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Played a Breedlove Passport DS20 FS


Stackabones

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I dropped by the GC to redeem my gift card. One of the rooms was a dedicated Breedlove room. Played a few ... some were horribly setup -- no fault of Breedlove since most guitars in the GC acoustic area don't get much love from the employees.

 

But I played one that really felt nice. Punchy and comfy. Very low bling factor -- just natural looking guitar with few appointments. Nut spacing felt good under my fingers.

 

Evidentally it's a 7/8-size, which is maybe why I liked it so much (been playing gutboxes lately). Billed as a travel guitar, but it seems a tad too large for that.

 

482228.jpg

 

Kinda hard to see in that pic, but it has the standard pinless bridge that most (all?) Breedloves have. Sweet.

 

No need to buy it, so I didn't--and I won't. Just wondering if anyone has played these. Seems like a pretty tasty guitar for the money.

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Stack...did bridge pins do you some harm in a previous life? Scarred, are we? I mean, gads you do go on about your dislike for them.

 

I have 3 guitars. One with and two without pins. That fact wasn't even a consideration when buying any one of them. That's 3 guitars, 3 transactions that bridge pins were not remotely a decisive factor. I mean, think about it. I actually looked each guitar over and over, played each one up and down the neck, with/without capo, yada yada and...nope...didn't think about the method of string retention once. Not even once.

 

So, is there hope for me?

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That depends ... what are your views on slot heads and the zero fret?
:p


:wave:

 

I bought Whalebot's Martin 000-17S and really thought the slothead was a cursed PITA. It wasn't so much stringing it as much as the care and worry about scratching the finish with one of the string ends. I've always had a classical so slotheads are no big deal. I'd rather have a paddlehead though.

 

No experience with zero-fret guitars. I do have a vague memory of playing one but can't draw any conclusions from that. Let me ask...is the zero-fret located to reduce string displacement at the first fret thereby relieving unnecessary pressure? I can't think of any other reason for it.

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Scott and Stack, isn't the Passport Breedlove's attempt to bring a sub $2K domestically built guitar to the market? If so I applaud what they are doing and I'm really interesting in how this works out.

 

My only experience with Breedloves is one day I happened to stop by a little guitar store in Vancouver WA. I had been struggling with some emotional stuff moving my folks from their home of 50 years into assisted living and I just wanted to get away for a while. They had a Breedlove hanging on the wall - OM sized but I don't know the model. Absolutely stunning wood work (and a $5K hang tag) - I took it in one of their quiet rooms and played for an hour. When I came out I was grinnin' and could go back to the moving project.

 

The factory is down in central oregon. One of these days I must visit.

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Scott and Stack, isn't the Passport Breedlove's attempt to bring a sub $2K domestically built guitar to the market? If so I applaud what they are doing and I'm really interesting in how this works out.


My only experience with Breedloves is one day I happened to stop by a little guitar store in Vancouver WA. I had been struggling with some emotional stuff moving my folks from their home of 50 years into assisted living and I just wanted to get away for a while. They had a Breedlove hanging on the wall - OM sized but I don't know the model. Absolutely stunning wood work (and a $5K hang tag) - I took it in one of their quiet rooms and played for an hour. When I came out I was grinnin' and could go back to the moving project.


The factory is down in central oregon. One of these days I must visit.

 

I think the one I played is built in South Korea, but I am not sure. :idk:

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You guys are pretty confused. Let me help:

 

The ATLAS series is from Korea but the setup is done here in the States by the Breedlove Luthiers. It uses the Breedlove bridge system as well. Breedlove oversaw the entire outrolling of their Korean factory so it is not just a "we sent them specs and they sent us back guitars" sort of operation as it is with Fender, et al. The Korean manufactured parts are done to BLove specs. The guitars are set up by Breedlove. If you have a setup problem then GC messed with them after they arrived. Skilled luthiers who know what they're doing set up the Atlas Series instruments.

 

The Passport is NOT an Atlas Series instrument. Please get that straight. It is just a Breedlove Passport, a travel guitar. Not an Atlas.

 

The "high end" Breedloves are made by hand, hand voiced and braced individually, at the factory in Tumalo, Oregon. These are the Master Class the S Series and the Revival Series. All of them start at around 2K and go up from there. They represent some of the finest guitars made today.

 

The Atlas Series are fine guitars but they're not the high end Breedloves. Still I personally would rather have an Atlas than most Taylor's I've played, but that's my choice, I think Taylor's are guitars for people who are tone deaf, personally.

 

The high end Breedloves are on par with the best Santa Cruz and Goodall guitars along with pantheon guitars. SC, Goodall, BLove and Bourgiouse are the best builders currently working today.

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I think Taylor's are guitars for people who are tone deaf, personally.

 

Geeze...I wish you had been around with your pearls of wisdom when I started playing guitar. You would've saved me a whole lot of time and money. I wouldn't have even bothered to try to learn the guitar or any instrument since I guess according to you I am tone deaf...:confused:

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Geeze...I wish you had been around with your pearls of wisdom when I started playing guitar. You would've saved me a whole lot of time and money. I wouldn't have even bothered to try to learn the guitar or any instrument since I guess according to you I am tone deaf...
:confused:

 

:poke:That's comedy right there folks...

 

I've played the Atlas series local here at GC. Nice looking stuff, needed strings. My buddy has a two month old somethingorother from Breedlove made right here in beautiful Oregon. Nice stuff, I didn't want to touch it...

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I just purchased a Breedlove Atlas Series AD20SM...it's an awesome guitar...I compared it to Martins, Taylors, Guilds, Washburns and Yamahas. In my opinion it sounded the best, played the best, was the most comfortable, and was best looking in it's price range. My only reservations are the pinless bridge ...we will see how it really works after 1st string changing and the fact it was made in Korea with a 5 year warranty...time will tell. But overall I give it a 10!!

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Not that I'm going to soapbox Breedlove guitars, but I do think they are exceptionally well thought out, voiced, built and finished. It's a very fine product. Folks here may know that I have a Breedlove cedar/RW Custom Shop Performance Concert model and a spruce/RW Goodall RCJC. I'm truly done shopping. I buy for quality, not quantity. There are nuances of difference between high-end guitars and very good imports that some don't think important enough, or can yet recognize, that make a very big preference difference quite justifiable to experienced ears and hands. Breedlove and Goodall are two examples.

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Geeze...I wish you had been around with your pearls of wisdom when I started playing guitar. You would've saved me a whole lot of time and money. I wouldn't have even bothered to try to learn the guitar or any instrument since I guess according to you I am tone deaf...
:confused:

 

Send me your crappy Taylor before you ruin your hearing even more.

 

I will be sure to keep that Taylor out of the wrong hands.

 

I'm just looking out for your hearing. ;)

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