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Breedlove Journey Concert Brazilain rosewood steel string


scycle2020

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Any thoughts on the new Breedlove Journey Concert guitar. It has certified Brazilian rosewood back and sides and Stika Spruce top. Acoustic guitar mag gave it rave reviews and given the hard to come by B rosewood they state the $4k price is a bargin. Only 50 are being made. Anyone played one????

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Haven't even been in the same building with one of those but I've liked every Breedlove I've ever played. Then again, $4K isn't exactly Olson territory but I'd expect a very good guitar for that money from any maker.

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I saw the review in AG, sort of shrugged my shoulders. I've personally never been a big Breedlove fan but lots of people like them.

 

I did find it interesting that the article said that Breedlove had bought one of the larges stashes of legal Braz in the world (somewhere in Spain as I recall) and decided to use 50 sets. The going prices for Braz sets seems to be in the $1-2K range, even if its stump wood) - I'm kind of surprised to see it being used on guitars with a street price of only $4K. Everyone else would be charging double that or more.

 

I also find it kind of ironic that when Kim Breedlove still owned the business he made a big deal out of using sustainable woods - Oregon myrtle for example - Braz is anything but sustainable.

 

And last thought to the OP (who joined over a year ago, first post is a week ago and hasn't been back) - if you buy any new Brazilian guitar be sure to get all the CITES and Lacey paperwork.

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I'm not a fan of the "bridge doctor" gadget they use on their guitars. I wonder if this model has it? . . .

Yes:

The graduated top works in harmony with the Breedlove Bridge Truss to provide an even response throughout the lows, mids, and highs, with sustain, and clear, concise, note-for-note projection.

You can see more here: http://breedlovemusic.com/guitars/journey-concert.

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The truss design prevents bellying as the guitar ages. Does it attenuate the sound? Who knows? People can swear it does or swear it doesn't and it doesn't matter because neither camp believes the other regardless of their claims on good ears and 2.5 million years of experience.

 

The Focus Concert I had with the cedar top over EIR sounded pretty good to me and it was so equipped. If I had to qualify the use of an internal truss design it would be relative to any 12-string guitar. Specificlly, if the '74 Guild F-412 I had for >>>> years was factory equipped with one I'd probably still have it and never have had to vet a tech qualified enough to repair it. In the end, a Bridge Doctor was (poorly) installed and though it restored the top profile and playability I lost much of the complementary courses due to flattened break angles. So, I'm a fan of any purpose-designed device that engineers in longevity and ease of play. The purist/elitists, notwithstanding their conjured up notions of either/both, cannot tell anyone with certainty if the device is a poor choice from a sonic standpoint. From a structural perspective it's a no-brainer.

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The truss design prevents bellying as the guitar ages. Does it attenuate the sound? Who knows? . . .

 

. . . If I had to qualify the use of an internal truss design it would be relative to any 12-string guitar. . . . From a structural perspective it's a no-brainer.

I've read that the Breedlove/Bridge Doctor design tends toward compression and needs lighter strings for optimum performance. Frankly, I doubt I'd be able to hear the difference. I haven't so far. I do hear you about 12-strings though. It just seems like a good idea.

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I think the idea of the bridge doctor is that the "twisting" element of the bridge (basically movement of the bridge toward and away from the nut) is not effected....but the force pulling the top upwards is. As such, the top can be made thinner because it doesn't have to bear that load. The overall idea is that it will enhance bass response due to the top being thinner.

 

Breedloves I've played sounded kind of dead but not as bad as I'd expect given the bridge is sort of bolted down. Maybe they open up over time. And if you plan on playing plugged in I think they benefits might far outweigh the liabilities.

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Here are two pictures from Frank Ford's web page

 

breedlove2.jpg

 

breedlove1.jpg

 

And his comment "That big thing hanging down is bolted to the bridge, and has a rod that just pushes lightly against the endblock. This unique arrangement completely eliminates the tendency of the bridge to "roll" forward under the string tension. This extra support is how Breedlove can get away with the radical scalloping of the main top braces without structural difficulties."

 

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Ive always wondered about this Brazilian rosewood thing -

back in the 1970's everyone claimed it was gone - thats it

yet taylor buys a couple of skids from some where -legal ?

then Breed love gets a bunch ?

Sounds like its either a Scam - and theirs more than they say.

Or most of this stuff is coming in under the radar - with paperwork ?

 

Theirs an old saying -when it looks like a Rat , smells like a Rat -- its a Rat !

 

By the way -im not a breedlove fan - wonder why a mid range quality guitar Co.

uses Brazilian Rosewood -when it would serve a better quality guitar better ?

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