Levin LT-18

It's a guitar

As far as I can tell after a very short time of using it, it sounds great.

There Was a crack in the lid but it does not affect the sound or the look (considering it was made in 1966)

Haven't had the guitar for too long but I wouldn't like to part with it. Have been playing for 15 years now and it's the best acoustic Iv'e had so far.

Spruce top, tiger stripe maple back and sides, mahogany neck with ebony fretboard & rosewood bridge. Cost me $A37 through the trading post - it had body damage, probably due to the flimsy case that came with it. I was a poor student at the time, and someone had told me they were a decent guitar - little did I know! Originally a flattop classical fretboard and high action.

Tuners could be a little easier to wire up, and the bridge pins sometimes slip a bit, but overall, a little beauty

After I had this to the luthiers for repair (and even before) it had one really noticable property. It sounded the way you played it - if you played it harsh, it sounded harsh, if you played it sensitively, it sounded that way. (Not like a lot of other guitars that just had one tone, no matter which way you played it.) A REAL musical instrument. I've tried a few different strings on it over the years, my favourites were the Martin silk & steels, but the coated elixir Light gauge just suit it perfectly.

As it need repair on the top (it had a split and the side was separated) I took it to the best luthier I had heard of at the time, who redirected me to the Maton factory. Normally they wouldn't touch other guitars, but they made an exception in my case. repairs were done, fretboard & neck changed from classical flat top to rounded shape, and action lowered at the bridge to suit - it lost a small amount of volume due to the reduced angle of the strings over the saddle/bridge, but still had its great tone - in some ways it was even more responsive. It is still a bit high for my lazy fingers, but I don't want to risk affecting the tone by lowering it too much.

Yes, durable, reliable, dependable, and I have resisted many offers to buy it - it's my baby, and although I own a few treasured instruments _ maton semi-acoustic jazz style bass, fender rhodes stage piano, customised vox clubman electric guitar, this is the king.

Remember of course that this is an acoustic instrument, it does have to be cared for ;-)

Well, the story is that they were bought out and shut down many years ago - what a pity. For repairs, see my story above - find a luthier that loves quality instruments and keep it going. it just loves being played.

BTW next project is to fit a K&K pure western pickup - whcih I should be able to do without compromising the sound and the construction.

Love music & musical instruments - but this one is irreplaceable. I'd have to search the earth high and low to find another if it went astray... and it is also unique. If I could wish for anything, it would be if Mr levin was still around and could make an acoustic bass version to match - now wouldn't that be a drool!

I have my Levin since I was 14 years old and I'm now 48. It was bought in 1970 in Newry, Northern Ireland in a bomb damage sale - you never knew there was an up side to the 'troubles'? It had those wee circular screw up and down individual bridges which eventually stretched and wore away. I had it removed and an ordinary bridge inlaid instead in Chris & Andy's Guitar Workshop in Newcastle upon Tyne.

I do James Taylor and Richard Thompson style stuff for which it is excellent, however, for some of the RT stuff and the traditional diddly diddly Irish music I do in DADGAD it buzzes a bit - possibly because of the new bridge. I have no pick-up in it and it came with none. I have a Guild D-25 which can sound a bit bland with little separation of the string sounds and a Stefan Sobel hand made which has the opposite problem - picks fabously but strums with difficulty. The Levin is a perfect compromise and sounds great

The action is brilliant and can soften you up a bit for when you go back to other guitars. I can't tell one wood from the next but I know the neck is mahogany. The finish on mine is unique as the bomb caused myriad minute cracks in the varnish. Personally, I think it adds character - like showing off a war wound! My lutier thinks the binding between neck and fretboard is a little undernourished. Beautiful inlay on top half of the frets.

Thirty-four years? Bomb-damaged? Enough said.

God bless Mr Levin, whoever he was. My support now comes from a fabulous lutier in my home town of Newry, Mickey Loughran. This very evening I gave it to him as the back is peeling away slightly. He said it was as good a guitar as he had ever laid hands on and raved about it. I was utterly amazed as I bought it quite cheaply (bomb again) and as the company had disappeared, I never had a yard stick to judge it by.

Part of my youth and adult life. Either bury it with me or cremate me and bury me in it - It would be a lot better than the cardboard cofins you get these days. Does anyone know of recent sales so that I can put an insurance value on it?

I bought my Levin LT 18 new in Hong Kong as a wedding present to myself in 1966 - cost the equivalent of #40. The wife has long gone but I still have Aggie (don't ask). She has been rebuilt twice, the first time badly by a Birmingham music shop, the second wonderfully by a guitar maker friend. He also sold me its present hard case.
Standard fare, maple and rosewood, with everything original. Everything.

I only ever use it accoustically for folk-style singing. I'm an ex-teacher and when I used to play it for the kids to sing to, the ones at the front complained about the volume. Its sound is extremely rich and full.

I remember I never had to adjust anything at all when I first used it. The Hong Kong heat caused the neck the warp but that's since been fixed and the action, for an accoustic, is superb - no vibration anywhere and still a marvellous sound for little effort.

It's a Levin LT 18 for goodness sake. It's been played practically daily since 1966 and shows no signs of ever wearing out. All right, it's a bit scruffy now, but so would you be if you'd had hell knocked out of you for nigh on 40 years.

I never had need to get in touch with the factory and now, of course, it's too late. But if any of the Levin factory gents read this glowing report among many they'll know there's an appreciation society out there!

I chose this guitar because a pupil of mine had one, a sunburst, and I loved its sound if not its looks. I would be beside myself if it got lost or stolen - it's irreplaceable, even if my arthritic fingers no longer do it justice. I bought a Takimini cutaway classical in 1990 which is nice but will never replace the Levin in my heart. Too many good memories.

This guitar is my life and soul - yeh how sad! It was made in 1965 and I bought it secondhand in 1970 for 35 English Pounds. It has been abused but because of the quality of materials it just gets better. Solid european spruce top, solid stained tiger stripe maple back and sides, one piece mahogany neck with ebony fretboard, indian rosewood bridge, ebony pins, and bone nut and saddle. Try buying that for 35 quid nowadays!

Last year I gave it a birthday and employed a local luthier to overhaul it, new frets, neck reset and installation of the Fishman matrix pick-up system. I also restringed with Elixier 12 -53 gauge and now it sings. The cost of the overhaul was well worth it.

Swedish craftsman build Saabs and Volvos. Do I need to say anymore? Mind you they also trade Ikea products - never mind. The Martin guitar company new what they where doing when they 'took out' the competition in the 1970's

This guitar will outlive many of today's flimsy lightweights which are made that way to acheive the musical resonance that this one has in abundance. I've treat it to a nice solid case and it has a sturdy guitar stand to proudly display itself (The kids have grown up and left home!).

All I will say is that if a chance came along to buy one then check it's condition and run it past a luthier. The cost of any overhaul will be worth it.

Guitar used as a song writing tool. Also own a Yamaha AES 1500 electric guitar which I had imported from the USA and could not understand why Yamaha don't market it in the UK. If my Levin dissapeared I'd find another so there.

I don't know how old this guitar is - the serial number has either been completely erased by time or was never entered. It is certainly at least thirty years old, but I would guess it is closer to forty. Like all Levins, it was made in Sweden. Apparently, Martin bought this company in the early seventies and promptly closed down the factory, using the wood stores in their own factories.

The guitar itself is modelled on a Martin dreadnaught. The body is mahogany and the solid top is a lighter (though still relatively heavy) timber which I can't identify. It came with the original hard-shell, plush case, which is pretty cheaply made and not worthy of the instrument itself.

This guitar has the original locking tuners in place - nothing fancy or silvery here, but they still do the job after all those years. The fancy bits are the pearl inlays on the neck and the groovy rossette. It also has a rather luxurious pick-guard, which is rather thick and shiny. This guitar looks really cool.

No pickup or pre-amp.

In terms of sound, this guitar has the two qualities I prize most highly: tone and volume. It has a huge tone in any neck position. I always feel that you can alter and cut tone, but you can't add it, so starting with heaps of tone is a nice thing. I also feel that a loud guitar is a good guitar- it adds to your dynamic range, and is good for acoustic jamming.

I play an overdriven rock rythm guitar, similar to the Velvet Underground. I'm also a huge Dylan fan and do a lot of covers of him. This guitar suits both.

I use this guitar with a Dimarzio superelemental soundhole pick-up through a LR Baggs para-acoustic pre-amp into a Vox AC-30, and of course, at home, in an acoustic environment. This is a good guitar and so sounds good in either setting.

The action suits me fine. If anything it's a little low, but it's pretty fast playing that way.

The high quality of the wood, I think, is what make this a good guitar.

As I said, at least thirty years old, and hasn't been to the shop once, I think. Solid and heavy.

Well, forget it. The company doesn't exist anymore.

If you see or hear of a Levin becoming available, it's definitely worth checking out. You will probably be playing the bargain of a lifetime. I rate this guitar somwhere in between a Martin and a Taylor.

I was looking for a second guitar to backup my top of the range Maton. Now this is my first guitar, and legendary amongst my friends.

If it was lost or stolen I would be a broken man!

at least 30 years old, tigerstripe back, acoustic, jumbo style, possible mahogany body and lighter top.....I'm not a wood expert!

this guitar has the most complete tonal range I have ever heard on any acoustic, it is full and equal throughout. The first time I played it was in open E tuning and it was like an orchestra!

This guitar is beaten half to pieces! It used to be played alot at nightime beach parties in front of roaring fires! the action could be better, but it's never been set up as far as i know. However, it suits me and is not tiring to play. It also still has all it's original hardware etc. plus scratch plate, inlays, bindings et al, so it must have been superb when new.

35 + years of almost total neglegt.... still suberb......you tell me!!

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If I ever lost this guitar, life would never be the same again!