Nearly NGD. Parlour & Lowden discussion

Tannin

^ Precisely. Perfectly decent for what they are, but priced as if they were something very special. Possibly different in the UK but over here they were trying to sell them for more than good quality all-solid guitars from Maton, MIJ Takamine, Cole Clark, and similar. They are probably worth $1000 (AUD) but they tried them on at $2300. This was back when the notoriously overpriced 2-Series Taylors - a better guitar than the Sheerans for sure.- were going for $1700. Crazy stuff!

guitarjack66

Tannin said:

^ Precisely. Perfectly decent for what they are, but priced as if they were something very special. Possibly different in the UK but over here they were trying to sell them for more than good quality all-solid guitars from Maton, MIJ Takamine, Cole Clark, and similar. They are probably worth $1000 (AUD) but they tried them on at $2300. This was back when the notoriously overpriced 2-Series Taylors - a better guitar than the Sheerans for sure.- were going for $1700. Crazy stuff!

Maybe they don't think the 'Sheeran' craze will last too much longer therefore they are trying to cash in?

Kilgore

guitarjack66 said:

Tannin said:

^ Precisely. Perfectly decent for what they are, but priced as if they were something very special. Possibly different in the UK but over here they were trying to sell them for more than good quality all-solid guitars from Maton, MIJ Takamine, Cole Clark, and similar. They are probably worth $1000 (AUD) but they tried them on at $2300. This was back when the notoriously overpriced 2-Series Taylors - a better guitar than the Sheerans for sure.- were going for $1700. Crazy stuff!

Maybe they don't think the 'Sheeran' craze will last too much longer therefore they are trying to cash in?

Craze: Something popular but short-lived.

After 12 years I think we can be certain that Sheeran is more than a craze.

guitarjack66

Kilgore said:

guitarjack66 said:

Tannin said:

^ Precisely. Perfectly decent for what they are, but priced as if they were something very special. Possibly different in the UK but over here they were trying to sell them for more than good quality all-solid guitars from Maton, MIJ Takamine, Cole Clark, and similar. They are probably worth $1000 (AUD) but they tried them on at $2300. This was back when the notoriously overpriced 2-Series Taylors - a better guitar than the Sheerans for sure.- were going for $1700. Crazy stuff!

Maybe they don't think the 'Sheeran' craze will last too much longer therefore they are trying to cash in?

Craze: Something popular but short-lived.

After 12 years I think we can be certain that Sheeran is more than a craze.

It has to end sometime. It also might be 12 years but there are still millions of us who've never heard a single song made by Mr Sheeran. Not every act will be like The Beatles or The Stones either.

Tannin

^ I heard some of one once.

(I can't really remember what it sounded like though. I was mostly interesting in finding out it it was a rip off of .. er ... was it a Marvin Gaye song? Ans: no it wasn't and the turkey bringing the lawsuit should have been strung up.)

Back to your earlier point, Jack - I think someone just misjudged the market. I doubt that it had much to do with Ed Sheeran and his fame. The marketing push here was heavy on the "by Lowden" bit. The guitars were presented as an affordable way to buy something made by Lowden. ("Affordable" being a relative term.)  The trouble was this: very few people here know anything much about Lowden - the company is a long, long way from being a household name. Those that do recognise the name expect a beautifully made all-solid guitar, responsive and  rich in harmonics. What they saw in the shop windows was an undersized short-scale toy with a plywood back and an eye-watering price tag. 

Result: nothing. Nobody bought them. Buyers very sensibly bought other things instead. One shop not too far from here got in about 6 of them just before the height of the pandemic stock shortage. This was a time when you couldn't buy a Cole Clark, Matons were on 9-month backorder, and you couldn't even get an estimated ship date for a Martin or a Yamaha. But the Sheerans just sat there, unloved. Eventually most of them were specialed out for well below the initial asking price and, last time I looked, three years later, the last one was still there, still unsold. I hope somebody has thought to put new strings on it!

Sorry @WafflesOnHorseback - I think this was supposed to be your new guitar thread. 

guitarjack66

For any Sheeran fans out there I am not knocking him,it's just that when guitars are being sold with his name on them he is bound to slip into the conversation somehow. The guitars look nice but much more educated people than me on guitars @Tannin for example can tell you more about why they appear to be priced way above their true market value versus similar models by other manufacturers.

WafflesOnHorseback

Tannin said:

Sorry @WafflesOnHorseback - I think this was supposed to be your new guitar thread. 

No problem mate, it's an interesting discussion.

I must say, I have never knowingly listened to any Sheeran. So that's 2 of us GuitarJack!

malcolmkindness

guitarjack66 said:

For any Sheeran fans out there I am not knocking him,it's just that when guitars are being sold with his name on them he is bound to slip into the conversation somehow. The guitars look nice but much more educated people than me on guitars @Tannin for example can tell you more about why they appear to be priced way above their true market value versus similar models by other manufacturers.

They are priced way above their market value because they are manufactured in Northern Ireland. A very bad business decision in my view, but there you are.

Tannin

What makes Northern Island so expensive? 

guitarjack66

Tannin said:

What makes Northern Island so expensive? 

An interesting question. I do know that Northern Ireland is often excluded from certain free delivery tariffs but I do not know why other than a hangover from the 'Great Britain v United Kingdom' thing? That's purely a guess though. Probably wrong.

Soupman

I know Lowdens were produced in Japan for a couple of years as well as NI, but George decided to let the Japanese production go.
I don't know the reasons.

drofluf

Tannin said:

What makes Northern Island so expensive? 

I don't think it's particularly expensive; but for a Sheeran model that is competing with Far East mass manufactured instruments the labour element will be relatively higher.

guitarjack66

drofluf said:

Tannin said:

What makes Northern Island so expensive? 

I don't think it's particularly expensive; but for a Sheeran model that is competing with Far East mass manufactured instruments the labour element will be relatively higher.

It's price seems to be around the Yamaha red label lower to mid end of the market based on my limited knowledge. I think I'd plump for a Yamaha every time. 

malcolmkindness

Tannin said:

What makes Northern Island so expensive? 

It's not expensive compared to the rest of Britain or Europe, but its very expensive compared to SEAsia where most budget guitars are built.