Lowden Guitars – In Another Lifetime… Country Blues & Retirement in the Quotidian World…

May 20, 2025May 20, 2025

Hawaii Meets Northern Ireland: I Review My All Koa Lowden S-50

Introduction

About a year ago, I acquired a new Lowden S-50 with a Sinker Redwood top on Cocobolo back and sides. The S means the guitar has a smallish body, and the 50 designation implies that the guitar is manufactured with only the choicest, master grade woods that Lowden can obtain. I am super fond of this axe and play it often. You can read the full review of my Redwood/Cocobolo guitar here. What I like most about this guitar is its unique piano-like tonality, its distinct appearance, and finally its smaller (close in dimension, but deeper than a 00) body size, which is very comfortable for me to play. In contrast I own a big old Martin dreadnought and enjoy playing it, but the smaller Lowden is simply easier to work with, and because of Lowden’s bracing approach, it projects like a much larger instrument.

My Lowden S-50 Sinker Redwood on Cocobolo

Now appreciative of Lowden S-50 models, I would on occasion check out other Lowden holdings at Casino Guitars, the closest Lowden dealership to my home and where I bought my first S-50. Out of curiosity, I would also search through the Lowden inventory of other guitar stores around the country. There really are not that many in the US. I was mostly curious about other Lowden S-50’s that were constructed of woods distinctly different from mine. George Lowden is known for using choice tone woods and idiosyncratic wood combinations in his Northern Ireland workshop. Below is a brief video tour of Lowden’s manufactory demonstrating an extensive wood collection and their unique approach to lutherie.

Another interesting place to find a considerable sampling of Lowden guitars in the U.S. and abroad is Reverb, the online seller of all things musical, both new and used. I don’t visit Reverb very often, because I don’t like buying guitars online as I’ve been disappointed in past outcomes. This is mostly because, I don’t possess the wherewithal to accurately assess a used guitar for the state of its condition, particularly online. Not auditioning a guitar in person before purchase is a rabbit hole to avoid. For example, once I purchased a used Taylor hard body electric guitar from a youth minister via Reverb and to my dismay the guitar had a terribly twisted neck! I was bamboozled by a youth minister! Fortunately, Taylor replaced the neck for me, but getting it done was a minor ordeal.

Nevertheless, with curiosity overcoming trepidation, I went roaming on Reverb in late December 2024 and stumbled upon an S-50 that was on sale, being reduced by 20%. Lowden’s are pricey instruments, so a 20% reduction was considerable. Besides the sales price, what really caught my eye was that the guitar was made from all Hawaiian Koa, on the top soundboard, as well as the back and sides.

I was familiar with Lowden Koa guitars because I actually owned one in the middle late 1990’s. I ‘d bought that guitar, pre-owned from Mass Street Music in Lawrence, Kansas on a whim. I don’t remember if it was an S or F model, but I do remember it was “greenish” in color with marvelous wood grain. I eventually traded that Lowden off because of its narrow 1 5/8 inch neck size, which I found confining after transitioning to finger-style playing. There were many times when I regretted making that trade, and here I was looking at an all Koa Lowden again, but with the proper neck size!

Lowden S-50 All Koa as photographed by Eddie’s Guitars and presented on Reverb

To Be or Not to Be (with another guitar)

As seen above, the Koa Lowden I discovered was for sale at Eddie’s Guitars of Saint Louis, via Reverb. Eddie’s is a large scale online retailer of very fine guitars. They ship their instruments around the world., and to keep their inventory pristine, it is by appointment only that you can get into their shop. I was aware of Eddie’s because of their fairly pervasive YouTube presence.

Even though the Koa guitar caught my interest, I did not react immediately and moved on to other endeavors in my life. On occasion, over the course of several weeks, I would check back in to Reverb to see what was what, and to keep an eye on the Koa guitar. During that time, I kicked around the idea of acquiring another guitar. Probably the most important criteria was to choose a guitar made from wood that I did not already have in my collection and koa certainly fit the bill. My working assumption was that a Lowden made from all koa would sound suitably different from my other guitars.

The more I thought about the Lowden Koa, the more interested I became, but I needed more information. I wanted to avoid the trap I’d fallen into in the past by allowing enthusiasm to override good judgement, so I began to query my good friend ChatGPT. I asked the Chat to do a comparative analysis between the tonal character of an all Koa Lowden S-50 and my Lowden with Sinker Redwood/Cocobolo.

ChatGPT on the job analyzing guitar tonal character for me

Not surprisingly, I got a very thorough response from the AI. In summary, the tonality of the Sinker Redwood/Cocobolo guitar was described as the following: “This combination offers a warm, harmonically complex tone with clarity, sustain, and excellent projection. It’s well-suited for fingerstyle and light strumming, with an emphasis on depth and richness.”

Whereas, the Koa guitar was predicted to offer the following: “Koa on Koa produces a clear, midrange-forward tone with a bright, bell-like quality. Over time, the tone grows warmer and more resonant, making it versatile for a range of playing styles.”

I liked what ChatGPT had to say about the contrast in tonality between the two guitars as it could justify having both guitars in my collection with their differing voices; however, the comparative playing dynamics raised some concern for me: For the Sinker Redwood/Cocobolo combination it was stated that the guitar should be: “Extremely responsive to a light touch, making it ideal for fingerstyle. Produces a lush, full sound even at low volumes.”

On the other hand, the description for the Koa guitar raised this red flag: “Requires more energy to ‘drive’ the soundboard, making it less responsive to light playing. Excels in situations requiring clear projection and articulation, especially for strumming or flatpicking.” I am not a strummer, nor do I use a pick, and I would not categorize my fingerstyle playing as really “digging in,” so this was a deal breaker.

Fingerstyle is my bag… no picks and no strumming…

Before giving up, I opened a dialogue with an Eddie’s Guitar’s representative, and he responded relatively quickly to my concerns about playability with the following comment: “In some cases Koa tops can be a bit stiff – but Lowden builds a really responsive guitar, so their All Koa (sic) builds are actually super responsive for fingerstyle playing. Also being an S model, it has a remarkably “immediate” feel to its response. Perhaps not quite as forgiving as a rosewood guitar – but very crisp and lively without being at all shrill or strident.” He went on further to address tonality with the following comment: “One thing I’d add is that you should plan for noticeably more presence in the midrange with the all Koa body. More of a “woody” tone, as opposed to the “glassy” quality of Cocobolo and Redwood.”

Finally, the Eddie’s guy referred me to a YouTube video in which the exact guitar I was considering for purchase was demonstrated. Matthew Chulka frequently hosts an Eddie’s livestream where he demos examples of their large inventory of fine guitars. This video is cued to the point where Matthew shows and discusses the Lowden Koa in question, It was quite honest and revealing. See below:

I studied what Chulka had to say like a Talmudic scholar and listened to the guitar intently with my headphones. The guitar sounded lovely when played with fingerstyle and I appreciated Chulka’s honesty about the risks of overplaying the instrument with a pick. Lowden’s are by their nature very lightly braced under the soundboard, so they are quite responsive, but can start to break apart sonically if played too aggressively. In fact, George Lowden is very clear in his videos that a lighter touch gets the most out of a Lowden guitar, which works for me.

As an aside, I had suffered through four surgeries on my right eye with lengthy recovery periods over the previous four months and was feeling like I needed to reward myself for perseverance. So after my interactions with the Eddie’s staff, I purchased the guitar.

I Review the All Koa Lowden S-50

While reviewing the provenance paperwork provided by Lowden, I was astonished to see that the guitar was manufactured to completion in Northern Ireland in September of 2018 and arrived at Eddie’s Guitars in the U.S. in December of the same year. That meant the guitar resided in St. Louis six years before I purchased it! That is slow inventory turnover with a lot of cash tied up for an extended period of time. I am surprised that someone did not grab up this guitar sooner because I don’t think Lowden produces large numbers of all Koa S-50’s. At any rate, I am happy to have it in my home now.

The guitar arrived in early January 2025, but because of the cold temperatures that the instrument travelled through from Missouri to North Carolina, I kept it boxed for 24 hours so it could acclimate before opening it. As you might expect from a company that ships guitars around the world, the instrument was carefully packed and in flawless condition when first examined. Along with the guitar was the Lowden provenance documentation, as well as a full set of CITES paperwork. It’s the first time I ever received CITES papers and this is because Koa is a protected wood species. In addition to the paperwork, a very nice silver G7th Performance 3 ART Capo was thrown in.

Let’s Consider the Guitar from Headstock down:

You can see above the front and rear views of the all Koa Lowden S-50. This Koa is a lovely golden brown hue with attractive wood grain patterns. The instrument itself is overall very light in weight. In contrast, my Sinker Redwood/Cocobolo S-50 is noticeably heavier by comparison.

The Headstock and Nut

The Lowden headstock projects a sense of refinement and craftsmanship—not flashy or oversized, but balanced, clean, and distinctive, reflecting George Lowden’s design philosophy: form serving function, with elegance in simplicity. It’s a paddle style headstock with subtle carve outs on the upper corners topped off on the face with an inlaid Lowden logo. The carve outs are crescent-like bevels, giving the otherwise rectangular headstock a slightly softened, sculpted look.The headstock extends off of the five piece neck comprised of Honduran Mahogany and California Black Walnut. The head and back facings are African Ebony. Finally, the tuning machines are Gotoh 510’s with Ebony buttons. In my experience, the Gotoh 510’s are the best and most precise “modern” tuners in the marketplace, and the ebony buttons feel great to the touch during tuning!

The nut on a 50 series guitar is bone (animal), which has long been favored by high-end builders like Lowden because it transmits string vibration more efficiently than synthetic materials, improving clarity and dynamic response. In addition, nut shaping is handled by George Lowden’s premier luthiers, not delegated to production-level staff, which speaks to the luthier-like versus mass manufacturer approach to their quality guitar building.

The Neck and Join

As far as I know, the Lowden neck is unique among high-end guitar producers. Across the marketplace, the typical neck is a solid piece of wood, whereas Lowden’s is a 5 piece laminate, most often but not always made from three large pieces of mahogany and two thinner strips of walnut. The laminate is created by gluing the pieces into a long block under pressure. Afterwards, the neck is cut into rough shape and then finished off by hand. The five piece laminate brings a recognizable aesthetic to Lowden necks; however, the most important reason for this design is to bring stability to the neck, practically eliminating the possibility of neck torque or, in other words, twist, which can ruin a guitar’s playability. The stiffness of the composite neck is also said to enhance tonality because more rigidity can lead to slightly increased sustain and brightness.

This S-50 is a 14 fret guitar built with an African Blackwood fretboard (Diaspyros Crassifora), a member of the ebony family), which enhances durability, playability, and note clarity—all consistent with the guitar’s premium design and feel. Other than the binding on the fretboard, there are no inlays, which is in keeping with Lowden’s aesthetic of simplicity. There was a time when only pure black fretboards were accepted by premium guitar builders; however, it now acceptable to use ebony with blonde streaks apparent on the surface. Taylor Guitars led the way in conserving the global ebony supply by using the streaked wood. My Koa guitar is a throwback to the days of pure black soundboards since master grade African Blackwood was used. Nevertheless, I would have been happy with either type of ebony as they sound essentially the same and both look nice.

Lowden guitars, including the S-50 model, traditionally feature a meticulously hand-fitted dovetail neck joint. This construction method is renowned for its excellent transfer of vibrations from the neck to the body, resulting in a warm, rich tone with good sustain, tonal depth, and resonance. While some (very good) guitar manufacturers have adopted bolt-on neck designs for various reasons, Lowden has maintained the use of traditional dovetail joints in their higher end instruments. This commitment to traditional craftsmanship contributes to the distinctive tonal characteristics and playability that Lowden guitars are celebrated for. It should be noted that just recently Lowden introduced more affordable instruments to the marketplace that utilize a bolt on neck.

The Pinless Bridge and Split Saddle

Compared to every other American guitar, and I’ve owned quite a few, the Northern Ireland built Lowden uses a very different bridge and saddle construct. As seen above, the bridge is made from Machaerium scleroxylon, commonly known as Pau Ferro or Bolivian Rosewood, which is dense, hard, and stable, making it excellent for bridges. This wood is often beautifully figured with a mix of chocolate browns, purples, and blacks, which adds to the aesthetic beauty of the guitar.

Beyond the wood, what distinguishes the bridge is the pinless design. Instead of traditional bridge pins, the strings are fed through the back of the bridge, reducing stress on the soundboard and making string changes easier. Though care should be taken during stringing not to let the ball end of the string to slap onto the sound board and damage it. For that reason, I purchased one of the last remaining Lowden suede body surface protectors to use during restringing. You may use cardboard etc. to do the same thing, but the Lowden suede is a more elegant approach.

Lowden Suede Leather Soundboard Protector for Restringing

You will note in the above two photographs that bridge is split into two pieces. The larger one supports the wound mid to bass strings, while the smaller portion supports the two treble strings. This split bone saddle enhances intonation, allowing the thick bass strings and thinner treble strings to intonate more accurately across the scale length, which is a hallmark of Lowden’s meticulous attention to tonal detail.

The Koa S-50 Guitar Body

As I’ve said before, the Koa Lowden is a stunningly beautiful guitar, which is a function the aesthetic sensibility of the body’s shape and curvature, but most importantly the Koa wood itself.

The Rarity of Koa Wood

It bears repeating that other than the exquisite workmanship that goes into making a Lowden S-50, a supremely important element is the wood from which the guitar is constructed. As a reminder, the S signifies a small bodied instrument and the 50 means that the wood used in the guitar is Mastergrade level, which is reserved for the most stunning, rarest, and cleanest wood cuts, with extreme visual beauty, flawless structural properties, and musical instrument tonal potential. These woods are typically only used in elite guitars. In the case of this S-50, the wood that distinguishes it is Acacia Koa or Koa for short.

Tone wood capable Acacia Koa is a rare endemic wood, meaning it grows only in Hawaii. The Big Island and Maui are the primary sources for tone wood-grade koa. The best wood is yielded from trees grown at elevations of 3000 to 6000 feet and rooted in volcanic soil conditions. Those variables contribute to denser grain, visually stunning figuring, and stability, which are key attributes for premium instruments. The most prized tone wood comes from older trees, often 80 to 100+ years old, which yield a tighter grain and richer color and figuring.

Naturally fallen Acacia Koa tree in the Hawaiian Mountains

Because of it rarity, Acacia Koa trees are protected under the law to prevent it from being logged into extinction. As of now, the only natural forest trees harvested for lumber have died or fallen through natural causes. Other Koa comes from private lands, or sustainable plantations. The controlled acquisition of koa limits supplies and consequently drives up its value and subsequent pricing.

Koa’s Tonality

Luthier Tap Tones a book matched piece of koa…

Besides appearance, Koa is prized for its tone profile which is said to be warm, midrange-focused, with a sweet, clear top end. As with other tone woods, Koa is said to open up and become warmer sounding over time. In fact, new Koa guitars are sometimes said to be somewhat constrained or tight sounding.

In contrast, I would describe the sound of my “new” S-50 as having an open, mature bell or chime like tonal quality. There are probably two reasons why my Koa guitar sounds so good “out of the box.” The first would be Lowden’s build philosophy, utilizing tap tuning and light bracing. George Lowden’s approach to voicing is notably different from most other builders. His use of light, carefully “dolphin” shaped and tuned bracing, along with a relatively thin top allows a wood like Koa to maximize responsiveness and harmonic development. In addition, the ultra-thin satin/poly blend Lowden uses doesn’t dampen vibration as much as gloss finishes often do. This helps preserve overtone richness and sustain.

Secondly, when I acquired the guitar “new,” it was actually six years old. Wood that’s been built into an instrument, even if it’s not played, still ages. While playing breaks in an instrument faster, time alone contributes to the kind of openness, bloom, and chime yielded by a guitar. The wood continues to cure post-construction, especially in a stable, climate-controlled environment, like a case in a shop. Also, over time, internal stress in the wood fibers relaxes, and the instrument “settles.” This affects resonance and sustain positively.

A Brief History of Koa as a Tone Wood

As discussed above tone wood quality Koa (Acacia koa) is indigenous to the Hawaiian Islands and is found nowhere else in the world. In Hawaiian culture, Koa symbolized strength and bravery. In fact, the wood was traditionally reserved for royalty due to its beauty and durability. It was cherished for centuries by Native Hawaiians for canoes, weapons, and decorative crafts.

In the late 1800’s Koa entered the music world with the birth of the ukulele in Hawaii. Portuguese immigrants introduced the machete (a small guitar-like instrument), which evolved into the ukulele. Hawaiian luthiers, when building ukuleles, chose Koa for its beauty, availability, and tonal properties. During the 1920’s through the 1940’s the diminutive instrument became widely popular in the U.S. during the “ukulele craze.” At the same time, Martin and other mainland stringed instrument makers began to experiment with Koa for both ukuleles and small guitars.

Below is an interesting video of a 1930’s vintage all Koa Martin guitar that was originally built as a Hawaiian lap guitar made with a square neck, but later converted to a standard guitar set up with a round neck replacement. It illustrates the early use of koa in guitar building.

In the late 1940’s, as a result of logging, ranching, and sugarcane farming, Koa forests were depleted. Consequently, koa use in instruments declined as availability shrank and other tonewoods (like mahogany and rosewood) became more predominant. Then in the 1970’s Hawaiian makers like Kamaka and KoAloha led a ukulele renaissance revitalizing interest in koa as a tonewood. Simultaneously, luthiers such as George Lowden, Taylor Guitars, Goodall, and Santa Cruz began using Koa for steel-string acoustic guitars. Koa’s striking visual figure (curl, flame, etc.) and tonal balance, especially when aged, made it a favorite for custom builds and boutique guitars. Because of ongoing scarcity, modern Koa guitars often come with a premium. Ongoing efforts to use only salvaged or plantation-grown wood, making it one of the most carefully sourced tonewoods today.

Some Comments of the S-50’s Aesthetics and Spare Adornments

The Spanish Classical Influence on the Lowden Aesthetic

The graceful curves of the instrument’s body created by the classic ratio of the upper to lower bout size make the Lowden S model one of the more visually pleasing guitars built today. The organic lines carved to please the eye borrow from the classic designs of the original Spanish guitars, as seen above.

Another geometric enhancement congruent with the guitar’s aesthetic appeal is the curved terminus of the bound fretboard where it protrudes into the soundhole. This sweeping design element is a George Lowden signature touch for his 50 series guitar models.

When it comes right down to it, it is the beauty of the wood that speaks the loudest to a Lowden guitar’s visual aesthetic appearance. Consequently, the typical Lowden guitar does not have a great deal of extra bling like “fancy-pants” inlays on the body or fretboard. Of course, if requested Lowden will provide those embellishments; however, the 4 Lowdens I’ve owned over my life were “off the rack” and they were relatively unadorned. As I said, it’s the wood itself that defines Lowden aesthetics. Keeping things simple, as you can see above, the Koa S-50 has an elegantly clean and diminutive wooden rosette with a thin surrounding ring of Haliotis Iris (Pāua/Rainbow Abalone).

As you can see above, the S-50 comes with handsome purflings made with Machaerium Scleroxylon (Pau Ferro) and bindings made of Diaspyros Crassiflora (African Blackwood). I used to be fussy about the kinds of bindings used on a guitar build and considered synthetic Ivoroid (a manufactured regenerated cellulosic) or Antique White plastic “less than” materials; however, I’ve come to appreciate their vintage aesthetic. Nevertheless, I really do like a classy wood binding like the one on my S-50!

The final touch I would point out is the purfling bound backstrap, which I suspect is made of a darker stained koa, a section of which can be seen below:

Final Comments

In sum, I am delighted with the Lowden all koa S-50. It’s a beautiful guitar, with a lovely tonality that is quite comfortable to play. If I have any quibbles with Lowden guitars, there are two. First, for the three Lowden’s I’ve owned over the past two years, they’ve all had higher action than I prefer. The F-50 I traded in part because of the high action, with the S-50 Sinker Redwood over Cocobolo I had a local shop lower the action a bit to my liking. I am still debating what to do with the Koa guitar. My second quibble has to do with the truss rod which is used to adjust neck relief. It is almost impossible to get to it inside the guitar’s body as a rather large brace north of the sound hole blocks access.

Sound Samplings of Me and the Koa S-50

These recordings were filmed with an iPhone 16 Pro Max and an Audigo Microphone. I suggest a good pair of earphones to get the highest fidelity.

November 20, 2024May 21, 2025

I Review the Lowden S-50, Sinker Redwood on Cocobolo B&S… a comfortable guitar that sounds like Irish magic…

Introduction:

During the Summer of 2023, right after I moved to North Carolina, on the way to visit my daughter in Wilmington, I stopped along the route at the small town of Southern Pines and visited Casino Guitars. I’d become aware of Casino Guitars because of the owner, Baxter Clement’s omnipresence on YouTube and, most importantly, I also knew that they were one of the rare U.S. dealers of Lowden guitars. I’d owned an all Koa Lowden many years ago and regretted trading it in and wanted to explore reacquiring one. With me along for the ride was my Collings 0002H as a potential trade item. I wrote at length about the purchase process of my Lowden F-50 on that trip and the blog article can be found here.

Me and my Lowden F-50 that I purchased in early June 2023.

Though I wrote enthusiastically about the F-50 when I published my review, I’d since become somewhat disaffected by the guitar. I’d written about the guitar’s playability and how I struggled with it, and finally took it to my local shop for a set-up. I was initially pleased with the set-up, but in time came to the conclusion that the guitar was just too difficult to play. When compared to my Martin 1937 Authentic and my Santa Cruz H-13, it was just not in the same league of playability. Consequently, I was playing it less and less, mostly because it was too difficult to fret the strings. Perhaps it was the long scale length, but more likely the string action.

Further, one evening a friend who is an accomplished guitarist, played the F-50 while I sat in front to the guitar’s sound hole. Unlike me, he really digs in with a pick, which is more aggressive than I ever play, and to my disappointment the instrument just sounded so harsh to my ear. Even though I play finger style with a lighter touch, I was deeply affected, and not in a good way by what I had heard. Still, I stuck with the guitar for a year, but I knew it was a serious problem for me when I finally put extra light strings on it, which was an admission that this guitar was just too difficult to play the way it was intended. Finally, the large lower bout, on occasion, resulted in shoulder soreness because of the “reach over” of my right arm required to play it. As I’ve written before, at the time of this guitar’s purchase my enthusiasm overrode my sense of good judgement.

I Return to Casino Guitars

On occasion, I check out Casino’s guitar inventory on their website and one day, I discovered that they’d stocked a new Lowden S-50! This is a smaller more intimate guitar than the F-50 that I currently owned. In addition, the guitar was built with Sinker Redwood over Cocobolo, which I thought would offer a warmer sound then the Spruce over Cocobolo F-50. Further, the guitar had a shorter scale length which in theory makes it easier to play. I was interested in auditioning this guitar.

I watched the S-50 from a distance for quite a while, holding my breath every time I dialed into the Casino website, hoping it was not sold. It was only after I crawled out of a month’s long medical rabbit hole that I decided to celebrate life and make a pilgrimage to Southern Pines to audition the S-50, and along with me was the F-50 to see if I could trade it in exchange.

The Lowden S-50, Baxter Clement and me….

It was a typical visit to Casino Guitars. The guys who work there were exceptionally helpful and when Baxter became aware I was lurking around the store, he came down from his apartment, which is upstairs above the shop. He made time to visit with me despite the fact that it was his son’s birthday and it was a Saturday. We played some music together and he auditioned the guitar for me too so that I could hear it directly. As you probably know, the acoustic guitar sound hole projects the guitar’s sound away from the player, so it’s nice for someone else to play the guitar as you sit in front of it. In the meantime, Sean gave the F-50 a once over and arrived at a reasonable trade in value.

In sum, the S-50 really suited my sensibilities and we closed the deal. Afterwards I met my wife for ice cream across the street from the shop and then we headed back home.

An Initial Comparison Between My New Lowden S-50 to the Older F-50

George Lowden in his shop in Northern Ireland

I drove into Southern Pines with a large bodied Lowden guitar, built with Cocobolo on the sides and Lutz Spruce on the top. Later, I returned home with a smaller bodied Lowden guitar with Cocobolo back and sides and Sinker Redwood on top. Obviously, a tonal variation would be expected based on size and wood differences between the old and new guitars.

On the other hand, a key commonality between the two guitars was Lowden artisanship. Lowden guitars are exquisite instruments that are aesthetically pleasing to the eye and made with obsessive attention to detail, which is why they’re expensive. According to George Lowden, what might appear to be small trifling details in guitar manufacturing, add up over the course of the build, finally making a considerable impact on the instrument’s performance. In addition, both guitars were designated style “50” models, which means they were built with the very best master grade tone woods in the Lowden inventory.

Partial bracing pattern under the sound board with example of dolphin shaping

Both of the Lowdens were braced similarly with what is referred to as an “A-frame” design. According to Lowden, the A-frame design stiffens the guitar around the sound hole and up through the neck so no sound is lost to unnecessary movement, but leaves the lower bout to vibrate freely, which creates the guitar’s sound. The braces themselves, which support the sound board, are individually hand carved in the form of a dolphin cresting the waves to give maximum stiffness with minimum mass for efficient sound transmission. As a result, Lowden guitars are known throughout the industry as being exceptionally powerful with extraordinary sustain. In other words, with a Lowden it is possible to get a loud sound without having to work the guitar hard and the sound lasts or sustains for a long time. It’s quite marvelous to behold when you strum a Lowden or pluck an individual string.

Other common design features between the two Lowden’s are the headstock, neck construction and neck join to the body of the guitar. The headstock of both guitars is similarly sized, shaped, and adorned with an attractive veneer on both sides, though the veneer differs between the two guitars. It’s a bit of a mystery what the wood veneer is on the newer S-50, but I suspect it is Sinker Redwood to match the guitar’s top. The tuners are Gotoh 510’s with Ebony buttons. There are lots of effective guitar tuners out in the world, but the high-tuning-ratio Gotoh 510’s are, in my judgement, the best. While they probably are not congruent with the aesthetic of a traditional (Martin-like) guitar, for a “contemporary” guitar like the Lowden, they are a perfect complement.

Lowden five piece neck and dovetail join to the body

Both the S-50 and the F-50 were built with a five piece mahogany and rosewood laminated neck, which lends to stability and resistance to twisting torque. I’ve owned a guitar with a twisted neck and it’s not pretty. A twisted neck will render a guitar largely unplayable.

The necks of the Lowden F and S models are joined at the body with a traditional dovetail join “which offers excellent transfer of vibrations from the neck to the body due to the tight fit, producing a warm, rich tone with good sustain, and offers tonal depth and resonance.” (ChatGPT)

Lowden S-50 with 12 fret neck, Ebony fretboard and Sinker Redwood soundboard

Finally, the S-50’s neck is built with an ebony fingerboard, but unlike the F-50, the newer guitar has an old school, more traditional 12 fret length, generally offering a warmer, fuller tone, which is what I was looking for in the F-50’s replacement. With 12 frets as opposed to the more common 14, the bridge is closer to the center of the lower bout, where the soundboard is more flexible, enhancing bass response and overall resonance. Further, in theory, the shorter scale length should make it easier to play.

In sum both guitars, the one I traded off, and the new one I brought home were made with the highest level of attention to detail, as well as the characteristic Lowden design features such as the rigid neck, dovetail joint and their idiosyncratic soundboard bracing. All the aforementioned result in both power and sustain, which are incredibly important attributes of an acoustic guitar. What differed between the two guitars and why I selected the new one over the old was the guitar’s tone character and playability, which is a function of design differences like the number of neck frets, scale length, guitar size, and selection of woods on the top, back and sides.

Below is an excellent video of a seminar held by George Lowden where you can hear, first hand, his design philosophy in his own words:

The Lowden S-50’s Playability

Compared to the F model, the S model is smaller in both width (approximately 1 inch) and depth (approximately 0.5 inches), making it more intimate and easier to handle, especially for fingerstyle playing. In other words there’s far less effort to wrap my arm around the guitar to get to the strings with my right hand.

Smaller guitars can run the risk of sounding boxy, but that is not the case of the S-50. It’s reasonably deep body, 12 fret design, and Lowden’s bracing method free the guitar’s body to push out sound like a cannon.

Similar to the F model that I traded in, the S model came from the factory with, for my taste, string action that was too high. The Lowden literature refers to the string height as middle low, which is anything but in my judgement. It’s not quite a cheese grater but it is too high for me to enjoy playing. It’s just too much work for me to fret the strings with the in-factory set height. My first two acoustic guitars were higher end Taylors and they had very low string action, so I’ve been spoiled ever since. I don’t own those Taylors anymore, but my ’37 Martin Authentic D-28 and my Santa Cruz H-13 both have low action and are a dream to play.

Brian McGee at Twin House Music in Carrboro, NC

I knew that I was going to have to get the guitar set up properly if I was ever going to enjoy playing it. As I recollect, back in the past with the F model, my luthier adjusted the neck relief only with the truss rod, which in the end was just not enough for me to feel comfortable playing it. This time I had to get it right! I was going to have to have the string action lowered more effectively then when I had the F model in the shop.

As preparation for the trip to my luthier, using a string height gauge, I measured the action of the Lowden S, the Santa Cruz and the Martin guitars that I owned. At the twelfth fret the Lowden’s 1st string was almost 1/3 a millimeter higher and the 6th string was 1/4 millimeter higher off the fret when compared to the Martin and Santa Cruz guitars. That’s an annoying difference that can be felt during play! Before taking the guitar to the shop, I actually contacted Lowden in Northern Ireland about any issues lowering the action, and they saw no reason to prohibit adjustment downwards. To them it was a matter of taste and they believed it was easier to drop string height than to raise it, which was why the action comes out of the factory a bit on the high side. Some players like it a bit high, but not me.

I took the Lowden into the shop at Twin House Music with the measurements I’d made and asked that the Lowden be adjusted to match my other guitars. Brian McGee, a great luthier, was initially reluctant to make the changes, being concerned about string buzz and also working with the Lowden split saddle. Most guitars have a single saddle, but the Lowden is split in two pieces to enhance intonation. Making action adjustments are more challenging with a split saddle because they have to be sanded down identically to avoid introducing unwanted intonation issues. I was really insistent and Brian finally agreed, and in the end he did a fantastic job. I’m now happy with the action on a Lowden guitar. Lowden’s do not have to be cheese graters!

The S-50’s Aesthetic and Tonal Character

A key determinant of an acoustic guitars aesthetic appearance and tonal character are the woods from which it is built. My Lowden is built with the master-grade tone woods of Sinker Redwood for the top and Cocobolo back and sides. Master-grade tonewood refers to the highest quality of wood used for crafting guitars and other musical instruments. It is a premium designation reserved for tonewoods that exhibit exceptional visual, structural, and acoustic qualities, making them ideal for producing high-end guitars.

Cocobolo

According to ChatGPT, Cocobolo (Dalbergia retusa) is a premium tonewood, often commanding higher prices due to its scarcity and desirability. It is visually stunning, featuring a variety of colors such as reddish-orange, deep browns, and even purples, often with dramatic grain patterns and black streaks. Cocobolo produces a lush, vibrant tone with pronounced overtones, offering a complex and harmonically rich sound. The treble response is bright and clear without being harsh, making it well-suited for fingerstyle playing. The low end is focused and powerful, providing a solid foundation without being muddy. While not overly pronounced, the midrange is clear and contributes to a well-rounded tonal palette. Its density and stiffness give it excellent projection and sustain, making it a favorite for players who want their sound to carry. Cocobolo excels in styles that require clarity and articulation, as it allows individual notes to ring out beautifully lending itself well to fingerstyle, which is how I play.

Cocobolo shares some tonal similarities with Indian and Brazilian Rosewood, such as a rich low end and sparkling highs, but it has more pronounced overtones and a slightly brighter overall character. While Mahogany has a warmer, more midrange-focused tone, Cocobolo offers more tonal complexity and dynamic range.

From a builders standpoint, Cocobolo is very oily and must be handled accordingly to ensure glue joints are sound and finishes remain intact. The dust from this wood can be obnoxious too, causing an allergic reaction during cutting. Of course, the oil and dust are not an issue with the finished consumer product.

Finally, from a sustainability standpoint Cocobolo is becoming less readily available because of unfortunate and unscrupulous over-harvesting. Only ten to twenty percent of Cocobolo harvest goes into musical instruments, including both guitars and woodwinds. On the other hand furniture, cabinetry, and flooring account for up to eighty percent. As the attack on Cocobolo sources continues, premium guitars made with it will be seen as rare heirloom instruments. My Cocobolo Lowden will be a guitar that goes on to my children after I’m gone, though I am dubious that they will understand what they have in hand. At that point, I probably won’t care.

Sinker Redwood

Probably the most remarkable aspect of the S-50 is its top, which is comprised of two book matched pieces of master grade Sinker Redwood. It’s my first experience with this type of soundboard where its reddish/brown hue, with vertical dark streaks embedded across the boards set it apart. My other acoustics have sunburst or standard unstained spruce tops, so the S-50 just looks different from typical acoustic guitars that I’ve owned in the past. The guitar is endlessly fascinating to behold.

As I said, my other acoustic guitars all have traditional spruce tops, though they are of varying subspecies, including Sitka, European, and Adirondack (Red Spruce), so from a sonic/tonal standpoint the S-50 stands apart. Generally speaking, Spruce offers a sound that is bright, clear, and dynamic, while Sinker Redwood is warm, rich, and overtone heavy, so there’s a nice difference in both appearance and sound that distinguishes the S-50, making it a great addition to my collection.

The origin story of Sinker Redwood is fascinating in and of itself. In the late 1800’s on into the early twentieth century, which was a time of rapid industrialization in the U.S., loggers harvested Northern California Giant Redwoods without abandon. These were old growth forests with trees as old as 1000 years. Sadly, only five percent of the original old growth forests remain, and they were saved by a combination of conservationists, activists and government intervention.

Harvesting of Giant Redwoods in Northern California

The trees situated along waterways were the easiest to manage as they could be dropped and floated downriver to the sawmills on the California coast. Along the way downriver, the trees were sometimes held back in large jams with the use of chain booms until the sawmills needed them. It was under those circumstances that some logs sank to the bottom of the river and became embedded in the river bottom mud never to make it down to the sawmills.

Redwoods making the trip downriver to the sawmills.

Submerged in anaerobic (oxygen-deprived) conditions for decades, perhaps some for a century, the sunken Redwood logs would undergo physical change. While submerged, Sinker Redwood logs absorb water, which, over time, leads to compression of the wood fibers enhancing the grain density. Also, logs that sank and remained submerged tended to have very tight grain patterns simply due to the slow-growing nature of the old growth trees from which they came. In addition, while submerged, the Sinker Redwood absorbed minerals from the surrounding water, which changed its color. The wood often took on rich, darker hues, ranging from deep reddish-brown to even greenish or purplish streaks, depending on the minerals present in the river water.

Sinker Redwood embedded in the river bottom in Northern California

Over time, submersion in water also leads to a breakdown of the wood’s structural components, lignin and cellulose, particularly in the outer layers. The cold and anaerobic conditions underwater slowed this breakdown process, allowing the core wood to remain structurally sound while developing unique tonal characteristics. This slight degradation can contribute to a smoother resonance when used in guitars, often resulting in warmer and more responsive sound.

Recovery of Sinker Redwood from rivers and estuaries in Northern California

Many years later at the close of the twentieth century entrepreneurs discovered and began recovering sunken Redwood logs from the rivers and estuaries in Northern California. Only the logs that had not rotted were of value, so recovery is a tedious, risky and expensive process. Since old growth redwood was so rare, the thinking was this recovered wood would have value in end-uses such as fine furniture, paneling, sculptures. Also as a function of its appearance and tonal properties, custom guitar builders and boutique luthiers adopted Sinker Redwood for high-end musical instruments.

Luthiers discovered the wonderful properties of Sinker Redwood tops in the early 2000’s.

Sinker Redwood Combined with Cocobolo

The combination of Sinker Redwood for the soundboard and Cocobolo for the back and sides on a small-bodied guitar creates a unique tonal palette. Both woods bring specific acoustic properties that complement one another beautifully, resulting in a guitar that is both visually striking and acoustically rich.

Sinker Redwood’s warmth and harmonic richness blend seamlessly with Cocobolo’s bright, articulate clarity, creating a balanced tone that is neither too warm nor overly bright. Sinker Redwood enhances responsiveness for nuanced playing, while Cocobolo’s density adds sustain and projection, even in a small-bodied guitar. Both woods have rich overtone profiles, resulting in a lush and dynamic sound with a natural reverb-like quality. The small body shape focuses the sound, while Cocobolo ensures that projection and presence aren’t sacrificed, even in a compact form.

Finally, the visual contrast between the richly colored Sinker Redwood top and the bold, exotic Cocobolo back and sides enhances the guitar’s aesthetic appeal, making it a showpiece as well as a fine musical instrument.

Comments On Some Aesthetic Appointments

There was a time when I believed that one should aspire to own the blingiest guitar possible, with abalone adornments and inlays galore like Gene Autry’s famous decked-out Martin D-45. In fact the very first really upper end guitar I ever purchased was a Taylor 914, which was loaded with glitz. Eventually, after playing incredible sounding but relatively unadorned guitars like my Martin, Collings and Santa Cruz instruments, I realized that the wood, the build quality and the tonal output far outweighed the importance of external appearance enhanced by inlays and other doodads..

Singing Cowboy with highly adorned guitar

By most accounts George Lowden also thinks that an overly-ornamented guitar is not a particularly important design philosophy. Besides the classic dimension of the instrument, the preponderance of Lowden guitars are tastefully simple in surface appearance. The tone woods, the wood bindings and the purflings contribute to an elegantly simple appearance.

One of more extravagant touches on a Lowden S-50 guitar is the abalone and figured wood sound hole rosette. It’s really quite beautiful in person.

Final Comments

I put pickups in all my acoustic guitars. I like playing the guitar plugged into an acoustic amplifier (Genzler Acoustic Array Pro) facing me so that I can appreciate the output of the guitar. I use K&K Pure Mini pickups exclusively because they sound natural and don’t require a lot of fiddling, although an acoustic DI like an LR Baggs Venue is very helpful in the signal chain, which I have on my acoustic guitar pedalboard.

The K&K Pure Mini is a snap to place in an acoustic guitar with a pinned bridge. Two of the pin holes are used to accurately place the pickup under the bridge with the use of a jig that K&K supplies in the box. A pinless bridge like the Lowden is built with is a more challenging installation. If you follow the K&K instructions, it requires drilling two small holes underneath the saddle. This is not for the faint of heart. My luthier cleared it with me and followed the instructions, including drilling the holes. The installation is perfect and the pickup works flawlessly. I wish I could have said the same for the F-50’s installation. I don’t think it was done quite right, as I had to really boost the gain to get the pickup to function at all, which was another irritant about that guitar.

Some Sound Samples

I am embedding a couple of sound samples from YouTube. The first is Baxter Clement from Casino Guitars playing the exact model guitar I purchased from him, but this was one he had in stock several years before mine arrived. Note Baxter plays with a plectrum, which I do not. He is a very accomplished musician, much more so than me:

Below is a video produced by Heart Breaker Guitars, a dealer of fine guitars and a major supplier of Lowdens in the U.S. After a brief introduction, Mike Romano plays an S-35, very similar to the S-50, with the woods the same but maybe not quite as choice. Mr. Romano plays finger style and he’s quite good.

Here’s a couple of samples of me playing my S-50 through an Audigo mic that’s designed to interface with my iPhone 16 Pro Max. I am running the guitar through my Genzler Acoustic Array Amplifier and my pedal board. Below I am playing the Blaze Foley classic, Election Day.

And here’s my take on Mississippi John Hurt’s Stack O Lee.

A note of thanks to ChatGPT for help with questions about woods and some history, and for the creation of support illustrations.

September 17, 2023February 7, 2024

An Irish Guitar Joins the Stable – I Review My Lowden F-50

Introduction

It was a confluence of events and cognitions that lead me down the path to purchase a different new guitar. First, I was becoming increasingly disaffected with my Collings 0002H. It was an excellent instrument that sounded great and it was my first Collings, which made it special; however, the guitar was, from the very moment I started playing it at home, difficult to play.

There are things about the playability of a guitar that sometimes elude me in the store when excitement overrides critical assessment. Or, perhaps it’s the change in ambient environment when the guitar arrives at home that causes the guitar neck to shift around and alter the instruments action. At any rate, It was just hard on my hands and more of a challenge to play when compared to my other guitars, including my Martin D-28 Authentic, the Collings C10-35, and my recently purchased Santa Cruz H-13. The playability issues continued despite having a shop luthier at Dave’s Guitars do a full set-up some weeks later. In sum, I was not playing it very much, so I knew in my heart of hearts that it had to eventually go.

Further, the 0002H was constructed with a Sitka spruce top and East Indian Rosewood back and sides which is fine; however, my Martin ’37 Authentic is composed of an Adirondack spruce top and Madagascar Rosewood back and sides which is arguably a more choice version of the Spruce and Rosewood combination. While it’s worth repeating that the 0002H was a marvelous sounding guitar, it did not compare to the incredible sounding Martin on the level of playability and wood quality (splitting hair here), so it became an ever so slightly “less than” and redundant guitar in my stable, leaving it in the category of high trade potential.

My thinking was that If I were to trade the 0002H it would be for a guitar with a wood combination and body shape that I did not already possess. One of the guitar manufacturers that I was particularly interested in was the Irish company Lowden. Many years ago I had owned an all Koa Lowden guitar that was quite beautiful, but I traded it off because the neck was a bit narrow for finger-style guitar which I’d recently adopted. Over the years I regretted parting with it.

Lowden manufactures guitars in a small shop in Northern Ireland with great individual care. George Lowden was in the same mid-century generation of successful guitar builders who started from the ground up decades ago with their own idiosyncratic approach to constructing the instruments. This would include builders like Richard Hoover of Santa Cruz, Bill Collings, and Bob Taylor.

There were no Lowden sellers in Iowa where I was residing and I was not interested in purchasing one online without trying it out. Further, I was totally unsure of which particular Lowden I was interested in. I wanted to visit a location where I could try a variety of them. I knew, for example, that Casino Guitars in Southern Pines, North Carolina was a major dealer in Lowden Guitars. I was familiar with Casino Guitars because the owner, Baxter Clement, was a highly visible Youtube personality uploading several videos every week about different aspects regarding guitars and the associated industry. Baxter was an advocate for Lowden instruments and offered a healthy variety of them in stock. Below you can watch one of Baxter’s videos about his commitment to Lowden guitars.

Baxter Clement in his store, Casino Guitars in Southern Pines, NC

While my thoughts about guitars in general, Lowden’s in particular, and trading the 0002H were percolating somewhere in the back of my mind, my wife Annette and I decided to move from Iowa to North Carolina. The state of North Carolina has a strong pull on my life. It’s where I came of age decades ago, having graduated from High School in Durham and then subsequently completed undergraduate degrees at both the University of North Carolina and NC State. We were both retired and thought it was the right time for a change of venue. We had multiple children and grandchildren who lived in NC and we were both worn down by the long and brutal Iowa winters. So, we purchased a new home outside Chapel Hill, NC, sold our Iowa home, packed up and settled into NC in early June of 2023.

Casino Guitars

I think it was as early as the second weekend that we were living in North Carolina that we planned to head to the coast to visit one of my daughters and her family. I decided that we would leave earlier then necessary and take a side trip to Casino Guitars in Southern Pines on the way to Wilmington, NC. While I was not planning on buying a guitar on this particular visit, I packed the 0002H in the event that I wished to make a trade on a guitar that I liked.

An hour away from my home, Casino Guitars is located right in the heart of the Southern Pines historic downtown district. The building itself was, back in the day, a casino, bowling alley, speakeasy and a brothel. Baxter Clement, a Southern Pines native recently renovated the building, built an apartment for his family on the second floor and established his guitar retail space on the main floor. As you can see from the images below, the shop is well stocked with premium electric and acoustic guitars, including PRS, Fender, Gretsch, Martin, Taylor and of course, Lowden. Besides the awesome inventory, the interior space is absolutely stunning. Just a great place to be!

I was lucky to find a parking space reasonably close to the store because Southern Pines was mobbed with visitors there to attend a concert that night. Leaving Annette and our dog Nike at an Ice Cream parlor, I crossed the railroad tracks that cut through the center of town and eventually found the store, which delighted me! When I entered the shop, a fellow I did not recognize from Youtube videos was manning the main desk. I later learned that he was was James Villone. Since the shop was pretty quiet at that moment James was kind enough to quickly show me the way to the Lowden’s.

Initially, James thought the only store inventory was the three Lowden’s in the glass cases. I was a little disappointed at first but thought, “what the hell,” I ‘d give those three a try out. James pulled out all three Lowden’s and brought them to this lovely audition room in the back portion of the shop. While I was playing the first one, James went out, at my request, to find me a music stand so I could play some tunes off of my iPad Pro.

Not long after, just as I looked up from my music, Baxter Clement burst into the audition room! I was delighted to finally meet him after seeing him with my morning coffee for several years. He was every bit as fun, affable and accessible as he seemed on his Youtube videos and like magic, he filled the room with Lowden guitars that he produced from his inventory hidden somewhere in the shop. He walked me through the different Lowden styles and produced various wood combinations for me to give a go. I was particularly interested in playing a guitar with a Cedar top because I’d owned a Taylor years ago with a Cedar top and I liked its warm sound; however, the Cedar topped Lowden’s on that particular morning did not work for me enough to get seriously interested in a purchase.

Undaunted, Baxter kept showing me additional Lowden’s of various wood combinations and sizes; however, after playing numerous guitars, I was about to give up, collect my wife and dog and head to Wilmington. Then finally, he dropped a Lowden constructed with Cocobolo back and sides and a Lutz Spruce top into my lap and it was magic to my ears as compared to all the others I’d played. It was a style F-50, which I would learn later meant the guitar was made from all master grade tone woods, which are the best of the best tone woods available anywhere, chosen for their exceptional tonal and visual properties!

I played the F-50 for quite a while, including some tunes with Baxter accompanying me, which delighted me to no end. Later, I met his wife, Taylor, and one of his sons. At Taylor’s behest, Annette and Nike were even invited into the shop. The whole experience was quite marvelous. Sometime thereafter we made a deal, which included a trade on the 0002H. Baxter even carried and then packed the Lowden F-50 into my car, and after farewells we headed out for a weekend in Wilmington.

I Review My Lowden F-50 Cocobolo and Lutz Spruce

My First Impressions

Much to my regret, my earliest experiences with the newly purchased F-50 were somewhat dismal. It began when I arrived in Wilmington to visit my daughter, Sally. Having just purchased the Lowden, I travelled cross state with the guitar from Southern Pines. After settling in at Sally’s, I disappeared upstairs to the guest bedroom and pulled the F-50 from its case and right away, despite the guitar still sounding great, I noticed the action was far higher than I’d observed during the Casino shop audition. In fact, the guitar was quite difficult to play, particularly in the treble section. Had my enthusiasm in the store again overridden my ability to critically analyze the guitar’s playability? On the other hand, was the Lowden exceptionally sensitive to ambient conditions and did the neck start shifting around? It should be noted that I keep D’Addario moisture packs in the guitar case, so my attempt to control guitar conditioning was functioning during the drive.

When I got back home, I measured the string height distance from the frets and observed that the the guitar was out of specification on the high side across the fretboard, this being based upon data from the Lowden website. I was subsequently welcomed back by Casino Guitars for an adjustment and returned a few days later. Sean Diesfield, Casino’s resident guitar whisperer did some work on the saddles and the neck relief and sent me on my way. At the shop the guitar seemed improved, but when I got home and played the instrument at length it was somewhat better but not good enough.

At this point I was suffering some major buyer’s remorse! Did I trade the Collings 0002H because it was a pain in the ass to play for a different guitar that might, in fact, be a worse pain in the ass to play? At that moment it seemed so.

Rather than give up, I decided to find a local skilled luthier who could give me a full set-up and lower the string action to my comfort level. That was easier said than done. Though there were a number of “repair” luthiers in town, they were either booked up for months, non responsive to my request, or occupied with life trauma and unavailable. I finally left the Lowden for over two weeks at my local shop, Twin House Music, where I take lessons and and a couple of luthiers (including the owner) do their magic. Eventually the Lowden was properly cared for. In the end, the neck relief was adjusted and the guitar now plays as well as any other in my collection! In the past, I’ve adjusted the neck relief on many of my guitars, but in the case of the Lowden, the adjustment is very difficult to make and requires a tool that I did not possess. Further, I thought the guitar had more serious problems than neck relief. At any rate, badda bing, badda boom, the guitar is great now!

The Twin House Music owner and luthier, Brian McGee, who tamed the Lowden

In the end, I don’t know how to account for the difficulties I had getting the guitar to a state of acceptable playability. Perhaps Lowden’s are more sensitive to ambient conditions? Was it the long voyage from Northern Ireland to the U.S. that caused the neck to shift? Why did I not notice the guitar’s issues when I tried it out in the store? Did the guitar’s action shift between Southern Pines and Wilmington? On Lowden’s website, they are clear to point out that a new guitar will settle-in during the first months of playing and would probably require adjustment. There is no truer statement than that!

Basic Lowden Observations

Lowden builds three basic guitar shapes with the F being their middle size between the Jumbo O and the smaller S. Originally designed to compete in the flat-picking market, the F guitar is now favored by finger-stylists too, hence my interest. For example, world renowned finger-stylist Pierre Bensusan plays an F shaped signature Lowden.

Lowden builds the F style with a variety of wood combinations. According to Lowden specifications, the 50 designation means that the woods used to construct this F shaped guitar are the best of the best that the company acquires, being selected out for a combination of tonality and appearance. In my case, the guitar body is topped with Lutz, which is a hybrid White and Sitka Spruce, characterized by a light creamy color with a very tight grain. On the other hand, Cocobolo is used for the back and sides with a showy reddish color and swirly grain lines.

According to one leading U.S. guitar manufacturer, “in terms of acoustic response, Lutz blends the positive characteristics of Sitka and White spruce and its close cousin, Engelmann. Lutz tends to exhibit characteristics of Adirondack spruce. The result is powerful sonic horsepower that translates into strong volume, projection and tonal richness.”

The back and sides of the body are composed of Cocobolo, a member of the Dalbergia species, which includes other various Rosewoods. According to the aforementioned U.S. manufacturer, “Cocobolo is a dense, stiff tropical hardwood from Mexico, which produces a fairly bright overall tone emphasized by sparkling treble notes. The tone is fast, responsive, and articulate.” Cocobolo is a substantial, heavy and oily wood that requires skill and competence to draw out its potential as a guitar tone wood; however, when it is properly deployed Cocobolo has been described as “Brazilian on steroids!”

Cocobolo backside of the F-50, note the characteristic blond sapwood section down the back’s center

Below is a video in which a luthier interacts with a sample of Cocobolo tone wood:

Below, George Lowden discusses various types of tone woods that he’s used for guitar building. While he briefly describes Cocobolo, he seems more enthusiastic with back and side woods like Walnut, Honduran Rosewood and especially African Blackwood:

Perhaps a more uplifting analysis of Cocobolo is given by the incomparable Lindsay Straw for the North American Guitar:

In the end, George Lowden says play the guitar and choose the one that speaks best to you, which is what I did when I chose Cocobolo from the crowd of Lowden’s at Casino Guitars.

To me, my F-50 is an example of high craft and understated physical beauty. The ratio of upper and lower bout sizes combined with the curvy narrow waist and sloped shoulders speak to classical Greek proportions. The satin matte finish, the understated wood bindings, the lack of decor on the fretboard and the dark veneered headstock create a sense of elegance without the gaudiness that some high end guitars self-consciously display. The figured koa/abalone rosette is a tasteful embellishment, but also holds back visually enough to avoid seeming overdone.

Other Aesthetic and Structural Features of the F-50

The Lowden paddle-type headstock has a handsome dark Ebony veneer on the face and backstrap with the brand logo inlaid top front. The tuners are the most excellent Gotoh Gold 510’s with Ebony buttons. I’ve owned several guitars in the past that were equipped with Gotoh’s. My current other acoustics are inspired by vintage Martin and Gibson guitars so they’re equipped with Waverly tuners, which are nice, but not near as supple as the Gotoh’s. I am delighted to have a guitar again with Gotoh’s. They tune like butter. As far as the nut goes, it was unclear to me based on the paucity of specs available on the Lowden website what it’s made of; however, Lowden’s website has a nice chat function and their tech rep, Simon, confirmed that bone is used, which is not surprising given the general excellence of the F-50.

I own 5 other guitars with varying neck profiles, and I am not that particular about the neck shapes other than by using it, it must not stress my old hands. Lowden is not forthcoming in their specs about their neck shape; however, I find it full-in-hand, and comfortable to play as it’s not too clubby or too thin. The neck is a five piece composite of Mahogany and Rosewood while the necks on my other axes are all solid wood, so the Lowden by comparison is somewhat exotic looking. Further, the five piece neck is theoretically more stable and less likely to twist over time. I had a Taylor solid body at one time with a twisted neck and it was ugly; fortunately, Taylor generously replaced the neck, but that’s another story. Finally, unlike the satin matte finish on the body of the Lowden, the neck has a glossier surface making it quite easy to move up and down while playing.

You can see the aesthetically pleasing “hockey stick” sweep of the Rosewood section embedded in the mahogany at the base of the neck. Again, it is hard to find out all the construction details on the Lowden website, but I am pretty sure that the neck is attached to the body with a traditional dovetail join. Also visible in the associated image is the contrast of the glossy neck versus the satin matte finish on the body, the figured Koa binding and backstrip, the beautiful wood grain striations in the Cocobolo, and finally the section of blonde sapwood running up the center back of the guitar.

To the right, you can see a section of the Ebony fingerboard with its Maple bindings. No blond streaks on the F-50’s fingerboard, with Lowden choosing only the most select all black Ebony wood for their Mastergrade model. The fingerboard extends into the sound hole to catch the highest possible treble notes, a place that I will probably never travel with my fingers. Nevertheless it is an aesthetically pleasing visual design feature. You can also see the unique and stunning sound hole rosette which is figured Koa and Abalone.

Unlike my other acoustic guitars which all have pinned bridges and one piece saddles, the F-50 and all other Lowdens are built with pinless bridges and compensated two-piece saddles. Put several guitarists in a room and they’ll debate the merits of pin vs pinless bridges. In my experience both approaches work fine. The pinless bridge makes for an attractive surface element on the guitar and certainly simplifies restringing although care should be taken to avoid having the string ball end slapping down onto the soundboard and dinging it during insertion through the bridge. Because the slap-down is almost inevitable, Lowden supplies a nifty little cardboard insert to slide beneath the bridge to protect the soundboard during stringing.

Finally the bottom of the lower bout can be seen on the right. Again, the wonderful Cocobolo grain patterns can be seen as well as a strip of figured Koa where the two side pieces meet. You’ll note a K&K Pure Mini jack installed at my request by the kind folks at Casino Guitars. I use this pickup on all my acoustics as it’s neat, simple and the amplified guitar sounds natural to my ears. If you’re interested in my tech for amplification you can click here.

To Sum it Up

Despite my initial buyer’s remorse before the F-50 was given a pro set up, this guitar is a real keeper! It is beautifully constructed, quite comfortable to handle and play, and the sonic palette available from this instrument is, as I had hoped, distinctly different from my other acoustic guitars. The body woods of Cocobolo and Lutz Spruce combined with Lowden’s exacting construction methods (of which they are quite mysterious) creates clean punchy bass tones, bell-chime like trebles with underlying warm overtones with tonal sustain that exceeds the eternal.

After I wrote this piece, Peach Guitars released a video in which some nice Lowden construction details are considered, particularly how the soundboard is manufactured:

For someone primarily used to Sitka Spruce combinations with Mahogany or the more accessible Rosewoods (but not unobtainium like Brazilian), a body of Cocobolo and Lutz is a nice stretch to something significantly different, but without being too exotic like Macassar Ebony or African Blackwood.

Tone Examples

I’ve reviewed several guitars on this website, but have never had the availability of linking to a Youtube video of my guitar being demonstrated; however, in this case Casino Guitars recorded a gentleman playing my F-50, which I show below:

I will also include a clip of me playing the F-50 also. What would be more appropriate than playing a selection of Piedmont Finger-Style Blues since I now reside in the Piedmont of North Carolina. This tune is credited to one of the most recognized and highly regarded Piedmont Blues players, Etta Baker entitled Carolina Breakdown!

Etta Baker’s Piedmont Blues: Carolina Breakdown

Tag: Lowden Guitars

Hawaii Meets Northern Ireland: I Review My All Koa Lowden S-50

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An Irish Guitar Joins the Stable – I Review My Lowden F-50

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