BreedLove AC200/SM

Price Paid: US $400

Features: 8
Breedlove atlas ac200/sm full bodied concert, made in Korea, 20 frets, solid spruce top, acoustic no pickup, mahogany ply body w/rosewood fingerboard, satin finish, no case.

Sound: 10
I really like to play a little of everything and the sound of this guitar is spectacular. It's very clear and has an impressive projection... not too bright or bassy.

Action, Fit, & Finish: 9
I think the guitar was set-up as good as you can considering it had to travel from Korea to Chicago to Wishikawa, Indiana... back to Chicago, then to Dallas and finally here to El Paso, TX.
I did adjust the neck to give it a slight less of a relief, and now it sounds and plays better than when it arrived (although it was allright when I recieved it).
It was packed very well and had no flaws, the making is practically perfect.

Reliability/Durability: 10
The guitar is very solid and it seems that nothing can ever go wrong with it (except, that is if you mistreat it)
The finish is extra hard and won't scrach (up till now), and since the guitar does'nt have a pickguard (which I think is ok since you don't mess with the top) this is an excellent feature.
It comes with only 1 very solid strap button (ok by me)

Customer Support: N/A
Have'nt dealt with them...

Overall Rating: 10
I've been playing for some 10 years, I used to have a few electric guitars but I finally decided to sell them all to get a nice steel string acoustic. I think I would definetlly would buy this model again. The size is perfect. I think this guitar was made to be played, and although it's design is very attractive it dose'nt have a flashy appearence... (I wanted the most for my money, craft and soundwise, no gimmicks. I even decided not to go with a pickup in order to have a better built guitar, I reasoned I can always install one in the future).
I was somewhat affraid of the body size since I had only played dreadnoughts, but i'm very satisfied with it (I've had it for a couple of months now)

Submitted by Pablo Cotera at 01/22/2006 09:34

Price Paid: US $399

Features: 9
I'm new to guitar and have been taking lessons on an electric, and I was looking for a good quality acoustic to get started with. I decided early on that I wanted something smaller than a dread. I also hoped to get something with a neck closer to an electric feel, on the slim side, not so flat, and with generous frets. I also didn't care to spend money on electronics, and I didn't want a cutaway either since the cutaways I've tried always sounded hollow and boxy compared to their full-body versions. I shopped for 9 months. I looked at practically everything under $1,000 US and there's not much to choose from. If its not a dread, or a cutaway small body with electronics, your average dealer isn't going to stock it. So the Breedlove is something out of the ordinary in the market. The features are 'limited' but exactly what I wanted.

Body Style: Concert with No Cutaway
Binding: Black Binding
Body Depth: Deep, 4 9/16"
Rosette: Abalone w/ black border
Width at lower bout: 15.25"
Nut and Saddle: Micarta
Scale Length: 25.5"
Nut Width: 1 11/16"
# Of Frets: 20
Fingerboard and Bridge: Rosewood
Finish: Satin
Tuners: Chrome
Top Wood: Solid Sitka Spruce
End Pin: Ebony
Back and Sides: Mahogany Ply
Electronics: None
Made in Korea
No case, and hard to get one that fits. Breedlove's have a distinctive headstock design that makes them slightly longer than most guitars, and so they don't fit in generic cases. There are models of TKL cases made specifically for Breedloves (only seen in one place, www.finecases.com), or you can get a case direct from Breedlove, although both of these are options are pricey for a $400 guitar.

Sound: 9
Using the Martin-Taylor sound scale I'd say it is more toward the Taylor but with less top end. The Breedlove projects its sound well and responds to pick dynamics and will produce a good sound with light picking/strumming, versus say a Martin which usually needs to whacked on to get its characteristic 'sound'. (I like the Martin sound BTW.). The Breedlove is a little bigger than a Martin 00 or 000 size or a Taylor auditorium while still beign comfortable to sit with, and the extra box helps the sound. The Breedlove does not have the midrange complexity of Martin but overall is well balanced from bottom to top with a particularly good bass for a small body. I think overall Breedlove builds guitars for fingerstyle play and that carries over to this model. It will take light-to-moderate stumming but can sound muddy if strummed hard. Intonation is good and the sound hangs in there as you go up the neck, unlike many guitars where the sound starts to die the higher you go. What's that old saying - "Anything above the 5th fret is decoration"? Not the case here.

Action, Fit, & Finish: 9
At my stage of ability I find practically all acoustics impossible to play with the combination of action, neck radius, and string gauge that you find on most of them. With the Breedlove the action out of the box was about as low as I've ever seen on an acoustic and completely free of buzz and squeak, and even though the neck is probably close to 'standard' size/radius it is fast and easier to fret going up the neck than many guitars I've tried. Really helps for players like me making the transition from electric to acoustic. As for fit and finish I've had bad experiences with other Korean guitars and other companies that claim to "inspect every import" but this one is very well put together, no complaints. Excellent fret work, well done binding and inlays, back of the neck had some minor burrs on it, nothing some light steel wool couldn't take care of.

Reliability/Durability: N/A
I don't gig so can;t comment here, other than to say it looks well made with good quality parts.

Customer Support: 10
I called them about cases and was surprised to actually get someone on the phone and not a message box or nest of menus. Very helpful and pleasant to chat with. So that's a good sign. 5 year warranty.

Overall Rating: 9
I had low expectations for this one really. I had exhausted myself trying to find a guitar with the feature set that I wanted and that I could actually play, and I was about to give up. I mail ordered it - which I never do - just based on the specs and was pleasantly surprised. I think this is a good quality guitar and would be a good bet for a serious beginner or a player making the transition from electric.

Submitted by 8-Track at 07/05/2005 06:32

Price Paid: US used

Features: 9
Ad200/sm - See previous reviews for specs
Grover tuners, pinless bridge.

Sound: 10
Sounds great. The lows are strong, mid and high stand out. Have been shopping for Taylors, Ovations & Martin. The Martins are overpriced and overrated...The Taylors are excellent (should be for 3x the price of a AD2000) and the Ovations are weak unplugged compared to this Breedlove

Action, Fit, & Finish: 10
setup correctly right from the start. Factory finish is bullet proof (well maybe paintball proof). They use a catalyzed urethane coating. VERY nice matte finish.

Reliability/Durability: 10
well built with quality componets ( for an Asian made guitar) finial fit is at the factory in the US

Customer Support: 10
Have called a couple times and have had quick response as well as all questions answered. I think there is a 5 year warranty (not that I think I'll need it)

Overall Rating: N/A
Playing on and off 35 years. Look at guitars 2 & 3x the price of the ad200 ( Taylors, Martins and Ovations) Wish I had started with this one and saved myself several weeks looking.
I challenge you to find a better sounding guitar for the price....on second thought twice the price ( or 3x the price in the case of martins which are highy OVERrated).
Buy the Breedlove and enjoy great sound at a reasonable price!

Submitted by Guitar_tester at 04/20/2005 20:43

Price Paid: US $345.00

Features: 8
This is an auditorium sized acoustic, slightly bigger than a concert but more streamlined than a dreadnought. If this is Breedlove's budget line (The Atlas Series) I can only imagine how wonderful their regular line must be...cos this one is fantastic. This guitar rings with the authority of a dreadnought in a much more comfortable size. The bass is solid and the mids and highs sparkle. I prefer this over my Gibson J100Xtra, as that guitar tends to be too bassy and somewhat dull sounding with any strings that are older than one day. The AC200sm has Grover heads, tusq-like nut and saddle (not bone but not cheap plastic either.) It has a nice looking abalone rosette and no pickguard...but you can easily add a stick on tortoise-like one and both protect the guitar and give it some more aesthetics.
The neck is eminently playable and fast to boot. I think it came with 12s but I might go to 11s. iT HAS AN OVATION LIKE PINLESS BRIDGE.

Sound: 8
SOLID...RINGING TONE THAT IS BALANCED...

Action, Fit, & Finish: 8
VERY NEAT FRETS AND NICELY GLUED SEEMS.

Reliability/Durability: 8
SEEMS SOLID....WHAT WITH THE UNDER BRIDGE SUPPORT SYSTEM THAT IS DESIGNED TO ELIMINATE TOP SWELLING AND BRIDGE LIFTING.

Customer Support: N/A
WHO KNOWS...I EMAILED THEM A SIMPLE QUESTION ABOUT STRING GAUGES AND THEY NEVER GOT BACK TO ME AS YET.....AND THAT WAS A WEEK AGO.

Overall Rating: 8
I have 38 years of experience and have owned many a guitar...and this one is a good one.....very professional....and I would gig with it.

Submitted by Vince at 04/12/2005 14:21

Price Paid: US $269

Features: 5
Solid Top Concert size guitar that was a B stock, solid spruce top that looked nice, plywood mahogany sides and back, no electronics,no pin bridge with JDL Trussing systemm that makes guitar very heavy for such a small guitar,closed chrome tuners. 2004 model, made in Korea.No Case.

Sound: N/A
Honestly was not able to get an honest appraisal of sound because guitar came with a hole in the back the size of a quarter which showed how cheap the plywood mahogany was.

Action, Fit, & Finish: 6
Action looked good, tight grain on spruce top, If I had kept the guitar ,probably would have action lowered ,did have the hole in back previously mentioned.

Reliability/Durability: 4
Since the guitar came with a hole in the back, I can't imagine being very durable, disappointment for a Korean made guitar, will never get another one. Strap button looks flimsy.No strap button for other end of strap. I would not gig with it, too heavy,almost as heavy as an electric, I am guessing it weighed 8-9 pounds , since the Fedex total weight was 11 pounds and the cardboard box could not have weighed that much.

Customer Support: 1
Can't say anything about Breedlove, but the company I bought it from said they didn't open the B stock guitars, just sent them out, this looked liked it was opened and retaped when I bought it. I had ordered the Breedlove ADsm/200 which is a dreadnaught, so not only did this company send me a guitar with a sizable hole in the back, they sent me the wrong guitar to begin with. Dealing with their customer service was a nightmare, but after about 5 hours ,I finally got to the top and the GM was very apologetic about all that I had been thru. Anything that could go wrong with a purchase did in this case, Thankfully it is on it's way back!!!!~ Lesson learned, buy from a store where you see what you get!!!!

Overall Rating: 5
I have been playing for 30 years, cannot give an honest appraisal as it was badly damaged before it was sent to me. Did not like the heavy weight of the guitar

Submitted by Anonymous at 12/18/2004 19:23

Price Paid: 349 (£ - Sterling)

Features: 9
Korean made comparable but cheaper than the USA version. The build quality is excellent.-Full bodied concert size--Solid spruce top, laminate mahogany back and sides-Rosewood fingerboard-Excellent Grover tuners-abalone rosette around the sound -Natural, satin finish-Black binding-Pinless rosewood bridge. A lot of quality and fine features for your money.

Sound: 10
The sound of this guitar is wonderful. The bass is definitely loud enough & resonant – But the top end is crystal clear and sharp, without being to harsh or abrasive in any way. This is simply the best and most balanced sounding guitar I have ever heard.

Action, Fit, & Finish: N/A
The factory setup of this guitar is very good. The action is good – maybe could be a little lower – but hell, that’s my personal choice. The intonation is also very good. The string nut and saddle work is good. The finish of the guitar is a fine satin look and abalone rosette around the sound hole really adds a touch of class. The fretboard is nicely oiled, frets well polished and its neck is a joy to play.

Reliability/Durability: 9
Very well put together – it feels a lot more durable and reliable than my Taylor Big Baby. I’d be certainly happy and confident in gigging this guitar. The Groover tuners are top class and very reliable.

Customer Support: 10
Currently there are very few detailer’s in the UK selling this guitar. Therefore this guitar was bought via mail order from Dawson Music Ltd. The level of service and communication from Dawson’s’ was excellent. Particularly from their Sales Manager, Paul O’Toole

Overall Rating: 10
This guitar is superb: I am now a complete Breedlove convert. My other acoustics are a Taylor Big Baby and a Takamine EG10 – this guitar plays and feels light years ahead of both these guitars. I can’t imagine another guitar giving better value for money. If you are in the market for a sub £700 acoustic guitar – it is a one horse race – BUY THIS GUITAR!

Submitted by Norman.Glover at 06/30/2004 05:01

Price Paid: US $320

Features: 9
In general, I agree with the other review, but this seems like the appropriate spot to gripe about the lack of a factory hardshell case. That's the only feature I miss. I'd prefer it came with both strap buttons, but some folks won't want it that way, so I can't really call that a shortcoming.

I will say that the wood is very good; tight grain throughout, and I like the fact that it's a bound top. That's remarkable at this price.

The pinless bridge is another interesting feature, that makes a lot of sense from an engineering standpoint. Considering that and the JDL bridge truss system, I'm almost temped to bump this up to a 10, but the case issue is important enough to make me stick with a 9 here.

Sound: 10
I've only been playing about a year, so I just stick to chord accompaniament of singing, and flatpicking melodies for my own amusement. It's a great guitar for both of these types of playing. I play it for Sunday School openings at church, and it's more than loud enough for about a 20' by 20' room. After playing it for two weeks or so, I stopped by a music store and spend almost an hour playing Martins, Gibsons, Fenders, Takamines, etc that were far outside this price range. I wasn't playing them side by side with my Breedlove, but nothing I heard made me want to trade up. I've let some (far) more experienced players play it, and they agree that it sounds great, especially considering what it cost. It certainly sounds much better than any of its likely competition (Baby Taylor, Little Martin, etc.). And it looks far better than either of those guitars.

Action, Fit, & Finish: 10
The guitar was very well set up as it came from the factory. One other player who I had try it out suggested that the action might need to be lowered a bit, but he plays nothing but electrics. I don't see the need myself.

The fit is excellent. I can't find anything to complain about there.

I really like the satin finish: one player who's been playing for at least 30 years couldn't get over how smooth and comfortable the neck feels with that finish. I should also mention how attractive the abalone soundhole inlay is; there's no comparison between this and the "scratched in" effect on a Baby Taylor.

Reliability/Durability: 9
This guitar goes been back and forth to church every week for almost two months. It went back and forth to work on two successive days (single digit temp, and probably single digit humidity) without going out of tune. The Grover tuners no doubt deserve some of the credit for this. I have had the end pin come loose once or twice, so I may need to have that checked. All in all, I expect this guitar to be very reliable and durable. I'll say 9 because of the end pin, and note that it may simply be that it shook loose in shipment, and I haven't pushed hard enough to seat it correctly.

Customer Support: N/A
I called about the placement of the second strap button, and they were very helpful and friendly. I can't comment on how well they'd back up the warranty.

Overall Rating: 10
I've been playing a little over a year. I also own a Fender Highway 1 Strat (very nice) a flamed Schecter Diamond Elite double cutaway (gorgeous), a Johnson strat for travel, and a Marshall MG10CD amp (pretty good for non-tube).

I have no regrets whatsoever about this purchase. If it were lost, I'd (be very upset and) try to get exactly the same guitar again. My gut feeling is that I'd have to spend 3 or 4 times as much to find another model that sounds and looks this good.

Submitted by Anonymous at 02/16/2004 16:12

Price Paid: US $319 (without case)

Features: 9
This guitar is from the BreedLove Atlas series. These guitars are made in Korea so the cost is obviously less than the USA made Breedlove guitars.

-Full bodied concert size. (medium size in my opinion)
-Solid spruce top, laminate mahogany back and sides.
-20 frets.
-Rosewood fingerboard
-Grover tuners (closed gear)
-Abalone rosette around the sound hole (very nice looking!)
-Comes with D'addario EXP light gauge strings(80/20 bronze,coated).
-This guitar also has the JLD guitar truss system. You can check this system out at: http://www.jldguitar.com/
-Natural, satin finish.
-Black binding
-Pinless rosewood bridge

Has everything it needs.

Sound: 10
The sound of this guitar is GREAT. The mids and highs sound bright and clear and the bass is definitely present but not boomy. You not only hear this guitar, you feel it vibrate. It's hard to believe that only the top is solid. This guitar is alive with sound!

Action, Fit, & Finish: 10
The factory setup of this guitar is VERY good. The action is among the best i've ever played (if not *the* best) for an acoustic.
The intonation is also good. The string nut and saddle work is good.
The finish of the guitar is a nice satin which I feel allows the top to vibrate more than a gloss finish, contributing to it's good sound.
The fretboard looks nicely oiled and the frets are very well polished.
I got a flashlight and looked the guitar over inside and there was some glue visible but not enough to make me think the assembly was sloppy. This guitar seems to be put together quite well.
This guitar is set up so well I feel it deserves a 10 for this category despite being able to see a little glue inside. And i'm being picky about the glue.

Reliability/Durability: N/A
Seems to be well put together, and with proper care should be just fine.
The tuners seem stable and turn smoothly.
The guitar comes with one push in type strap button in the end block. I prefer to use Schaller strap locks with my guitars so I added one to the end block. I put the second strap button in the position suggested by Breedlove. E-mail them and the will send you a diagram of where the second button should go. It's important to put it where they suggest, otherwise you can damage the guitar.

Customer Support: N/A
I've not dealt with them enough to put a rating here.

Overall Rating: 10
This guitar sounds and plays great! I am in awe that I have a guitar *this* good, especially considering the price I paid for it. I can't think of another guitar out there that is a better value than this.
Beside the number '10' in the rating drop down box for this category it says "Fantastic Value". This guitar definitely fits that, so I am giving it a 10.

I had to get this guitar mail order, and I had to search through quite a few Breedlove dealers before finding it. I expected it to be at least decent or Breedlove wouldn't have put their name on it. This guitar has far exceeded my expectations of what it would be. I am very impressed.

The only possible negative to this guitar is the nut and saddle both appear to be some sort of plastic. I would normally replace a plastic nut and saddle with tusq, but somehow this guitar still sounds amazing just the way it is so I feel no need to change it right now.

How does Breedlove do it? I don't know, but i'm glad they're doing it! GREAT guitar!

Submitted by J.Gargus at 11/01/2003 00:31