Understanding Breedlove Guitars Series'

[Jaroboni]

Originally Posted by Uncle Pen

Apologies for resurrecting an old thread, but this seems to be the best place for my question. I'm looking into and researching the old revival line from breedlove. I've seen guitars with the traditional square headstock labeled American series (not labeled revival). Then I've seen what appear similar to identical guitars with the "revival" designation on the label. Are these the same guitars?

And what's the final word on the P Thompson/Jayson Bowerman vs standard Breedlove bracing differences between the years?

I'd love to know the answers to these questions, if you ever did find out. Thanks.

[Ralph124C41]

I had a somewhat similar post on here about trying to get some information about an older used Discovery Concerto (although the ad said it was the smaller Concert model). I've never owned a Breedlove and so I didn't know much about them at all except for the fact of that unique bridge.

Anyway I went to the Breedlove website and both left a voice and email message asking for somebody to give my some information about the guitar. My question was that online there is a heap of information about the newer Concerto guitars, such as the Discovery S series and the ECO models, but nothing about this one.

Yesterday somebody called me with the information that essentially it was the model before the marketing folks got to renaming the series. The caller did say it may have a different bracing system because Breedlove had changed that a few years ago.

It was good information ... except I waited too long and the guitar was sold.

So in doubt, just contact somebody at the Breedlove website. I think it took a couple days to get the information I needed.

[fpuhan]

Originally Posted by Jamie9

We're all confused about their model designations and having just had a look at their site they seem to have come up with a new array of models. I really think the confusion works against Breedlove and anyone trying to sell their guitars.

Amen to that!

My current only Breedlove has the longest name of any guitar in my collection:

Breedlove Organic Signature Companion CE 2010s Copper Burst

(I was just playing it yesterday and this morning!).

No longer listed on their web site.

[mcduffnw]

Originally Posted by Ralph124C41

...It was good information ... except I waited too long and the guitar was sold.

So in doubt, just contact somebody at the Breedlove website. I think it took a couple days to get the information I needed.

"So in doubt, just buy the guitar..."



There...fixed it for you {;-)


duff
Be A Player...Not A Polisher

[dragon1952]

Anyone know the major differences between the older Breedlove Performer and the newer Performer Pro series? From what I can see the only difference is the switch to Fishman Flex-T electronics from Breedlove's own electronics and maybe fretboard material but the jump in price looks like it was about $500.

BTW, I just bought a new Performer Pro Concert Rosewood model and it is very nice. Sounds great both plugged in and unplugged.
I was thinking of getting the mahogany version too and stumbled upon some used older Performer series models, hence my question.

[SRL]

Originally Posted by Jaroboni

I'd love to know the answers to these questions, if you ever did find out. Thanks.

The revivals ran from ~2003 to 2012, conincedent with Pete Newport's time as CEO. A few years after Tom Bedell bought the company, the Revival line was closed down and moved to the Bedell lineup, so Breedlove became the name for modern designs only, and the Bedell line was used for the traditional shapes.

The body shapes were the dread, the 000 (12 fret, long scale), the OM (long scale), and the fairly rare parlor (12 fret short scale). If it has bridge pins, it's a Revival guitar and had traditional Martin-style X bracing with no bridge truss. Breedlove also built dreads and parlors using their own bracing, often but not always with the bridge truss, but they're easy to tell apart because they have a pinless bridge.

The Revivals were designed by Preston Thompson, Jayson Bowerman, Larry Breedlove, and I believe a few others, based on 1930s Martins. Most were built by Bowerman or Breedlove; my understanding is Thompson was just working as a consultant. The guitars do have a bolt-on neck, so they're not quite the same as 1930s Martins, but the sound is very similar.

There were several lines of Revivals
* Deluxe = Adi top, gloss finish, made in Oregon
* Standard = Sitka top, matte finish, made in Oregon
* American = Same as Standard but with wave headstock and abelone rosette, made in Oregon
* Voice = Same as American, but with high-end LR Baggs pickup, only one year
* Oregon = Sitka top, myrtle back and sides, maple neck. Only one year (2012) and I believe only an OM and dread were made, labeled D/SMYE and OM/SMYE,
* Roots = built in Korea, finished in Oregon, only made circa 2008-10
* Retro, Cascade, and Atlas = Built and finished in Korea

All the guitars and the current Bedell dread/OM/parlor models share the same DNA going back to the original designs based on 1930s Martins. Breedlove has confirmed (you can probably find the AGF thread on it) that they didn't make any bracing changes during the Revival's run. If you want a brand new one, go try out a new Bedell dread or orchestra model, they're really fantastic instruments.