Although the Jon Gomm Signature Model uses the same jumbo-size O-style cutaway body as Jon’s original guitar, it has different tonewoods and features an innovative double top that Lowden calls a “hybrid” top. Consisting of two layers of wood (spruce on the outside, cedar on the inside) the top is not only stronger than a standard top, it also combines the tonal characteristics of both types of wood. And, in an effort to avoid using endangered tropical woods, the guitar has American black cherry back and sides and a five-piece maple neck with thin rosewood reinforcement strips.

The Jon Gomm Signature Model is an incredibly powerful guitar. O-size Lowdens always have a big voice with a lot of volume, but this guitar felt like it was turbocharged with a few extra decibels. But it wasn’t just loud, it also had a complex and balanced tonality that sounded great at any volume. The guitar’s neck has the standard half-round Lowden profile, which has a bit more girth than some modern low-profile necks, but it is very comfortable to play. Thanks to its five-piece maple-and-rosewood construction, it is also exceptionally stiff. Overall, the Lowden Jon Gomm Signature Model guitar is a really fine fingerstyle guitar, equally suited to modern percussive techniques or more traditional styles.

Lowden Jon Gomm Signature Model specs
O-size body
Hybrid spruce-and-cedar double top
Dolphin-shaped X-bracing
American black cherry back and sides
Five-piece maple and rosewood neck
Ebony fingerboard
Bocote bridge with split saddles
25.59-inch scale
45-mm. nut width
Gotoh SG 381 tuning machines
Made in Northern Ireland
$5,705 list