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| Company type | Privately held company |
|---|---|
| Industry | Musical instrument |
| Founded | 1990 |
| Founder | Larry Breedlove and Steve Henderson |
| Headquarters | , |
Key people |
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| Products |
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| Parent | Two Old Hippies LLC |
| Website | breedlovemusic.com |
Breedlove Guitars is an American acoustic instrument company based in Bend, Oregon. Breedlove produces acoustic guitars, acoustic bass guitars, and ukuleles.
Breedlove Guitars was established In 1990 by California luthiers Larry Breedlove and Steve Henderson, who left their jobs at Taylor Guitars to create what would become Breedlove Guitars. [1] Their intention was to produce guitars that merged traditional guitar making skills with modern technology. [1] After moving to Tumalo, Oregon, Breedlove and Henderson began specializing in custom, fingerstyle six and twelve string guitars. [1]
In 1991 the first Breedlove guitar model appeared, the shallow body C-10. At the 1992 NAMM Show, Breedlove and Henderson unveiled five models and three body types. [2] Around 1994, Larry's older brother, Kim Breedlove, joined Larry and Steve as a master craftsman and Larry returned to work at Taylor Guitars. [3] Other master luthiers at Breedlove included Terry Myers, who also left Taylor Guitars in the early 1990s then returned, [4] as well as later luthiers Jayson Bowerman, Aaron Adams, and Chris Lindquist. [5]
In 1999, Breedlove suffered a financial setback and hired a new president, Peter Newport, who invested in the company and expanded the company's model lines. [5] In 2001, founder Steve Henderson quit the company due to disagreements with Newport. [5] In 2003, under Newport's direction, Breedlove launched its first series of Imported guitars, the Atlas line which was manufactured in Korea. [5] In 2004 the company launched its first traditional designs not focused on fingerstyle playing, the Revival line which included dreadnoughts and orchestra models, which departed from Breedlove's history of original designs. [5]
In 2008, Breedlove relocated from Tumalo, Oregon to Bend, Oregon. [5] In 2010, Breedlove experienced its second financial setback when president and investor Peter Newport was unable to raise additional capital in the wake of the Financial Crisis of 2007-2008, and ultimately sold Breedlove to Tom and Molly Bedell's Two Old Hippies LLC of Bend, OR, which owned Tom Bedell Guitars and Great Divide Guitars, as well as retail stores. [6] [7] In 2012, the combined company moved to a larger facility in Bend, which produces about 2,000 guitars a year as of 2020. [1]
In 2013, Breedlove completed the purchase of the world's largest collection of legal, CITES-compliant Brazilian Rosewood for use on the company's highest-quality instruments. [8] Beginning with 2014 models, Breedlove changed its headstock logo from a stylized "B" to fully spelling out "Breedlove" in a script logo [6] and made numerous changes to the model lineup, including launching several new series of instruments and discontinuing the Revival series of traditional body shapes. [9] In 2015, Breedlove produced a limited run of 25th Anniversary guitars, including a Kim Breedlove Signature, a Brazilian Concert, an Oregon Concert, and a Pursuit Koa. [10]
In 2017, Breedlove made significant strategic changes, including the announcement of the new Concerto and Concertina body shapes, the simplification of the company's model lines and body shapes, the introduction of a Sound Optimization process (replacing the long-standing bridge truss and graduated top design used on its premium models), and the introduction of the Tonewood Certification Program for sustainable forest practices. [11] [12]
In 2020, Breedlove announced a partnership with actor Jeff Bridges to produce a signature model guitar that was sustainably sourced. [13] Later that year, two additional Jeff Bridges models were announced. [14] In 2021, Breedlove announced a limited run of four 30th Anniversary guitars, including a Northwest Classic, King Koa, Focus, and Phoenix, each based on a different model from Breedlove's past. [15]
As of 2021, Breedlove offers four guitar body shapes in ascending order of size: [16]
Breedlove's Masterclass, Legacy, Premier, and Oregon models, as well as some premium Signature models, are made in Bend, Oregon and are hand-voiced using the Sound Optimization System. [16]
Breedlove's Organic, Solo, Pursuit, and Discovery series are made in Asia, typically in South Korea or China depending on the model and year. They do not have hand-voicing using the Sound Optimization System [16] but have designs based on Breedlove's research on this system. [27]
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