Official Luthiers Forum!

Ok, OK! Here are some quick shots of the Lowden. I am not a photographer,(heck I'm barely a luthier ) but you'll get the general idea. When I have some good light, I'll do some nice ones.

The walnut was a quid pro quo with Lance McCollum, as is the guitar he's building for me. Incidentally, the brazilian on that guitar all comes from the same billet...back, sides, headstock, fingerboard and bridge that I acquired several years back. The wood had been in a Texas furniture factory since the mid '60s...last century for you young kids. It's topped with a mildly aged Italian spruce top, with all of McCollum's touches inside and a lovely rosette.

The Lowden, what little playing I've done, has an open airy sound, great string to string separation and a ton of volume. It came with Elixirs, not my string of choice, but I will play on them for a while to get a reference point when I change over to D'Addarios.
The LS redwood top, from my stash, really pumps the volume and tone with little input, yet (so far) seems to take anything that is thrown at it. I haven't looked inside yet, but what I can see through the soundhole is spotless.

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Hank Mauel

Incredible !!!

Al

Wowie, beautiful.

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Jim Watts
http://jameswattsguitars.com

Man o man...

wow, is that legal,, its too stunning, the pic of the waiste is out of this world.. That is one beautiful piece of guitar art.
Mike

Absolutely Stunning!

Wow That one makes you stand up and take notice!!! Whos needs wormy, cracked, tempormental BRW when you have walnut that looks like that!!!

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Joe Beaver
Maker of Sawdust

I like that guitar!!!!!

Mike
White Oak, Texas

Hank, it looks like you got a stunning guitar. Just beautiful!

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Joe Breault
Merrimack, NH
Perpetual novice

Oh my, that is soooo pretty.
Congrats!

Steve

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From Nacogdoches...the oldest town in Texas.

http://www.stephenkinnaird.com

Yes sir,thats some nice wood all right. It looks like a great guitar! WoW !

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Anderson Guitars
Clearwater,Fl. 33755

Wow !

That sure is a looker! I'm really loving that combination of curly Claro and Redwood. I just bought a set like that Claro from Larry Davis, and have been saving a special set of redwood for just such a set of wood. I've been wanting a guitar like that for myself for awhile. Maybe now I'll make it. That, and my Brazilian/Addi OM. And my curly mahogany/addi dread. Oh! and my curly mahogany/cedar SJ.

Congrats on two beautious guitars Hank!

My offer for a guitar for LS tops still stands!



Yeah, I know they're all gone, and I know who has 'em too!

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"I want to know what kind of pickups Vince Gill uses in his Tele, because if I had those, as good of a player as I am, I'm sure I could make it sound like that.
Only badly."

Simply beautiful and attractive, it must be a magnet for the eyes, the ears and fingers! WOW WOW WOW OOOOOOH WOW!

Thank you Lord for geetars!

She is absolutely gorgeous, stunning, dazzling even. I hope she sounds as beautiful and complex as she looks. Enjoy.

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Aoibeann

Very, very nice Hank, just dripping with class. The claro is breathtaking as is the craftsmanship. Tasteful decedents in the form of a guitar.

Cheers

Kim

Hey Hank,
Congratulations brother...
It's a beauty for sure!
I hope you enjoy playing this one for a zillion years.

Enjoy with a your heart!!

walterK

Stunning, beautiful, classy, elegant. I like it!

I'm now officially jealous, and sulking !

ColinColin S38984.5077314815

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I don't believe in anything, I simply make use of a set of reasonable working hypotheses.

Hank, nice Lowden.
Alex DeGrossi plays a Lowden and get's some real nuances from that guitar.
I wouldn't call the guitar a powerhouse but more of a gentle giant. For
example he uses the neck as a percussion instrument and gets a very low
(sub 60hz) tone on the neck shaft. See if you can find it and report back.
Alex said it is his only guitar that he is able to do this.

Mama Mia Hank! That has to be some of the nicest Claro I have ever seen.

Hopefully we'll hear more about Alex DeGrassi/Lowden if Tony Karol checks in -- he saw him and Don Ross just last night!

Yep .. Alex and then Don last night. Alex checked out my Dragonfly after the show, said it was a nice guitar. Didnt even comment on the fanning, just picked it up (I ahd it in one of his tunings) and let fly. Super nice guys. Unfortunately is was late, and a 2 hour drive back home, because Don invited us over to his place for a bevvy afterwards (Can you believe it - one of my heros actually knows my name, and has played a couple of my guitars !!). One of my other friends was there early, helped hump the gear in and setup, so he got in for free (18 for us regular schmo's). He went up in his 70s VW camper van (even wanted to know if I wanted a cold one at intermission .. opted for water and some of the fine home baking being sold at the event !!!), and was going over to Don's to partake, then sleep over in the van. We had 3rd row seats, heck the folks in the back were only in about the 12th row, nice old United church in Cannington, where Don lives and puts on these weekends with other famous players.

Alex played about an hour, highlites were The Water Garden, Goodbye Pork Pie Hat (with Don), Shortnin Bread, St James Infirmary. alex played both his Lowden, a quilted maple and spruce (who knows what), plus a couple tunes one of the weekend attendees Beneteau. He does get interesting percussion sounds from banging the back of the neck around the 10th fret, plus the usual stuff hitting the lower bout with palm and finger slaps.

Don played both reg and baritone Beneteau guitars - Robot Monster, King St Suite, Brooke's Waltz, Head and Heart, Dracula and Friends pt 1, Pernambuco , couple others, forget which ones.

All in all, there was maybe 120 people there ..WAY COOL. All concerts should be like this.

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Tony Karol
www.karol-guitars.com
"let my passion .. fulfill yours"

Tony, i agree totally, saw Don Ross here in Ottawa a couple weeks ago and i'm still thinking about his performance, having played his Beneteau baritone made this event memorable for years to come! I hope you invited him over here for discussion which i did when i talked to him but i know he is one busy guy so...

WOW!!!!!!

That is one quality guitar. The binding, the wood, the finish...that guitar screams upmost craftsmanship. Congratulations.

I have just confessed to my husband that I have an addiction to guitar pictures on the internet.


sound clip,pretty pretty please????? Sam Price38984.6952199074

He traded that for wood? Shoot, I would have given him my whole shop. Beautiful!


                Paul

Say, that's not bad for an overseas import!

Enjoy, Hank!