Breedlove Revival Deluxe - the journey ends

[para_adams]

I finally found a Breedlove Revival DR Deluxe a couple months ago and it is the happy ending of a long search for my perfect dreadnaught. Looking back, I've always loved the dreadnaughts starting when my love of guitars began way back in the 1970s when in Junior High. Back then, my music teacher's D28 was my "dream guitar" with a tone that was full and beautiful and somehow made every song so much better.

I didn't buy my first "decent" guitar until my 30s when I bought a new Martin D1 which left me longing for something better...which led to a used Taylor 410 (too brittle), then a much better Taylor 810 (love/hate), then a Larrivee D09 (just a bit underwhelmed), then a Martin HD28V (oh that tone! but not that 1-11/16" nut). Then one day I picked up a used Breedlove OM Deluxe at a guitar store and heard a tonal quality that was at another level. I bought it and enjoyed it, but eventually longed again for that dreadnaught body and sound, so off I went in a few other directions again, with perhaps the best being a very good Bourgeois dread which was great, but that Breedlove Deluxe dread still called out to me.

When I found one for sale recently I jumped on it and feel like my dreadnaught journey is complete. Adi top, rosewood body, adi forward shifted bracing and a sweet yet old timey tone similar to the Bourgeois but with a subtle silkiness that the HD28V had. And the volume is better than either. If I could afford to order a new Preston Thompson or Jayson Bowerman guitar I'd do that, but this 2011 version of their combined visions suits me just fine.

So I'm curious if anyone else out there feels the same about their Breedlove Revival Deluxe in either the DR or DM version?

[FingahPickah]

Did someone say Breedlove?

My 2011 American Series OM/SReH - Sitka/IER - (signed by Kim Breedlove) has been one of my main gigging guitars for years...

My son has the same guitar in Sitka/Mahogany

A friend recently found a mint condition 2009 12 fret 000 Revival Series (model?) - Adirondack/Mahogany - (signed by Jayson Bowerman)

Another friend has the Dreadnought version of my OM....

Absolute killer guitars....

[UncleJesse]

I briefly had a DR Deluxe that I thought was very good. Certainly better than a Bourgeois Vintage D I had at the same time. But the top was sunken in so I had to send it back. I'd love to get my hands on one of Jayson's builds at some point but I never see them for sale.

[para_adams]

Originally Posted by UncleJesse

I briefly had a DR Deluxe that I thought was very good. Certainly better than a Bourgeois Vintage D I had at the same time. But the top was sunken in so I had to send it back. I'd love to get my hands on one of Jayson's builds at some point but I never see them for sale.

Mine was signed by Jayson which I’m very pleased about. It was actually made in early 2009 as can be seen by the date written on the underside of the top, but ended up with its original owner when he played it for Breedlove at their 2011 NAMM booth. So it was made in the last year Jayson was there.

[Quake17]

Congrats on your Breedlove DR Deluxe! I'm also a big fan of these and have both a DR Dlx from 2007 and a DM Dlx from 2010. I cannot remember who signed them though. I believe Preston Thompson was involved with the design but Jayson was the main builder?

[Athens]

I had a Revival (I’ll have to go back and look if it was a DR or DM) and it was a great guitar.

Not a match for me so I let it go.

[para_adams]

Originally Posted by Quake17

Congrats on your Breedlove DR Deluxe! I'm also a big fan of these and have both a DR Dlx from 2007 and a DM Dlx from 2010. I cannot remember who signed them though. I believe Preston Thompson was involved with the design but Jayson was the main builder?

That's my understanding. Preston Thompson was at Breedlove for less than a year. In interviews with Preston Thompson he said he was very much involved with the Revival series design having spent untold amount of time previously studying the design and build of a famous pre-war Martin which he used as a template for his own designs. However, others have said and I don't doubt that the primary designer in the new Revival series was Jayson Bowerman. Certainly, if there were any tweaks to the Revivals over time they would have been under the oversight of Jayson, not Preston, as Jayson remained at Breedlove overseeing their Bend OR custom shop for another 5 years after the Revivals were rolled out. I wish I could sit in a room and play my Revival DR Deluxe with a Preston Thompson dread and a Bowerman dread and compare them directly...I'd guess the PKT and Bowerman dreads would be a bit more refined as they have more than a decade of deeper experience in their making, but the Revival DR Deluxe seems to be in the same orbit.

[para_adams]

Quake17, I'd love to hear your thoughts comparing your DR to your DM. I've never played the DM Deluxe and it seems like the ideal bluegrass guitar with the hog body.

[Quake17]

They feel very similar, spec-wise, so it's comfortable to switch back and forth. It's akin to having a top shelf D-18 and D-28 to choose from. Both have Adi tops. The DR is Brazilian Rosewood and the DM is made from "The Tree" Mahogany, so they are both Customs. This time of year with the heat on drying things out, the Rosewood sounds glorious! When it's humid in the Spring and Summer, the Mahogany takes the prize; it's great to have both!

[Methos1979]

I took in a Breedlove Revival Series Skyline 000, a presentation grade model that was used for the NAMM show where they rolled out the line. It was something else for sure. Fantastic quality build, cocobolo back and sides and a slotted headstock. Great tone but ultimately not something I wanted to keep. But that short lived and generally unknown series were fine guitars.

[FOG01]

Congrats on finding a gem. The LGS carries a good selection of Breedloves and I can't say I've ever played a Breedlove that wasn't quality.

[Tenn]

I have 2. A 2005 DR Deluxe with the rectangle label with just the K. Breedlove signature. And a 2009 DM with the oval label with both Breedlove and Bowerman signature. While both are great the 2005 is special.

[OMsong]

I had a Breedlove (Bowerman) Revival Deluxe OM Adirondack/Mahognany that was quite good that I let go a few years ago. I held on to an American series 12-fret Sitka/Sapele that I think is even better for what it is.