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I’ve been playing a cheap Westfield acoustic guitar, that I bought to learn on, for the last few years. I decided to buy a good quality replacement now that I’m sure I’m going to continue playing. Doing research into what are good quality acoustic guitars I came across the usual suspects like Martin, Takamine etc. I also kept hearing about a make called Lowden that are made in Northern Ireland. People kept singing their praises and saying that Lowdens were brilliant guitars. Looking into it I discovered that what was the Lowden company had split, with the former company taking the name Avalon Guitars, located in Newtownards, and a new company called Lowden Guitars formed by George Lowden located in Downpatrick. There is also at least one other Northern Ireland based guitar maker with a connection to the former Lowden company. This is McIlroy Guitars located in Antrim.

I really liked the idea of getting a guitar that was actually made here in Northern Ireland. As long as it sounded okay. I wanted an acoustic with a lightly coloured wood top and without any electrics installed. I got the chance to play an Avalon guitar in a shop in Bangor a few days ago and it sounded really nice and looked good as well. But it was from an Avalon range that was made overseas. Not that this would have stopped me buying it, but I wanted to try some of the locally made ones as well.

I went to the Belfast Guitar Emporium to see what they had in stock. Wow. This is a wonderful shop. If you are are looking for a guitar of any type then this shop should be on your list of places to visit. They have loads of guitars in stock and they are very friendly and knowledgeable. At the back of the store they have a separate acoustic room with about a dozen Lowden guitars and a big couch to sit on and try them out. I spent time in there trying out the models available. Four of the guitars fitted the criteria I had. I quickly narrowed the ones I was interested in down to two. An O-32 and a S-12c. I spent quite a bit of time A/B’ing these two. They were both bloody marvelous. One of the guys from the shop said he thought the S-12c was the best Lowden he had heard. He was excellent playing it. He is certainly a better guitarist than I am 🙂 I liked the sound from the O-32 better, though it was a close call. The O-32 had a deeper sound that I really, really liked. Ironically one of the things I told the guys in the shop was that I liked a more treble sounding guitar. The O-32 changed my mind!

So after playing both for a while I settled on the O-32. I hadn’t asked the price of the two I was thinking off as I didn’t want the price to colour my choice. I wanted to make the choice based on sound and feel. It turned out that the O-32 was the cheaper of the two so that was a bonus. So I bought the O-32. Here is is:

Click picture for larger view

I really like it. It looks beautiful and has a wonderful tone. The top is Sitka Spruce and the back and sides are Indian Rosewood. The neck is Mahogany/Rose and the fingerboard is Ebony. Other woods, in addition to those listed above, like Walnut and sycamore are used for inlay and detail. There are more pictures of he guitar here. It has a wonderful wood smell too.

Hopefully this guitar will last me for the rest of my life and that that will be a very long time.

Just heard a wonderful album. It’s the debut solo album by Jenny Wilson from Sweden. I first heard her when she was a guest vocalist on You Take My Breath Away by The Knife. Her new album is not available in the UK yet as far as I can see. It can however be listened to it in full via a Flash-based player at her web site. It can also be ordered via mail order. I really like it a lot. She has a brilliant voice. I’ve ordered a copy. It’s on the same label as The Knife so hopefully, it’ll be on the UK iTMS soon as well.

The Knife will be releasing a new album in March 2006. Happy days.

I’ve been listening to The Planets by Holst for a long time. I finally got to hear it live on Friday being played by a real orchestra. Went to a concert in the Waterfront Hall in Belfast to hear the Ulster Orchestra perform the whole Planet Suite and several other pieces. I really enjoyed it. It wasn’t as good as my favourite CD version of the suite performed by the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra. This is not a reflection on the Ulster Orchestra. They were excellent. I just think it’s easier to get into the music without an audience of several hundred people round you.

Well worth the experience to hear it live though. It was broadcast live on BBC Radio Ulster and I was able to record it via my Radio Shark and Audio Hijack Pro. So I’ve got it in iTunes and on the iPod which is good. It’s also available via the BBC listen again feature as a RealPlayer stream via this link. This link will only work for about 7 days though.

The Darkness return. One Way Ticket to Hell…and Back. It’s good stuff. Musically it’s very good indeed. Lots of layering of vocals and guitars, à la Queen. Not surprising since this album is produced by Roy Thomas Baker who did the early Queen albums. I think the falsetto vocals are a bit overdone here. It works better using this a counterpoint to normal singing. Justin’s voice is good enough to sing normally more of the time.

They are playing Belfast on 5th February 2006. Oh Yeah! I’ll be there. Last time they played Belfast they were brilliant. Indoors next time. Probably best given the bloody weather! Be interesting to see if they are still as tight as a live unit with the new bass player.