The 36 hours spent in Belfast at the end of last week would have been pretty enjoyable anyway (a new talk on a new subject, a workshop with interested and interesting people) but an added extra was a trip out to Downpatrick to visit the Lowden factory.
You may not necessarily be in the market for absolutely world-class, high-end, hand-made acoustic guitars, but just in case, here’s a little record of the visit.
Unlike virtually all their world-class competitors, Lowden still assiduously make theirs by hand, bucking a worldwide trend towards cloning and mechanisation. They’re only interested in making hand-crafted classics, at still just-about-affordable prices.
11 people make about 10 a week, averaging a bit over 400 a year, using the finest wood they can lay their hands on, regularly experimenting with the most weird and wonderful one-offs and all manner of woods you’ve never heard of. Adirondack? Cocobolo? Ziricote? Absolutely.
Here are few shots, pretty much in order, tracking the construction of the guitars from carefully sorted piles of wood all the way to the finished things.
That diagram’s pretty much the holy grail of acoustic guitar construction, the inside ‘bracing pattern’ used to support the soundboard (ie top) of the guitar. The top’s a bit like a loudspeaker, in a way, and needs some very careful handling. Each of those struts below has a carefully designed profile, fine-tuned over 40 years of guitar-making.
A neck before any shaving takes place.
These are for bindings and purflings.
A wonderful greeny-brown wood (think it’s Ziricote) that looks more like a crate than a guitar, before any finishing, sanding or polishing.
Some of the highly specialised Japanese chisels and saws used in the process - at one point thirty years ago Lowdens were made in Japan and some of the most indispensable tools came back to Northern Ireland.
Nearly finished bodies waiting for frets, bridges and tuners (oh, and strings).
Above is a Pierre Bensusan model on the final benches, having its bridge fitted. There’s an 18 week wait for one of those. (There’s a Bensusan video at the end of this post in case you’re going ‘who?’ Shame on you if you are).
Here are some of the final guitars.
Lowden’s are in such worldwide demand they rarely have more than three or four finished guitars in reception before they’re shipped off to hungry guitar shops. No fancy humidified showroom here. So if you’re planning a visit, best to ring beforehand and try to coerce them into holding a few back.
Here’s that blonde you saw earlier. We managed to persuade them not to send it away.
With worldwide sales of guitars (especially acoustics) continuing to boom, you’d say that things should be looking up for George Lowden and his team. Much prized by a whole raft of percussive acoustic players, they’re perhaps a slightly too-well-kept secret. We’re thinking of offering our services. Payment would have to be in instruments, naturally.
Thanks to Andrew at Queen’s University for the invite to talk and to do a workshop, Ricky for the Lowden tour, Sam for the introductions and driving, and Mrs Lowden for the cake. There’s also a piece here on Richard (Acejet 170) Weston’s blog, many of whose nicely framed photos made it into this piece as well.
Below, Mr Pierre Bensusan (playing, of course, a Lowden).