Lowden Electric

**xuoham** · 01-24-2018, 06:44 PM

That could be a great solid body "for jazz", but anyway certainly a great solid body, period.

Though alas not owning any, i am a big fan Lowden acoustic guitars (starting with Pierre Bensusan) and surely i am not alone on this forum.

So, worth checking... couldn't find any price point but i guess it will be in the 3000 bucks range. ...(gulp)
Lowden Electric Guitar

**Spook410** · 01-24-2018, 07:43 PM

Pretty guitar

**neatomic** · 01-24-2018, 07:47 PM

long time lowden fan as well..(mike oldfield and pierre b)

looks like a beautifully made solidbody...well executed

tho it may be a bit late to the party!! hah

cheers

**rio** · 01-24-2018, 11:04 PM

Looks cool and sounds good. I appreciate that they are playing clean for the demo - so many solid body demos are with crunch or high gain and that does nothing to tell me what the guitar will sound like. I don’t think I will be a customer since the small solid body style isn’t my thing but I do think that is a fine guitar.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

**feet** · 01-25-2018, 05:00 AM

time for another episode of unwanted aesthetic opinions-

-it reminds me of a carvin, which is never a compliment
-the lowden headstock just doesn't work on an electric
-for some reason, i hate metal knobs. maybe its the carvin thing, but they scream cheap or tryhard to me, unless it's a gretsch
-the shape is nice, but i may have liked to see something more distinctly lowden, given their unique and pleasantly bulbous acoustics
-the shape is similar to a larrivee electric, actually, with a different cutaway
-appears to be a seam in the middle. are both halves koa?
-generally hate no pickup rings, but this owns it in a pleasantly quirky way
-string thru appears to have been handled well

overall, it has a pleasantly clean and elegant vibe, but it isn't too memorable. forgettably minimal. i'd like to see more. are there other woods or finishes available?

**Ray175** · 01-25-2018, 05:22 AM

Prices quoted on The Guitar Magazine website after interviewing GL at NAMM are "from £2,995", first deliveries from March 2018. Glad I'm in Europe with no import duty or costoms on top of that price.

NAMM 2018: Lowden Introduces The New GL-10 Electric Guitar |
The Guitar Magazine

Beautiful instrument, but would need to have my hands on one to see if it is comfortable to play - risk of neck dive on a small body like that, or will the wide(ish) lower bout balance it out?

**Jabberwocky** · 01-25-2018, 05:58 AM

The Lowden headstock doesn't look nice on an acoustic either but it's been a Lowden headstock for so long now it doesn't really register. And I have a Lowden!

**jzucker** · 01-25-2018, 11:14 AM

what makes this a good solid body jazz guitar? To me, it didn't have the vibe of even a 339...

**Jim Soloway** · 01-25-2018, 12:03 PM

Originally Posted by jzucker

what makes this a good solid body jazz guitar? To me, it didn't have the vibe of even a 339...

Nice cleans with a certain warmth that's not present in all solid bodies. Definitely not for everyone and especially not for anyone looking for a lot of acoustic presence but for folks who like a solid body this seems like is might sound pretty good. On the other hand, my expectation is that this guitar will not succeed. It's entering a VERY conservative market that is very slow to accept anything which varies even small amounts from the standard designs, regardless of the quality. This guitar commits the dual sin of deviating too far from those standard designs to be a direct high quality alternative and not enough to appeal to those adventurous souls who are looking for something truly new. Collings has shown how to succeed at this but as a builder you really have to shelve your ego and your ingenuity to go that direction.

**neatomic** · 01-25-2018, 12:24 PM

not the first acoustic maker to enter the fray

martin tried this solid in the 70's...to very little interest

cheers

**jzucker** · 01-25-2018, 12:25 PM

I don't hear it. I hear mostly the amp simulator and reverb on a typical solid body guitar (possibly chambered).

I think a 339 sounds better for less than 1/2 the cost...

Originally Posted by Jim Soloway

Nice cleans with a certain warmth that's not present in all solid bodies. Definitely not for everyone and especially not for anyone looking for a lot of acoustic presence but for folks who like a solid body this seems like is might sound pretty good. On the other hand, my expectation is that this guitar will not succeed. It's entering a VERY conservative market that is very slow to accept anything which varies even small amounts from the standard designs, regardless of the quality. This guitar commits the dual sin of deviating too far from those standard designs to be a direct high quality alternative and not enough to appeal to those adventurous souls who are looking for something truly new. Collings has shown how to succeed at this but as a builder you really have to shelve your ego and your ingenuity to go that direction.

**Jim Soloway** · 01-25-2018, 12:49 PM

Originally Posted by jzucker

I don't hear it. I hear mostly the amp simulator and reverb on a typical solid body guitar (possibly chambered).

I think a 339 sounds better for less than 1/2 the cost...

Cost is an entirely different issue. There are a lot of solid bodies that sound good for less than 1/2 the cost. Lowden is decidedly up market in their pricing and unlikely to ever sell me a guitar of any kind as a result.

**jads57** · 01-25-2018, 01:35 PM

There a lot of upscale LP style guitars in the market these past few years. From Boutique builders to Eastman, Bill Comins, etc.
And while I love the minimalist approach to the Lowden solid body, it doesn't seem to be that different spec wise from a Les Paul.
It doesn't sound that different from a LP, and I guess that's the intent of the maker.

I guess I like everybody else am taken with the original great guitars, but I'm not sure why makers keep rehashing the same design.
I'm more taken with Strandberg or Parker Fly even Carvin/Keissel is more daring when it comes to trying newer approaches.

**Jabberwocky** · 01-25-2018, 02:24 PM

Just like the PRS Archtop is for the PRS fan who wants an archtop named PRS, the Lowden Electric 10 is for the Lowden acoustic fan who wants an electric named Lowden.

Too much reverb in that demo clip. It sounds anodyne good; not offensive but nothing to get really excited about either. I can imagine a Tokai Love Rock sounding just as good.

I am a Lowden acoustic fan but I do not want an electric named Lowden so I guess I am not its target market. The Westville Water guitar shows more imagination, if you asked me, and I know nobody did.

Water M-Ply Plus — Westville Guitars

**stevus** · 01-25-2018, 10:43 PM

Yes, another Japanese beauty. Aren't these the same people who distribute Archtop Tribute?

**Jabberwocky** · 01-26-2018, 08:10 AM

Originally Posted by stevus

Yes, another Japanese beauty. Aren't these the same people who distribute Archtop Tribute?

Yes, I believe Walkin JP are the exclusive dealer or creative driving force behind the Archtop Tribute and Westville Guitars.

**john_a** · 01-26-2018, 09:36 AM

Looks nice, obviously well done, but I can't hear it even though it was "clean" setting. As mentioned above, we're listening to a good amp sound played far too wet.

But for me, the price of any solid body, by anyone, can't justifiably reach into that range.
There's craft, and skill, and often art that go into a solid guitar, but you really can arrive at practically identical sonics with a very wide range of approach. It's not like a Jazz hollow archtop where the construction requires a much more integrated design. On a solid, there's significant interfaces between the important parts, like bridge to slab, but you've got a lot more freedom in what that slab is when you mainly need to consider just resonance and mass. I'm not sure the tradition of solid guitar has anything comparable to legacy of master builders where an apprentice had so much to learn first hand. I believe shavings from a small finger plane while tuning a carved top can may have more impact than taking a fat slice off of a solid slab with a bandsaw, the former comes from a long history of instrument development, and the later is mostly copying the aesthetics of the famous models, or making innovations that are largely for visual appeal or ergonomics.

I love solids, probably play them 50% of the time, but I can get nearly my ideal guitar with experimentation/selection of material -- there's no way I could do the same to replicate my best archtops. A box pumping air is more involved/complex, and producing the best examples seems more deserving of lofty prices. With a solid guitar in these higher price range, I think many times it's more like buying designer jeans.

John

**cmajor9** · 01-26-2018, 11:37 AM

Nice-sounding demo. However, I tend to agree with Jim Soloway that its chances of success are slim. The 'natural look' body reminds me a bit of the Taylor Solid Body guitar. Despite beautiful woods, some well thought out and innovative ideas, and a sustained marketing push it disappeared from the market after a few years.

**xuoham** · 01-26-2018, 09:03 PM

Good points and answers.

Anyway, if i had $3000 to give to Lowden i sure would buy an acoustic instead (actually it would be more like $4000).

George Lowden is probably not expecting to sell many either.

Still, to me it's a very sexy guitar.

**Spook410** · 05-19-2020, 03:40 AM

Old thread. Always wanted one of these.

Incoming from Peach Guitars in the UK. No idea how long it will take them to get it to southern Oregon.

Lowden Electric-lowden-jpg

**WilliamScott** · 05-19-2020, 10:50 AM

Looking forward to your review.

**Spook410** · 05-20-2020, 08:24 PM

Originally Posted by WilliamScott

Looking forward to your review.

Unfortunately looks like Peach Guitars backed out of the Reverb sale. Oh well..

**Hammertone** · 05-21-2020, 02:43 AM

I had one of these once. Larrivee RS-4.They also did the stripped-down RS-2. Superb guitars. Total market fail. OTOH, if you dig a Les Paul with a 25 1/2" scale and find any one of these, grab it - it will be cheap.

**Spook410** · 05-21-2020, 03:14 PM

Originally Posted by Hammertone

I had one of these once. Larrivee RS-4.They also did the stripped-down RS-2. Superb guitars. Total market fail. OTOH, if you dig a Les Paul with a 25 1/2" scale and find any one of these, grab it - it will be cheap.

I do like these and can live with a longer scale. Larrivee is doing a rather expensive rendition of a Tele now which I know little about except they have nice looking wood and a high price tag.

**Jim Soloway** · 05-21-2020, 03:21 PM

Originally Posted by Spook410

I do like these and can live with a longer scale. Larrivee is doing a rather expensive rendition of a Tele now which I know little about except they have nice looking wood and a high price tag.

He got my attention with these as well and I prefer a 25.5" scale length (although why I woud be interested in anything while I'm in Mexico is a bit of a mystery). There's a few of both models on Reverb. The upscale version is generaly in the $2100 range and the Jr version is about $1100. There were apparently some great deals when the discontinued them but that a long time ago.