Introduction to Breedlove Acoustic Guitars

About Breedlove

East of the rugged Cascade Mountains, in Central Oregon's high desert, the consistent climate is perfect for making fine instruments. It is here that the skilled luthiers at the Breedlove Guitar Company design and build some of the worlds finest guitars and mandolins with meticulous care and attention to detail. Breedlove designers are pioneers in melding the best aspects of traditional guitar making with new ideas, appropriate technology and master luthier skills to create instruments with unsurpassed tone, feel and striking visual appeal. A continual interaction between function and art informs all of their designs.

At the peak of their art form, and a lifetime of experience in traditional guitar design and construction, Steve Henderson and Larry Breedlove had a vision to build fine guitars... their own way. They moved to Oregon in 1990 and chose their team with the same care they select their materials. Today, Steve remains chief designer and innovator, while Larry's older brother, Kim Breedlove, is a master luthier and artist supported by other highly skilled luthiers whose passion and dedication are apparent in the quality and craftsmanship of each instrument they create.

Uncompromising traditional craftsmanship, environmental consciousness, and customer focus are at the core of the Breedlove philosophy. Breedlove guitars are built from hand-selected, naturally aged tone woods from the Northwest and around the world. Breedlove is dedicated to using alternatives to endangered rain forest woods and offers the widest selection of non-traditional tone woods in the industry. They also boast impressive custom inlay work and an extraordinary range of body configurations and appointment upgrades.

At the Breedlove Guitar Company, skilled luthiers take the time to build guitars the way fine musical instruments always have been built – one at a time, by hand. Tone woods chosen from around the world for their capacity to amplify a string’s voice and color tone are naturally aged, not kiln dried. Each guitar is intonated individually, with meticulous attention paid to every step, from the shaping of the body to the polishing of the finish, all which ensures an instrument whose sound is as beautiful as its appearance.

If uncompromising traditional craftsmanship is the core of the Breedlove philosophy, a willingness to experiment with innovative design is equally central. Every Breedlove bears the stamp of originality, from our signature sharp cutaway and asymmetrical peghead, to our use of native Northwest tone woods. The result is an instrument of striking beauty and powerful stage presence. But at Breedlove, design innovations are never simply a matter of appearance. Each component contributes to the extraordinary projection and playability that are Breedlove hallmarks. With every guitar, our goal is to deliver pure tone, even sound, subtle dynamics, and incredible sustain in an instrument that gives the musician maximum ease of playability over the entire length of the fingerboard.

The musician is, ultimately, the most important person for Breedlove, the reason for everything we do. This commitment reflects the personal vision of Steve Henderson, a master craftsman who came to Tumalo in1990 with the determination to build guitars his own way. "We see our job as making tools for musicians," Steve says. "The people who buy a Breedlove guitar are serious about their music, and we’re just as serious about giving them the best guitars we can build."

J Series:
A sound that is big, but beautifully well balanced – an elegant combination of power and control.
Standard Features Include: Ivoroid, Black, or Tortoise binding with top and back purflings, spoked abalone rosettes, ebony bridges, fingerboards and peghead overlay. The following guitars are priced with Mahogany back & sides, Sitka Spruce top and a deluxe arched top case.

D Series:
Standard Features Include: Ivoroid, Black, or Tortoise binding with top and back purflings, spoked abalone rosettes, ebony bridges, fingerboards and peghead overlay. The following guitars are priced with Mahogany back & sides, Sitka Spruce top and a deluxe arched top case.

Breedlove Nylon/Classical

Introducing the new "S" Series Nylon string guitar. Our
innovative nylon string guitar is now available for 2002
featuring a 1-3/4" or 1 7/8" nut width, radiused ebony
fretboard, 14 frets to body, slotted headstock, "S" appointments and hardshell case. Easy to play and beautiful to hear.

With a slender neck and radiused fretboard, the modern steel string player can transfer technique with ease. Standard neck profile includes a 1 7/8" nut width and a 14 fret neck.

The N20 and N25 feature Indian Rosewood back and sides, Western Red Cedar top, and an ebony fretboard and peghead overlay. Like other Premier series guitars, these instruments have black binding with a black/white/black purfling and a premier nylon rosette, and a deluxe hard shell case.

New for 2002, the SN20 features Mahogany back and sides, Western Red Cedar top, and an ebony fretboard and peghead overlay. As with other "S" series guitars, the SN20 is standard with simple black binding, and our narrow abalone rosette, and a hard shell case.

MASTER CLASS SPECIAL EDITION GUITAR MODELS

NYLON NOUVEAU NEW!
Building on the strengths of the Northwest, this all new nylon string has the warm and powerful Port Orford Cedar top with the
projection and beauty of Figured Myrtlewood back and sides, deep concert body with soft cutaway, abalone rosette, and Master Class Appointments with Walnut binding and special Nouveau Inlay.
Master Class Nylon Nouveau NYLONNOUV

NORTHWEST CLASSIC
Deep Bodied Concert with Soft Cutaway, Figured Myrtlewood back and sides, Sitka Spruce top, abalone rosette, Northwest totem
images of sea creatures are inlayed and etched at each playing position and Master Class Walnut binding frames the tonewood.
This instrument represents the culture of Breedlove as all materials on this instrument are from the Pacific Northwest.

PACIFIC
Shallow body Concert with Sharp Cutaway, Beautiful Maple back and sides from the Pacific Northwest, Master Class Black Binding,
Sitka Spruce Top, Sea Leaves Inlay, Abalone Top Purfling and ebony tuner buttons on chrome tuners.

CLASSIC XII
"The Classix XII is flat-out one of the best 12-string acoustics we've ever played" -Vintage Guitar Magazine, August 2001
Deep Bodied Jumbo 12-String featuring Sharp Cutaway, select Striped Ebony back and sides, Sitka Spruce top, Master Class
Appointed with ivoroid binding and spoked abalone rosette.

CM CLASSIC
We are most proud of the boldness and balance of the unique CM, an award winning Breedlove Design. Asymmetrical Concert, with
Sharp Cutaway, Figured Walnut back and sides, Western Red Cedar top, Master Class Bloodwood binding and abalone rosette. The CM
now includes the Linear Fusion inlay design.

KING KOA (`Rock God' Monte Pittman played this guitar in the Madonna Drowned World Tour 2001)
Monte Pittman chose this special deep body concert with a soft cutaway to play lead in Madonna's Drowned Word Tour 2001. The classic
sound and look of Figured Koa with the warmth of Western Red Cedar detailed with Breedlove Master Class Bloodwood Binding and
fit for a King with the exotic Mermaid Inlay and abalone top purfling. The gold tuners have ebony buttons. This treasure arrives in
a deluxe custom case.

Ed Gerhard Singature Models:

The Ed Gerhard Signature Exotic
The Flagship of the Ed Gerhard Signature series. The Exotic is a Shallow Bodied Jumbo with Soft Cutaway, Brazilian Rosewood back and sides, German Spruce top, Master Class appointments with Koa binding, Koa rosette, high performance jumbo frets, and a Fishman Matrix Natural 1 with a miniature condenser microphone .

The Gerhard Signature Model
The Ed Gerhard Signature is a shallow depth, jumbo bodied instrument. Its features include a Sitka Spruce Top, East Indian Rosewood Back and Sides, Master Class Koa Binding, a "winged" abalone rosette, Jumbo Frets on an Ebony Fingerboard and Peghead Overlay, D'Addario EXP Light Gauge "E,A,D, &G" Strings, and Medium Gauge High "B & E" Strings.

The "S" Gerhard
The "S" Gerhard is a shallow depth, jumbo bodied instrument. Its features include a Sitka Spruce Top, East Indian Rosewood Back and Sides, Simple Tortoise Binding, our "S" Bridge, and a simple abalone rosette, Jumbo Frets on an Ebony Fingerboard and Peghead Overlay, D'Addario EXP Light Gauge "E,A,D, &G" Strings, and Medium Gauge High "B & E" Strings.