Specifications:

George Lowden Design Notes

My design has been developed over the last ten years in particular as I have built around 12 concert guitars each year. My aim in making design choices was to create maximum power and projection while not allowing that quest to have any detrimental effect on the character of the tone, the dynamics, the balance and clarity. This is no easy goal, seeing that guitars which are ideal for recording ( having beautiful tone colours and sustain) are not the ultimate for concerts. Indeed this is even more marked when playing with an orchestra. Projection and volume are also two differing dynamics. Often a guitar which sounds a little quiet in a small room, will project to a surprising degree in a large concert hall, provided of course the instrument has been built properly in the first place!

The overall construction and design contributes to the balance, volume, projection and tone quality of each guitar. I have developed a ‘jointless’ crossover soundboard bracing system which allows the top to respond vigorously to the strings’ vibrations throughout the frequency range. This design of strutting along with the tuning of the top, back and soundbox contributes greatly to the final character of my guitars. Generally also each guitar will have to played intensively when new so that it’s full potential will be heard! In fact I have often found that a new guitar takes 24 to 48 hours after transport to really open up. Sometimes this can be very marked and indeed it sounds like playing a completely different guitar after one or two days!

Of course the WAY a guitar is made has a very fundamental effect on the quality of any guitar. That is, the choices as to the clamping methods, the planing and carving, tools used, the exact profiles created prior to glueing guitar parts together. I firmly believe in making every part of the guitar “fit like a glove” so that stress during the making process is greatly reduced. This allows the instrument to breath after it is built. A guitar may have the best design in the world, but unless it has been built with the greatest of care and expertise, it will never sound right. That’s why for example a traditional design made by an expert craftsman will still sound superb, while an advanced design made with perhaps not the full attention to detail necessary, will never sound the way it should.

Also as I have built guitars for concert players such as Jad Azkoul, Maria livia Sao Marcos, Margarita Escarpa, John Feeley, Patrick Zeolli, Cristina Azuma, Johan Fostier (winner of the GFA 2001) and others, I have listened carefully to their comments and watched as the guitars have matured so that I can gain valuable input from the players and so continue to develop and fine tune the instruments.