Hmmm ~ I didn't realize Lowdens might be so rare in the US. I've never seen one before, but then again I don't go guitar shopping like some of you GAS victims. I only ventured into some stores over the past month because that's the only way I could get my hands on a guitar.

I should mention that the Lowden I played last weekend had a pricetag of $1700. It was a single-cutaway model with a roundish body ~ like a jumbo, but not as large. The top and the rest of the wood were only slightly different in color ~ back and sides lighter than rosewood or mahogany, top darker than spruce, both sort of caramel-colored, in two slightly different shades. Sorry I can't use more precise terms; when you're not a shopoholic collector, there's little need for an extensive guitar vocabulary.