Lowden Brace pattern

[Dave Bagwill]

The alternate tunings give you the nice option of using open strings more easily - letting them ring while you're moving around on the other strings. In dadgad, having the g and the a so close opens up some easy to finger possibilities.
I like composing using open D DADF#AD.

Since my last name is BAGwill, maybe I should try BAGdad tuning?? :-)

edit: crap, NSA is totally going to read this and bust me...

[Joe Farmer]

Hi Ken,
Would you happen to know the bracing footprint on the Lowden's? And maybe the height as well? I'm now building myself a finger picking guitar and I'd like to use the Lowden bracing pattern. I got to know Pierre Bensusan back in 1979 when he played at the Cambridge Folk Festival in England. (I was stationed there, and he stayed with me during the festival.)
Back then, he played a Lowden that had a Cedar top. Don't remember the back and sides. He let me play it all I wanted and I fell in love with the tone, and the guitar.
Several years later he contacted me and asked me if I wanted to buy it. (I made him promise to ask me first if he ever wanted to sell it.) He wanted $7K and I didn't have the money at the time. One regret I have in life is not finding a way to get it. Hmmmm..... maybe I'll ask him if he still has it.... :o)

Anyway, I'd sure love to see what kind of tone I can get out of this guitar with Lowden's bracing. I found an old European Spruce set of plates that I bought about the same time I met Pierre, so the wood is about 34 years old. I've thinned it to about .125 and the Voicing is excellent. I'm using a set of Indian Rosewood back and sides that I bought about that time too.

Can you help me with the bracing dimensions?
Thanks,
Joe

[ken cierp]

Hi Joe,
The KMG Lowden "O" Style Stencil will be available in our on line store this week -- it will have our usual info label to help with braces sizes etc.

[Joe Farmer]

Thanks Ken,
I'm not going to be building an "O" style (small Jumbo) so the template won't work for me. I'm going to use it on a Dreadnought. I was wondering what the width and height of his bracing is to give ma a rough idea. (thin and high vs fat and short). Maybe I'll pop the Lowden folks a note and if they respond I'll let you know what they say.
Joe

[Ray Ussery]

Looking forward to this.. :>)

[John Parchem]

Ken, I will look for it next week. I would like to try that bracing style on an O style guitar.

[Joe Farmer]

Well, it's been a couple of weeks and I never received an answer back from the Lowden folks. However, I ran into local luthier that has a Lowden in his shop and he measured the X braces for me. They are roughly .320 " wide and .555 " tall (close to the cross). He said the back braces were about the same. It's an O model.
Just thought I'd pass it along.