has a plaque dating to 1803. George, and his amazing wife of 41 years, Flo, welcomed us like family. Though consumed with their business, and raising 5 children,( 4 work with them), they also worked tirelessly together to make that horse barn into an artful abode. One morning as we sat at the breakfast table in the airy glass and wood kitchen, I asked George to recant his arduous journey.
Sipping his coffee, with eyes beaming laughter from the soul, I could see his mind whimsically reflecting on the convoluted paths he has maneuvered. Becoming a world-class luthier is one thing, but knowing him as long as I have, I’ m astute that behind the crevasses of that infectious smile are scars acquired from falling rocks on the cliffs of commerce. Needless to say, success and failure have been staunch sherpas accompanying George on his four decade expedition.
Prior to building guitars, George was a successful fashion clothes salesman. But one day his allegiance to that changed when he attended a meeting about the harsh atrocities in Bangladesh. For several weeks, a quiet conviction kept knocking on the door of his heart until he became restless enough to call all of his reps to inform them that he was resigning his post to pursue his true purpose for living.
As he prepared to embark on the trailhead of that quest, a friend asked him if he had consulted his father for advice. Finishing the last swig of his first cup of coffee, George blushed, turned his gaze to me, and in somewhat of a self deprecating tone said,“ I’ ve always been a wee bit of a quiet rebel.”
When he informed his dad of his missional plans, he retorted that he wouldn’ t stand in his way if that is the path that he wanted to choose, but he disapproved. Even though none of his father’ s reasons held enough truth to substantiate not going, he reached a place of peace by respecting his father’ s advice.
Having now submerged his clothing business and shutting the door to missions, George was back to square one. Weeks passed until a voice gently spoke to him to build guitars. His initial response was that he was deceiving himself with some goofy,“ God told me” rabbit trail. But once again, peace prevailed.
Setting sail with a tiny booklet on guitar building, he nearly sunk his maiden voyage. The composer suggested buying old furniture to repurpose for guitars. Coupled with that time consuming task was his old school method of pinning veneers and bindings. All of this stymied George, but like most inventors, it propelled him to look toward the horizon. Ironically, George had no previous experience with tools and woodwork, but when two things fell into place in a twenty-four hour period, he knew the sky was clearing. The first piece of manna came when a contact in England gave him the names of several high-end wood suppliers. The second piece was a bit more comical. Walking past a local hardware store, he saw a power tool in the window that had pictures on the box of what it could do. He stumbled in clueless and walked out with a router.
Initially, he built three guitars and to his amazement he sold them for sixty quid each.($ 90.00). By his own confession, the workmanship was terrible but the sound was good enough to fuel his passion to pursue
higher altitudes of excellence. After three and half years of putting one foot in front of the other, he arrived at the aforementioned plateau that was on the bench next to my vintage Martin on that drizzly Irish morning in 1977. And, as they say, the rest is history.
In this global economy, there’ s plenty to admire about the tenacity of a company staffing 28 people to construct 1,000 guitars a year, but I can assure you that he hasn’ t reached the summit yet. As friends who share the same true north on the compass, I can testify that George Lowden will always be a man on a mission.
To discover more on Lowden guitars, visit: www. LowdenGuitars. com.
Sep � Oct 2016 CollectibleGuitar. com
17