Lakewood M-14CP

All solid cedar/mahagony, satin finish, one piece mahagony neck, ebony fretboard, bone bridge and saddle, Cutaway, Sonic System, Schaller tuners...

"Twangy at the top", that's what I feel too... Lakewood guitars seem to be more on the bright side. The Bass is just okay, overall it has a more woody, warm sound (mahagony) A matter of taste. Intonation was good, but it had a dead-note at the f# (on the a- and d-side), which is rather bad for a fingerstyle guitar. The grand-concert-body is more comfortable and not very big, so this guitar is not very loud, but that's no problem, it has the Sonic system for live gigging. The two-source-pickup maybe not the best, but it works.

The woods are very well selected and the satin finish is good. The neck ist wider than standard and giving you some good space on the lower frets. But that's a matter of taste (and your fingers) too. It had good round frets and nice low action...

Quick answering, but not very useful. "The dead note could be a matter of the strings", they wrote. Standard answer. Yes, it could be, but if you changed strings already and the problem stays the same on two different strings (A and D)?

Lakewood guitars are not bad at all, well crafted and so on, but not better than other in this price range. Always try a guitar before buying. The same model could sound very different...

Mahogany back and sides
Cedar top
B-band A6 pick up
Maple binding
Florentine cutaway (custom shop)

I love the sound for fingerstyle and ligth strumming.
The sound is sweet and bright.

Very good action for my taste. The guitar looks great.

I have this guitar about 3 years now and it looks new, very beautiful and the sound is even better now. I don??t play this guitar in live situations, only at home and litle jams with my friends.

Like others said Martin anwers my questions by personal email too, sometimes just a few hours later.

Before I bought this guitar I was looking for a Taylor, but when I played this Lakewood side by side with Taylors in the same price range... well you know the end.

Hand made In Germany, Mahogany back, sides and neck, ebony fingerboard solid cedar top.. although i think i can see a join through the center. Lake wood Tuners and wide fretboard.

Lovely rich bass but a little twangy at the top. the original factory BBand UST and A3 pre-amp were rubbish, So upgraded to the A3.2 which still has a low output but bearable...

new the set up was appalling, the neck joint is not great the action was about 5mm too high. and the Nut height was 2mm too high.. I think it was a friday guitar..but most of this has been corrected.
the Soft satin laqueur has marked up quite badly in two years and a scratch plate is highly reccomended.

no NO and NO

yes, but not all that helpful sent an undersized repalcement saddle, at cost.

playing for 27 years I buy lots of different guitars and even with all its faults, it does a job.
I'd rather play my Takamine 98 ltd edition

It was handmade in Germany 2004 with a simple and beautiful Headstock inlaid with ?Lakewood? abalone logo. The machine heads mounted are Schaller brand in chrome; ?Lakewood? was engraved on the back. Lovely ebony frets board and bridge as well as solid one piece mahogany neck. The solid cedar top also comes with maple binding on solid mahogany back. It comes without pick guard. I reckon the nut and saddles are bone. The guitar also comes installed with B-band A6 pickup system. Altogether, this is a lovely Grand Concert body that includes a high quality Hiscox travel hard case with ?Lakewood? crafted on it. Stringed with Elixir?s Nanoweb G12.

I love the tone when I play finger-style pieces. The brightness of the tone just blew me away as this is what I?ve been looking for. The guitar is able to reflect my mood accordingly with the response in her sweet undertones.
I have never like Elixir strings until I have played this guitar but found the strings complement the Lakewood guitar perfectly to produce a beautiful even tone. I have played several other guitars in this price-range and felt that nothing can compares to its sound. I am having a lot of pleasure listening my own playing through my Acoustic Amps with B-band A6 pickup.
The best quote applied to the Lakewood was, ?This guitar is a beast with a feminine quality? by Mark Tucker, UK Acoustic Magazine. I think this statement truly reflects the capability of this masterpiece.

The action is very good at default speaking of outstanding craftsmanship. The beauty of this guitar was also due to the fact that it came without a pick guard. Otherwise, the top may look awful and spoils the total outlook. I am considering putting a transparent one on it. Anyway, when I play finger-style pieces on steel strings, I tend to rest my pinky on it. Sometimes, I do a bit of knocking and tapping on the lower neck fret board and find it very comfortable on the satin finished neck which is very smooth.
There is less sweat stain because of the high-gloss-UV-cured acrylic body. The surface is very easy to clean and polish, unlike nitrocellulose lacquer. Tilt the guitar slightly under the light and you can see 3D wood grained on the mahogany back. I love the cut-away and the active-pickup installed on this baby, gives me best of both world.

Playing the finger-style guitar for my leisure releases my work stress. I also play for my church and I trust and rely on this guitar. Cedar is a good wood as mentioned in the Bible. The wood of the cedar, specially grown under the conditions of its natural habitat, is hard, close grained, and takes a high polish. It is full of resin (Psa 92:14) which preserves it from rot and from worms. (5/5)
I believe on the durability side, I give it full marks as well (another 5/5) especially on the Hiscox hard case. It was so well constructed! The key locks and the hinges are all made of good materials.

Lakewood founder, Martin Seeliger is helpful, he replied me through email for some of the questions I had regarding the piece that I own. He checked for me the year the guitar was made.

This steel-strings solid cedar top guitar, Lakewood M-14CP, which I have been looking and testing for years, came home with me on the 22-July-2005.
If this precious Lakewood was stolen from me, I pray to God to bless it and take care of it.
I have played Martin, Taylor and Gibson before and never really wanted to try a Lakewood until my friend Timothy, recommended me this guitar. When I heard the tonal quality of this piece, in my heart I knew this was the sound I?ve always wanted! Furthermore, I was amazed by the flawless workmanship and beautiful finishing because I am a very particular person when it comes to small or minor ding marks. I have made Lakewood my choice for my finger-style playing. But I can?t compare this Lakewood brightness to my long companion workhorse Gibson J-45 that never fails to give me warm tone on. I love both of them.
My finger-style heroes are Phil Keaggy, Michael Hedges, Chet Atkins, Tommy Emmanuel, Andrew Yorks and Isato Nakagawa! Lately, I found out that Isato Nakagawa, Japan?s famous finger-style guitarist; also own a Lakewood M-14CP!
If you are willing to pay high price for big name guitars, why not consider getting a higher quality build guitar. Consider a Lakewood, my friend as it?s getting bigger now in Germany and of course the Euro-regions.
Lastly, thank you, Timothy Tan, Living Strings Singapore, a great player who constantly inspires me to play music, and for introducing a Lakewood to me! After doing intensive homework and playing, Lakewood M-14CP model is my choice and it is also my first solid cedar top guitar.