sat down and played a Lowden guitar!

[guitar junkie]

So like any musician living in a new town I set out to find the good music shops around here, the ones selling good gear....

Well after messing around all over town, not finding a whole lot of stuff to suit me....

I did find one shop near where I work that sells good guitars, Then I found a shop that REALLY sells guitars!

I am talking like 20 PRS in stock and no cheap crap to be seen anyplace!

What I really liked was that they just let you look around and if you had the guts to pick something up you could play it for a while!

they had four Lowden guitars in stock!

wow at just a touch over $4000 you really do get what you pay for!


the build and finish and wood on these guitars is just amazing and the tone was sharp and loud and clear from note to note with no muddy mid range or bass!

I understand they had split the logs for each guitar top rather than cutting them on a saw.... that means they have to use only perfect wood to build that guitar.

WOW!

[brandondrury]

I bet those guitars are impressive! A buddy of mine just snagged a $3500 Taylor for a price that was a little more than half that. I borrowed it for recording last weekending. HOLY SHIT!!

I'm convinced that great acoustic guitars do cost the bucks to build. While I've had a few $100 gutiars around that have done very nicely, to get the "real" sound, you've got to spend the cash.

I just said that I would never pay $5,000 for a bass even if I was a zillionaire, but I would certainly drop $5,000 for mega acoustic guitar!

Brandon

[firefingers]

^^ Absolutely right. Right now I'm eyeing a Breedlove acoustic that costs $699.

[guitar junkie]

the wood was awesome!!!!!!

yeah i will be keeping my Gretsch for a while rather than giving it to the ex lead singer of my former band.

so it may take a while for me to get around to buying another guitar but.... when i do it is gonna be a killer!

[brandondrury]

After 10 years of guitar playing, I've never owned an acoustic. I've wanted a Taylor forever, but I refuse to buy a cheapy, and my houses have always been too hot / cold and would destroy an acoustic quickly.

But when I get rich and get a decent house, I'm buying an mega acoustic!

Brandon

[dach]

Most of my heroes play Lowdens so naturally I've played a bunch with the intention of buying. Some Lowdens are wonderful but some are a bit clunky to me.... each series of those guitars are really made for a purpose... hard as hell to pick their fingerstyle guitars and so on... but they do their respective job WELL.

If you're buying a Taylor, go with the 900 series (englemann top and around $3500-4000 - you can get a deal if you try...) those things play and record wonderfully... not to mention there's a DO built in. It's just one of the most versatile ac guitars for recording I've run across. If I get rid of the Goodall, I'll get the 900....

[Matt]

I'm going to stick with my old Martin...

[brandondrury]

f you're buying a Taylor, go with the 900 series (englemann top and around $3500-4000 - you can get a deal if you try...) those things play and record wonderfully... not to mention there's a DI built in. It's just one of the most versatile ac guitars for recording I've run across. If I get rid of the Goodall, I'll get the 900....

That's funny! That's the exact guitar I recorded last week that blew my mind!!!! I was amazed by it!! I've recorded a lot of guitars, but never one like this! It was a treat and it made my job exponentially easier. Not only that, it actually stayed in tune!

I'm going to stick with my old Martin...

There is nothing wrong with some Martins. Most of the big names (Gibson guitars, Marshall amps, Fender basses, etc) are there for a reason. However, the Martin sound is usually very big. That sounds like a great thing. You could also call the sound muddy or at least too big if you really wanted to. When strummed on the couch the big low end is an awesome thing.

Now let's assume you are mixing a typical song with drums, bass, electric guitars, and vocals. All of a sudden, the kick drum needs to be loud, the bass player wants his thick sound to be cranked up, the electric guitar player thinks he likes tons of low end (he really doesn't...no one wants subwoofer low end from guitars on a recording). Now. let's add an acoustic guitar on top of that.

Most of the Martin's I've dealt with have required wild microphone trickery to get to fit in the mix. I hate using EQ for anything I don't have to and simply rolling off the low end isn't the ideal solution for me...at least not at first. So the Martin's usually require me to spend about 30 extra minutes to get a sound that is somehow balanced between high and end and low end.

Now factor in a second that the band wants "modern" production, so they want a ton of 250Hz scooped out of the overall mix. (Which wipes out a lot of the Martin's "big" tone anyway).

I love playing on Martins, but I hate recording them. To be honest, I'm not sure how all these classic records were recorded with them. The Martin sound I get is nothing like the Martin sound I hear on X classic record.

Brandon

[TAlderson]

I've got a $1500 Martin, and I'm not a recording guy or anything, but I LOVE playing on it. I had a cheap Takamine, and I thought it sounded great, then I heard my new guitar.

As for the classic recordings, Neil Young's Harvest album (Heart of Gold, Old Man, Needle and the Damage Done) was written and recorded on an old Martin D-28 that was Hank William's guitar. Young still plays it at live shows, most recently in his movie, "Heart of Gold."

Just a little (ir)relevant tidbit.

-Tyler

[brandondrury]

As for the classic recordings, Neil Young's Harvest album (Heart of Gold, Old Man, Needle and the Damage Done) was written and recorded on an old Martin D-28 that was Hank William's guitar. Young still plays it at live shows, most recently in his movie, "Heart of Gold."

And I believe this 100%. What I don't understand is the enormous tonal difference between what I hear on classic recordings and what I hear on my recordings. Granted, I'm still learning the craft of recording, but it's clear to me that either the micing techinques were DRASTICALLY different, or the sound of the Martins' back then were drastically different.

You don't notice just how much these modern Martins BOOM until you get a mic close to one.

Brandon