Levin W32J

Levin W32J - probably one of the last made - no 566657 is in my posession since 1983. Built in Sweden but bears also the name of Martin on the label, since CF Martin bought the H.C.Levin factory in the late 70:s (I don't know why, but imagine they were jealous!). No extravagant features, but a good handcrafted instrument

I am only an amateur, but play mostly blues and jazzy stuff. All sounds great on this instrument - I sometimes imagine an electrified feeling in the long and full sound in all registers.

Maybe the frets could have been slightly lower to give a smoother feeling - still once you get used to the high frets, they actually give you a tremedous control over the strings. Your fingers practically never touch the fretboard.

Have played the instrument practically every day in 28 years and it still looks like new. It's got a very hard finish and bruises are practically invisible

Since the manufacturer H.C.Levin is long gone from the market (I understand the name is again appearing but know very little about where and by whom the new Levin instruments are built)I have no experience from customer support. Have never needed them!

I love this instrument. I haven't been able to find a nicer sound in any instrument I've tried in Sweden (Gibsons, Martins included - US, you're in the shade!)

made by martin about 1974 it has a slightly wider neck than i have found than on many other acustic guitars that i have come across.you can see it was well finished but now after years of gigging is just a little worn

i play many diferent types of music but the clean bright sound is most suited to bluegrass and with its strong volume it carries well when playing with others

as i mentioned it was all ready well used when i got it but the original quality still shines out and i have never had any problems with it

well what can i say,i wouldn't be without it.i have 4 guitars but the others may as well be (and are) let hanging around.its had a hard life but the hardware is still in great order.i wouldn't lose it for anything

n/a

if it was a woman i would marry it

Flat-top electro-accoustic with the pick up under the saddles. This is the one negative feature of this instrument. The quality of the electronics at the time of its manufacture was not good by today's standards.

If you ignore the shape of the head, this guitar resembles a Martin dreadnought. This is hardly surprising as it was made to a Martin design during the 4 years or so that they owned the Levin company. Looks is where the resemblance ends. The sound has none of the bass heavy feel of a Martin. It is bright to the point of being cheerfull, even with old strings. With new strings it is almost enough to bring tears to your eyes. In the hands of a good player (not me I hasten to add) it sounds like a happy angel singing.

This guitar is obviously made from machine cut parts, but assembled and finished by a master craftsman. The decoration round the sound hole is Marquetry NOT a transfer and the join in the two piece back needs a watchmakers eyeglass to be seen. It lacks the flowery decoration of its more expensive Martin cousins, but the inlay around the top is simple, tastefull and well applied. The action is as good as any high priced electric guitar and considerably better than almost any acoustic I have ever played. The top is two piece, bookmatched spruce. The top on the one that I own has the tightest grain of any piece of spruce I have ever seen.

My Levin is almost 30 years old, it has been badly abused and neglected by previous owners (such as having the neck shaved down to the proportions of a telecaster neck)It has more chips, dents, cracks and scratches than I could count in a week and yet it still plays well. Need I say more.

Non-existent. The company ceased trading circa 1976, when the parent company C F Martin closed them down.

If angels stop playing harps in favour of more modern instruments, they would play Levin Guitars. I have been playing for 30 years and have owned many guitars in that time including one excellent Martin, two beautifull Guilds and a Gibson Humming Bird. This Levin Beats the pants off all of them.