BreedLove AC25/SM

Price Paid: US $799

Features: 9
Solid Spruce Top, Solid Mahogany back, Laminate sides (I think) All around awesome for the under 1000 price range. I like the abalone rosette. The fishman classic 4 is the only thing keeping this from being a 10. It is okay but I would rather have prefix electronics. A very very solid 9 though.

Sound: 10
Best sounding guitar I have played. I have been a strictly Taylor man for about 4 years until now. After playing this thing I am strictly a breedlove man. I love the sound of this guitar. Sounds better than the Taylor 314CE Limited and Taylor 414ce that I had. Sold the 314 for this breedlove and it was well worth it.

Action, Fit, & Finish: 10
Didn't even need a setup. The woods are very appealing with a lot of even "silking" in the top. Back is very straight grained. Sweet gold grover tuners as well.

Reliability/Durability: 9
I have just purchased this guitar. Although it seems reliable time will be the tell. Everything feels quite solid though. Very thick even lacquer finish.

Customer Support: N/A
Never had to deal with them.

Overall Rating: 10
Overall this guitar is a 9.5. The only and I mean only drawbacks are the fishman classic 4 electronics. They could be better but what can you expect on an 800 guitar. Also, mine came with a Breedlove hardshell case. So without the case you should be able to find them around 650-700 new. I think they list for 899.

Submitted by Lance Norton at 05/09/2005 15:23

Price Paid: US $599+tax

Features: 10
Made 2004, 20 fret, Solid top,Fishman Clasic preamp, undersaddle p/u.
Mahogany sides and back, deeply glossed, solid Sitka top. Special pinless bridge system. Neck nearly 1 3/4 at nut. Gold hardware, Grover tuners, Rosewood overlay on headstock, abalone logo too.
No strap button at heel, alas. More expensive than other Korea-made guitars, except for the Epiphone Masterworks series (which I've played and are quite good! But limited to acoustics with no pickups, mostly).
Beautiful guitar, and a great player and gigging tool!

See www.breedloveguitars.com for further info.

Sound: 10
My style runs from folk to novelty to ballads to blues to instrumentals. If I could, I'd play like Amos Garrett--he is the man.
I sing most of the time and gigs are long, so I need a comfortable machine. I use the 100w Acoustasonic, 60w Jr. and UltrSound amp line. The Ultra has the tone, but the Fenders can get louder and have stereo choursing.

This model Breedlove has the richest bassy tone in a Concert size acoustic. My Taylor sounds thin by comparison!
Adequate Fishman pickup, but will upgrade with K & K under bridge style.
Quiet preamp...no background noise, nice and loud and adjustable.
I like the sound a lot, especially unaplugged.
Real ergnomic to play. Bold, extreme cutaway helps on high notes.

Action, Fit, & Finish: 9
The playability was flawless after the man at Blue Note shimmed the bridge and knocked one fret in tighter.Pickup is balanced perfectly.
Wood is without a flaw. Neck is like butter.

Two copies of this model were in stock, one sounding noticably better; that's the one I bought. It had the intonation problem, though. So if you can, play before you buy! The maker's website has a dealer finder. That's how I found Blue Note after reading the ads for a year about these Atlas Series guitars.

If you do mail order, www.Music123.com has the best prices around, but be ready to send it back if the tone seems thin or tinny. They should all be like the one I bought, rich and full in sound.

Reliability/Durability: 10
Live playing is why I bought it...hardware is solid, finish is durable, but I may send off to Breedlove like previous reviewer, to get a clear golpe plate. That's a pickguard, haha...
I would gig without backup with this.

Customer Support: 9
Warranty is for...let's look:5 years. Anything due to break will likely happen within that time frame, I think.
They have an excellent reputation. I will call them on the next workday and ask for a pickguard, and check them out myself.

Overall Rating: 10
Been playing since 1965. Started with an old Kay which was like shoving your fingers onto an egg slicer! Things are better now! The action on this is the lowest, yet it rings loud and true.

If lost or stolen, I would save up and buy an American made Breedlove.

I love its modernistic shape, the tortoise shel binding, the loudness of the top, the rich bass, and the cool headstock. I really like the placement of preamp controls. This thing is a work of art and a breeze to play. The cutaway allows unprecedented access to highest frets. And the body, in spite of being thick, is comfortable due to conert-size contours.
It's a winner. I just wish they were cheaper since you never see them turn up used.

Submitted by Doug Jones at 10/01/2004 20:28

Price Paid: US $640

Features: 8
2003 Breedlove atlas series made in Korea
20 frets, Solid spruce top, solid mahogany back, laminated mahogany sides. Fishman classic IV pickup and preamp system.

Sound: 10
I play anything from Contemporary christian/ acoustic singer/songwriter stuff down to more acoustic modern rock (think Alice In Chains) this guitar works best for fingerstyle and accompaniment... for an actual band setting (a'la acoustic nirvana and AIC) a dreadnought would be more suitable, but for what this is most suited for, in my opinion its the best... i finally got to plug it into a PA last night, and after fiddling with the EQ for a bit i found a tone i liked that sounded to my ears closest to the acoustic tone of the guitar (it seems that when plugged in this guitar acquires a much more bassy tone than it has acoustically, with the bass control set flat, so i had to turn the bass down and the mids and treble (as well as the brilliance) up on the guitar... the volume was set just a hair above flat) Acoustically it has a VERY well balanced tone across the strings... the bass strings dont overpower the treble as ive seen on rosewood guitars, which is why i like mahogany... i can play any style on this guitar, but as i said, its best suited to fingerstyle and blues... hard strumming doesnt compress on the guitar and sound BAD, its just that this guitar isnt as loud acoustically as a dreadnought... all in all, this is the best guitar for under 2000 dollars that i've EVER played, bar none (i was shopping for a taylor 314ce and i came across this...) and ive played plenty of acoustics whilst searching for "the one" and im pretty sure i've found it :)

Action, Fit, & Finish: 8
when i got the guitar the action was a bit high, but a quick trip to the shop and a days rest and it was done... now its only a BIT higher than the action on my strat... although it does lose quite a bit of sustain on the high treble registers... but its pretty much where i like it... the cut on the nut is a bit low for my preference, but all in all its nice... the wood is PERFECT, i cant find any flaws in it whatsoever... the only complaint i have is that where the fingerboard ends at the soundhole there is a BIT of excess glue, but i had to search closely to find that... finish within the guitar (bracing, glue) is absolutely immaculate... the only real complaint is that the preamp doesnt wanna seat so well inside the guitar... the top clicks in but the bottom half just kinda stops moving... kinda difficult to explain... lets just say that the preamp isnt fit as well as it should be...

Reliability/Durability: 10
im sure i could gig with this guitar and not need to worry about having a backup (my alvarez has since become my dedicated alternate tuning guitar... so that's backup enough for me... the strap buttons seem reliable...the button at the butt end is oversized so i dont have to worry about my strap slipping off... i had a button installed by the shop where i purchased the guitar at the bottom side of the neck (according to Breedlove's specs) then i installed a schaller straplok there... i had a friend play it last night and the straplok got in the way of his hand on the highest registers... somehow that doesnt happen for me... he was complaining about how stupid it is to have the button there, but i explained to him that what was obstructing his hand was the straplok itself, not the button, and that is my fault... i knew it'd be an issue going in... but i'd rather have to fight my way to the upper registers than accidentally drop the guitar... I've only had this guitar a week, so i cant say how its gonna hold up, but it seems like it'll last...

Customer Support: 10
i called breedlove the other day to order a pickguard and to ask about the specs of the guitar, and i just ended up talking to the guy for about a half an hour, just shooting the breeze... it was awesome. Breedlove's warranty is lifetime to the original purchaser, so that's awesome :)

I have a strong feeling that all my future guitar purchases will be breedloves (acoustic anyway ;)) but time, and the durability of this guitar, will tell

Overall Rating: 10
I've been playing for about 6 years... about the first 5 were strictly electric, and ive been playing mostly acoustic since January. I also own a Fender standard Stratocaster, a Fender MIJ contemporary 22 strat, an Epiphone Les Paul Standard Goldtop and an Alvarez RD20S... plus assorted effects and a Marshall MG250DFX... as far as things i wish i had asked... no, not really. i pretty much covered all the angles before purchase... if stolen or lost... i'd cry and go write a lament for it on my alvarez ;) and then go buy another one... i love the tone and feel of the guitar, but i really wish the upper registers had a bit more sustain (im sure that once i put some decent strings on it (read: elixir nanoweb) that it'll be alot better...the D'Addarios that are on it now are just... i dunno... cheap. my favorite feature is the bodystyle... i LOVE grand concert/ auditorium guitars... so yeah... I chose this guitar because its the best sounding and highest quality at its pricepoint, and i prefer it to the 1600 dollar Taylor 314ce... If i had to pick something that i wish it had... i LOVE taylor's expression system, but i could never justify the extra money for a slightly better sound while plugged in, but i think that the ES is THE best acoustic reproduction out there as far as preamp systems go... but since those are proprietary taylor design... i'll stick with my Fishman...

Submitted by Brian B. at 06/18/2004 09:49