91. George Lowden: Guitar Luthier

Episode 91 is a walk through the rollercoaster timeline of George Lowden’s life of making of guitars for the likes of Eric Clapton, Paul Brady and Ed Sheeran to name but a few.

Introductions: early years; first guitars; Tony Zemaitis; Eric Clapton; ‘Making A Folk Guitar' by John Bailey published by Cecil Sharpe House; making the best guitar from early on; early successes; LEDU (INI); hitting recessions; bringing production to Japan; the Japanese story; Damien Rice; bringing production back to Ireland; the slow 80s for acoustics; hard business lessons; selling the licence to a local outfit; getting the licence back again; the beginning of the success story; sourcing wood; types of wood; what makes good wood; John Martyn; Paul Reed Smith; tweaking the guitar to find the best sound; a £4,000 Lowden vs. a £40,000 Lowden; ideal guitar environments; Foy Vance; Paul Brady; Eric Clapton recording his two acoustic albums ‘Reptile’ and ‘Pilgrim’ on Lowdens; Ed Sheeran; Thomas Leeb; Pierre Bensusan; Richard Thompson; Gary Lightbody; John Mayer; Sheeran by Lowden guitars; God being in the detail; Apple; God; Paul Muldoon; Japanese chisels; Computer Numerical Control (CNC) machines and other topics.

Face to face recording in the Lowden Showroom, Saintfield, County Down about 11.45am on Wednesday 31st July 2024.

Relevant Links

https://lowdenguitars.com/

Additional Links

https://sheeranguitars.com

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/3QIoFE0iCvg3KuprakUEnp?si=1755b1fd0683448c

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