.5" scale, 1 3/4" nut with 2 1/4" spacing at the saddle. I've been thinking of getting a 'whisky/beer' guitar (ie one to leave on the stand and not worry about keeping it in the case) and I think for it's price tag it's difficult to beat.
It's the first Fan Fret guitar I've ever played and was a very strange experience in many ways. In terms of the open sound when tuned to a Open Tuning, it sounded wonderful, but I felt it made a lot of compromises to right hand picking. Due to the extreme Fan Fret (680mm on bass, 635mm on treble) it was difficult to have the kind of right handing picking sound I like. I like to pick not too close to the saddle normally, but close enough so there is a bit of tightness on the bass; but too close and the trebles sound a bit tinny. On the Lowden Fan Fret I noticed it's impossible to have that; it's either too tight/bright sounding at the treble or not enough tightness on the bass. This particular issue seemed to create as many problems as the issue of Multiscale seeks to solve. The issue of of fretting the lowest string with my little finger seemed very awkward too.
Which isn't to say the Fan Fret Lowden wasn't a a amazing guitar. I generally don't get on with Lowdens, not sure why, but I loved this one, if I had £4k in my pocket (the FF Lowden was just over £3k, I'd spend the remaining on bacon, crisps, Vimto and jellybeans to keep me going whilst I was playing the FF Lowden) I'd buy it in a heartbeat, it sounded amazing, the basses in particular, crisp yet warm with sweet trebles. If I could choose I'd gor for a Multiscale guitar but one with less of a difference eg of 26" bass to 25" treble perhaps.
I also played the Richard Thompson Cedar/Ziricote model, which wasn't the greatest, it seemed unresponsive and overbuilt, which was a shame. Of all Lowden's it was probably the one I was most eager to play; not just for the combination of tonewoods which I keen to try but I have a lot of admiration for the mighty hat wearing, beard sporting one time member of Fairport Convention.
In Westside I tried one of the new Sigma OM models. After trying two Lowdens, it was clear in terms of sound it was a budget instrument but a really well designed one. It has a 25.5" scale, 1 3/4" nut with 2 1/4" spacing at the saddle. I've been thinking of getting a 'whisky/beer' guitar (ie one to leave on the stand and not worry about keeping it in the case) and I think for it's price tag it's difficult to beat.