Lakewood M32CP

Shadow

Just spotted one of these being sold secondhand in a localish music shop for £1000. It's a 2017 model and looks in mint condition. As they retail for up to £2500 this seems a steal but I don't know anything about the brand and it appears that resale values aren't good. Anyone know if this is a good deal.

It's very nice to play, nice warmth and balance across the mids and highs, but the bass is very soft, quite muted. It appears to be strung with some kind of nickel strings, the wound strings are silver. Would nickel strings (if that's what they are) have the effect of muting the bass on a spruce/rosewood guitar?

bertie

all I know is they're German and always had a good rep,   and "some" people confuse them with Tanglewood !!!

not sure why the resale value is not good

TheMadMick

The strings might be Monel. They have a "silver" finish and, I think, a lovely sound. Not a reason why the bass is "muted".

It would have come with Elixir PB 12 - 53. However, remember it's NOT a dread but a concert size. I would imagine the bass would be tight but not muted. It might have a muted bass because it's been sitting quite a while? I had a similar experience with my Larry (review to follow when it settles down).

If the web specs are right it should be a very nice guitar. I would think working with different strings might give you a sound you'd really like.

GTC

They are very nice guitars, comparable with the better builders. I believe Project Music in Exeter are a dealer / middleman for their custom models. They have this model in stock new at £2490.

I'm not sure about the used values but I kicked myself for not going for a 10-yr old cedar / mahogany lefty a few years ago - in excellent condition and with hardshell case for under £500.

They had an excellent guitar configurator on their website - which I shamefully used for a pictorial representation when describing to Brook what I wanted.

Mellish

Ask the store if they'll restring with your favourite strings, then pop along and try it. You'll have some idea what to expect from the guitar. Good luck  

Aornic

I used to have one. It's really nice and has a lot of snap for finger picking. However, as a primarily electric player I couldn't justify keeping it around. My only acoustic now is a Taylor Academy 12 - suits my strumming needs but is a clear downgrade from the Lakewood!

Also I bought it used for 1900 so 1000 sounds like a great deal.

Strangefan

I had one, I still regret selling it 

maltingsaudio

Excellant value for money at that price, great guitars, Martin Seeliger is a great luthier. Lakewood suffer from being a smallish manufacturer so brand awareness isn’t very high but the quality is.
Ritchie Blackmore is on their list of players!
The Bass muting you mention could just be a duff string

Tannin

Lakewood is a class act. Beautifully made guitars. 

malcolmkindness

I used to own one, as others have said. A very nice guitar but it's true their second hand value is poor. I would try phosphor bronze strings on it.
£1000 seems like a good price, I think I got €1500 for mine but it took a while to sell.

artiebear

That's a lot of guitar for £1K !. I have owned an A32 since1996. I wouldn't part with it. Beautifully made, plays well and sounds fantastic. The quality of Lakewood is right up there with other small workshop builders. As far as brand awareness, they have always got lost amongst the plethora of USA guitars, so hankered after here in the UK. 

Shadow

Thanks for all the responses, much appreciated. I didn't realise the brand was so well thought of.

It turns out that the shop is selling the guitar on behalf of someone, maybe why they have bothered to put new strings on. If the guitar is still there the next time I'm in the area it's probably worth me donating a set of EJ16s to get a better idea of how it sounds.

Without wanting to reopen the old nut width debate, it seems this model has a 44mm nut as opposed to the standard for the model of 46mm. I play exclusively fingerstyle and prefer 45mm over 43, but this seemed plenty spacious enough for me. 

bertie

for the hard of understanding,  I wonder why are they called "16s"  then they're 12s   

maltingsaudio

bertie said:

for the hard of understanding,  I wonder why are they called "16s"  then they're 12s   

4 louder ?

Dave_Mc

I've never tried Lakewoods, but regarding the silver strings- I've tried a few Pyramid sets off Thomann which had silver-looking strings. The silk and steel ones looked silver (and they're a bit softer-sounding, so I wonder if the ones you tried might be something like that? I'd have said a bit softer on the treble, though, than the bass like you described) and they also have silver-plated ones, too. (There may well be a bunch of other options too, I'm more of an electric player!)

Tannin

The Germans have a bit of a thing about exotic string materials and methods. As noted, Pyramid has actual silver coated strings (as well as the usual silk and steel and nickel alloy variants) and they also do those weird "hand polished" round wounds, which are conceptually similar to D'Addario's Flat Tops (though much nicer to play). And then you've got Thomastic,  the undisputed King of weird strings, not to mention Optima who, among many other oddities, manufacture a set of strings coated in 24 carat gold. Yes, they are quite expensive. Optima claim endorsements from a pair of pretty fair guitarists in Frank Zappa and Brian May (plus others I haven't heard of) and say that the weight of the gold coating produces a superior tone. Maybe it does. One day I'll find out. I have a set here, purchased at vast expense, and eventually I will feel brave enough to open the packet and put them on a guitar. 

Shadow

I think I'll stick with the EJ16s rather than any gold-plated offering

Mellish

I recall Country Gold. I may even have bought some. I don't recall who turned them out... I've checked my notes and I *did* buy some but no comments or rating. 
I want to say Optima brand but may be wildly wrong  

Dave_Mc

Tannin said:

The Germans have a bit of a thing about exotic string materials and methods. As noted, Pyramid has actual silver coated strings (as well as the usual silk and steel and nickel alloy variants) and they also do those weird "hand polished" round wounds, which are conceptually similar to D'Addario's Flat Tops (though much nicer to play). And then you've got Thomastic,  the undisputed King of weird strings, not to mention Optima who, among many other oddities, manufacture a set of strings coated in 24 carat gold. Yes, they are quite expensive. Optima claim endorsements from a pair of pretty fair guitarists in Frank Zappa and Brian May (plus others I haven't heard of) and say that the weight of the gold coating produces a superior tone. Maybe it does. One day I'll find out. I have a set here, purchased at vast expense, and eventually I will feel brave enough to open the packet and put them on a guitar. 

LOL

Which ones are the "hand polished" round wounds?

They may be a bit weird but those Pyramids I mentioned are pretty nice, and pretty decent value on Thomann...

Tannin

Cheers @Dave_Mc ;

Pyramid Western  Folk: https://www.stringsbymail.com/pyramid-acoustic-guitar-strings-western-folk-round-core-light-12-54-6960.html $13.95 (US) at Strings by Mail

Pyramid Western Folk (hand-polished) https://www.stringsbymail.com/pyramid-acoustic-guitar-strings-hand-polished-light-12-54-18214.html $16.99 (US) at the same place. 

Not only are the names confusing, ever the packets are identical except for a little "hand-polished" sticker added to the latter.

The silver ones might be these: https://www.stringsbymail.com/pyramid-307-silver-plated-acoustic-guitar-strings-12-52-6964.html I haven't tried them yet. But I will!

Thomann don't offer shipping to my neck of the woods. Probably I could email then - after all, all they have to do with a set of strings is take it to the same post office they take all their other stuff to - but I can't be bothered,  I just order from companies who are more interested in my business. Maybe one day if there is something I can't get anywhere else.

bertie

Ive got about 7 or 8 packs of Pyramids I found up in the loft....................  all leccy 10s tho