Breedlove quartz ff

[kevindineen]

I personally think I like the look. I'm interested in getting one, but looking for others opinions before I just whip out the credit card. Any specific comments are most welcome. Comparisons in terms of Tone, playibility, quality of craftsmanship, neck profile...etc...etc.

Also anyone played one w/ a Schertler DYN-M pickup installed?

http://www.folkwaymusic.com/images/instruments/breedlove/breedlove__0703.jpg

Here's a couple links.


Breedlove FF forum (http://breedloveforum.yuku.com/topic/432/t/Breedlove-FF.html)
Official Breedlove FF page (http://www.breedloveguitars.com/instruments/mandolins/quartz/ff/index.html)

[bradeinhorn]

Long Thread on it Here (http://www.mandolincafe.net/cgi-bin/ikonboard.cgi?act=ST;f=12;t=42001)

[kevindineen]

I saw that thread... just everyone was raving about it, then there's yoru post. I wonder why the differing of opinions.

[Kevin Briggs]

I can't speak for the ff, but I can speak for the Breedlove Spirit, a model they produce in the same price range.

The Spirit was my first nice, American-made mandolin. I went from a Morgan Monroe to the Spirit, so the jump was startling, from my perspective. I had never played something of that quality before.

To me, the neck was very comfortable. Yes, it is wider, but it's also more shallow, so it's not like you're holding this huge neck. It actually played very fast. Tonally, it was verstaile. It could chop pretty well - not thunderous - but it also had a slinky, sort of quickness to the tone. I liked it.

I would not hesitate to buy another Breedlove, if I had the financial capabilities to own more than one nice mandolin. They are not my first choice, but I already own my first choice. Someday, I'd love to own a Breedlove Alpine. I played one at the acoustic music works and it was great.

[bradeinhorn]

I saw that thread... just everyone was raving about it, then there's yoru post. I wonder why the differing of opinions.
hi,

actually-in that long thread, prior to me there was only three people who'd actually played one, and one or two of them didnt seem to to really give it too much time. pretty much everyone else was just commenting on the aesthetics of the instrument or the other breedlove models' sound.

first-the one that crispin bought which he raved about and the other person liked, could have been great no doubt. breedlove is a factory instrument maker, so right there, there is going to be a lot of variance even within one particular model. second - those few who liked it might just have a different perspective of what is: good tone, a good bottom end, a playable mandolin, etc. - than me.

while commenting - i was trying to speak particularly on the two FFs i played - i would hope that anyone who spends that much on any instrument (especially such a new model) would play it first. all aesthetics aside - in my opinion - i think you can do better for your money than those two mandolins. The cheaper breedloves, especially on the secondary market, are often very good deals, however. I am not a hater of the brand by any means.

Finally-as with any music store- even holy grail ones like mandolin brothers - it's hard to keep all the instruments set up well and these had just come in, too.

hope that clarifies things a bit.

ps-in terms of aesthetics - i also think with a mandolin like that, a lot of people will blindly buy it the same way others will blindly poo poo it and not even give it a test drive. it is definately a love hate design.[I]