Subway Guitars Fatdog Lowell

I bought my Fatdog Lowell in December 1998. It is, as described above, a Gibson ES-5 copy/variant. Laminated body, decent hardware. Three P-90's, of course. It seemed promising, and I was excited to get it (finally, a T-Bone style guitar that didn't cost thousands of dollars). I loved the idea, but you will see that this will be a very mixed review.

Playing blues only through a Deluxe Reverb and Sonny Boy and Blue Tube pedals. The sound was fine until the electronics started breaking down 18 months after purchase. Scratchy/intermittent neck pickup, volume that couldn't be turned off. Set on "zero," pickups sounded like they were set on "one" or "two." So I ended up with one silent pickup and two that operated outside the control of the volume knobs. When the guitar was working, initially, I was pleased. I got a sound that was very appropriate for jumping blues. The rating below is strictly for sound when the guitar was working properly.

I've already described the Lowell's main flaws: poor electronics. When I took it to be fixed (I thought it was worth saving), the guy at Matt Umanov's in New York said he was appalled at the bad soldering, mismatched wires, and "cheap, used, dirty parts ... covered with oil and sawdust." A complete overhaul was recommended and accomplished. So I paid $700 to purchase the Lowell and $700 to rebuild it. Gibson P-90's were installed - the guitar was fully Gibsonized.

Sure, it's reliable now. Fatdog shell, Gibson innards. Before repair, the Lowell was outwardly decent, solid. But inside ...
a disappointing can of worms. (Rating for this category an average of before and after.)

I haven't spoken to Fatdog since '98. He was enthusiastic and seemed competent at the time. He either has bad help or poor quality control, or some combination of the two. I wouldn't waste my time telling him about the problems I had with his guitar. Another guy in an earlier review complained that his Lowell "cut out." Very interesting and no fluke.

Since the rebuild, the Lowell is fine. But I'll never deal with Subway again.

2000 made to order from Subway Guitars in Berkeley, CA.; 20 frets; laminated body with orange/honey finish and much too much laquer; 3 inches thick hollow body; 16 inches lower bout ... a full-figured archtop;single rounded Venetian Cutaway; 2 offshore aftermarket P 90 pickups with black dogear covers controlled by one volume and one tone and one rhythm/treble switch; Grover tuners and all hardware with gold finish including art deco tailpiece; faux pearloid plastic inlays; mother of pearl inlay on headstock and Fatdog name. Came with a cheap hardcase manufactured in Canada.

Here's the problem. First of all, I am long overdue for this review. I purchased this guitar almost a year ago. About two months into my ownership and I'm playing this live and my sound completely cuts out. Completely. I bang on the lower end of the guitar and the sound phases back in. It then proceeds to cut out again and comes back after repeated banging. All of the sudden the treble/rhythm switch is crackling.
This wasn't the first of my problems with the sound. When I received it the pickups at first produced too much of a squawking nasal tone. I lowered the pole pieces on the front pickup and back and there was some improvement. I noticed that Fatdog had not put a shim under the back pickup as is customarily done.In the end I had to put a shim under the back pickup and this also slightly improved tone and balance between the two pickups. Also, feedback had been an issue from day one. This thing just fed back horribly. I took the guitar back to Fatdog on several occasions to deal with all of the above problems.
I think it's great that he's offering budget archtops but I have to have something that I can play. He refused to deal with the repairs and kept putting me off. To be fair he was relocating into a new facility. But even after most of that move was completed I could not get the work done. I cannot give this instrument a great rating for sound because it never really produced sound consistently and evenly. Even before the sound staarted to cut out I was constantly adjusting the pickups. I got the best sound out of a solid state Vox practice amp and the worst out of my Fender tube amp through which the guitar fed back constantly. At its best I could coax a kind of round, deep and woody tone from it.

Many flaws. First of all, you should know that Fatdog does not use a traditional router to make even cuts. This I know from someone who worked for him, but you only need remove a pickup to see the haphazard hole cut underneath. I was lucky that mine were not cut too big. There was also a signficant amount of glue slopped onto the finish at the lower end of the guitar which Fatdog did remove for me. One of the lower frets is loose. The back pickup did not have a shim underneath. The internal wiring was extremely sloppy and I later found out that the problem with sound dropping out was that there was not enough solder used and the ground wire was rubbing against another wire.
As far as the finish, the guitar looks great but it is heavily laquered and that no doubt affects sound and deadens tone a bit. It's also a shame that Fatdog cuts such sloppy holes into the instrument. This is basically a Samick body and on the same level as any entry level archtop guitar that you might get. Howver, Fatdog's hasty and sloppy work actually puts it a little lower than these entry level guitars.

I did gig without a backup and was burned when my sound gave out. I couldn't play this with a tube amp. I even had troubles with tone running it through my Roland BluesCube. The body did seem reliable enough and the heavily lacquered finish never got scratched or chipped.

Poor. After a while you get the sense that Fatdog has ripped you off. You were trying to get a nice budget archtop and you wound up with a terrible mess. I started thinking about buying new pickups for the guitar and as the costs mounted, including the costs for some decent internal wiring, I just reasoned that I should sell the instrument, maybe take a loss, and get what I really wanted. That's what I did in the end, offering the instrument for sale thorugh another shop for consignment.

I am an experienced player and I was trying to get a bargain...basically I cheated myself. I'm too experienced to deal with poor tone or put up with endless repairs. I might have been able to deal with this isntrument if I was still 15 years old with money to spare on getting some nice Seymour Duncan or Lindy Fralin P90 pickups.

I've since bought a fantastic Heritage H-550 Custom archtop with a rare 1" thin body which IS a professional gig-worthy instrument that is solidly built and reliable and bears the mark of true craftsmen. I've come to shop at reliable places with solid merchandise like Blue Note Music in Berkeley instead of scouring for bargains. The Fatdog archtops are not reliable nor do they produce reliable tone. This is basically a poorly made entry-level archtop not a diamond in the rough with tons of tone. It might have been better if Fatdog had bothered to care about cutting and internal wiring. As it is he comes close to destroying a perfectly -albeit over-lacquered- decent Samick body that compares at first glance with other Samicks and lower end Washburn and Cort guitars.

I wasted my money and my time when I truly had neither to waste. Fatdog is a nice guy at times -albeit quirky and sometimes rude and sometimes sweet- and can sell you on his apparent interest in tone but he works hastily and sloppily and doesn't provide solid customer service. In the end, in spite of what may have been the best of his intentions, I felt ripped off.

There is a lot of junk in his store, BEWARE. There is a lot of junk on his internet site as well. I met a few of his former employees who think that he's using the palce as a tax write-off. You might find something valuable in his shop if you are there personally. Most of what is valuable are contained in the locked cases throughout the shop, not what he has hanging up, and his tiny amp room has a few gems. For example, he did show me a couple nice Ibanez archtops, of the George Benson variety, which he was selling for a grand each. I don't think I'll ever shop or even visit his store again.

This a new FatDog Lowell, a copy of a 1940's era Gibson ES-5. 17 inches wide at the lower bout, almost 4 inch body thickness. Maple Laminate body made overseas (probably by Samick), set neck with 3 P90 pick ups, tune-o-matic on top a floating rosewood bridge, trapeze tail piece, Grover Imperial tuners, three volume controls and a single master tone control. The neck scale is 25.5 (think Fender), 'medium' profile (not too thin, not too thick) with the same being said for the frets (not tall and thin like vintage, but not quite as wide and fat as modern Gibson style frets).

The hardware is all top quality. I'm not sure what brand of pick ups are in this thing, but they are excellent (and I am very familar with P90's).

This type of guitar is best suited to jazz and blues, and it's features are sufficient for playing those styles at volume (loud gigs).

The sound is outstanding, just an exceptional fat tone with presence.
Many usable tones are available from the three pick ups, and you can dial in any variation you want due to the three independent volume control design. The three volumes was a bit ackward at first, but it didn't take long before I was sweeping in and out any of the controls to alter my tone during solos. Fantastic overall, the main reason I've kept the guitar. Read on...

Pretty poor overall, but all fixable in terms of getting a decent set up. Ok, here's the deal. FatDog (the owner of Subway Guitars) does not make the bodies and necks. I would venture to say these are the same bodies used for most of the lower end jazz boxes available on the market. The finish is not good, the binding is funky, etc. What does happen at Subway is they rout out the pick up cavities and install all the hardware. Well, the neck and middle pick up routing is just plain sloppy, there a gaps visible below each pick up. This upset me at first, but the tone of the guitar and the superior grade hardware won me over. If you order from Subway, and I do recommend them, don't expect a finely finished instrument - but expect a very good sounding, toneful, music tool.

I will avoid certain guitars based on looks, but I have never bought a guitar simply because of its appearance. I always try to purchase tone first.

Haven't had it long enough to realy tell. I never gig without a back-up for everything (really, everything). The hardware is solid, the only real potential for a problem is the body and neck. It's held up
to gigs so far, I think it'll end up being ok.

FatDog is interesting, but no problems whatsoever. A very easy transaction. They give you a two week try out period, and have a very generous return/refund policy. What if I have a problem in the future? I have no idea what they would be willing to do for me, but my approach is that it's my guitar and my problem (I'd fix it myself or have it done locally). I'll buy from Subway again.

I've been playing 27 years, and learned how to play while performing for an audience (I highly recommend this approach). I've been pro and/or semi-pro the entire time, logging in road work from my late teens to mid 20's. I'm in two different bands, and I'm serious about my playing and my gear.

My other main guitars are a LP Standard, Heritage 535, G&L Legacy, G&L ASAT Classic (and a few others). Amps? That's my real addiction.
1950 Fender Deluxe, 62 Bassman, 64 BFP, 74 SFP, 78 SFDR, Billy Zoom 5F6-A copy, 1962 Airline 1X15 combo, Lab Series L4, Mig-60 (modified, actually a cool amp).

If the Lowell were lost or stolen I would buy another. This guitar has a great, great tone. Once I decided I was going to shop for and buy a jazz box, I first started looking at Heritage. They make a great guitar and I am brand loyal once I find something that works for me. I prepared myself to spend a good deal of money for one, but then started to rethink my actual need (do I really need to spend $2000 or more for what will be a 'specialty' guitar for me?), so I started to shop the cheaper stuff. I remembered the Subway web site
and checked them out. I gave FatDog a call and he was helpful, giving me information regarding the different models available. They
have a forgiving return/refund policy, and he assured me they would
stand behind their product, so I gave it a chance. I'm glad I did.
I will buy from them again.

This is a review of a guitar I DO NOT OWN! One of my aquantinces bought this guitar from Fatdog at Subway guitars. This guitar is basically a remake of the classic three pickup Gibson L-5. WOW! I beleive it is a laminated maple top, 22 fret bound neck, bound body, top and back. 3 screaming P-90 pickups, four knobs, Volume, tone, tone, and on the cutaway a pickup selector knob. Trapeze tailpiece, grover tuners, classic gibson scale, classic gibson neck size

Lil' Frank plays the blues and rockabilly, MAN! THIS PLANK JUST SCREAMS!!! Frank also did alittle jazz on it and it was really good at this too. He was using a Fender Blues Deville, no effects. I think this guitar would be good for about any style except metal

Guys, I played it on a break, NOT A FLAW ON THE GUITAR, ANYWHERE! Gorgeous, well done, set neck, perfect finish, frets all done right, nothing loose. I have bought guitars from major, well established, well known companies(we all know who I am talking about) who didn't have a guitar in this good a shape, for thousands more!

No professional ever plays live without a backup! Sh*t happens! But Frank said that this is #1 for him now, and this guy is a fanatic about what he will play, real anal. Everything is top notch, if anything the guitar is overbuilt.

There is no better support than from Fatdog. This guy has been doing this kind of stuff for close to 30 years. Everyone from Carlos Santana to Ry Cooder has been buying guitars from this guy. He has a great website WWW.subwayguitars.com. He will make stuff for you, anything you want, for low bucks. I don't know what the warranty is but, I am sure it's good.