Anyone played an FM size Lowden?

[Benjo]

It's a slightly smaller size than the F model, and I was thinking it might be a good fit for me. I own the F PBSM and like it a lot, but wish it were a bit thinner.

Anyway, interested to hear impressions if so. Especially re: sound and presence. I played an S size recently and it didn't have the volume or depth of sound that I need.

Thanks.

[jklotz]

Yes, I have one. It's currently for sale in the classifieds btw.

Size is really good, feels a bit like the OM and OOO's I'm accustomed to. I think it sounds great, and it's, IMHO, the most versatile of the Lowden range. It can do the strumming thing really well or delicate fingerstyle, whereas I find my O25c to be a bit much for strumming (great for fingerstyle though). It's a great body size for a Lowden. Personally, I could never see the point in going to an F from my O. They both feel oversized to me, so if I'm going to put up with an oversized guitar, give me an O with that cathedral like bass and overtones.

One thing to be aware of is the neck on them is more narrow than the standard Lowden neck with more narrow string spacing. Mine has the standard Lowden 1 3/4" nut and 2.25" string spacing. That was a custom order. The list the FM neck as "Narrow 43.5mm at nut / 56mm at neck joint (1.71" / 2.20")"

Hope this helps.

[Benjo]

Thanks a lot,that's helpful info.

More narrow string spacing could be a problem since I'm also playing a Bach lute suite, Debussy, Villa Lobos and other classical music on it, some of which is written with classical guitar with their wide necks. Some fairly complex fingerboard work.

[jklotz]

Originally Posted by Benjo

Thanks a lot,that's helpful info.

More narrow string spacing could be a problem since I'm also playing a Bach lute suite, Debussy, Villa Lobos and other classical music on it, some of which is written with classical guitar with their wide necks. Some fairly complex fingerboard work.

Like I said, take a look at mine in the classifieds. It was custom ordered with the neck and string spacing you want.

[Benjo]

Originally Posted by jklotz

Like I said, take a look at mine in the classifieds. It was custom ordered with the neck and string spacing you want.

Yes, I am interested in that. It looks fantastic. My immediate search is for a replacement 12-string for my Breedlove. I'm trying a Santa Cruz OM Grand 6-string this weekend and if I like it well enough, I may sell both the guitars I own to buy the 12-string variant. That will deplete my guitar buying budget for the year, I think. If I don't buy that then I may be in the market for your guitar b/c the PBSM F model is too tiring when I practice on it for a long time. I'm not so far away from you, here in NC.

[jklotz]

An SC OM Grand 12 string? That sounds interesting! I don't think I've ever seen one. If you go that route, please post some pics.

Edit: I had to go look that up. According to this guy, there have only been 2 made. Interesting demo, don't you think?

[cmac]

Originally Posted by jklotz

Yes, I have one. It's currently for sale in the classifieds btw.

...

One thing to be aware of is the neck on them is more narrow than the standard Lowden neck with more narrow string spacing. Mine has the standard Lowden 1 3/4" nut and 2.25" string spacing. That was a custom order. The list the FM neck as "Narrow 43.5mm at nut / 56mm at neck joint (1.71" / 2.20")"

Originally Posted by Benjo

More narrow string spacing could be a problem since I'm also playing a Bach lute suite, Debussy, Villa Lobos and other classical music on it, some of which is written with classical guitar with their wide necks. Some fairly complex fingerboard work.

I saw this while scanning through the thread, and I'm curious to know if the width here is an actual issue or just something that's a difference on paper? I don't want this to be seen as criticism, I'm genuinely curious about this.

From the above, the standard Lowden is 1.75", or 44.45mm, but the narrower is 43.5mm.

That's less than 1mm across the whole width, and if distributed across the five gaps between the strings it means each string is 0.19mm closer to its neighbour in the narrower configuration.

Is that even noticeable? That spacing difference is less than one third of the diameter of a light gauge D string.

Context: I have two Lowdens with standard nut widths and a Takamine that is slightly narrower. I used to have a classical with a much wider nut, and the spacing difference between that and the others was very noticeable.

The Lowdens and the Takamine feel different but I wouldn't ever say that I can play something better on one or the other just because of string spacing. Neck profile (thin-ness and curve) maybe, but not spacing.

So I'm genuinely interested to know if what I see as a minuscule difference in string spacing is actually an issue that would influence whether or not to buy a guitar for someone else.

[jklotz]

Originally Posted by cmac

I saw this while scanning through the thread, and I'm curious to know if the width here is an actual issue or just something that's a difference on paper? I don't want this to be seen as criticism, I'm genuinely curious about this.

From the above, the standard Lowden is 1.75", or 44.45mm, but the narrower is 43.5mm.

That's less than 1mm across the whole width, and if distributed across the five gaps between the strings it means each string is 0.19mm closer to its neighbour in the narrower configuration.

Is that even noticeable? That spacing difference is less than one third of the diameter of a light gauge D string.

Context: I have two Lowdens with standard nut widths and a Takamine that is slightly narrower. I used to have a classical with a much wider nut, and the spacing difference between that and the others was very noticeable.

The Lowdens and the Takamine feel different but I wouldn't ever say that I can play something better on one or the other just because of string spacing. Neck profile (thin-ness and curve) maybe, but not spacing.

So I'm genuinely interested to know if what I see as a minuscule difference in string spacing is actually an issue that would influence whether or not to buy a guitar for someone else.

I can't say personally, because I've never played an FM with the narrow spacing, but I do know I can feel very small differences in string spacing and nut width. I play almost exclusively fingerstyle, if I were a strummer maybe it wouln't matter? Either way, I wouln't want it any more narrow if given a choice.

[Benjo]

Originally Posted by jklotz

An SC OM Grand 12 string? That sounds interesting! I don't think I've ever seen one. If you go that route, please post some pics.

Edit: I had to go look that up. According to this guy, there have only been 2 made. Interesting demo, don't you think?

I believe they have made more than 2, I've seen several listed for sale

[Benjo]

Originally Posted by jklotz

I can't say personally, because I've never played an FM with the narrow spacing, but I do know I can feel very small differences in string spacing and nut width. I play almost exclusively fingerstyle, if I were a strummer maybe it wouln't matter? Either way, I wouln't want it any more narrow if given a choice.

My thoughts as well