$500 is £250, Peter. Mind you, instruments tend to be priced so that a $500 instrument costs £500 over here, because the various companies know we'll pay it. :-(

The problem is that there an awful lot of competent guitar makers producing nice instruments at that price. As well as the various Godin brands, there are low-end Martins and Taylors, Cort, Larrivee, Huss and Dalton, Rainsong (if you like the carbon-fibre look), Faith, Yamaha, and a whole bunch of others. Which one is best will come down to what you like and random chance on a particular instrument. So your best bit is almost certainly to hie yourself down to Denmark Street in London and do some serious A-B comparisons.

I'd be very surprised if you could find a second-hand Lowden under £1k, but if you can then great. In general, second-hand will be more cost-effective than new though, without necessarily being poorer quality. And the instrument will already be played-in too.

Graham.