NGD: Sheeran By Lowden W-03

[grayn]

In my return to things acoustic, I went out today to my fairly local Reidys, to check out some low, low-mid priced, small bodied, electro acoustic guitars.
The 3 I'd chosen to try out were a YAMAHA FS-TA TransAcoustic, in Vintage Tint, a TAYLOR GS Mini-e Walnut and a Sheeran By Lowden W-03.
I started with the Yamaha and have to say that the "Transacoustic" built in effects of reverb and chorus, in this guitar, really work.
Fortunately the chorus is subtle and gives a thickness and lushness to the natural acoustic tone.
And the reverb (room or hall) is even better.
The natural tone of the guitar is very decent, especially as this is a fairly low cost instrument.
Put through an amp, I thought the Yamaha was the weakest of the 3 though.
The SRT piezo pickup is average, at best.
I owned a Taylor GS Mini-e, a few years ago, the all Koa model but let it go.
Not sure why it was a terrific, small guitar.
This one was the spruce/walnut version and it had a lot of tone and volume.
These GS Minis are fantastic guitars, I'd recommend to anyone and they sound good amped up, too.
But acoustically and amped up, my favouite of the 3, was the Sheeran By Lowden W-03.
The W stands for Wee, it is based I think, on the Wee Lowden, made for Mr. Sheeran himself.
I owned a full on Irish Lowden, donkeys years ago.
I have very fond memories of it but it was not the best guitar I have owned but that's just personal taste.
When I first spotted these Sheerans on line, I wasn't that interested.
A poor man's Lowden, named after an artist I didn't rate.
But I'm glad to have been converted to the guitar, not the man.
This Wee guitar is made in Ireland, having a Solid cedar top, with a bevel and Lowden A-Frame, sitka spruce bracing.
It has a five piece Santos rosewood back & sides and an ebony bridge.
Also Ebony is the fingerboard, which 1 3/4" at the tusq nut and 2 1/4" at the 14th Fret, with 11mm string spacing.
Comes with an LR Baggs Element VTC pickup system and a hard foam based gigbag.
This guitar is seriously vibrant, with loads of punchy, ringing tone.
It's size and woods help with the middly, focused tone but it's much more than you get with say a small, 15 series Martin.
And I'm very fond of them.
This just gives so much more in tone and feel.
And the 24" scale keeps the string tension down, making it a doddle to play.
Also like the Martin 15 series, you get the simplistic finishing, with no binding, flashy abalone, glossy finish or arty rosette.
You do get a nice headstock that matches the woods of the back & sides.
Another boon is the neck, it reminds me of an old, chunky '57 Les Paul.
Glorious.
If you've been thinking of getting a small bodied acoustic, for not too much cash, I'd recommend at least trying one of these.
They also come in cedar/walnut, spruce/walnut and spruce/rosewood.

[Methos1979]

Awesome and thanks for sharing. I'm glad to see these finally hitting the market. It seems like a lot of guitar for the money and a nice 'entry level' into the Lowden line. Kudos to Mr. Sheeran for insisting on an affordable signature model vs. the more expensive one they could have easily gone with, and also to Mr. Lowden for seeing the wisdom in doing so. I can easily see this being a stepping stone guitar to a regular Lowden for many.

[Sponserv]

Holy crap! That thing is beautiful.

I would love to know Google statistics on amount of searches today for "Santos rosewood". LOL

Glad it sounds as good as it looks. Enjoy it.

[SoCalSurf]

That back is stunning! Really interested to see how these sound. Congrats!

[pagedr]

Originally Posted by Sponserv

Holy crap! That thing is beautiful.

I would love to know Google statistics on amount of searches today for "Santos rosewood". LOL

Glad it sounds as good as it looks. Enjoy it.

Because you got me curious... The large spike is the week they were announced by Lowden.

[jpd]

Nice Wee body shape! What's up with, "donkeys years ago."?

[fregly]

You can see the end grains of the top, so no binding? How would that work sitting as it does. Wouldn't the edges fray easily eventually?

[billyg]

Nice guitar. Glad to get a first hand report of these in the wild. Looks great.

[frankmcr]

Originally Posted by jpd

Nice Wee body shape! What's up with, "donkeys years ago."?

"donkey's years" = UK English for "a long time".

[Cool555]

Beautiful guitar! Enjoy playing it!

[grayn]

Originally Posted by frankmcr

"donkey's years" = UK English for "a long time".

Yeah, sorry for the old fashioned, English term.
Well, I am relatively old and English.

[AeroUSA]

I just got the same guitar (S size)!

[Dave Abrahamson]

That's a 5 piece back? Looks like a nicely bookmatched two piece back to me. Or are you talking 5 "ply"?
Beautiful wood btw.

[JayBee1404]

Originally Posted by Dave Abrahamson

That's a 5 piece back? Looks like a nicely bookmatched two piece back to me. Or are you talking 5 "ply"?
Beautiful wood btw.

The back and sides are 5-ply laminate - a.k.a. Plywood. The top is solid wood.

https://guitar.com/review/acoustic-g...s04-acoustics/

[musicman1951]

Congratulations on a beautiful guitar (and that S sounds wonderful).