Lowden S-35 Limited Edition Millennium Series – Ireland 2000
by Lowden
$6,695.00 20301Lowden guitars represent the pinnacle of acoustic guitar manufacturing. Based in Downpatrick, County Down in Northern Ireland, George Lowden and his small team of skilled luthiers make some of the most incredible acoustic guitars you are ever likely to come across.
Lowden spend time finding the very best tone woods and hand manipulate them using traditional tools to carve, plane and fit together instruments like no other builder.
Lowden guitars are also original in design. Lowdens are not traditional, style wise. Their curvaceous bodies are unique and distinctive. Inside, the bracing of each model is carefully constructed in order to create guitars that project sparkle, body and resonance in equal measure.
Originally part of a set (S-35, and 0-35) called the Millennium Twins, this gorgeous Lowden S 35 guitar features a beautifully unique aged redwood top and figured Claro Walnut back and sides all under a satin finish.
By the year 2000, the community of Lowden enthusiasts around the world had grown considerably. Players were attracted by Lowden's tone and quality, and by the fact that they were not mass-produced. To fulfil requests for a special edition Lowden, George Lowden designed the Millennium Twins.
From George - ""As a luthier, I find that designing a few ‘special’ guitars does stretch my creative abilities and I enjoy that challenge. I believe this does help to develop the art of guitar making in a much wider sense as well. I introduced the limited edition Millennium twins with their matching sets of figured walnut back and sides and adjacent sets of redwood tops sourced from trees, which had fallen naturally."
Features -
- Aged Redwood top
- Claro Walnut Back and Sides
- 5-piece Mahogany/Walnut/Rosewood neck
- Ebony Fretboard
- 1-3/4" nut width
- Maple binding
- Bone nut
- Bone Saddle
- Ebony bridge
- Claro Walnut Peghead Overlay
- Gold-Plated Tuners with amber buttons
Apparently, George Lowden was so impressed with the quality of these master-grade redwood tops that Lowden from that moment (back in 2000), started using redwood as a mainstream top wood on many other models.
All the woods for the Millennium Twins edition came from naturally fallen trees only, (yes the big ones in California) and the unique 'Twins' aspect is part of the way the woods were selected. The body and top woods in every twinned pair were from the same billets of claro walnut and redwood respectively, from adjacent cuts so that the grain and figuring match as perfectly as possible.
In the usual Lowden manner, the design is understated and classical - the ebony fingerboard in bound with pear-wood, the bodies are maple bound, claro walnut is used for the heel cover and to face the headstock.
The neck is the usual five-piece Lowden construction. A small MM logo, for 2000, is set on the heel cover. The bridge is rosewood, and there is an abalone inlay rosette, but no fretboard top markers.
This guitar has the classic Lowden tone, it’s snappy and ringing, and perfect for fingerstyle. It plays wonderfully up the neck and is comfortable in both standing and sitting positions. This instrument is in excellent condition and shows virtually no player wear.
It has a pickup fitted but we do not know the brand or model. But we do know it sounds excellent.
If you're after a future vintage, fully handmade acoustic guitar made by one of the finest guitar luthiers in the world, get this one. It would be the perfect addition to any guitar stable.
Comes in its fitted Lowden branded hard case in good condition.
Demo of a Lowden S 35 Millenium - https://youtu.be/sU5UglVVpxI
Detailed history of George Lowden Guitars - https://diamondguitars.nl/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/History_George_Lowden.pdf
PS: If the Millennium Twins story appeals, we actually know where this one’s matching twin (the O-35) resides. It’s in Sydney, and for the right buyer these twins could be reunited.
