Lakewood M-1 Grand Auditorium

Made 2004 in Germany. Solid top (Sitka) solid back & sides (Mahogany).
No electronics (I fitted it with a schertler bluestick).
Comes with Hiscox case. Since it is a simple acoustic western features is a 5.

I play fingerstyle. Neck is 46 mm what perfectly fits my needs. I use this guitar with a Schertler Bluestick PU on an AER Alpha Amp. Just perfect!
The sound is perfectly balanced, lots of bass (you cannot imagine this - I mean it's not a jumbo) and lots of overtones. Sustain is great.

Set-up was perfect, perfect work, perfect finish!!!!!!

Have this guitar since a couple of month - no experience.
But it looks as if it would last for very long time.

That's perfect as well. If you have any questions just call Lakewood and talk to Martin Seeliger. You will check out that he loves his work.

This is real good stuff!

Made in Germany under the direction of Martin Seeliger. 20 frets, with the neck meeting the body at the 14th. This is around the same size as a Martin 000 body, but deeper, and with a slight arch to the back. All solid wood except the binding which is a dark tortoiseshell plastic. Solid Sitka Spruce top, mahogany back and sides, mahogany neck, ebony fingerboard and saddle--a very classy looking guitar. No pick-guard, which I consider a plus in a guitar of this type, as most will be using it with their fingers. Includes an excellent fur-lined gig-bag by Rock-Bag. Took it out in -20 weather yesterday, threw it in a cold car and it was still warm when I got back to the house. Ebony neck with no markings except on the edge of the fretboard. If you want a second peg to hang your strap on, you'll have to drill it yourself.

I thought this was the best sounding guitar in the shop, which otherwise carries Guilds and Tacomas. Amazingly full for such a small body size, this is a guitar you can pick or strum and still get excellent results. For recording I would suggest dynamic or ribbon mics over condensers, or else back off the mic.

The build and finish quality are both first-rate. Finish is satin on the spruce top, otherwise flat finish on the book-matched back, as well as on the sides and neck. Intonation is dead on, so I don't think I'll change the setup at all. They suggest light gauge strings (.012 to .053) and ship it with Elixir Nanowebs (I think).

Everything about this guitar is solid and well-built. I don't know how it will respond to warm and cold weather, but I expect they know the problems, as they're located in northern Europe. They do say a lot about maintaining it with proper humidity on the web-site, so this may be a factor. Otherwise I can't say much about reliability as I just bought it.

Good, informative web-site, and they seem to have dealers throughout the US now.

I've been playing for over thirty years. I was looking for a guitar in the $1000 range, and bought this instead of Taylors or Martins as it sounded so good. Maybe I'll regret it but I doubt it. This is a beautiful guitar with a rich, varied and addictive sound.

Sapele/Englemann auditorium size (similar to the Taylor -14 series: Lakewood reverses the common trend, calling their larger instrument a Grand Concert and the smaller an Auditorium: this is their Grand Concert model) instrument with a satin finish made in Germany in 2000. No electronics as of yet. Rosewood bridge and fingerboard on a very comfortable mahogany neck. No pickguard, wide alternating wood rosette, and Schaller tuners. Came with a *stout* gig bag (it may be as heavy as the instrument itself - serious padding/protection relatively speaking).

Probably not the most versatile of instruments: the smaller body size (relative to a dreadnaught) and softer top (relative to Sitka spruce) make for a little less volume and headroom. It is possible to overdrive the instrument, and a bit of care is needed with the right hand. Nothing unreasonable, mind you, it's just that you can't flail sloppily and expect to achieve a fine sound. Sapele is probably familiar to most through its use in the Taylor 300 series. It is a sonic - but not a biological - relative of tropical American Mahogany. Sapele tends to be a bit crisper and mahogany a bit warmer in comparison with each other. In any case, the M1 offers a fine, clean sound with a pleasing edge to it. The clarity and separation are typical of mahogany guitars, which is to say, very good. Englemann spruce has a somewhat broader sound than the more common Sitka which, by comparison, is somewhat more punchy. In combination with the sapele, it offers what I think would be a fine recording sound. Not rich in harmonics or bass as rosewood tends to be, but again a very clean sound with moderate depth.

The M1 (and its stablemate, the D1) are intended to be Lakewood's entry level guitars, and as such, incorporate wood that has not been selected for use in their higher models. All the sets used by the factory are of fine sonic quality and structural integrity: the distinction comes in the aesthetic properties of the wood. As such, the top on my instrument has a pronounced wiggle in the grain which occurs on either side (finely matched, by the way) between the soundhole and bridge. The match of the back set is slightly off, with mirrored marks in the grain separated by perhaps .75 inch vertically (this occurs maybe 1.5 inches in from the sides, toward the neck joint).

That said, the interior construction is brilliant: nothing is "off" and there are no errant drops of glue, splinters of wood, anything. Likewise the trim, rosette and purfling are all well applied. The tuning machines, saddle, bridge pins are all well matched and appropriately fitted.

As above, the guitar is finely built. I am confident that it will withstand live performance (I'll be ordering a pickup system later this afternoon) and continued use. I'm sure some will be skeptical/cautious with regard to the satin finish, but I'm not overly concerned. It will show wear eventually, as a gloss finish would: the operative thing here is to use the instrument, rather than abuse it.

Received an email from Martin Seeliger within ten minutes of registering the instrument online (and this from Germany). They supply a ten year warranty with the guitar, which would, I presume necessitate finding an authorized Lakewood repair center. While he's on the other side of the country, I wouldn't hesitate to send my M1 to Frank Ford at Gryphon. In the interim, I'll simply find someone locally to work with on regular maintenance.

I've been playing for 13 years and have owned Alvarez, Takamine, Simon & Patrick, Taylor, Larrivee and Tacoma acoustics prior to the Lakewood. I've worked through a fair bit of electric gear as well. If the situation presented itself, I wouldn't hesitate to replace it, as I'm firmly convinced that it's the best value for dollar instrument in the sub $1000 range.

Made in Germany 1999. Grand Auditorium acoustic guitar. No cutaway. Built in pick-up acessed through the rear strap button. No onboard electronics to spoil the acoustic performance. Solid wood throughout. Mahogany back and sides (beautiful striping) and spruce top. Mahogany neck with rosewood fingerboard. Position dots on the side of the neck only. Lakewood tuners. Beautiful matt finish all over with subtly gorgeous wood binding. Stunning in its beautiful simplicity. Comes with a really nice hardcase. It's got everything you could possibly want in an acoustic guitar so...

I spent a great deal of time making up my mind between this Lakewood and the entry level Taylor 300 series. In the end I just fell in love with the wonderful acoustic tone of this guitar. (Even I sound almost good!) And the great thing is that it'll keep getting better and better with use! (Hope my playing does too!) Plugged in, you need to use the amp controls or an outboard equaliser to adjust the levels. But it sounds very nice even through a really cheap acoustic amp! Although its a grand auditorium size you get real dreadnought volume with all the subtlety of a smaller guitar.

This guitar is very simple in styling - no Taylor super gloss finishes or extravagent use of seashells! Everything is understated - which I love! The back and sides have this lovely striping through the mahogany. The spruce top is (naturally) marked not 'perfect'. However I love these slight imperfections - it really does feel like a handmade guitar. The Taylor I was looking at felt a bit 'artificial' by comparison - too perfect! The action on this Lakewood is incredible: the perfect height for volume AND easy playing. The neck was a little bumpy at the edges in some parts but again this just adds to Lakewood's handmade feel. Because there are the described slight imperfections in the finish (which I like actually!) I'll give it a...

I live in Singapore (98% humidity and 33 celsius year round) and this guitar has had absolutely no problems with the climate. (I've seen real horror stories with Lowden and Parker guitars...) Naturally, because it's an acoustic you have to treat it a bit more carefully. The tuning seems to last and last. Only 1 strap button on the tail of the guitar (apparently Lakewood refuse to put on 2 strap buttons - like Larrive). But I'm never going to play live any way...

Dunno about this one... I registered myself as an owner at their website but I got an auto email in German - which I can't read! However, the place where I bought the Lakewood from in Singapore (Luther Music at IMM Building) is the business! Very helpful, very reliable, no BS... if only the other guitar shops in Singapore would follow Luther's example.

I've been trying to play for a couple of years and I've got an embarassing amount of guitars for someone with my lack of ability: A Mexican Strat; a Seagull S6+ dreadnought and, my pride and joy apart from the Lakewood, a beautiful 1973 Chet Atkins Tennessean. Since I bought my Lakewood I've being practising a lot more. I really would highly recommend this guitar. Comapred to Martin, Taylor, Ovation etc, you get far more value for your money with Lakewood. If you get a chance, do audition one - but come prepared with your credit card - you're gonna end up taking it home with you!