Breedlove mandolins

[USCGMandolin]

I received a Fender mandolin from my wife for Christmas and have been taking lessons--taking to it like WInnie-the-Pooh to honey. I was doing fine until I played a Breedlove in a music shop and could immediately tell the difference. I kind of like the unique design. I was thinking about the Cascade. Does anyone have opinions about these mandolins? The wider neck is it more difficult to finger? etc.

Matt

[Eric F.]

I was doing fine until I played a Breedlove in a music shop and could immediately tell the difference.

Yep, that's how MAS begins. Many people find the wider neck more comfortable. Breedloves also have a radiused fretboard. Some like a skinnier, flat board. It's a matter of personal preference. Breedlove makes a fine mandolin, though they don't float everyone's boat. I've owned three of them, although one was just passing through from the start.

[JGWoods]

They get bought for playability, craftsmanship, and design appeal. They get sold for tone- a very subjective thing.

Some folks sell them because they feel the need to have a traditional -BG- mandolin.

[Jim MacDaniel]

...They get sold for tone- a very subjective thing...
Anyone know if Quartz O-hole owners have the same complaints about being overly bright, as from some Quartz F-hole owners?

[Adam Tracksler]

I have liked every breedlove I have played.

[first string]

Breedlove makes a very nice mando for the price, in my opinion. I played a Quartz Oval at Mandolin Brothers, that sounded better to my ears than most of the much more expensive mandos they had from the big name builders.

[PCypert]

I love the way they play. Everyone I've played to date has been too bright for me...but I lean towards the Collings sound if that makes sense to anyone.

Paul

[jayn]

I have a Quartz F. #I'm very happy with it. #As a recovering guitar player, I find the wider neck, bigger frets, and radiused board to be much more comfortable. #It's not as easy to do tremelo and, arguably, chop chords, but otherwise, I like the neck much more than flat, thinner ones. #The craftsmanship is great for the price. #That said, I'll probably be selling it in the next few months to feed those constant feelings of MAS #http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif ...probably in the form of a Collings MT (also bigger frets and radius, but slightly smaller nut width).

Recently, I compared it to a Gibson F5-G that had been refretted with bigger wire. #The Gibson was definitely a deeper sounding instrument and played nicely. #However, the Breedlove was more comfortable to play, to me, and I didn't feel the tone differences warranted the 2.5x upcharge. #I do want to try a cast tailpiece on the Breedlove to see if it makes any difference in adding more bottom end. #I played a used Quartz F at Gryphon one time that seemed to have decent bottom end with a replacement Allen tailpiece.

As a step up instrument, it's a great value. #Heck, I may stop here, who knows. #But, I definitely prefer it to the Eastman that I started with (playability...the Eastman is loud and cuts like a knife).

[mandolooter]

They do make a nice quality mandolin...tonally they aren't for some folks but its your ears it needs to please. Definitely a step up from the Fender tho and if your taste change it will just be another stepping stone on your mandolin journey.

[USCGMandolin]

I appreciate everyone's replies. I just have to convince my loving wife that a $300 mandolin is not an expensive instrument... I need that $2500+ one to make an investment in sound and art.

Matt

[otterly2k]

Anyone know if Quartz O-hole owners have the same complaints about being overly bright, as from some Quartz F-hole owners?


I had a Quartz OO for a while (still miss it) and did not find it overly bright... worked especially well with Labella flatwound strings, which may have tempered the tone a bit.

[mandolooter]

[QUOTE]I just have to convince my loving wife that a $300 mandolin is not an expensive instrument... I need that $2500+ one to make an investment in sound and art.
BooYa...thats the hard part!http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif

[hepcat mando]

I just traded my kf. After about 6 months of banging on it and a set of flatwounds the tone really started to get a richness to it. There was some added bass, but I think it was more of rounding out the highs. I would recommend them.

[VictorLouis]

...They get sold for tone- a very subjective thing...
Anyone know if Quartz O-hole owners have the same complaints about being overly bright, as from some Quartz F-hole owners?
Sounds like the usual distinction between F-hole and Oval models that look otherwise the same. The f-hole will project the sound forward more forcefully and sound brighter, toward the treble side, particularly to the player. The oval will boom more evenly, with more sustain, with the impression of less volume making it up to the player's ears.

[MandoSquirrel]

As I said in the thread at the Mandozine forum, I have a KO, oval hole, & it is one of the nicest Mando's I've played, in 31+ years of Mando Mania. The sound is not tubby, like a gibson oval hole, but with the right strings, it sounds great, not too bright.If you get one, just avoid bronze strings, flatwounds are best. By the way, mine had an Allen tailpiece when I got it; don't know how it would sound with the stock variety, but the OF I tried out at Guitar Center sounded fine, after I tuned it.

[Lane Pryce]

My first good mandolin was a Quartz KF. At first I was not too impressed but after Skip Kelley set it up it was pretty dang decent. Although it was not a bluegrass mandolin, it sure was great for anything else. Playability was as good as it gets. Lp

[USCGMandolin]

I was never really a big fan of bluegrass and when I saw CAPT Corelli's mandolin I mentioned to my wife that it would be fun to play and very mobile (I drive ships for a living). She surprised me with one for Christmas. Now I have listened to Bluegrass and have grown and fondness for it, considering about 90% of mandolins, etc. appear to be bluegrass oriented. However, I still have a strong inclination toward old pop, rock and classical.
Where can I find sheet music for the mandolin? I have been buying piano music and some violin, but is there a good resource for mandolin music? I have about 6 books for mandolin, but they only give the one-page Reader's Digest abridged version of songs & scores.
WOuld the Breedlove fit into my genre of music?

Matt

[otterly2k]

Matt-- There is a particularly characteristic BG tone that hardcore 'grassers seek... and for which one will be steered towards a carved mando with f-shaped holes and most likely an F shape (with the scroll...mostly for stylistic reasons)... and people will talk about the percussive chop and bark, etc. #The Cascade has an untraditional shape, but is carved and has f holes.

Truth is-- it's possible to play just about any kind of music on any mando... the questions will only be- is it loud enough in this particular ensemble/setting, is the tone what people expect to hear when listening to this kind of music, etc. #And only discriminating ears will even know the difference, imho

I like the Breedloves I have tried. #I like the oval hole better than the f hole, myself (in general and also particularly on Breedloves) An f-hole mando tends to have a more cutting sound that projects, and an oval hole mando tends to have a somewhat richer tone with possibly less projection. #I find Breedlove tone to be plain and clear, which to me is versatile stylistically. #

The Cascade will certainly be an upgrade from the Fender. #I think probably even the Quartzes would be a decent upgrade, and you can often find these used for very reasonable prices (~$750)

[MandoSquirrel]

Since you seem to be interested in a wide variety of music styles, a Breedlove would probably be about ideal: enough punch when needed, but nice & mellow when appropriate. Just learn how to work the pickin' hand!

Lots of info in other threads re sheet music, check the Classical & Technique sections; Lots of Tab in the rest. Fiddle tune notation in the Celtic & Old Time sections, but they're usually short.

Elderly Instruments(link on the Cafe home page) has a real good selection of music books & methods, you can find enough there to keep you busy a long time.

[Kevin Briggs]

A used to own a Breedlove Spirit, but then got scroll envy. Otherwise, it was a great mandolin. No complaints.

I played a Breedlove Apline a few times at Acoustic Music Works in Pittsburgh, and it was really awesome. I would recommend it to anyone. The necks feel kind of like guitar necks: wider and U-shaped. If you go to www.acousticmusicworks.com, the fella there will probably cut you a good deal on an Alpine. Don't let him fool you, it's been there for over two years, so it needs a price reduction.