I have a more typical big-bodied Lowden -- a 1998 O-32C made in Northern Ireland, spruce and rosewood -- and it is an amazing guitar. Big, rich, warm sound, with a personality all its own. I use it for everything -- flatpicking, fingerpicking, standard and alternate tunings, you name it. As someone mentioned, the flattish fingerboard feels a little weird to people who are accustomed to the tighter fingerboard radius on Martins and Gibsons. But as someone who came from the classical guitar world, I like it just fine (my other principal steel-string is a Larrivee, which also has a flatter-than-typical fingerboard). I have it strung with phosphor bronze mediums.

I highly recommend the Fishman Rare Earth Blend pickup; I just finished raving about it in Jed Marum's thread about his Martin Backpacker, so I won't repeat all that here. I have this pickup installed in both my Lowden and my Larrivee (OM body style), and it beats everything else I've ever used. The acoustic sound is still best, but if you need an on-board pickup, that's what I'd recommend.