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Lowden News

1974-2014 George Lowden celebrates 40 years heart & soul

2014 will be a significant year for George Lowden as he celebrates 40 years of guitar making and designing. Following his secluded ‘Design Retreat ‘overlooking the Giants Causeway in Bushmills, ( but not actually in the famous distillery!) Lowden are marking this significant milestone with a very special limited edition which George says “has come straight from the heart “. It takes the form of a unique 40th Anniversary Limited Edition Option which offers owners a wonderful opportunity to become part of the Lowden story. The 40th Anniversary Option will be available as an upgrade on any guitar in the Lowden range, but is limited to 40 guitars in total. George Lowden Guitars is a company of luthiers founded and led by a working luthier, and on these 40 guitars, George Lowden and his son Aaron will personally choose all woods and bracing sets, voice and hand-carve the dolphin profile and close the soundbox. Plus, with his son Daniel, George will personally oversee the final set up. Each of these 40th Anniversary guitars will have a specially designed label and inlay, and come with a serial number- specific, souvenir photographic record book of it being built, with all of the craftsmen involved in building the guitar signing a special edition of the Lowden Provenance document. Pierre Bensusan is also celebrating his 40th anniversary this year which gives a great excuse for some joint celebrations! The long association between the French player and the Irish maker is being marked by the opportunity for all Bensusan admirers to own his famous original Lowden – aka “The Old Lady” (now retired ). Fans will know the story of how George carried out major adjustments in 1989 to Pierre’s O22 (known as an S22 back then – ‘S’ referring to swetenia ). At Pierre’s request he transformed it into a cutaway body and widened the neck to specific finger style proportions. A case of wood off – wood on! This guitar, with all it’s individual quirks internally and externally, will be faithfully reproduced by the Lowden craftsmen, and join the Lowden 2014 range as an additional new Pierre Bensusan Signature Model. Lowden are also looking to the future with the birth of a completely new model which George has spent most of 2013 designing – the “Wee Lowden” – the smallest Lowden yet. If you ever visit the North of Ireland you will hear the adjective “wee” being applied to almost anything – regardless of its size! – but it is really a term of endearment for anything small.