Lakewood guitars and Stonebridge guitars

[HNS]

Any experience with those makers ?,  Lakewood is German and Stonebridge is Czech.

http://www.lakewood.de/en/

http://www.stonebridgeguitars.com/home.html

[Denis]

I've played several Stonebridge guitars and they are amazing instruments.  I remember playing a cedar/mahogany dread and it had a 1 3/4" nut...I was blown away.  So warm, so sweet...

Sorry, never tried a Lakewood before but there are tons of great videos on Youtube of Lakewood players...like this one  :

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oIdQaSUuiQ8 

[ffinke]

The first time I heard of Lakewood was when I heard of Sungha Jung. The kid AND the guitar are outstanding!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2x9jjO0W16A&feature=channel
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LR5rSkDcP2M

[HNS]

Thanks for the vids folks it'smuch appreciated ... the first time I heard of Lakewood was in an interview with Richie Blackmore somewhere on youtube.. he seemed to like them a lot, however when I played one last week, I was less than impressed, it really sounded boxy and flat, maybe it was the acoustics of the room (not a strings issue IMHO)  because I keep on hearing very nice things about them.

I played a Stonebridge once (don't know which model, but a dread) and it sounded quite Tayloresque to my ears.

But I still like the build of these Lakewoods much more than Stonebridge, the latter uses a two piece hog neck as well.

[ffinke]

Nayoud,

I would opt for the strings BEING the issue. I've played a number of guitars from the same builder and where some sound terrific others sound awful. Come to think of it they were played in different shops so maybe the room DOES have something to do with it.

Brings up a point: how many guitars AREN'T sold for one of those reason?

f

PS/ i made it to 800!

[HNS]

Good point ffinke !
Congrats !

Brings up a point: how many guitars AREN'T sold for one of those reason?

f

PS/ i made it to 800!

[Danny]

  I've had a Lakewood Dread at my place for a year or so now. I don't like it's tone as well as my Larrivees, but the build is great. This one is Mahogany/Spruce. I probably ought to try new strings on it as well.

[frankhond]

I used to own a Furch (european brand name for Stonebridge, exact same guitar) D32-SM dreadnought. Furch guitars have a distinct tone, I would say inspired by Collings and taylor, with very long sustain (and I mean it, it's almost unnatural) and clear string separation. I eventually sold it. Why? Well, as it aged, it seemed to lose sensitivity, and really needed to be played hard with a pick (I play with fingers). This model came with a "pre-aged" top, and it seemed as if the rest of the guitar was out of sync as it aged... It had a very nice tone though, and I have since played many super nice Furch guitars (notably an OM34-SR which was outstanding). I would recommend to not get the pre-aged top option and let the guitar age normally. Definitely go check them out.

Lakewood? I have played a few. The workmanship is outstanding. They too have a distinctive tone. Lakewood goes for "sweetness" which works for some and not for others. I really wanted to like them but unless you want that Uli Bögershausen / Sungha Jung tone, it probably wont do anything for you.

[Sandro]

Nayoud,
this is my Lakewood MM, a guitar I'm very fond of:  http://www.larriveeforum.com/smf/index.php?topic=31311.msg285567#msg285567

I tried even some M-12 and M-32. The M-32 is one of the best guitars I ever tried, but unfortunately it was betond my budget 
I'm still keeping an eye on the web and in nearby shops to see if a used one comes out...