NOTE: I’m not a professional review. I do not get compensation or free products from manufacturers. I only review products that I purchase and use in real situations. The only money I make from reviews is from Google Adwords, over which I don’t have editorial control.

Welcome to my review of Breedlove’s Solo Concert guitar. More than a review, it’s also a story. A story of how I purchase a guitar. Maybe you can learn something from it, or maybe you’ll be entertained, or maybe you just want to skip to the darn review.

The Quest

And so it came to pass that it was time to buy a new guitar. If you’re like me, you don’t need a reason to buy a new guitar, you just need a justification. Hey, it’s a sunny day, I’d better buy a new guitar. Oh look, it’s raining, better buy a new guitar. It’s Monday, better buy a new guitar. Friday, new guitar… Since I’m not rich (and I don’t want to become poor), I’ve learned to resist that temptation. So when the time comes that there really are good reasons to purchase a new axe, I don’t mess around. I revel in the experience, but I also research as much as I can to make sure it’s a good purchase.

I needed a new on-stage guitar. Maggie, my Martin 00CX-AE was on her last legs. I had always had a love-hate relationship with that guitar and some of the manufacturing defects finally caught up to her, making her unplayable and unfixable. Aggie, my Larrivee, is a beautiful and sweet-sounding dreadnought, but I wanted one with a cutaway for those face-melting acoustic solos, and I feel cautious using her on stage because she seems too vulnerable to scratches and dents. I needed what they call in the car world a “daily driver.” A guitar that was durable enough to take on stage in the dingiest of bars, but that would still let me sound my best. So, justification found, I set out to buy a new guitar!

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