Guitarpix wrote:jerome.oneil wrote:Dollar for dollar, I'll go with Takamine G series or Breedlove Atlas. Both are great guitars at good prices, and both manufacturers have excellent service. And if you want to go super high end, they can get you there, too.
Would love to hear more of your opinions on the Breedlove. I'm shopping for a smaller bodied guitar for Slackkey and Ragtime and have been eyeing the Breedlove om/sm at Elderlys.... We don't have any locally to try and was wondering how you would compare them tonally to say martin or taylor? Also What kind of fretboard radius do they have? I like a little curve to mine, like taylor or Yairi. Do you know how well they respond to bare finger picking? I know they have pre-war style scalloped bracing so should be fairly responsive but would love some feedback prior to ordering
Well, I've never been a huge Martin guy, particularly with later models, but I love Taylors. When I get three or four grand to drop on a guitar, it will be a Taylor.
The Breedloves are gorgeous instruments. They're built in the US, except for the two low end models. The Atlas is built in Korea, but the QA and setup is done in the states. Tonally, they've got a sound that I would expect from a larger guitar. Mine cost around $800 with the better pickup in it, including a hard case. I play the living crap out of that guitar. It's my regular stage guitar, and sees a whole lot of use.
Breedlove's service is fantastic. I was having problems with the stereo jack on mine. It was just a little loose, and wouldn't carry tone unless the plug was held "just so." This is something that you can fix in about three seconds if you pull the jack. But that may void the warantee.
I called them (They're in Oregon) and they put me through to the head luthier. I told him what was up, and his response was "Well, that's a pretty simple thing to do, and it seems silly to send the guitar all the way here for it. Are you any good with a soldering iron?"
"Why, yes I am!" (And I am. )
"Alright, I'll send you a new part. Call me again if you have any problems."
"Will this effect my warrantee?"
"Nope."
Five minutes later the guitar was fixed. Two days later, I got the new jack (which is now in my washtub bass' pickup.) I love those guys.
Someday we'll win this thing...
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