Sheeran By Lowden has unveiled the ultimate acoustic guitar for Ed Sheeran super fans. It’s called the Stadium Edition, and if it looks familiar that is because it is a forensic replica of the pop superstar’s stage guitar from his recent Mathematics Tour.
Having hitherto specialised in mid-priced and affordable acoustics, the Stadium Edition is Sheeran By Lowden’s first all hand-built guitar, sharing all the top-shelf appointments and attention to detail we would see from Lowden’s high-end acoustic guitar lineup.
It accordingly commands a hefty £4,500 price tag. For that, however you get a lot of guitar, albeit in the small format ‘Wee Lowden’, or WL profile, that Sheeran prefers from his acoustics. George Lowden, whose master luthiery is all over this, said he was proud to call Sheeran a friend and hoped this would be another guitar to inspire anyone lucky enough to get ahold of one.
“We hope the new Stadium Edition acoustic guitar from Sheeran by Lowden will inspire more players to share their gifts by taking to the stage and embracing the same spirit of creativity, experimentation, and persistence that Ed has shown in their own musical journeys,” said Lowden.
The Stadium Edition has a solid Sitka spruce top, Sitka spruce bracing, with solid Indian rosewood on the back and sides, and a five piece mahogany neck. The neck profile is carved into a GL Standard shape, and joins the body with a dovetail joint. We’ve got a rosewood bridge and an ebony fingerboard.
As with the other Sheeran guitars in the lineup, you’ll find the signature details on the fingerboard, with “Mathematics Tour” maple inlays on the fingerboard. And yet there is still something minimalistic about the build, with Sheeran By Lowden using subtle maple binding for the guitar’s top, and rosewood for the binding on the back. The tuners add a subtle gold accent but with black buttons they don’t pull focus from the guitar.
This is all about the materials, all about the craft, and all about the function. We often talk about the challenges when gigging with an acoustic. Feedback can be an issue in any room, so we can only imagine how difficult that can be when playing a stadium mega-production as Sheeran does.
That’s why George Lowden has made this acoustic slimmer. It’s not quite as thin as a Fender Highway Series acoustic electric guitar but it is thin, and it has a hand-carved soundboard with ‘Stadium Voicing’ to help its performance onstage.
Each guitar comes signed by Sheeran and Lowden, and, says Alastair Simpson, Lowden Guitars’ head of sales and marketing, it is a piece of pop-cultural history.
“This is more than a guitar, it's a direct link to the magic of Ed Sheeran's Mathematics Tour – an exact replica of Ed's personal stage guitar used on all of his stadium size gigs during the Mathematics Tour,” he said. “This guitar offers fans, collectors, and musicians an exciting opportunity to own a piece of musical history.”
The Sheeran By Lowden Stadium Edition is limited to just 150 units worldwide. It’s priced £4,500 and available now. But if it is a little steep for your budget – and it is sure to sell out – you can at least console yourself that Sheeran By Lowden has no shortage of mid-priced acoustics to choose from, with the Tour Edition offering a similar aesthetic for £821 street.
For more details, head over to Sheeran By Lowden.
