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To question 1, well a bit yes and a bit no. Sinker or bog timbers are indeed different; the structure of the wood changes and often comes to include mineral deposits. In general, this results in a heavier, harder, stiffer timber, which in turn produces a different sound. A better sound? Matter of taste. And what is the difference between (say) bog oak and a fresh-cut timber from some other species which is naturally harder and heavier and stiffer than oak? Probably not much. But if Mr Lowden wants to send me a couple of examples to try for myself, well,
I'll be only too happy.
As for the others you mention, they sound very much like psychological bling. You could pay loads extra for something made from a Viking shield and chances are it wouldn't sound so very different from something far less romantic. But if that's what makes you happy and you have the cash, well why not?
(Confession: I just went to quite a bit of trouble to order a guitar made using (among other things) oak and yew not because I believe that a bog oak bridge and fretboard will sound or feel particularly different to one made from rosewood or ebony or Mulga or maple, and not because I think that some yew laminations in a walnut neck or one piece of yew in a 3-piece back will make any significant difference to the sound, but simply because in my one and only English guitar it pleases me to have those two very traditional English timbers make a part of it. Sound is the main thing, but it isn't everything.
As for the sound, it's all subjective. Choice of woods and your playing style.
I tried a few over maybe a month or so as they came in to a local dealer - I used to fill in lunch time browsing - until the O25 cedar/rosewood came in.
They were all excellent, but that one just sounded perfect for me. I still enjoy it.
There were one or two others I liked the look of - smaller/more manageable body size (the O series are jumbos) but the sound did it for me.
As to more exotic wood combinations being worth the extra wonga, well try them & see what you think. Spec sheets can only take you so far.
What clicked for me was lush tone and evenly balanced strings. The volume was not important.
Do I fancy a bog oak or sinker top? Well I wouldn't mind trying them, but I still can't do justice to the O25 twenty years later, so it's not on my bucket list.
Get a good one and it's yours for life!
Good hunting.
(Oh, just a final thought - if it's your thing in any way, when you're trying them out try an altered tuning or two. DADGAD or double drop D make mine sing).
I had an F50 in AAAAAAAAAAA cedar with amazing looking taz B&S...but I just didn't bond with it over a few years and it got traded in...these days I like a simple spruce/mahogany OM.
Same quality...just more detail.
For me, Lowden is about the 'O' size...if it's a bit chunky for you and you've got the spend, consider having a forearm bevel built (I don't know if they're on option on every model).
What do you want your guitar to sound like? Oak Yew and Viking shield are never going to sound like Maple and Rosewood. In the same way a Dreadnought will never sound like a Parlour. Do remember to get someone of the same standard as you to play the guitar your considering to buy to you.
Lowden make fabulous guitars but from experience, like Ovation, Martin, Taylor, Takemine etc you see certain makes become flavour of the year and then fashions change, but not convinced the quality of sound changes. It does come down to your connection.
Thank for all the advice looks like a road trip is in order.
See paoletti do aged Oak cask guitars!
Over time I've discovered (still discovering!!) what I do and don't like. I need sustain and ring, wetness... which rules out walnut for me as have always found that quite dry. Oak grates my ears. Rosewood can sound great for solo performer but more often than not the scooped mid, twangy treble and overpowering bass don't grab me. Mahogany is almost perfect with the right build - throaty and musical, misses out only on a slight lack of bass and not as much reverb as rosewood (depends on build, my OM05 is lush), Bhilwara is almost perfect in that it has throaty mids and deep bass, resonant trebles - slightly quicker decay than EIR and mahogany, though. The list goes on. Warmth and mids essential which tends to be mahogany / soft rosewood land for me. And then some guitars have the magic and others don't. Re tops, prefer the warmth of Sitka over Adirondack, cedar never grabbed me, keen to try Lutz, moon/euro spruce has a nice sizzle though feel have to work harder than with Sitka blah blah etc lol
Sort of lusting after a rosewood Larry but could easily sell all now bar the OM05 & Bhilwara.
Anyway, Lowden! Aren't their necks a touch wider than 1.75"? They do some amazing guitars but damn they're expensive now.
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