My New Lakewood M32 Custom w/ Pics!!!

banpreso · #1 09-05-2007, 02:06 AM

I took delivery of a used Lakewood M32 Custom today. It’s a really unique looking instrument, so I thought I’ll share some pics.

European spruce over EIR, ebony bank fretbord and bridge. Rosewood bindings, back strip, and peg head overlay.

The uber cool “sleeping moon” headstock deco, with “Lakewood” in pearl. I personally think this is the coolest headstock ever!!

The rosette is abalone/ EIR/ abalone; the European top is very silky. Such an eye candy!

A round heel. Yum! I’ve always wanted one of those!

Very even EIR with center strip.

Although this guitar is used, I don’t think it was played much. The sound hole still smelled more like glue than rosewood at the moment. The construction is flawless all around, with the exception of a bit of glue leftover on the back of the moon on the headstock. I personally think it’s a great looker with sexy curves. It’s got a flat “D” neck. It’s the first time I’ve played one of these necks. I’m adjusting okay I think.

As for sound, the highs are pretty bell like, and the lows are really solid. It’s plenty loud, as loud as my Webber. I think it’ll make a good recording instrument because it's got very strong fundamentals. Certain area of the mid range is really lacking at the moment, sounded a bit muffed; I have to dig harder to get the sound I wanted in those spots. But I think this guitar’s still got a lot more opening up to do. It still sounds like a new guitar, a bit tight. And I think the tone’s got great potentials. The string tension is higher than my Webber, so it’s not as “butter”, but I think that’ll allow it to be better adapted to alternate tunings and flat picking. I’ll probably get into alternate tunings someday eventually.

My favorite is still the Webber. Playing both side by side the Webber sounded more open, more airy, more played in. And the action on the Webber is absolutely butter, and I’m more used to the neck. But I think I’ll have a lot of fun experimenting with different strings and tunings to see where this guitar finds its place and shines through.

I’ll probably review it a bit more in depth in the coming days.

I’m overall pretty happy with this guitar. Friday I took delivery of a small body Kronbauer, sitka over African hog. I think I got a lemon with a few issues, and back to the store it went today. I didn’t bond with that thing at all. As for this Lakewood, I think if I put in the time with it, I’m gonna get my rewards in the coming days!

Happy pickin guys!

D. Ramsey · #2 09-05-2007, 08:35 AM

Looks great!

Bring it to Russ's House so We can hear it too!

Dennis

koaguitarman · #3 09-05-2007, 09:23 AM

Sweet guitar, Jun! By all means bring it with you on 9/22. I would love to give it a try!
Russ

rlouie · #4 09-05-2007, 09:35 AM

beautiful guitar..I just love that body shape, what kind of volume does it put out..?????

banpreso · #5 09-05-2007, 12:20 PM

yup, will bring it to the gathering if you guys like. i think i'll bring the webber too. i kindda wanna spread the gospel about webbers. they are just pretty darn hard to top at a decent price.

volume... the highs and lows are great, matches the volume of the webber. it's good enough to uhh play in a really big room without plugging it in. i was playing it at work after 5:30 pm, and the people on the floor who were still there were able to hear it pretty clearly. i was afried that i was gonna get in trouble for that, haha

the mids... man i have to take a closer look. seems like the G and D strings needs a bit of extra effort to get some decent sounds out of those 2 strings. they don't ring out like the other 4, sounded kindda tight. i'll try different strings to see if that'll fix the problem. i'll even maybe try different bridge pins just for those 2 strings if that's what it takes. it's only my day 1 with the guitar, so i'll see what happens. the B string is the money string IMO, the back vibrates the most playing a open B, and the tonal chararacteristic of the B string gives this guitar a distinctive tone.

the B string is a funny thing. it stood out on the Kronbauer too. it was the loudest string on that guitar, and that string had a resonator esque tone that defined the whole guitar. it sounded pretty good when my coworker played some rag time blue on it, but i don't play that normally

the lakewood, i have to give it a bit more time to better evaluate it. my webber, man, pick 2 notes and the guitar bursts into a world of overtone heaven! i think my webber spoiled me, haha

mckejoel · #6 09-05-2007, 12:31 PM

Beautiful guitar Banpreso. It looks a little bit like an OM body style.
I bet it sounds great. Congratulations.

rmyAddison · #7 09-05-2007, 01:05 PM

Very nice guitar, great looking tonewoods and I dig slotheads, enjoy!!!

zplay · #8 09-05-2007, 06:41 PM

Congratulations banpreso!
That is a particularly nice-looking guitar, even by Lakewood standards.
And the sleeping moon on the headstock is really clever and a real custom-made touch. I never seen ornamentation like that on a Lakewood before, which besides the rosettes are usually pretty unadorned. I've had an M-32 and presently have an M-54cut, which is the standard by which I judge other guitars and always draws comments from better players than me and guitar techs. I was interested in what you said about the mid-range, as I believe Lakewoods usually have strong mid-ranges owing to the way their tops are radiused. Certainly mine has the strongest mids of anything I've played, as well as the highs and bass you described. If you haven't done so already, you should probably give it a string change and then just give it some time. By the way, the volume on mine is huge.

One other thing; you must have either the new standard neck with a 46 mm nut or else maybe even a wider custom nut. My 3 year-old model has a slightly chunky C-shaped contour and a 44 mm nut; I like the neck a lot.

soliloquise · #9 09-05-2007, 07:09 PM

fantastic loooking guitar !

Sammy_L_D · #10 09-05-2007, 08:30 PM

Looks beautiful! Congrats.

GStormcrow · #11 09-06-2007, 08:18 AM

Beautiful. Did I see that guitar on Shoreline a while ago?? I'm thinking of picking up an M32-CP in a few weeks (local shop has one). It would cost $3500 (with snowflake inlays on fretboard). Just wondering if you think it's worth the price?

Jarvis · #12 09-06-2007, 08:41 AM

looks great..

woodruff · #13 09-06-2007, 09:14 AM

holy crap that is hot!

banpreso · #14 09-06-2007, 10:01 AM

Thanks guys for all the oooos and ahhhhhhs

Quote:

Originally Posted by zplay

Congratulations banpreso!
That is a particularly nice-looking guitar, even by Lakewood standards.
And the sleeping moon on the headstock is really clever and a real custom-made touch. I never seen ornamentation like that on a Lakewood before, which besides the rosettes are usually pretty unadorned. I've had an M-32 and presently have an M-54cut, which is the standard by which I judge other guitars and always draws comments from better players than me and guitar techs. I was interested in what you said about the mid-range, as I believe Lakewoods usually have strong mid-ranges owing to the way their tops are radiused. Certainly mine has the strongest mids of anything I've played, as well as the highs and bass you described. If you haven't done so already, you should probably give it a string change and then just give it some time. By the way, the volume on mine is huge.

One other thing; you must have either the new standard neck with a 46 mm nut or else maybe even a wider custom nut. My 3 year-old model has a slightly chunky C-shaped contour and a 44 mm nut; I like the neck a lot.

the nut is 44mm. by flat "D" neck i mean the back of the neck is flat and parallel to the fretboard. maybe it is a custom neck.

as for the strings, my first suspicion is maybe the ball end of the string isn't seated properly for certain strings because the deadness only occurs on the D and G string. i changed the strings to EJ16s yesterday and stuck my hand into the sound hole to make sure all the strings are properly seated. i'll see if that helps.

banpreso · #15 09-10-2007, 05:18 PM

just a quick update after a whole weekend of play with my new lakewood

i'm happy to report that the issues with the D and G strings have been solved after the ball end of the string is properly seated. after hearing some of the horr stories of some guitars (not lakewoods) having uneven saddle bottoms and saddle slots, i was kind of worried of having to deal with that. phew

i'm one happy dude after playing it for a whole weekend. the M32's got a very direct and punchy ring, strong fundamentals with just the right amount of overtone. this thing is LOUD! dare i say, louder than my webber

. i seriously doubted my ear for a moment after switching back to the webber from the lakewood. it's such a distinctive nice and punchy ring, making it very hard for me to put this guitar down. one thing the webber still does better than the lakewood, is that it produces a more complex overtone. but i guess the lakewood's not build for that. ahhh i'm so happy

i would add lakewood to my "big big bang for the buck" category of guitars, and i would recommend them for consideration to anyone who's in the market. i can't believe there aren't more of these out there. i mean they are VERY reasonably priced, sounds fantastic, and looks great (especially with "sleeping moon" headstock and "magic symbol" inlays)
well folks, pick one up and try one out if you get a chance

G'day