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GOWEN SC

Our single-cutaway guitar.

Five years ago we began a project to update the design of classic single cutaway guitars, in part driven by my daughter Lucy Gowen's requirements for a  more playable, less cumbersome performance and recording guitar.

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From a simple flat-topped prototype in 2018 our SC design has now  evolved to become the SC(iii), with options for both front and rear contours on a thinline body.

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Our SC guitars are available in  a choice of different solid woods, with or without tops, and with the option to specify humbucker or P90 pickups. All have a wraparound bridge, 628mm scale and  an angled headstock for better playability, Grover or Gotoh tuning machines and either Irongear or House of Tone pickups.

 

Check the Shop page regularly for any used / or ex-demo instruments we have for sale, normally from around £800.
 

Prices start at around £1100 (-10% with student discount) for a new SC(ii) shape guitar  in a solid Tulip Wood / Lime Wood / Alder / Obeche  body in our 'standard' body style, which has no front or rear contours or added top, with a single Irongear Dirty Torque or Tesla Shark pick-up.

 

Unique, figured tone wood bodies or tops or extra veneers add between £150 and £600 to the basic cost of the instrument - visit the Shop page for more information on the body wood and top combinations we currently have available, or email us for details of the look / wood you'd like for your guitar. We can source completely individual top and body woods especially for your guitar.

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Sample video of the Gowen SCi in London Plane, single Irongear Dirty Torque pickup, Blackstar ID Core 100 amp. Performed by Lucy Gowen

SC(iii) Specification

Single cutaway body with either single or twin pickups, finished in a hand rubbed oil finish.

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  • Gotoh 510UB Wraparound Bridge

  • Enamelled pickup selector surround washer

  • front/ rear contours (SCii has rear contour only)

  • Schaller straplock buttons

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Electrics

  • All CTS switches and pots

  • Irongear Dirty Torque Humbucker in Bridge position and optional Irongear Blues Engine in Neck Position or Irongear Tesla Sharks set

  • Optional House of Tone Humbuckers / P90s

  • Separate volume and Tone controls for each pickup

  • Optional coil tapping (not thinline bodies)

  • Optional bridge pickup surround on-board tuner

  • Optional headstock veneer

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Neck

  • Bolt-on Maple/Mahogany neck, Rosewood /Ebony fretboard, dotted or trapezoid fret markers

  • 628mm scale length

  • Medium-jumbo sized frets

  • Chrome Gotoh machine heads

  • ​Silver 1914 threepence inlaid in truss rod cover

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For more information about hardware / pickups options  -  please email us here . To order visit the shop.

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Model History

We first built our SC design in 2018, using offcuts of London Plane trees that had been felled during the clearing of St James Gardens London, in preparation for the expansion of London Euston Station. St James Gardens had originally been planned and planted in the late 1780s, and our supplier has a large stock of 200 year old London Plane timber.

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Our original SC(i) in 2018 had a 35mm, thin, 2-piece body which tapered towards the neck pocket, and a set neck. We had been experimenting with alternatives to the standard separate bridge and tailpiece configuration and opted for the Gotoh 510UB Wraparound bridge, to improve playability and clean up the aesthetics of the guitar top. So far we've been very pleased with the results and plan to include these bridges on future builds.

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In 2020 we updated the body shape of our SC design, to include a more pronounced curve on the lower horn and decrease the waist of the guitar body. We also added a deeper round-over to the body edges. For increased flexibility and to aid future instrument set-ups, the SC(ii) now has a bolt-on neck and  a choice or either Grover or Gotoh machine heads. 

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In 2023 we completed our first SC(iii), which now features both front and rear body cuts on a thinline body.

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