Breedlove Guitars Focus

Brand new 2001 Focus. Cedar top, rosewood sides and back, mahogany neck with ebony fretboard and pegboard laminate. Also has a Fishman Prefix Blender pro. I had the original metal tuners replaced with ebony.

I love the sound of this guitar, mainly because of the bass response. Despite the increased bass response the guitar is still very well balanced. I've been playing this instrument for over a year now and I love it more each time I play it. I had to modify how the electronic wiring was suspended in the body of the guitar. The wires were really long and would resonant against the sound board and back causing a buzzing sound at certain frequencies. It was an easy thing to fix.

The action suits my playing style but is a little high for most people. The Breedlove info states that they do this on purpose. However, the guitar is very easy to play. I noticed an immediate inhancement to my playing ability after purchasing it. The finish is extremely durable and easy to polish. I play out with the guitar a couple of times a month and the finish has survived several encounters with other objects and instruments.

I have had good success playing out with this guitar. However, I have never been able to blend in the condenser mic pickup on stage. I always have feedback problems with the condenser mic. However, in studio situations the condenser mic adds a nice touch when recording through the pickups. This hasn't been a problem because the bridge pickup handles itself quite well on stage with other instruments. However, in the past month or so I have noticed that the Fishman has introduced a noise when using the bridge pickup (does happen with the mic pickup). When I touch the metal part of the patch cable the noise is significantly reduced.

One important thing to consider with breedlove in general is that these guitars are significantly influenced by moisture and temperature. I followed breedlove's advice and purchased humidity controlling equipment for storing the guitar. I have noticed that when traveling for a week or more the guitar sounds duller when not kept in its environmentally stable room. After being home for a day or so with the guitar back in a controlled environment the old guitar comes back to life.

I haven't dealt with them too much. But they sound nice on the phone when ordering parts.

I have been playing it for over a year now and have not come across another acoustic guitar that I would buy to replace it. If I were to replace this guitar it would most likely be another breedlove if not the same one. When I try out other guitars in stores or play my friends instruments I always say to myself, "I glad I own a Breedlove!"

Brand new 2002 Focus. Cedar top, rosewood sides and back, mahogany neck with ebony fretboard and pegboard laminate. Also has a Fishman Prefix Blender pro. Comparable shape to a Taylor Grand Auditorium.

Excellent tone! Definitely brings out the bass and projects well. I played it side-by-side with taylors, larivees, and Morgans. Definitely sounded the best unplugged and plugged in.

Excellent craftsmanship. I couldn't find a bit of glue or other imperfection in the finish or the frets.

We will see. The case is top-notch and everything seems tight.

Haven't had to talk to them, but I hear the owner does a lot of one-on-one with the customers.

I have been looking at Martins, Taylors (mostly), Larivees, and Morgans. I had heard of Breedlove but hadn't played them. I went to the dealer planning to by a Taylor 810ce or a Larrivee OV-10ce. I came home with a breedlove. The tone, finish, and craftsmanship sold me. Plus I'm not just another shmoe with yet another Taylor. Here's to the little man!!

This is a new for 2001 model Breedlove-I think it might be a limited production run. It is similar to another current, new model, the "Fusion", which is a bit less expensive, mainly because of different wood and electronics. For 2k, this guitar has a ton of features: Western Red Cedar top and choice Indian Rosewood back and sides, an attractive soft cutaway, nice abalone decoration around the soundhole, and a delicate and tasteful inverted wing decoration, again in abalone, on the fretboard. It has strap buttons top and bottom. There is no pick guard. Also, it comes with a top-quality hard-shell case. Last time I checked, they didn't have a picture of it up on their website.

A Fishman Prefix Pro blender is built into the guitar. This is their top-of-the-line acoustic preamp with a smaller footprint, which fits in soooo nicely and unobtrusively on the side of this guitar.

The Focus shares the same features with other Breedlove guitars, i.e., the assymetrical tuning head, the high soundhole location, and their unique bridge design. They list is as a "grand concert" body size-whatever that means. Personally, I find their guitar labelling system kind of confusing. All I know is that this is a superbly comfortable guitar to sit and play with...it is light and fits perfectly, like a comfortable pair of jeans.

When I first read about the Focus I was skeptical how Breedlove could be offering so much guitar for a (relatively) modest price. So I called and talked to Pete Newport. I told him it seemed attractive, but I didn't want to buy a guitar with a bunch of fancy features if the trade-off was in sound quality. He assured me this wasn't the case and that this was simply a great deal for time being. He also said it was the first (I believe) attempt for Breedlove in blending some mass production methods-something to do with the curved frame body, I think-along with their usual individual, handmade loving care.

Features rate a 9, but features for the money rate a 12!

This is truly the warmest, deepest, richest, most resonant, woodsy and 3-dimensional acoustic guitar I've ever played. I guess that's largely the cedar/rosewood combination, along with the bridge design and other Breedlove magic. The bass is unbelievable...it might be too much for certain tastes or styles, but it is such a natural bass, and it blends beautifully with the rest of the tonal spectrum. The upper E string, fretted, seems just a tad muted, or better said, it doesn't seem to sing out quite as much as some other guitars. This took some adjustment for me, but now I really like it, as I realize it makes for a better overall balance across all the strings.

I do a lot of finger picking, and the Focus is perfect for that; but it also strums great-especially those moody lower strings. So far, I strum only a little, and very gingerly and reluctantly at that, as there's no pick guard and it would break my heart to scratch such a beautiful instrument. I'll leave it to my Guild workhorse to handle the heavy strumming.

I like playing unamplified the best by far, but I invested in an SWR California Blonde amp for this guitar, which was the best, most natural combination I tried (though I have to turn down the bass control on the amp). I find the Fishman Prefix Pro indispensable as it lets you capture some of the natural sound of the guitar with it's internal condenser mic, along with the active magnetic pickup. After all, why spend this much on a guitar not to hear some of it's natural sound when amplified? The mic sound alone is fairly dark and muffled, but I find it blends nicely at about 25%/75% with the magnetic pickup.

Nothing gets a 10 from me, but this is the highest of 9's.

Some folks appear to find the action from the factory a bit high. Well, it could be lower, I suppose, but it's not at all a problem. For those who like it lower, it's easy enough to adust the truss rod. I'll probably leave it right where it is. Fit and finish is breathtaking and flawless. Tuners are solid and smooth in operation. The only thing I'm not crazy about are the D'Addario strings (not sure what kind they are) put on by Breedlove. They have wonderful tone, yes, but they produce a lot of squeaky finger noise, especially when picked up and amplified by the on-board condenser mic (but not the magnetic pickup).

The only way to know if a guitar will stand the test of time is to let it endure the test of time. Obviously, the whole idea behind the Focus was to make a Breedlove for stage performance, so you would think it would hold up to that kind of use. And maybe it will. Still, it's a fairly light guitar, so it doesn't seem like it would take getting knocked around a lot.

Pete Newport was so genuine, friendly and candid when I called him-I really enjoyed the conversation. Breedlove seems to take their lifetime guarantee (original owners only) seriously. I've read only positive comments from folks who had to return their guitars to have some work done. They also seem eager to help in answering all kinds of questions about specific guitars. I see Breedloves on the used market, ebay and such, with specifics for that particular guitar supplied by Breedlove after the owner inquired. That says to me that they take a long-term interest and pride in the guitars they make.

I've been playing guitar for 32 years. I play both acoustic and electric guitars. This is the first acoustic guitar in this price range I've owned. I played a few Breedloves for the first time several years ago, in a local shop that stopped selling them soon after. I fell in love with their distinctive sound right away, but it took me awhile to save for one. I never forgot them, though...kept that memory close to my heart.

I broke my own rule of never buying a guitar without playing it first, but the Breedlove dealer nearest to me now is a six hour drive away and he only had 4 guitars in stock-and two of them were 3k+ works of art. So I bought long distance and had the guitar shipped-after talking at length with the dealer and Pete Newport about what the Focus sounded like. I had the option of returning it to the dealer if I didn't like it; but it was exactly as they described it and as I imagined it.

Once out of the box it took just one pluck to know.

I've played quite a few guitars (not my own!) by Larrivee, Bourgeois, Martin (my least favorite of this group), and Taylor, but there is something unique and personal and special to me about the sound of the Breedlove. I do have a fondness for the better Taylors-I find they are really sweet, in general, and every bit as as good as Breedlove, depending what you're looking for. But there's something about Breedlove that just speaks to me very individually...hard to put into words. I hope to get another someday. But next time I need to find a shop that has a half-dozen or so different (and affordable) models to compare side-by-side.