damo’s guitars

[Guitar Monkey]

i'm in abit ofa mess people i would love to know what guitars damo uses in his music does any 1 know the make of them or any pics of them ?

[Guitar Monkey]

check that sh*te out i got a pic of damo and his guitarbloody hell he has capo on 6th fret i wonder what song his singin ? does any 1 know

[Louise]

there are people who know, if you wait someone will be able to tell you.

[Guitar Monkey]

yeah that would be good cooool pic hey i'm lovin the shirt......the reason i posted this up was because i am a singer songwriter meself and damo's guitars in his track sound so mellow maybe its cause he changes his strings all the time i don't but have a capo on does give it that effect

[Louise]

I unfortunately am guitar ignorant, except for liking what I hear so can't help ya. Sorry dude.

[Guitar Monkey]

thats ok lol what music do ya like

[Louise]

I like everything. At the moment Im listening to the frames, damo, bell x 1, snow patrol, reindeer section, scissor sisters, and I permanently have my outkast cds on rotation. But Im in a particularly guitar based phase at the moment.

[Guitar Monkey]

what like acoustic stuff

[Louise]

I mean as opposed to hip hop which Im also really into.

[Magnus]

Originally Posted by Guitar Monkey

i'm in abit ofa mess people i would love to know what guitars damo uses in his music does any 1 know the make of them or any pics of them ?

Damien uses an old guitar made by the Irish Avalon/Lowden fabric.

[Louise]

see didnt I say that there were people who'd know?

[Magnus]

[img]smileys/smiley2.gif[/img]

[mattbeswick]

Guitar monkey - Capo 6 would prolly be Cannonball...


The guitar he uses is a Lowden - Irish guitar make used by the likes of Clapton... apparently it's 'THE' choice of pickers. Unfortunately you're also looking at about £2000 to pick one up!





[EDIT] And while we're on Trivia.. who is Dodi Ma (Or Dodima)?Edited by: mattbeswick

[naestopaz]

Dodima =lead vocalistto Juniper.


'We killed each other out there, in a sense, opines lead vocalist Dodima, a name which he invented from his own unique language. Throughout the course of the interview Dodima is a multicoloured bundle of energy, arms whirring as he emphasises every syllable with extravagant gestures, the consummate frontman'. from J. Walshe's 1/21/98 from 'HOT PRESS'.


grins and giggles

[Magnus]

Originally Posted by mattbeswick

The guitar he uses is a Lowden - Irish guitar make

Hi Matt! [img]smileys/smiley1.gif[/img]


For a long time I thought it was a Lowden, but if you look more carefully at the logo on the headstock you'll probably find that it doesn't say Lowden. The logo is remarkably similar to the Lowden logo, but I am quite sure it says something else. When I seethe logo on Damien's guitarI read "Avalon" (I haven't seen any other guitars with that exact same logo.. the new Avalon guitars has got that "A")which is the company that bought the old Lowden factory. A lot of theworkers from the Lowden factory continued working there even after it was bought by Avalon. They also continued building the guitars to the same specifications, so it is the same factory, sme luthiers and same specs as a Lowden guitar, but is it a Lowden? I know this is not really important, I just wanted to explain why I said the guitar is from the Avalon/Lowden factory.


Damien says it is an old Lowden though. [img]smileys/smiley5.gif[/img]I am and have always been confused about this. Do you Matt or anyone else know anything more about this?

[Guitar Monkey]

thanks magnus where the hell did ya get the info from?

[Guitar Monkey]

mattbeswick thanks alot i just found the pic and i wonder what song he was playin. i wonder what other songs he uses that have capo's on?

[#Ian#]

Almost all of them.

Of the ones I know how to play. Cold Water @5, Amie @7.

In fact he kind of cheats on those songs as he uses the same chord shapes and progresions just with the capo at a different fret.

[Guitar Monkey]

coool but ya hardly notice it don't ya cause the songs sound so fresh

[mattbeswick]

Delicate, also Capo 5...


Magnus - hmmmmmm... now there's food for thought. Looking at it I always thought it was a Lowden, and I'm sure I remember seeing an interview where he said it was, as you said, an old Lowden...


However... looking at some pics, I see what ya mean. Maybe it was built in a 'transition' time when Avalon had just taken over - the logo may have been slightly different for a period of time. Also, with the Lowdens / Avalons being so finely crafted it wouldn't surprise me if the logos and designs differed greatly depending on who made it...


naestopaz - Well done ~Grins~ Although... ya still haven't come up with Dodima's real name ... but then that'd just be me being picky and tired (5.12am here!)Edited by: mattbeswick

[angelmidnight]

i remember: capo 2

[Magnus]

I believe I might be wrong hereafterall. [img]smileys/smiley2.gif[/img]


Here is a short version of the story of the Lowden guitar(which is a mess really[img]smileys/smiley5.gif[/img]):


The first Lowden guitars were "born" in the mid seventies with the distinctive sound and design.George Lowden's guitars became popular and he set up a small workshop in Ireland in which he produced approximately 100 guitars until production was moved to Japan to keep up with the demand for the Lowden guitar. This wasin 1980. For a 5-year period guitars under the Lowden name were madeby fine luthiers in ain a small Japanese workshop (owned by a company called Servette Music)dedicated only to the making of Lowden guitars as a part of a license agreement between George Lowden and Servette Music. In 1985 the marked for acoustic guitars was not big enough to keep on running the business in the small Japanese workshop and that year it was decided that theproduction should be moved to a bigger Japanese factory which also madeguitars for other brands, and that the smaller Japanese workshop should be closed down. How small it was, how fine its luthiers were and how many guitars were made in this workshop I do not know, butmust have beenbetter than the bigger factory because that same year (1985) George Lowden as The Lowden Guitar Companydecided to set up a factory back in Ireland through the help of an investor called David Jebb. In 1988 this company ran out of funds andThe Lowden Guitar Company'sbank decided thatit should be sold instead ofclosed down. A group of localpeople boughtThe Lowden Guitar Companyand signed a new licensing agreement with George Lowden who still owned the rights to the Lowden designs and trademarks. During this period George Lowden worked a bit as a consultant, trainer, designer etcfor The Lowden Guitar Company. In 1998, to regain control over the direction of the Lowden guitar and to help it achieve its potential, George Lowden himselfalong withtwo of his fellow workers formed a company called Sarcon 54 Ltd which bought a controlling interest in The Lowden Guitar Company. Still theThe Lowden Guitar Company took a direction that George Lowden did not like and he decided to back out and let The Lowden GuitarCompany continue manufacturing according to the license agreement while he himself started builing custom guitars in his own home. After The Lowden Guitar Company had broken several of the agreements concerning quality control and specifications in the license contract George Lowden decided to take the case to court in September 2001 after 11 months of trying to settle the case without any luck. In August 2002 the share holding company Sarcon 54 Ltd (which owned the interests in The Lowden Guitar Company)changed nameto Avalon Guitars Ltd (Sarcon 54 Ltd became Avalon Guitars Ltd- meaning -the owner of The Lowden Guitar Company was now Avalon Guitars Ltd). Also in January 2002 The Lowden Guitar Company launched a new brand called Avalon Guitars which George Lowdenhas got nothing to do with. The court settlement came in February 2003. The licensing agreement was then terminated and Avalon Guitars Ltd had to stop manfacturing guitars bearing the name Lowden by the 1st of January 2004. TodayGeorge Lowden builds guitars under the name Lowden Guitarsand from this year he owns all the rights to the use of the Lowden name. Lowden Guitars is (are?)not a division of Avalon Guitars Ltdand Avalon Guitars Ltd does neither own the rights to use the nameThe Lowden Guitar Company in their profile nor make any guitars with the name Lowden on them anymore. The Irish made models of Avalon guitars are made by Avalon Guitars Ltdin thefactory that used to be a part ofThe Lowden GuitarCompany (which no longer exists). Avalon Guitars Ltdcannot even refer to the name Lowden in their adds orany other places.The history section of their websiteeven says "The company that now bears the name Avalon Guitars came into being in 1989."


This can be readmore thoroughlyat http://www.georgelowden.com/news.php...llnews&id= 4
Avalon Guitars' website iswww.avalonguitars.com
George Lowden's website iswww.georgelowden.com
Lowden Guitars' (owned by George Lowden)website iswww.lowdenguitars.com(under construction)


Damien's guitar wouldn't be as old as Damien says if it was an Avalon soI do believe Damien's guitar could very accurately be called a Lowden guitar, butfrom what era is it? Is it an early Irish made one,is it a Japanese model made by the littleServette Music owned workshop, is it from thebigger Japanesefactory oris it one of the Irish ones madeby The Lowden Guitar Company. The Lowden Guitar Company was bought up in 1998 bySarcon 54 Ltdandthe name Avalon does not appear in the Lowden historybefore Sarcon 54 Ltdchanged their name into Avalon Guitars Ltd in August 2001 (and from what I have understood the name Avalon is not used as a guitar brand name before Avalon Guitars was launched in 2002 by the then Avalon Guitars Ltd-owned The Lowden Guitar Company) so it is certainly not fromthe Avalon epoch or theperiod when Sarcon 54 Ltd and The Lowden Guitar Companydid not follow George Lowden's spesifications since Damien says it is an old Lowden.Anyway; all this makes it difficult to decidewhat would be today's equivalent of Damien's guitar -An Asian made Avalon, an Irish made Avalon or a Lowden made by George lowden of Lowden Guitars? Perhapsthe new Irish madeAvalon Legacy series is the closest?


And I am stillfinding that headstock logo pretty disturbing... [img]smileys/smiley5.gif[/img]


What a mess! I hope at least someone reads this becauseI did puta lot of effortinto it...[img]smileys/smiley36.gif[/img]

[Magnus]

Damien Rice plays a Lowden guitar [img]smileys/smiley2.gif[/img]

[Tink]

hi magnus not following you again! lol

[Guitar Monkey]

hey magnus is Lowden a goo make of guitar ?

[Magnus]

It is said to be a really good brand, yes. Personally I like them quite good, but they are not my favourite. They have quite thick tops and are one of the few guitars with thick tops that actually resonate well. I like Lowdens and I would call them "a goo make of guitar." It all comes down to taste and style of playing I guess...

[Magnus]

By the way: If you want to buy a Lowden you'll have to buy it from a store that has it as old stock or as a second hand, a new one ordered directly from George Lowden himself(that would be terribly expensive), since they are not "mass producing"Lowdens. An Avalon could be a good substitute if you are after the Lowden sound, though.


Also: Because of the thick tops, Lowden gutars are very sturdy.

[Guitar Monkey]

whats some of favourite brands of guitar magnus

[Magnus]

Well, obviously I like Martin's Dreadnaughts.As for jumbo's I like Gibson Montana. I also like Santa Cruz and some of the Guild guitars are good as well. Larrivee and Breedlove are said to be good, but I have never tried any of them.If you are looking for a cheaper guitar Taylor's Big Baby is a bargain, but I really don't like many the more expensive Taylor guitars.

[Guitar Monkey]

they are expensive some of the taylor guitars but sometimes u have to look for the bargains with good guitars