Breedlove

You never know with an acoustic instrument. The best you can do is just pick it up, disregard the name on the headstock and take it for a test drive. That's exactly what I did with the C250 Passport series model made by Breedlove. $499.99 with case is the price of admission for this. There was only one in stock in my local music shop. I would have liked to A/B it with another Breedlove to see if the brand has a consistency in their instruments or if this one magically just sounded as awesome as it did. I am not going to say 'money wasn't an issue' but $500 gets you into the budget Taylor and Martin range. The Breedlove definitely hung with the big boys and this particular model just spoke to me. Not say it's better than the other names I just listed, but whatever you do don't shy away from this guitar just because you are unfamiliar with the Breedlove name. The guitar was very bright in tone yet gave me the low end sustain I look for. It felt like a glove, meaning it feels great sitting in my lap and the neck is fast and slimmer than most acoustics. Improvements, nothing crazy I can think of to improve this guitar. I do wish it came with a hardshell case. It comes with only a gigbag. I do not feel gigbags are adequate when dealing with an acoustic. But hey, I know they have budgets etc. The top of the acoustic is made from a Western Red Cedar. A cedar top is known to give you an instant broken in sound as apposed to spruce which naturally will take a little longer to break in. If you are a soft player I would definitely checkout a guitar with a cedar top. The back and sides are made from a laminated Ovankol. Honestly I do not have a clue what that is or how it affects the guitar. The electronics are a simple 3-band EQ with a built in tuner with LED backing light. I really dig guitars with built in tuners. The neck is a standard mahogany neck with a rosewood fretboard. Don't walk by this guitar. If you see one pick it up and see what you think. Cuts well in a mix and with great playability to boot. This review was originally published on http://www.musicgearreview.com

This has a solid sitka top, solid mahogany back and lam/mahogany sides. Beautiful tortes binding and abalone rosette. I have used many other acoustics as a worship leader, several that were well over 2k$ and often had to have them 'dressed' by a local Luth. Ive been playing for 29 years now and have been making an o.k. living at it for 10 years or so. Ive studied classical here at the local college and I teach group lessons to keep myself fresh. I was desiring to buy another acoustic so I got my $ up and spent about 3 months looking and playing just about everything in the 2K$ range, wasn't even considering anything other than something American made. I have martins,Herks,ovations,dano's and a Takamine or two, I went to a small shop in Ojai Ca. and ask the owner to show me something different. He handed me a Breedlove and I hadn't played one of these before, to me they just seemed like some 'off' brand. I played it simply to be polite and was instantly floored by the tone and playability, I actually asked him if he set up all his guitars this way. He said nope, thats right out of the box! and get this, I just bought this thing a couple months ago and the serial # reveals, as does Breedlove themselves, that this guitar was hanging in his shop for 5 years before it sold! And it plays so much better than ALL the other guitars I own. when I go to write or just jam I always look around at what I have and I always seem to grab the Breedlove. I cant believe its 'Korean', they got a good thing going with this series.I paid $650.00 Including the gig bag, and no, it was not a used instrument, he knows me pretty well and Ive dealt with him for over 15 years, He was stoked that I liked it and he wanted to move it. Everything. The only thing I am thinking about doing is replacing the fishman classic 4 electronics with the newer L.R. Baggs. Mine is 5 years old and they came with the Fishman. I have only had it for a couple of months, I cant seem to find any downfalls on this beauty. I have gone over it with a fine tooth comb and haven't found any blems, can't find a single trace of glue or tool markings inside. I did take some fine sandpaper to 'de fuzz' some of the bracing but that's o.c.d. I really love this guitar, it plays as well, if not better, than guitars that cost nearly double or more. I would love to play one of Kims private reserves someday! I cant imagine the tones! This review was originally published on http://www.musicgearreview.com

Atlas is Breedlove's entry level guitars. They are made in Korea but go through the Bend, Oregon plant for final setup and inspection. The AC25/SR Plus is the flagship of the Atlas Series. It has a solid Sitka top and Rosewood back with laminate sides. It has some nice inlay work on the rosette and on the fretboard. It is a concert body which gives it a large lower bout, and has a venetian style cut-away. I am an acoustic guitarist currently playing in Nashville, TN. I bought the guitar from a store called Starz Guitars in Cedaredge, CO. I paid $600 for it because the owner had been demoing it. I bought it for my brother to replace his terrible dean guitar that sounded like a boat paddle with strings. I wanted to spend $1,000 or less and had looked at many Martins and Taylors but neither of the makers had anything close to the Breedlove. I would have needed to spend between $2,500 and $3,000 to get an equivalent guitar from the standard makers. The guitar is very responsive, it doesn't take much to get it ringing. It is a very good finger style guitar. Obviously, not being a dreadnot, it doesn't sound like a D-28 Martin. It is not a bluegrass guitar. It is however just as loud. It is more balanced than a dreadnot. It has strong bass and even mids and fair highs. The guitar is beautiful as well. The kind of inlay on the guitar is pretty rare for a guitar under $1,000. The neck has a nice feel to it as well and it comes equipped with nice electronics. The guitar was also set up very nicely. I don't know if it was a factory set up or if it was an in store set up. If it was a factory set up, they did a great job. The only con I can think of is I feel it lacks some highs. To be fair I am used to playing a custom Brazilian Rosewood and Adirondack premier guitar. The guitar's highs are not missing by any means but it just doesn't have that crisp pop that I am used to. Also I have seen some people count the laminated sides as a negative. The sides of the guitar have little to do with how the instrument sounds. I think of it as a positive because it helps Breedlove keep costs down. The craftsmanship of the instrument is superb. Don't let the 'Made in Korea' stamp scare you. Every Atlas guitar is checked in the American Plant. It has the Breedlove name on it so they aren't going to let poor quality out. They use grover tuners and real rosewood fretboard. They don't skimp on any of the important things and still manage to keep the cost down. Overall, this is a fantastic instrument for the price. As I said above, before looking into the bigger companies like Martin, Taylor, and Gibson, look at some of the lesser known companies like Breedlove and Larivee. I recommend this guitar to anyone looking to upgrade from a beginner to a more professional guitar without breaking the bank. This review was originally published on http://www.musicgearreview.com

I've played 6-string guitar for almost 40 years now and 12-string guitar for almost 35 years. I played in a couple of cover bands in the 1970s. Now I play solo singer-songwriter stuff. I purchased this guitar at Guitar Source in Overland Park, Kansas. They gave me a significant discount from the MSRP. First off, solid spruce top, solid rosewood back and sides. Cosmetically, this is one beautiful guitar. Abalone purfling on top and abalone inlaid rosette and fret markers. Structurally, the guitar is enhanced with Breedlove's proprietary JLD bridge truss which they claim enhances the stability of the top and provides more sustain. Sonically, this is the best guitar I have ever played. My benchmark is the Martin D-35 an acquaintance in high school let me play once many eons ago. This is the closest I've been able to come to what I remember of that sound without having to pay $3k+ This model appears to have been discontinued since it is not listed on Breedlove's website as one of the models currently made/sold. No on-board electronics. Why do manufacturers assume that everyone who wants factory installed electronics also wants a cutaway body design? I give Breedlove's Korean contractor an A+. The construction is top notch. No loose joins, no sloppy glue job. The kerfing is even and neatly glued. The braces are properly placed and glued. The frets are even and show no unevenness or spurs. While guitars made overseas are usually suspect, I have as much respect for Korean built guitars as I do for Japanese built guitars. A well-made guitar worth every penny I paid for it. I was comparing this to a Taylor 210 which is in the same price range and this beat the Taylor hands down. This review was originally published on http://www.musicgearreview.com

The Breedlove AD20/SM acoustic guitar was made in the Korea and has 22 frets. It is strictly an acoustic guitar as has no pick up and therefore has no tone controls. It is made of mahogany and has a great overall feel to it - both in the neck and the body. It is built well and is designed both for feel and sound, which are the two most important things to me when looking at guitars. UTILIZATION The neck feels flowing and it is easy to play all around the neck. It isn't too heavy and the big body of the guitar helps to add to its big tone. It is easy to get a good sound out of this if it is in proper condition and is set up properly. I love the overall sound from this guitar as it is fuller sounding to me than most other acoustic guitars. SOUNDS This guitar is good for all types of music that you would want to play acoustic guitar on. It has a full range, both with a solid body and bass and a crisp high end. Its good feel makes it easy to play and therefore easy to get a nice sound out of it. This isn't the best sounding acoustic in the world, but it is above average and full in tone. OVERALL OPINION I've had my Breedlove AD20/SM for about five years. While it isn't my only acoustic guitar, it provides me with a great option that I know I can rely on for a good sound and will always be easy to play. The price is reasonable, but there are plenty of other guitars out there that are great at this price and for less, like some of what Martin and Taylor makes. It is a good deal, but I would encourage players to go check out the guitars for themselves, as different players have different preferences!

The Breedlove Atlas Studio BJ350/SM4 is an acoustic electric bass guitar. This is a very finely crafted bass guitar, although I don't know it's origins in terms of where Breedlove makes their basses. It comes with a built in L.R. Baggs Stage Pro pick up that is controlled by an in depth panel. The bass also has a built in chromatic tuner. Check out the full list of specs for a more complete list of how the guitar is constructed, but suffice it to say that they've done a nice job putting this one together. UTILIZATION The playability of the Breedlove Atlas Studio BJ350/SM4 is top notch in my opinion. I play a decent amount of bass even though it isn't my primary instrument, but don't get my hands on too many acoustic basses. Having said this, I love the feel of this bass as it's one of the few acoustic basses that I've actually found easy to play. As far as controlling the tone and tuner goes, there's a small panel on the side of the guitar that has sliders for controlling the volume of the pick up, bass, middle, and treble EQ control, as well as knobs for phase, notch, and a button for engaging the tuner. This amount of control definitely makes it easy to get a good sound both acoustically and electrified. SOUNDS Although I've mostly used the Breedlove Atlas Studio BJ350/SM4 as just an acoustic guitar, I will say that no matter how you choose to use the bass, it will sound good! It's definitely got a nice and round tone when played without an amp, and for the most part when it's played through an amp it stays pretty true to this original tone. As always you get a little more thumb to it when it's plugged it, but it's nice to have the EQ control and other parameters on here to help smooth it out when necessary... OVERALL OPINION The Breedlove Atlas Studio BJ350/SM4 is really a fine acoustic electric bass. It doesn't seem like there are too many cheap quality acoustic basses out there, so it's usually going to be necessary to spend a few bucks on something nice like this one to get a top quality instrument. I wouldn't say that in general I'm the biggest fan of acoustic basses and the way they sound, but the BJ350 is one of the best I've heard. Don't expect to get the sound of an upright bass, but this is definitely fun to play and sounds great!

As far as I've been informed, the Breedlove AC series is mostly manufactured out of the Bend, Oregon workshop. Otherwise they may be from Korea, as many guitars are nowadays. The AC25 sports a standard fretboard with just under two octaves in frets, a pull-through ball end style bridge to get away from the annoyance of bridge pins, a superior pre-amp with built-in tuner, and classic C-neck. <p class="bbcode-offtopic">Off topic: <span>On a tangent, I must say that the general populace of musicians have the wrong idea about over-seas factories. Since around 1994-97, the vast majority of American-based manufacturers dealing in high-end instruments have made it a point to pay fair wages to the workers in said factories, ship the same high quality materials there, and put extra effort and funds into safe shipping. Many companies such as; Fender, Gibson, Takamine, Breedlove, Martin, and Taylor have built and contracted their own factories in Korea, Mexico, and other low-overhead countries to avoid the cookie cutter instruments being bought and resold by lower end companies.</span> UTILIZATION This is one of my favorite guitars in it's price range. I own this guitar and recommend it to all of my customers who understand that dishing out an extra $100 or $150 can mean a world of difference. The value is multiplied by the fact that Breedlove's name is not such a household world to guitarists like Taylor and Martin, (This lowers the cost. Don't pay for advertising!). This fact doubled with the playability and comfortable design make this an incredible buy for most intermediate to advanced players. The AC25 is my choice for playing live in medium to high sized venues. The design of the cutaway not only makes it more ergonomic, but also helps cut feedback. However, a good Screeching Halt from Planet Waves is always a good idea to keep with you. Don't think this guitar can cut %100 of feedback, since no acoustic guitar can, not even Ovations. SOUNDS The sounds you can get out of this guitar fit me perfectly when I'm playing low-key, folk style songs. I would suggest Plugging into a tilted Fishman or Roland if you don't feel like running straight into the PA. The nicest part of the plugged-in sound is that even at a flat EQ, you get an incredible resonance and tone out of this piece. OVERALL OPINION The one drawback to the playability of this guitar is the pull-through bridge. While it is convenient not having to deal with bridge pins, the bridge puts less bend in the ball end side of the strings. This fact in turn takes away from the attack and sustain abilities of the guitar. It's perfect for me since I rarely play lead with an acoustic. Overall, I would say this guitar is ideal for a frontperson or rhythm player. Blues and jazz players who put the guitar in front of the rest of the band might be somewhat disappointed, but for the rest of us it takes care of business for a rather decent price.