I recently visited the Breedlove factory in Bend, Oregon, and from what I witnessed, I can tell you this: 2017 promises to be a big year for Breedlove.
The company will be implementing some notable groundbreaking innovations in sound profiling technology on certain models in their acoustic series that will make many guitarists rethink how their own acoustic compares.
Without revealing too much, a great place to hear where Breedlove is headed is by checking out their USA Concert Moon Light Sitka-Mahogany guitar. This beautiful brand new acoustic is part of Breedlove’s Big Sound guitars that puts a great deal of emphasis in note projection and dynamically responsive acoustic tones.
The USA Concert Moon Light also features one of the thinnest finishes in their line, delivering a full-bodied acoustic sound in an incredibly easy-to-play guitar.
FEATURES The USA Concert Moon Light is unbelievably lightweight at just over three and a half pounds, and features a razor-thin satin finish that makes the guitar feel lively. The guitar’s inviting concert body hugs the waist and feels comfortably snug. Combine its low action on a 20-fret mahogany neck with ebony fingerboard, 1 3/4-inch nut width, and this guitar plays effortlessly. Breedlove is a green company and salvages its Alaskan Sitka spruce for its top from fallen trees in the Tongass National Forest, while its Honduran mahogany used in its back, sides and neck are responsibly harvested from Guatemala.
The Moon Light is built using Breedlove’s sound profiling technology that targets optimal resonance frequencies on their tops and backs, resulting in thinner tops, bigger backs and a smaller soundhole, all of which in turn produce its surprisingly full and robust voice. The guitar also features LR Baggs EAS VC under saddle pickup that’s so tucked away underneath the soundhole you barely know it’s there.
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PERFORMANCE The most noticeable thing about the USA Concert Moon Light is how assertively loud this guitar is acoustically. The guitar rings out with powerful harmonics and is intensely detailed in how nuanced its voice is playing loud or soft. It also sings vibrantly with rich and complex lows, a sweet midrange, and with crisp and clear highs. You’ll often hear those descriptions applied to most acoustics but here, the Moon Light nails those coveted acoustic tones with balanced complexity whether you lightly fingerpick or strum hard.
Of course, the Moon Light’s near perfect setup makes it a real pleasure to play, but its featherweight that rests comfortably on your knee will make you forget that you’ve been playing it for hours.
THE BOTTOM LINE The Breedlove USA Concert Moon Light Sitka-Mahogany is an impressive acoustic with a huge voice that breathes focused depth and shimmer across the entire frequency range.
Paul Riario has been the tech/gear editor and online video presence for Guitar World for over 25 years. Paul is one of the few gear editors who has actually played and owned nearly all the original gear that most guitarists wax poetically about, and has survived this long by knowing every useless musical tidbit of classic rock, new wave, hair metal, grunge, and alternative genres. When Paul is not riding his road bike at any given moment, he remains a working musician, playing in two bands called SuperTrans Am and Radio Nashville.
