SunbaneLakewood M14

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The Lakewood M-14CP (cutaway, pickup) has a solid cedar top and mahogany back and sides. This was my first “real” guitar, bought in December 2002 after much deliberation. Much thanks is due to the generous posters on the Acoustic Guitar forum, which I stumbled upon when I knew next to nothing about acoustic guitars. The advice I got over there was sterling, and still is for that matter. Of course, the downside is the affliction affectionately known as GAS: Guitar Acquisition Syndrome, an affliction for which there is, sadly, no cure.

I’ve got to know my Lakewood pretty well now and it has inspired me more than I thought possible. It found a great partnership with Elixer Nanoweb 12s. I compared those with a set of D’Addario EXP 11 lights and would say that the D’Addarios give the guitar a more “woody” tone, but the brightness of the Elixers seems to suit the Lakewood very well. For altered tunings, I hunted for a set of GHS True Mediums to try out but couldn’t find them. I was then pointed in the direction of John Pearse’s Slack Key strings which did the trick; this package of strings is put together for altered tunings, being a mixture of lights and mediums and they work great. I was also put onto a custom set of Newtones by Rob Jessop, who favours CGDGAD for his Brook Lyn. They use a different core for the wound strings, which results in more tension. Tonally speaking, they’re similar to the Slack Keys, but, for longevity, I’d choose the Newtones every time.

I spent some time working on String Letter Publishing’s Acoustic Blues Guitar Essentials book on the Lakewood and it really suits bluesy chord progressions and boogie woogie bass lines. I recorded a song for our inspired by Freya called the Freya Shuffle; have a listen and see what you think!

Freya Shuffle

I’ve also been taking advantage of Little Brother’s resources — I got his DVD and have to say it’s pretty good! I picked up his interpretation of John Hurt’s Candyman from his site too. Nice work, Doug!

I also have a Mel Bay book of British Fingerstyle Guitar, featuring Bert Jansch, John Renbourn and Davey Graham, and have been working on Bert’s Black Water Side. It’s a tricky one but it’s coming along nicely with hours and hours of practice!

Black Water Side

I’ve also recently got two instructional videos of Tony McManus, a Scots fingerstyle guitarist who plays celtic pipe and fiddle music on guitar. If you haven’t heard this guy, I strongly suggest that you do – unbelievable!

And my most recent discovery is El McMeen; he plays almost exclusively in CGDGAD, a tuning which seems to be what I’ve been looking for without even knowing it! I’ve had the Lakewood in that tuning for a couple of weeks now and really like the way it sounds on the Lakewood.

I’ve posted a review of this guitar over at Harmony Central under the username Cams.

Here is a high-ish res image showing the colour of the mahogany. I sat the guitar down to stop playing for a bit and the sun was coming in the window and it lit up the mahogany making it almost magical.