Although hand built guitars are usually quite expensive, that special personal touch in craftsmanship adds a character that is mostly missing in mass-produced acoustics. The Lowden F35 Walnut, priced at $3,925 is one of those special guitars.
Features
Lowden Guitars are hand made by George Lowden's luthiers in North Belfast, Ireland. These premium guitars have a quality reputation in tone and construction and materials. A number of pros play them including Irish singer/songwriters Richard Thompson and Van Morrison.
The Lowden F35 Walnut has several unusual construction features and many elegant touches of the luthiers craft. First, the shape and size is called "orchestra." It's about the same size as a dreadnought but the waist is a bit more pinched and the front shoulders are more rounded.
Instead of the usual solid spruce top often seen on premium acoustics, the Lowden F35 has a cedar top, usually found on classical guitars. Additionally, the area around the sound hole is strengthened with a cedar, pentagonal-shaped, stiffener insert.
The rigid top bracing is a unique "A-X-E"-pattern, which is said to give the guitar its sound character. The e-braces are along the lower bout.
The walnut bridge assembly is a split bridge with two separate saddles, one for the high E and B strings and another for the remaining strings. This allows for more precise intonation. The strings mount through the end of the bridge and are held in place by their ball ends, not by plastic pegs that are used to hold strings on most steel-string acoustics.
A shim is included underneath the saddles to facilitate the easy installation of a "Fishman" type pickup., There is a pre-drilled hole for the wire and an oversized wooden end pin with the proper diameter hole reamed for the easy installation of an end-pin jack.
The sides and back of the F35 are solid walnut. There are beautiful inlays on the back, top and sides of the guitar, including perfectly mated wood binding around the top edge, delicately mitered wood inlays on the back and an abalone ring around the slightly larger-than-usual sound hole. A clear pick guard protects the wood below the sound hole.
The five-piece, walnut-laminate neck, and the medium height frets are pressed into a dark ebony fretboard with a 25.5-inch scale. The gold-plated Lowden tuners resemble Grovers and have pearl-escent plastic knobs.
The F35 Walnut came with a tough and well-padded Hiscox case that has the Lowden name molded into the top.
I checked the guitar thoroughly and its construction was impeccable. The smooth satin finish showed no evidence of changes in surface at the many places where there are inlays and junctions between different types of wood. There was no sloppy glue, no slightly askew bracing and nothing to indicate that Lowden's price for this fine guitar is anything other than reasonable.
The Audition
This particular Lowden was set up with higher action than I am used to, and the furnished light gauge strings made for quite a break in period for the old fingers. If you have played an old Martin acoustic, then you can envision the action of the Lowden. (According to Lowden, the higher action contributes to the bold, projected sound).
Despite the manual warning to "contact your Lowden dealer for advice about strings best suited to your instrument and style of playing," I decided to string it up with D'Addario phosphor bronze extra lights to make it easier on the digits.
With extra lights and several evenings for the audition, I came to the conclusion that the Lowden F35 was one of the best sounding acoustic guitars I had ever heard!
It is has a loud, crisp treble and midrange with a taut low-end that doesn't try to impress with boomy aplomb. The walnut and cedar also combine to give an incredible projection for a non-dreadnaught acoustic.
I couldn't keep my hands off the Lowden and everything I played sounded like music to my ears. The Lowden even kept its crisp, clean sound while fingerpicking with bare fingers.
Because of its size, the Lowden F35 was comfy to play standing up as well as sitting down. Simply, strap on the strap and go to town.
Although the expense of this guitar, may push owners not to play out with the Lowden F35, it certainly is no light weight when it comes to durability. Besides what is a guitar without some character marks. It would be like taking your VW to the Formula One race because you were afraid of dinging up the Lotus.
Conclusion
I had heard a lot about Lowden's reputation of quality and impeccable acoustic sound. After playing one, I whole heartedly agree. The F35 is one of the finest sounding acoustics I have ever played.
Those of you of nimble little fingers may want to make sure the action is to your liking before purchasing. But if the action is not a problem, the Lowden F-35 is worth the price of hand-made admission.