Breedlove Guitar Review - Model AJ250SM

I love jumbo guitars and I've owned several over the years, including a 1993 Guild FJ4-NT that I bought new. In 1997, I had a JLD bridge truss installed. Over the years, my Guild jumbo has developed a smooth mellow tone, with a deep, yet not loud, bass.

Breedlove's AJ250/SM reminds me of my Guild FJ4-NT. Indeed, the two both have solid spruce tops along with mahogany sides and backs. They both have JLD bridge trusses (standard for the Breedlove Jumbo, custom for my Guild) and are simply adorned - simple position markers on the neck, etc. The two also share a similar tone - smooth and mellow.

However, the Guild is more of a strumming guitar, with its larger body, large pickguard, and no cutaway, which makes getting to the upper fretboard difficult - it's a stretch to get beyond the 14th fret. When I play mine, I feel like plucking out Johnny Cash tunes and indeed, there are no shortages of times that I've played "Folsom Prison Blues" on it.

The Breedlove jumbo on the other hand is a fingerpicker or fingerstylist's guitar. It has a slightly shallower body and, also unlike the Guild, the Breedlove does not have a pickguard. It has a soft cutaway, which allows for easy access all the way up to the 18th fret. I have to reach a little to get to the 19th and 20th frets on the Breedlove, whereas with the Guild I have to bring my thumb out from behind the neck to reach that high.

The Breed love Guitars AJ250/SM has a balanced sound, with a deep yet quiet bass. Other notable features include Fishman Classic 4 electronics, Grover tuners and a satin finish.

Review of Breedlove Mandolin Quartz With Sunburst Finish

Breedlove Guitar Company makes incredible archtop mandolins in three different body styles - O, F, and Breedlove's unique F shape. Each model is available with either an oval soundhole and X bracing, or f-holes and tone bar bracing.

Among Breedlove's mandolin offerings is the Quartz OF model, which is a smooth, teardrop-shaped instrument with f holes and tone bar bracing, which results in increased projection. The satin sunburn finish is a deep, rich one that highlights, rather than covers up, the inherent beauty of the solid spruce top and solid flamed maple back and sides. Breedlove's Quartz OF also lacks binding as well as many other appointments, thus providing it a straightforward appearance at a great value.

One of my favorite aspects of Breedlove mandolins is the generous string spacing provided. I have large fingers, and as a result, many mandolin necks are too narrow for me to play even halfway decently. Breedloves, on the other hand, neatly fit into my hand and I do not find myself awkwardly squeezing my hand together to try to get a chord in. The Quartz OF has a clean, pure sound to with the bell like ring associated with flamed maple.

Features include a single piece maple neck, solid sitka spruce top, solid western maple back/sides, tone bar bracing, f-holes, twenty frets, Tusq nut, saga tuners, radiused ebony fingerboard with pearl dot position markers, ebony headstock overlay, and a deluxe hardshell case that produces a snug fit so that your mandolin is secure and not moving around inside the case.