Lakewood J-32

This guitar was a custom shop model, completed on the 22nd of december 2004. I know, since 2 days later I picked it up in Giessen, spanking new. 14 frets to the body jumbo, 20 frets total, solid AAA englemann spruce top, indian rosewood back & sides, mahogany neck, ebony fretboard, 21 mm neck thickness, 44 mm wide at the nut, overall satin gloss finish, slotted headstock with golden 3-on-a plate Schaller tuners with ebony pegs.

the body of this guitar has a slicghtly arched top and back; very solid construction.

special, non standard: the finish, the headstock, the tuners and the AAA englemann top.

since this guitar was made to my specs, I can only give it 10 points for features.

I was looking for a great jumbo. I thought I had found it in a Larrivee J-05, but that turned out to be a big disaster (look at the review).

I know I am very demanding, I have been playing professionally all my life, but was it possible to find the perfect sound for a jumbo without sacrificing playability? well, the sound of this lakewood is stunning. I hate to add to all those reviews of proud owners who just bought a new guitar and rate it with 10's, but I can't help but to say: the guitar is 4 days old now. without any chance to mature, it already sounds loud, open, transparent, bassy yet crisp, this is top notch material! I performed with it last night in an acoustic setting in a "haute cuisine" restaurant, and people from the audience asked, "what brand guitar is that? that is a nice sound." It really blends well to my voice, and what is even better: compared to the Larrivee, this guitar starts to talk to you at a much lower sound level than the Larrivee. The Larrivee needed a lot of energy to sound out, even after 2 months of breaking in, but this Lakewood can even whisper and still manages to be heard.

The Larrivee had a very loud low e-string. The Lakewood has the same volume with the low E. But the rest of the strings are balanced, while the Larrivee had one loud and 5 thinner sounding strings. The balance of the Lakewood is so much better!!

This guitar is custom built. I asked for low action without string buzz, and exactly that has been delivered. I mailed and phoned with Martin Seeliger personally, and he built me this guitar, giving me advice on the woods and the measurements for my style. After the Larrivee disaster, it was very hard to take a plunge into the unknown, but it turned out very well. One small flaw is in the finish, but that is no big deal, there are a few very small grains in the finish on the back, hardly noticable. Since it's a satin finish, it is no problem. Apart from that, I knew this had happened, already before I picked it up, and martin would gladly have refinished the whole back, if I wouldn't have needed the guitar so quickly. So it's merely my own fault the grains are there.

The action, the finish and the whole feel of the guitar are superb, the frets feel smooth, the guitar is very playable and responsive, to anything I do. Could it be better set up? No. could it fit me better? I doubt that.

the J-32 is slightly arched and therefore very rugged, the wood doesn't have to be thick, and the guitar is a lightweight. I never use backup guitars. I have one guitar for every purpose: a Hofner new president for semi/acoustic use and this guitar for acoustic and amplified acoustic sound. I can hardly afford these instruments, and cannot afford to have doubles (the baby needs milk, too). In practice, it has never been a problem, since I do merely small commercial venues, where it has never been a problem to take a break earlier when you break a string. But I have to say, I think I can depend on this guitar.

Christmas story:

Now can it get any better than this: it normally takes 2 months to build a custom Lakewood. But due to a cancellation (whoever it was, he was crazy) there was already a body for a jumbo j-32 lying around, so it took only two weeks. And to get it here in time for my Chrismas gig (all acoustic) I could come and pick it up on the 24th of december. The workshop was closed on this holy day (Germans start Christmas on the 24 th), but mr Seeliger was there to hand me my guitar. He gave me a factory tour, made me cappuchino, attached two golden straplocks, dropped a nice CD in the guitar case of Ulli Bogershausen, wished me a merry christmas, even carried the guitar to my car, and waved while I drove away (I only made up the waving part, the rest is the absolute truth). I dont know if it were my sences playing tricks on me, but I remenisce a faint distant voice shouting "Ho ho ho ho".

So, customer support? Can it ever get any better than this? I challenge you all!!!

I played on Martin, Avalon, Lowden, Taylor, I owned two Takamines, Larrivee. Well, in this order: MArtin: nice, but not my sound, Avalon, very good, nice sound, but not good set up, too much fretbuzz, Lowden: 1st runner up for the Lakewood, but not available anymore, and looking back now, I am glad it was like that, since the lakewood has more sparkle. Taylor: nice playability, no convincing "big" jumbo sound, Larrivee: nice sound, horrible playability, due to the fact it was hard to have it set up right and it only started to talk at high volumes. Takamines: well, they're in a completely different league.

If this Lakewood were lost or stolen, I would be confident for my insurance money (yeah, ofcourse it is insured!!!) Martin could make me a new perfect guitar. He already knows the specs, they would be exactly the same. And it would be a succes as well, I am very confident about that. I already trusted him to build me a guitar and I will trust him again.

To finish: get your hands on a Lakewood. It's the best I could find. I am demanding, professional and experienced. Take my word for it, and if not: believe your own ears and hands!

This 14-fret Jumbo-Style-Guitar was made of solid wood in Germany, 2003. A spruce top with Rosewood back and sides, the neck is made of mahogany. Golden Schaller tuners and satin finish. With the bindings and the soundhole rosette it is a very beautiful guitar. Hiscox case was included. A Pickguard can be ordered, if you want it. The guitar was delievered with brand-new Elixir nanoweb strings.

The sound is powerful and open combined with a friendly kind of clarity. It is great for fingerpicking as well as for flatpicking or strumming. I use it only for singing songs, so I don`t play any lead.

The neck is a bit more larger than my other guitars, but it is easy to play with. The action was well set up. It is perfectly built.

This guitar looks like a lifetime companion, I have no doubt about this. I use it everywhere I play and sing with people. (Of course, at a campfire in winter i use my travel-guitar.)

I have a phantastic customer support in my guitar shop. I also had 4 email contacts before I bought this guitar with Martin Seeliger from Lakewood, who answers friendly and fast.

5 years ago I bought a Martin D-35, which is a wonderful guitar, but I was missing something. So I bought a Larrivee OM-1 for the openness I was looking for. After 2 years I started to look for a guitar that can combine the powerful sound of the Martin with the clear, open sound of the Larrivee. I was so lucky, when I played my fist chords on the Lakewood, that I immediately knew, I finally found it. When I was singing with a group of friends later, I felt so much supported by this guitar in a way I never felt before, that I was close to tears.
Even when picked with the fingers, it is filling the room ! Since the 3 weeks that I own this wonderful instrument, I haven`t played on my other guitars, but spent intimate hours listening to the amazing sound of this guitar.
If it was stolen or lost, I would buy the same model.