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  #1  
Old 01-10-2023, 04:59 AM
MattBlue MattBlue is offline
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Default Please help me decide on my first custom made guitar!

Hey there,

maybe you guys can help me?

I want to get my first custom made acoustic flat top. I settled on a company here in Germany (Lakewood) but I couldn't find the time to visit them yet, just played their guitars in different stores. I want to make up my mind before I go there to make the right decision.
I play only fingerstyle, mostly blues and I have a light touch - no picks, no strumming. Therefore I decided for a compact 12 fret guitar, an "auditorium" or "00" size with a slotted headstock.
I already have two guitars, a Martin 000-18 (Spruce/Mahogany) and a Furch Little Jane travel guitar (Cedar/Mahogany).
Now for this guitar I want a different combination of tonewoods and I want to stay away from "exotic" woods like Rosewood and other endangered species.
The problem is: I am thinking about something like Spruce/Cherry, Cedar/Walnut or even Spruce/Myrtle but these combinations seem to be quite rare, I can't find guitars built with these woods for testing - regarding Myrtle you don't even find much to read about it. The shops around are just full of Mahogany and Rosewood...
My "dream sound" would be a rich and complex sound with enough bass, warm mids and sweet trebles. I don't like my guitar to sound too bright, I don't like thin and sharp trebles and "too much clarity", as this sounds sterile to my ears.
What do you think: Which woods could get me there?

Thank you so much!

Matt
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  #2  
Old 01-10-2023, 05:55 AM
Al Mojo Al Mojo is offline
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Have you talked at length with the folks at Lakewood guitars about all of this? Betcha they can address your questions and concerns. Good luck with your custom build!
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  #3  
Old 01-10-2023, 06:16 AM
gitarro gitarro is offline
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I am told that Stevens guitars is quite good for more traditional sounding guitars.

If you come across a used poljakoff guitar, you should try it out. Jakob poljakoff and his brother apparently have stopped building but the OM poljakoff made thta I once owned was a very good guitar and had excellent fit and finish and a beautiful design aesthetic.
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Old 01-10-2023, 06:29 AM
Silly Moustache Silly Moustache is offline
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Hi Matt,
I know Lakewood guitars and have had two. They are excellently built and finished, but tend (to my mind) to be rather heavily built (not necessarily a bad thing!)

I have had a number of custom builds and discovered that the main pitfall is my inability to previsualise EXACTLY what you want.

I'd suggest that if you aren't sure about body shape and EVERY aspect of geometry - fretboard width profiles etc.,and tone woods, better look for a a ready made one , maybe a Lakewood standard model.
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  #5  
Old 01-10-2023, 03:25 PM
MattBlue MattBlue is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Silly Moustache View Post
Hi Matt,
I know Lakewood guitars and have had two. They are excellently built and finished, but tend (to my mind) to be rather heavily built (not necessarily a bad thing!)

I have had a number of custom builds and discovered that the main pitfall is my inability to previsualise EXACTLY what you want.

I'd suggest that if you aren't sure about body shape and EVERY aspect of geometry - fretboard width profiles etc.,and tone woods, better look for a a ready made one , maybe a Lakewood standard model.
Thanks for your response! I just watched one of your YouTube videos the other day

So, think I quite know what I want - I remember I once played a Lowden S23 12 fret and that Cedar over Walnut was something totally unique. I think, that's what I want for my guitar.
The Lowden has Rosewood and Ebony (bridge, fingerboard and head plate), so it's not a guitar I will buy. I asked Lowden if I could buy a guitar with substitutions for these endangered species from them but they said it was not possible.
With my guitar I decided I will replace rosewood and ebony with Mexican Ziricote (bridge and fingerboard) and European Walnut (head plate). European Walnut is also used for the back and sides while for the top Lakewood offers an AAAA American Cedar I will go with. Instead of the Mahogany neck on the Lowden I will go with Flamed Maple. What do you think about this choice of woods?
I am not sure what kind of finish I want... Closed grain or open grain, glossy or satin...
At the End I will spend between 3250 and 3500 Euro - with plenty customisations. Still cheaper than the standard Lowden...
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Old 01-10-2023, 03:39 PM
jerrydlamme123 jerrydlamme123 is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by MattBlue View Post
Thanks for your response! I just watched one of your YouTube videos the other day



So, think I quite know what I want - I remember I once played a Lowden S23 12 fret and that Cedar over Walnut was something totally unique. I think, that's what I want for my guitar.

The Lowden has Rosewood and Ebony (bridge, fingerboard and head plate), so it's not a guitar I will buy. I asked Lowden if I could buy a guitar with substitutions for these endangered species from them but they said it was not possible.

With my guitar I decided I will replace rosewood and ebony with Mexican Ziricote (bridge and fingerboard) and European Walnut (head plate). European Walnut is also used for the back and sides while for the top Lakewood offers an AAAA American Cedar I will go with. Instead of the Mahogany neck on the Lowden I will go with Flamed Maple. What do you think about this choice of woods?

I am not sure what kind of finish I want... Closed grain or open grain, glossy or satin...

At the End I will spend between 3250 and 3500 Euro - with plenty customisations. Still cheaper than the standard Lowden...


My understang is that indian rosewood is not endangered and is the most commonly used? Or am I wrong? And lowden has super high quality of those straight grains EIRs. Plus lowden builds some of the best cedar top guitars. If you tried that cedar/EIR and its your taste,I would say go for lowden.

But I might be wrong about EIRs.
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Old 01-10-2023, 06:56 PM
sinistral sinistral is online now
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I’m a neophyte when it comes to custom guitars, so take what I say with a grain of salt (whatever that means). I’m going through the process now with a solo luthier, and he has a webpage with all of his tonewood sets, so I was able to select the exact set that will be used on my guitar (if you look at the 2023 commissions thread and other similar threads, you will see that it’s a common practice to pick out specific pieces of wood). We also discussed which tonewood pair would be best-suited for what I’m looking for.

Your wood choices sound fine to me, and seem to satisfy your objective of avoiding woods that are scarce (I think “endangered” might be true of Brazilian rosewood, but not East Indian Rosewood). Does Lakewood let you choose specific woods? It’s probably not a good idea to tell Lakewood that you are trying to recreate a Lowden for half price, but have you spoken with them about your tonal preferences to see if they think that the woods you selected will match those preferences?
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Old 01-11-2023, 01:56 PM
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justonwo justonwo is offline
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Spruce is a great all around choice without a doubt. Back and side woods just add a subtle flavor to the overall sound, so I wouldn’t worry too much about the specific wood. I would get feedback from the builder about how those woods would impact the sound.

I know Deft Tungsman (member here) has a walnut Claxton that he LOVES. And member ljguitar has a myrtle Bashkin that he’s had for years. I don’t have enough experience with either to make any generalizations, but I’ve played a few walnut guitars that were incredible.
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Old 01-11-2023, 04:28 PM
colins colins is offline
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It’s exciting to contemplate a custom build and we all have our own reasons to go down that path. For me it’s about tone and responsiveness. Picking up on Juston’s comment, think about the top as well as the back and sides. The choice of top and the way it is carved and braced can have more influence on your guitar than the tonewood. Talk to Lakewood about this and tell them what you want. For example a guitar that responds well to a light touch (like me) or heavy strumming. They can then recommend the top for you. Do they custom carve and brace each top? If not it may help you understand the pricing difference between a Lakewood and a Lowden.

Back and sides – there are good foresters and bad foresters and the latter get most of the media attention. Put another way, the issue for you is not whether a type of wood has been overharvested by some, it is about whether your builders have sourced their wood sustainably (replanting regime, fair pricing, care for surrounding biodiversity, health and safety practices etc). Don’t let your fear of bad foresters cloud your support for the good foresters out there and the people that buy their wood.

Rosewood can give your guitar a great sound and EIR (and mahogany) can be bought from plantations, so you could ask Lakewood where they get theirs from. And you don’t need to think of EIR as the “poor man’s” rosewood. If James Olson builds with it, it must be ok!
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  #10  
Old 01-11-2023, 04:32 PM
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iim7V7IM7 iim7V7IM7 is offline
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I actaully own:

- Western Red Cedar/Black Cherry Classical,
- Italian Spruce/Claro Walnut steel string and
- Red Spruce/Oregon Myrtle steel string



So much of the timbre you described is driven the builder’s design and building style, their choice of top wood and their experience manipulating the back and sides. You need to work with your builder to make a final choice.

Quote:
Originally Posted by MattBlue View Post
Now for this guitar I want a different combination of tonewoods and I want to stay away from "exotic" woods like Rosewood and other endangered species.
The problem is: I am thinking about something like Spruce/Cherry, Cedar/Walnut or even Spruce/Myrtle but these combinations seem to be quite rare, I can't find guitars built with these woods for testing - regarding Myrtle you don't even find much to read about it.

My "dream sound" would be a rich and complex sound with enough bass, warm mids and sweet trebles. I don't like my guitar to sound too bright, I don't like thin and sharp trebles and "too much clarity", as this sounds sterile to my ears.
What do you think: Which woods could get me there?

Thank you so much!

Matt
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Last edited by iim7V7IM7; 01-11-2023 at 06:53 PM.
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  #11  
Old 01-11-2023, 05:03 PM
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Deft Tungsman Deft Tungsman is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by justonwo View Post
Spruce is a great all around choice without a doubt. Back and side woods just add a subtle flavor to the overall sound, so I wouldn’t worry too much about the specific wood. I would get feedback from the builder about how those woods would impact the sound.

I know Deft Tungsman (member here) has a walnut Claxton that he LOVES.
Spot on, maestro.

While I love the walnut for its looks, the guitar is my soulmate because Ed Claxton is a wizard.

"It's the wizard, not the wand, Harry Potter!!"



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  #12  
Old 01-11-2023, 08:32 PM
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mikealpine mikealpine is offline
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You seem settled on Lakewood, but you may want to look at Furch, as well. They’ve done walnut and what I’ve seen has looked beautiful. I have played a cedar/rosewood GA and own a dread in that combo. They sound much like you describe. Not sure about your other specs, so yiu’d have to check. On some models they offer an arm and rib bevel, making a larger guitar feel smaller and more comfortable. Hope that helps a bit!
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Old 01-20-2023, 12:03 PM
Jwills57 Jwills57 is offline
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Lots of great suggestions here. Since you're in Europe and considering a custom build, you might want to look at the guitars of Oska Burman (oskaburmanguitars.com). He's an up-and-coming Scottish luthier whose prices are still quite reasonable. I'm sure he could build you the guitar of your dreams, bespoke just for you. After talking with him and spending quite a bit of time looking over his work and listening to sound samples, I've commissioned two of his OM guitars. He really seems to have his stuff together.
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