How the Bend, Oregon, builders create slimmed-down instruments that have full-bodied sound—blending modern acoustic science with traditional craftsmanship.
While thinline acoustic guitars have been on the scene for some time, they’ve typically required a compromise between ergonomic comfort and a full-depth instrument’s warm, rich sound. Eliminating this compromise was core to the vision behind Breedlove’s new thinline guitar body shape. Our goal was to create an acoustic guitar body nearly an entire inch shallower, while retaining the full-depth tone and response guitarists expect from a Breedlove.
The story behind this modern guitar advancement combines our passion for art and acoustic innovation. It was an exercise in thoughtfully melding the application of our proprietary Sound Optimization technology with astute craftsmanship and, like any worthwhile pursuit, a lot of time, trial, and error.
Let’s dive into the technology-driven R&D process and explain the tonal benefits of our Sound Optimization process. We also encourage you to pick up one of these Breedlove Thinlines yourself to hear how the thin, ultra-light body responds to the room, coming alive in your hands. Tuck it close and give it a strum.
But first, let’s start with the advantage a thinline body offers: comfort. Thinline guitars have a shallower depth than standard body shapes. You can tuck them in close to your own body and feel more engaged with the strings. The lack of bulk and heft are also fantastic for smaller players fatigued by larger-bodied acoustics. Ultimately, you feel more connected when playing a thinline.
Breedlove craftsman Ian Cook explains, “Bringing a thinline guitar in tight is an intimate feeling that connects you with the instrument. When you can combine that with playing comfort and inspiring full-depth-like tone, you’re experiencing something special.”
MEET YOUR MAKERS: Breedlove Guitar's Ian Cook
Breedlove builder Ian Cook explains the company’s Sound Optimization process—a mix of scientific assessment and hands-on craftsmanship.
In the Beginning
Here’s how we made a guitar body thinner and maintained the desired sound. We knew we wanted to use our Concert body shape as the platform for this new design. We had already engineered it for optimal ergonomics and tonal balance. We just had to figure out how to slim it down while keeping everything, sonically, that makes it a Breedlove favorite.
First, we tested quite a few body depths to find the perfect starting point. We also had to achieve the ideal taper from the sound box’s heel block to the tail block on the lower bout. This was much more complicated than slicing inches off the body. Then came the really hard part.
Crafting the Tone
So much of an acoustic guitar’s tone comes from its size. The bigger the body, the more air that can move inside the soundbox, producing the big, billowing low end we all love. In the past, if you thinned a guitar down, you lost that tone.
Though nearly an inch thinner than our standard Concert, the Breedlove Thinline body achieves its full-size tone via specialized bracing that we fine-tuned through our Sound Optimization process. If this is the first time you’ve heard of Breedlove Sound Optimization, click this link to learn more about it. Then, watch the video below to see the process for yourself.
Breedlove Sound Optimization
See how much of Breedlove’s Sound Optimization process is based on embracing the nature of wood. Not every potential top or back makes the grade.
We built countless prototypes, fine-tuning each one until our designers and builders cracked the code, creating an acoustic guitar with the ergonomics and intimacy of a thinline body and the voice of a full-depth instrument—all of the benefits, none of the compromises.
Sounds too good to be true? Breedlove Wood Management and Product Development Manager Angela Christensen thought so, too. “The results even surprised us,” she says. “If you couldn’t see the guitar that was being played, you would never guess it had such a thin profile!”
These new guitars come in three distinctly different models, now playable at your local Breedlove dealer’s shop. Here’s a look at each one.
Premier Concert Thinline Edgeburst CE
The first Thinline in our Made in Bend Premier Series is the Premier Concert Thinline Edgeburst CE. This slimmed-down acoustic brings together solid redwood and rosewood without losing any of those woods’ articulation or bell-like projection. It also retains the Concert’s signature low-end warmth. Through Sound Optimization, we fine-tune each piece of these tonewoods for optimal frequency response, creating a guitar that sounds as captivating as it is comfortable to play.
Breedlove Premier Concert Thinline Edgeburst CE Acoustic Guitar
This articulate redwood and rosewood instrument is hand-voiced and entirely handmade in our Custom Shop, to achieve ultimate comfort and tone.
Oregon Series Concert Thinline Stormy Night
Also handcrafted in Bend, the Breedlove Oregon Concert CE in our Stormy Night finish showcases myrtlewood’s unparalleled beauty. The tonewood and Thinline Concert body shape deliver a balanced, detailed voice with a rich resonance equally suited for strumming and nuanced fingerstyle, even when plugged in via its onboard L.R. Baggs electronics.
OREGON CONCERT THINLINE STORMY NIGHT MYRTLEWOOD ACOUSTIC GUITAR
Crafted with full sustainable Oregon myrtlewood, this instrument has a finish inspired by a desert storm over an Arizona night sky—as visually striking as it is inspiring to play.
Performer Pro Performer Thinline
The Organic Pro Performer Thinline is our production thinline acoustic guitar. Although it was initially designed to accommodate players preferring a smaller instrument, we quickly realized that no one in the shop wanted to put the guitar down. It’s just so comfortable! With a solid European spruce top and solid Indian rosewood or African mahogany back and sides, this no-compromise guitar gives an intimate and ergonomic feel to a classic look and sound.
Add in Fishman Flex Plus-T electronics, and you have a pro-level, stage-ready acoustic-electric guitar you’ll want to play for hours on end. For more information on all of Breedlove’s handcrafted acoustic guitars, visit breedlovemusic.com.
Finding the right school can be tough for any aspiring luthier. Here are some options to consider.
In my previous column, “So, You Want to Be a Luthier?”, I talked about the types of people attracted to lutherie training programs, some of the possibilities and options these individuals have at their disposal, and discussed both long-term and short-term training, either of which have their place for primary or supplemental training. But the question remains, what school should you choose for your lutherie training? And what might a school have to offer that would best suit your educational needs?
Here’s some good news: While the guitar itself is of European ancestry, since we are a guitar-crazy culture, many of the premier schools for fretted musical instrument making and repair are right here in the United States. In fact, many international students travel to the U.S. to learn here and typically comprise up to one third of our student body.
With all schools, there’s not one that will check every box and perfectly meet everyone’s criteria. Students have different learning styles and personalities that flourish in various types of training programs. For example, my school, the Galloup School of Guitar Building and Repair, focuses on hands-on training to make sure students leave with a premium amount of time physically building and converging with musical instruments. But for some, this type of training may not be as flexible as they would like. So, let’s look at some of the options available in the world of lutherie schools.
Short-term training is geared toward students who want to quickly advance their skills and resumé in a reasonable timeline. At Galloup, we do offer short-term training, but it primarily focuses on bread-and-butter skills and problems that are commonly encountered in guitar repair and restoration. Additionally, the Galloup School has been authorized by Taylor Guitars as a Silver and Silver Plus Level Warranty Certification training facility. However, Galloup does not offer short-term training for guitar making.
Students have different learning styles and personalities that flourish in various types of training programs.
For those looking to build a guitar in a short amount of time, one of the most established short-term programs is the American School of Lutherie, operated by Charles Fox in Portland, Oregon. This is an incredibly well-balanced program focusing on the quality construction of a flattop steel-string and an electric guitar. Another great program is operated by Robert O’Brien in Parker, Colorado. O’Brien Guitars offers an all-hands-on-deck operation wherein students build a flattop instrument in roughly one week. For short-term archtop guitar training, Dale Unger at the Nazareth Guitar Institute does a great job. Students move through building 17" L5-style archtops to completion in the white (no finish applied) in one week. I’ve spoken to many students who’ve taken Dale’s class and they were more than happy with the experience. These are great options since they’re short and the training style is typically more personalized.
Long-term training, on the other hand, is a completely different situation, where classes can range from a few months in a private trade school to two years in an accredited college-based program. At Galloup, we offer long-term training that can extend to more than 2,000 training hours if a student wants to take all classes available. But although we are a licensed private trade school, we are a non-accredited program. So, as with all non-accredited programs, students must finance it themselves or secure a loan through a private lending institution.
Minnesota State College’s Guitar Repair and Building program in Red Wing, Minnesota—often called the “Red Wing school”—is a great example of a two-year, college-level course of study. Another medium to long-term option is the Roberto-Venn School of Luthiery in Phoenix, Arizona. To my knowledge, it’s the longest-running lutherie program in the United States, and it has produced many fine luthiers over the years. Roberto-Venn offers an 880-clock-hour program that allows students to take part in more of the design elements of guitar making. With both Red Wing and the Roberto-Venn schools, their accredited backing makes it easier to secure financial aid for those in need of assistance.
There is no one right answer. It’s up to the individual to determine what school and curriculum best meets their needs and financial preferences. In fact, many students choose to attend multiple programs to fulfill their education requirements.
For a full list of lutherie classes offered worldwide, you can check the Guild of American Luthiers at https://luth.org/resources/lutherie-schools/lutherie-schools-usa/. Not only do they offer a full listing, but the Guild is also a great source of information for inspiring luthiers.A svelte and powerful high-end flattop that’s equally sweet and dynamic.
Not a construction flaw to be found. Sweet-to-powerful dynamic range. Comfy neck. Near-rosewood-level responsiveness from a mahogany back. Beautiful woods.
A full $1K more than a Standard 000-18.
$3,599
Martin 000-18 Modern Deluxe
martinguitar.com
It would be easy for a company of Martin’s stature to coast every now and again. Maintaining brand mystique is exhausting in an age when hype rules the day. Keeping quality and substance intact—and maintaining commitment from the folks on the shop floor that deliver it—is even harder. But year in and year out, Martin continues to make instruments that simultaneously dwell in the realms of the practical, the musical, and the exquisite.
At nearly $3,600—a full $1K more than a standard 000-18—it’s a good thing the Martin 000-18 Modern Deluxe looks and feels as luxurious as it does. But while details like a pearl-inlay, 1930s-style script logo, EVO gold frets, and flawless lutherie and woodwork at every turn will make even the most cynical function-before-form grump pause, it’s the functional facets of the 000-18 Modern Deluxe that impress the most.
Building on Perfection
The 000 body (which shares dimensions, more or less, with the OM) is a cornerstone of the Martin line. Mating it to the “18” tonewood formula, which combines mahogany back and sides, adds up to a guitar that, to many ears, is the essence of balance and sweetness. So how does one refine something that’s so near perfect to begin with? Well, even in the case of an architectural masterpiece there’s always room for a little tasteful landscaping, and Martin has done a fair bit of that here. The 1930s-style logo is inlaid in pearl, while the body binding is East Indian rosewood—a very subtle but rich contrast to the mahogany and beautiful wheat-colored torrefied Sitka spruce top. The bookmatched, 2-piece top has a beautiful grain pattern with medullary rays that add a sense of almost watery depth and a classy, not-overbearing hint of flame out at the edges. I’d imagine our review guitar will be a joy to watch age. The gold, open-gear Waverly butterbean-style tuners may be the most overtly “deluxe” appointment on the guitar. But they are a stylistically cohesive element and feel super smooth and precise.
The additions to the 000-18 that put the “modern” in this very deluxe model include enhancements that appeal to tone scientists that work at the microscopic level: Liquidmetal bridge pins and a carbon composite bridgeplate—components said to improve sustain and volume. Such benefits can be very hard to qualify without a raft of test equipment at your side. But I did sense a more immediate, sometimes explosive, response, which also seemed to expand the guitar’s already considerably dynamic range. If you’ve ever checked out a 000-18 and been at all disappointed with its capacity for fast response, this version could alter your perception. Other non-traditional elements have more tangible effects, like the asymmetric neck, which puts a little extra mass on the bass side and shifts the apex of the neck in that direction as well. The effect is subtle, especially given that the neck is a bit slim. But with its ability to offer more support for the thumb when barre chording or fretting bass notes, I felt less fatigue—and I was testing this instrument at a time when my hands were feeling like a mess. However subtle the effect, I was grateful.
Song from a Siren
There’s another reason that the 000-18 Modern Deluxe feels easy on the hands: The guitar is incredibly even in touch responsiveness and output along the whole length of the fretboard. You’re never squeezing a bit extra here or there to get a note to ring true or free of buzz. Making the connection between thought, instinct, and execution of a note or chord feels like a more fluid and effortless sequence of actions. This quality can have a real upside as you formulate or play melodic sequences, as can the OM-style 1 3/4" nut width (most 000 guitars have a slimmer 1 5/8" spacing).
The dynamic response is also superb. Softly plucked notes have substance, body, and complexity. And even a gentle touch with flesh on string gives individual notes blooming, ringing resonance. Approach the 000-18 Modern Deluxe with a more forceful touch and it surprises with big-time headroom and fast reactivity—the kind you more readily associate with rosewood-backed 000s and OMs and bigger bodied D-series dreadnoughts.
The Verdict
Though I tried, I didn’t hear many, if any, weaknesses in the 000-18 Modern Deluxe’s tone makeup—which is what you should expect for (gulp) $3,599. I suppose you could make a case for a sort of new-guitar antiseptic edge in some harder-plucked notes—the kind a torrefied top should help avoid. But I heard nothing that sounded like it wouldn’t mellow over time. And the dynamism of the instrument makes it easy to work around any trace elements of harsh overtones, which are very, very few. Playing a flattop that you feel at one with—ergonomically, tonally, and responsively—is a treat. The 000-18 Modern Deluxe makes it extraordinarily easy to tap into that well of sweetness.