The China-built Breedlove Solo Pro Concert Edgeburst 12 CE reviewed here is a reasonably refined and affordable 12 that makes life easy on highly occasional 12-string players. It’s playable and has a lively, almost sunny voice and disposition. But its solid cedar top and solid mahogany back and sides also lend a sense of dust and duskiness that, at times, evokes affordable vintage 12-strings like the Gibson B-25-12. Indeed, there are a lot of sounds to find in this accessibly priced 12-string. One dimensional it is not.
Doubling Down
It’s easy to see why many players consider acoustic 12-strings a chore. There’s no shortage of 30-year-old beaters with boomerang neck relief that punish curious neophytes and send them fleeing forever. The 12 CE, though, feels pretty inviting. Action feels relatively low, yet each string rings with clear authority, even under the load of heavy strumming. Intonation is just about perfect, too, which makes the Breedlove sigh like a harp when you tune up and let a first-position chord ring. Tuning down a half- or full step, meanwhile, coaxes a lot of cool, growling low-mid overtones from the guitar without getting boomy or feeling flubby.
The 12 CE’s proportions also factor significantly into its agreeable ways. The concert orchestra-sized body is easy to snuggle. And that immediacy of feel is accompanied by an immediacy you hear via the side sound port. (Which also, incidentally, seems to highlight that vintage Gibson B-25-12 tonality). Other classically Breedlove design cues play their role in the player-friendly feel of the instrument. The company’s signature deep cutaway, for instance, gives you access to mandolin-like chords and tones on the highest six strings and at the highest frets.
Ring Those Bells
There’s a lot of physical balance in the 12 CE that’s mirrored in the tone palette, too. Though some of the guitar’s fast responsiveness could be attributable to Breedlove’s Cascade bracing pattern, I’d venture much of the magic is in the guitar’s red cedar and mahogany tonewood combo. Breedlove isn’t the only builder to employ this elegant looking and sounding wood duo. It shows up on a few guitars in this low-mid price class. But Breedlove uses it especially well here. The cedar top feels simultaneously reactive, grounded, and, once again, earthy. It also adds just enough top end sparkle to offset the mellower tonalities of the mahogany back and sides. The resulting tone sum makes the 12 CE feel responsive to fingerpicking (though it takes a strong thumb to completely offset the chiming resonance of the high B and E string pairs).
Tuning down a half- or full step, meanwhile, coaxes a lot of cool, growling low-mid overtones from the guitar without getting boomy or feeling flubby.
Construction, by the way, reveals a careful hand all around. A wider neck like this could be made a miserable experience by rough frets, but they are perfectly shaped at the ends. The root beer hues of the finish give the small body an extra sense of dimensionality and luxury. And though the side port gives you a clear and potentially unflattering look at the 12 CE’s innards, every bit of bracing you do see looks carefully carved, sanded, and glued. (The sound port, by the way, comes with a fitted rubber feedback reduction insert that works great in amplified situations.)
Styling, as with many Breedloves, will probably be the most polarizing aspect of this guitar. It’s a modern flattop, to be certain. But it’s funny how the Breedlove headstock has evolved slowly into a familiar, almost institutional, shape in acoustic circles. And its slim proportions make it a graceful fit for the compact proportions of the body.
The Verdict
Though 1200 bones is considerable money for an import flattop, the quality construction, agreeable playability, and many sweet tones make it feel like a pretty fair deal. Like any good 12-string that you don’t have to fight too much, it can guide you away from ruts, encourage and stimulate an arrangement-oriented musical mindset, and perhaps unshackle your inner Jimmy Page or Jeff Lynne in the process. And while the 12 CE’s contemporary styling might divide opinion, for those that play it, its ability to open different musical avenues won’t find many detractors.
Breedlove Organic Solo Pro Concert Edgeburst 12 CE Demo | First Look
KingTone’s The Duellist is currently Ariel Posen’s most-used pedal. One side of the dual drive (the Bluesbreaker voicing) is always on. But there’s another duality at play when Posen plugs in—the balance between songwriter and guitarist.
“These days, I like listening to songs and the story and the total package,” Posen told PG back in 2019, when talking about his solo debut, How Long, after departing from his sideman slot for the Bros. Landreth. “Obviously, I’m known as a guitar player, but my music and the music I write is not guitar music. It’s songs, and it goes back to the Beatles. I love songs, and I love story and melody and singing, and there was a lot of detail and attention put into the guitar sound and the playing and the parts—almost more than I’ve ever done.”
And in 2021, he found himself equally expressing his yin-and-yang artistry by releasing two albums that represented both sides of his musicality. First, Headway continued the sultry sizzle of songwriting featured on How Long. Then he surprised everyone, especially guitarists, by dropping Mile End, which is a 6-string buffet of solo dishes with nothing but Ariel and his instrument of choice.
But what should fans expect when they see him perform live? “I just trust my gut. I can reach more people by playing songs, and I get moved more by a story and lyrics and harmony, so that’s where I naturally go. The live show is a lot more guitar centric. If you want to hear me stretch out on some solos, come see a show. I want the record and the live show to be two separate things.”
The afternoon ahead of Posen’s headlining performance at Nashville’s Basement East, the guitar-playing musical force invited PG’s Chris Kies on stage for a robust chat about gear. The 30-minute conversation covers Posen’s potent pair of moody blue bombshells—a hollow, metal-bodied Mule Resophonic and a Fender Custom Shop Jazzmaster—and why any Two-Rock is his go-to amp. He also shares his reasoning behind avoiding effects loops and volume pedals.
Brought to you by D’Addario XPND Pedalboard.
Blue the Mule III
If you’ve spent any time with Ariel Posen’s first solo record, How Long, you know that the ripping, raunchy slide solo packed within “Get You Back” is an aural high mark. As explained in a 2019 PG interview, Posen’s pairing for that song were two cheapos: a $50 Teisco Del Rey into a Kay combo. However, when he took the pawnshop prize onstage, the magic was gone. “It wouldn’t stay in tune and wouldn’t stop feeding back—it was unbearable [laughs].”
Posen was familiar with Matt Eich of Mule Resophonic—who specializes in building metal-body resonators—so he approached the luthier to construct him a steel-bodied, Strat-style baritone. Eich was reluctant at first (he typically builds roundneck resos and T-style baritones), but after seeing a clip of Posen playing live, the partnership was started.
The above steel-bodied Strat-style guitar is Posen’s third custom 25"-scale baritone. (On Mule Resophonic’s website, it’s affectionately named the “Posencaster.”) The gold-foil-looking pickups are handwound by Eich, and are actually mini humbuckers. He employs a custom Stringjoy set (.017–.064 with a wound G) and typically tunes to B standard. The massive strings allow the shorter-scale baritone to maintain a regular-tension feel. And when he gigs, he tours light (usually with two guitars), so he’ll use a capo to morph into D or E standard.
Moody Blue
Another one that saw recording time for Headway and Mile End was the above Fender Custom Shop Masterbuilt ’60s Jazzmaster, made by Carlos Lopez. To make it work better for him, he had the treble-bleed circuit removed, so that when the guitar’s volume is lowered it actually gets warmer.
"Clean and Loud"
Last time we spoke with Posen, he plugged into a Two-Rock Classic Reverb Signature. It’s typically his live amp. However, since this winter’s U.S. run was a batch of fly dates, he packed light and rented backlines. Being in Music City, he didn’t need to go too deep into his phone’s contacts to find a guitar-playing friend that owned a Two-Rock. This Bloomfield Drive was loaned to Ariel by occasional PG contributor Corey Congilio. On the brand’s consistent tone monsters, Posen said, “To be honest, put a blindfold on me and make one of Two-Rock’s amps clean and loud—I don’t care what one it is.”
Stacked Speakers
The loaner vertical 2x12 cab was stocked with a pair of Two-Rock 12-65B speakers made by Warehouse Guitar Speakers.
Ariel Posen’s Pedalboard
There are a handful of carryovers from Ariel’s previous pedalboard that was featured in our 2021 tone talk: a TC Electronic PolyTune 3 Noir, a Morningstar MC3 MIDI Controller, an Eventide H9, a Mythos Pedals Argonaut Mini Octave Up, and a KingTone miniFUZZ Ge. His additions include a custom edition Keeley Hydra Stereo Reverb & Tremolo (featuring Headway artwork), an Old Blood Noise Endeavors Black Fountain oil can delay, Chase Bliss Audio Thermae Analog Delay and Pitch Shifter, and a KingTone The Duellist overdrive.
Another big piece of the tonal pie for Posen is his signature brass Rock Slide. He worked alongside Rock Slide’s Danny Songhurst to develop his namesake slide that features a round-tip end that helps Posen avoid dead spots or unwanted scratching. While he prefers polished brass, you can see above that it’s also available in a nickel-plated finish and an aged brass.
Breedlove Organic Wildwood Pro Concert CE Acoustic-electric Guitar - Suede
From the Congo River Basin Rainforest, the FSC Certified all African Mahogany Organic Wildwood Pro cutaway acoustic electric guitars deliver an abundance of warm, rich tone. The natural suede finish and elegant black binding accent the grain of the mahogany, which is native to the world’s second largest rainforest. Professional quality gig bag included with all models.
