To those who own this model, or any S Lowden, hows the sound, and overall playability, and is there a difference in sound between the non-cutaway and cutaway?

Im looking for a small bodied fingerstyle guitar (14-15 lowerbout) that can also handle strummings in Canada, and the only ones I know are Larrivees. I want to upgrade my Breedlove Atlas AC25 sr plus. I wish they had Goodalls in Canada.

Any recommendations? Im open to Carbon to guitars as well if anybody owns one.

Please no Martins and Taylors, that will be my ultimate last resort lol.

LOL you inquisition and disdain for Martins and Taylors. People don't realize this, and Gibson can be thrown in that bag too, is that simply because of name recognition these companies can take consumers for a little ride with their low end guitars. There are better manufacturers out there who do oustanding work for guits less than 1G. Why on earth would you want to get rid of that Breedlove? They have a lifetime warranty and should age well. IMO the AC25/SR Plus is a a better guitar than the new stage and studio models that have replaced them. Now Breedlove is getting enough name recognition that they can do the same thing that Taylor and Martin have been doing for years. I'd say, hang on to that guitar and save up for a second one. I love my AC25 and am in the process of upgrading to a bone saddle. Have you looked into Seagull?

yup, I think Martins and Taylors are overrated. Ive tried lots of Taylors (from the 400-900 series) and non impressed me so far, no offense. Maybe the custom series, but for that amount, I would rather spend on a luthier quality guitar or a Lowden (theres just something about it that makes me really want it).

lostgstring, im not getting rid of my Breedlove (Im still a Breedlover lol), I meant that Im looking for a second guitar thats better. hmmm I never looked into Seagulls, always knew them for their entry level guitars.

Im really interested on how the S Lowden compares to the F and O.....

This post was last modified: 07-16-2009 06:04 AM by hatamoto.

Where are you in Canada, exactly, hatamoto? That will change my answer slightly.

Hey! I LOVE my Taylor!

...and you should Tman! I think what hamo and I are saying is that new low end Taylors sold at retail stores are more money than they are guitar just because of the name. It's just like anything in retail. One of the sweetest guitars i've ever had in my hands was a Taylor Dread ( I can't remember what model exactly), but I just couldn't justify a 3,200G price tag! Ouch!! For that price I could get a US made custom shop Breedlove to my exact specs. Well, maybe I'd have to pay a little more. Besides, I remember you saying how badly you wanted an AC25, Hmmmm?

Just kidding.

Yes, you are right about that AC25. But, I've wanted a Taylor LONG before I even knew about Andy McKee. My guitar idol plays Taylors exclusively. Leo Kottke is my main influence on the guitar. If Leo Kottke plays it, then it's good. PERIOD.

He also plays Olsens too. I hear VERY good things about Olsen guitars.

mmm....Olsen. Isn't that what Phil Keaggy is always playing too? Great tone based off the vids that I've seen. I bet they are real pricey too.

What do you mean by 'luthier quality' guitar?

Sorry, but that just isn't the case dude I expect the Taylors that Leo Kottke plays are pretty awesome guitars, but that doesn't mean that ALL Taylors are good? They're certainly not in my experience - to be honest, it's exactly those sentiments that Taylor are trading on. They make some awesome guitars, give them to awesome players to play, then thousands of young hopefulls go out and buy guitars with the Taylor name on the headstock believing that their guitar is just as good as their idols. The reason Leo Kottke plays Taylors exclusively is because he has a deal with them, like Dan Crary etc etc, it's all marketing and it seems to work well.

I'm repeating myself again and again, but in my opinion, when buying a low to mid range guitar you really need to ignore who it's made by and just judge each guitar on its own merit. You can stumble across some stunning sounding instruments for great prices if you don't get sucked into the hype.

James Taylor has been a great advocate for Olsen guitars, they're in a league of their own but have a price tag to match!

Oh man Lowden's are the best when it comes to guitars imo,

The S model is loud for its size, i've played a small few, 3 i think i've played, not an S32 though.
very comfortable size, ideally for flatpicking i would say

I have an F23 myself, it's a fantastic guitar, perfect for any style i do, that includes thumbpicking, tapping, fingerstyle and strumming
very clear, feels great, and the sound!!
never heard any brand like it!
thats just me though, its suited to what I need

only thing you have to get used to is the neck width, i got it with a 45mm nut and it took me a while to get used to switching between neck widths. certain songs on certain guitars is what i do.

the best advice I ever got was "Test a guitar out before you buy it because the one you buy might not have been the one you tried"
that applies especially to the Lowden range because it's like having a unique guitar.
I've played other F23's that dont sound like mine, they're similar but not the exact same y'know?

hope it helps bud