Lowden Guitars Explained

This blog is all about Lowden Acoustic Guitars and what makes them one of the worlds finest acoustic guitar makers. We will take a journey through the history of Lowden guitars, learn about how they’re made, what woods they use and why, what body shapes are available and why your next acoustic guitar should be a Lowden from Rimmers Music.

Lowden guitars are  based in Downpatrick, County Down in Northern Ireland, George Lowden and his small team of highly skilled luthiers make some of the world’s most beautiful acoustic guitars. Lowden spent  time finding the very best tonewoods such as Madagascar Rosewood, Alpine Lutz Spruce, Bog Oak, Red Cedar and Koa. Lowden then hand made  them using traditional tools to carve, plane and fit together instruments like no other. Lowden guitars are unique in their  body shapes as well, the O which stands for Original is George Lowdens original body shape and it is like a Jumbo body shape but with a Lowden twist. Below is a full run through of the body shapes and tonewoods that Lowden uses , to help you with your purchase. Lowden Acoustic guitars are the cream of the crop when it comes to acoustic guitar making. Here at Rimmers Music we will endeavour to always carry in stock a fantastic selection for you of these handmade stunning acoustic guitars. 

At Rimmers Music we are very proud to sell Lowden Acoustic Guitars. We photograph each Lowden Guitar for our website, so you know that the Lowden you are browsing will be the one dispatched to you. We also do a video to accompany each listing, so you can hear the guitar being played and learn more about each guitar. 

Dolphin Bracing Explained 
One of the unique factors that gives Lowden Acoustic Guitars their  unique tone is Dolphin bracing. This technique of hand carving involves carving each bracing to suit each guitar body shape and gives  Lowden Acoustic Guitars their  very own character, response and tonal sensitivity. 

The Lowden Body Shapes
All Lowden guitars share the same distinctive aesthetic. The company largely eschews traditional body shapes in favour of founder George Lowden’s own preferred designs. These are all-rounder in shape, with wider ‘waists’ if you will, and a decidedly understated take on decoration. The handmade care is obvious to see though, from the artfully smoothed edges to the hand-applied wooden binding. We’ll pick up on these details a little later, but firstly, there are the four body shapes, known by a single letter definition: O, F, S and W. 

O – Original. The Original is, as the name suggests, one of the initial styles that George designed when he began back in the mid-seventies. We’d say that the Lowden O is comparable to a Jumbo: it’s the largest body that Lowden produces  and has the biggest, grandest voice. This is a great choice for strummers who want to fill a room with rich sound. 

F – The F style is Lowden’s ‘medium’ body size. It’s their most popular too, which makes a lot of sense since it sits somewhere between traditional orchestral and dreadnought styles in overall size. This is the Lowden model to try first: it offers a great balance of focus and percussion and will suit finger pickers  and strummers equally.

S – The Lowden S is their concert model, and was developed to be the perfect fingerpicker’s guitar. Folk players, fingerstyle blues guitarists and others who like to utilise similar methods will find the extra sparkle, focus and tight low end of this design very pleasing. 

W- The ‘Wee’ Lowden is a recent addition to the range. It is, as you’d expect, the smallest body size  on offer. Legend has it that the Wee Lowden came around after a small bodied guitar was commissioned as a gift to Ed Sheeran, who has later gone on to collaborate with Lowden on the Sheeran by Lowden brand. Those guitars, though made by Lowden, deserve to be looked at separately, so we’ll not include too much of them here, but the Wee Lowden is the brand’s equivalent to today’s modern parlour or travel guitar.

The Lowden Series and Numbers
Lowden guitars are divided into a number of Series, some of which relate to specifications and others to a particular detail or feature (like an artist signature model or a nylon string guitar etc). Here is where it gets a little confusing…some of the numbers directly relate to the woods used, and others numbers can be available in a selection of woods. We’ll hopefully make this clearer as we go along, but in the meantime, here are the main Lowden ranges: 

Original Series
35 Series
38 Series
50 Series
Jazz Collection
Signature Collection.
 
Original Series
The instruments here most closely resemble the initial instruments made by George Lowden back in the mid 70s. “From the very beginning I was determined to develop unique designs and not just copy well known makes”, says the man himself, and the guitars issued from his Bangor, County Down workshop all bore that distinctive Lowden curvy style from the beginning.

Original Series guitars all feature AAA grade tone woods and George’s innovative Dolphin strut profiles inside the soundboard. “Our assembly techniques involve the use of hand tools to improve the quality of all joints and enable the “Dolphin Profile” voicing of the soundboard bracing. This and much much more ensures that sustain, volume and balance are not hindered in any way. No short cuts are possible, just great workmanship and attention to detail!”

Other notables include: wood being used for the purfling, binding and rosette; a split two-piece saddle for tighter intonation; and a set of Gotoh 503 tuners as standard.

Lowden then numbers their instruments, up until we get to the 35 Series. Here is a breakdown of the woods used, according to their system…

22: Cedar top, Mahogany back & sides
23: Cedar top, Walnut back & sides
25: Cedar top, Rosewoods back & sides (known as the definitive Lowden spec to many)
32: Sitka Spruce top, Indian Rosewood back & sides
34: Sitka Spruce top, Koa back & sides.

So, to put it into an example, a Lowden O22 is one of their Original body shapes (their take on a Jumbo), and is made  from Mahogany with a Cedar top. 
35 Series
The Lowden 35 Series adds some subtle decorative elements. Abalone and wood is used in the soundhole rosette, as well as the purfling on the sides and back of the body. Wood is also used for the fingerboard binding, and the fingerboard itself is made from Ebony. This is all down by hand, using a precis mitre saw and decades of experience! Gotoh 510 gold and ebony tuners are used as a finishing touch.
38 Series
The Lowden 38 Series is easy to spot: it’s the one with the leaf inlays! Well, leaf-shaped abalone, to be precise. This is the only non-custom Lowden series with this lovely inlay work. Typically, 38 Series instruments have Cedar tops and Brazilian Rosewood back & sides. 
50 Series
The 50 Series is effectively Lowden’s Custom Shop. The timbers used on all 50 Series guitars are AAAA grade, so it’s the best of the best, in other words! Many inlay packages are available to choose from, including options for headstock overlays and much more. As ever, the details are subtle but stunning when you see them: the fingerboards are extended at the end and curved, for example, and the soundhole edges use figured wood and abalone for a quite beautiful touch.

To summarise Lowden Acoustic Guitars truly are one of the world’s finest acoustic guitars. No matter the style  of music you play, you will find the perfect acoustic guitar for you with a Lowden from Rimmers Music. 

James – Rimmers Music.