Guitaripedia

Every guitar has a story.

Breedlove

Concert

Two luthiers left a big company for a barn in Oregon to draw their own guitar. The drawing outlasted everybody.

Central Oregon, 1990. Larry Breedlove and Steve Henderson have left their jobs building guitars at Taylor in San Diego. They set up in an old barn northwest of Bend and start building custom six- and twelve-strings. Before long they draw a body shape of their own.

Introduced
1991
Type
Acoustic flat-top
Class
Production
Read the story · 3 min

All guitarsMore Breedlove

Have a photograph of this guitar? Send a picture

The short version

  1. 1990

    The barn

    Breedlove and Henderson leave San Diego and set up shop near Bend.

  2. 1991

    The first one

    A cedar and koa Concert goes to Winter NAMM. It’s still on display in Bend.

  3. 1992

    In the catalog

    The company’s own catalog says the Concert “first appeared” this year. Both dates stand.

  4. 1994

    Kim arrives

    Kim Breedlove joins, and Larry goes back to Taylor.

  5. 2003

    Made in Korea

    The Atlas line brings the shape to an overseas factory.

  6. 2010

    Two Old Hippies

    Tom and Molly Bedell buy the company.

  7. 2017

    Voiced by tapping

    Premium models start having their tops and backs tapped and voiced to target notes.

  8. 2026

    Bend only

    New owners bring everything back to the U.S. The Concert is one of three shapes left.

Side A

A1

Two guys and a barn

Plenty of luthiers dream about quitting the big shop and building their own thing. In 1990 Larry Breedlove and Steve Henderson actually did it. They left Taylor in San Diego, found an old barn northwest of Bend, Oregon, and started building custom six- and twelve-strings.

What they were after was balance. A bass that didn’t swamp the treble, and a guitar that was easy to play. They needed a body shape to do it, and they didn’t want to borrow somebody else’s. So they drew one.

A2

Not a Martin, not a Taylor

The Concert is a fourteen-fret flat-top with a pinched waist and a rounded lower bout about 15⅜ inches across. At the counter it gets compared to a Martin OM, which is close to the same size. It’s not a copy. Different bracing, a different headstock, a slightly longer scale. It’s not a Taylor Grand Auditorium either, which is wider.

The first one was cedar over figured koa, shown at Winter NAMM in 1991. That guitar is still on display in Bend. The company’s own catalog later said the Concert first appeared in 1992, the year it showed up at NAMM as part of a whole lineup. It depends which debut you count. A shallow-bodied version came first, and a slightly deeper one soon after.

A3

No pins, a post, and a thin top

Look at the bridge. There are no bridge pins, and no six holes drilled through the top. The headstock was tapered and then made fully lopsided, so each string ran straight to its tuner.

The big trick is inside. Breedlove licensed a design called the JLD bridge truss, a cedar post that runs from under the bridge back to the tail of the guitar. It kept the top from bulging up behind the bridge, which meant the top could be made thinner, and a thinner top moves more. They also carved the top thinner on the bass side. Those two tricks were the early Breedlove sound.

The owners kept changing. The outline didn’t.

Flip the record · By the numbers

  • 15⅜"

    Across the lower bout. Close to a Martin OM, but not a copy of one.

  • ~200

    Guitars a year the whole company made by 1994.

  • ~2,000

    Guitars a year the Bend shop made by 2020. Company-wide, not just Concerts.

  • 174 Hz

    Where the top of one 2026 review guitar was tuned to ring. That one guitar, not an average.

Side B

B1

Changing hands

Kim Breedlove joined around 1994, and Larry went back to Taylor. The shop was making about 200 guitars a year by then. In 2003 the company started making Concerts in Korea too, and later elsewhere overseas. In 2010 Tom and Molly Bedell’s company, Two Old Hippies, bought the place. A bigger Bend shop followed, and a line of Oregon myrtlewood Concerts you could actually order.

In 2017 the post and the graduated top were retired on the premium models. Now the tops and backs get tapped and voiced to target notes, with the bracing carved to match. By 2020 the Bend shop was making around 2,000 guitars a year. The Concert had become the company’s best-selling shape, and other sizes, the Concertina and the Companion, were grown from it.

B2

Who plays one

There’s no single famous star guitar behind the Concert. It’s a player’s guitar. Richard Gilewitz played a deep-bodied Calendar Series Concert, cedar and rosewood, fingerstyle in open C. Gretchen Menn went from Bend-made and imported Breedloves to a Custom Shop myrtlewood Concert. Jeff Bridges got a signature Concert in 2020, an imported one with “All in This Together” inlaid on it. His own main Breedlove is the bigger Concerto, though, so don’t mix them up.

B3

Script B, again

In November 2025 the Bedells sold the company to Pete Mroz and Shannon Pollard. At NAMM in 2026 the new owners brought everything home. No more overseas lines. Three body shapes, and the Concert is one of them.

The new ones have a script B on the headstock, like the early guitars from the barn. They’re still pinless, still fourteen-fret, still Sitka spruce over rosewood in the Roots model. One review guitar weighed 4.6 pounds. Pollard’s line on it is that the Concert “simply works for everyone.” That’s an owner talking, but he’s not wrong.

Every owner since the barn has changed something about Breedlove. None of them changed the outline two guys drew in a barn, and it’s still the guitar you can order tomorrow.

Put this on

You’ve read about it. Now hear it. Here’s what this guitar sounds like, and what to listen for.

  1. Richard Gilewitz · 2009

    Perfect Guitar clinic

    Gilewitz plays fingerstyle in open C on his deep-bodied Breedlove Concert, cedar over rosewood. Listen for how the bass stays out of the way of the melody.

    Watch it on YouTube

The cast

The people, and the specific guitars, that made the legend.

  • 1990

    Larry Breedlove

    Co-founder

    Left Taylor to start the company in a barn near Bend, then went back to Taylor around 1994.

  • 1990

    Steve Henderson

    Co-founder

    The other half of the barn. Came up from San Diego with Breedlove.

  • 1994

    Kim Breedlove

    Builder

    Joined around 1994, just as Larry left. Some of the rarest Concerts carry his signature.

  • 2009

    Richard Gilewitz

    Calendar Series C25

    A deep-bodied Concert, cedar and rosewood, for fingerstyle in open C.

  • 2023

    Gretchen Menn

    Custom Shop myrtlewood Concert

    Played Made-in-Bend and imported Breedloves first, then got a custom myrtlewood Concert.

  • 2020

    Jeff Bridges

    Signature Concert Copper E

    An imported signature Concert with “All in This Together” inlaid on it. His main Breedlove is a bigger Concerto, not a Concert.

Liner notes

Specs, construction, rarity, value, and every source we used.

Breedlove's own 15⅜-inch concert — the house soundboard, not a Martin 0 and not an OM-28.

Body
Concert, 14-fret; Sitka spruce top; East Indian rosewood back and sides; black binding. Factory: 15.37" lower bout, 11.28" upper, 9" waist, 19.875" body, 3.25" at neck / 4" at tail, 4" soundhole
Neck
Honduran mahogany, Soft C; bolt-on (Guitar Player, 29 May 2026)
Fingerboard
African ebony, centered dots; 20 frets, join at 14th. Sweetwater Artisan Concert: 16" radius
Scale
25.5"
Pickups
LR Baggs HiFi (bridge-plate transducers, volume and tone). Artisan Concert on this plate: LR Baggs Anthem
Hardware
Pinless African ebony bridge; Breedlove nickel tuners; deluxe hardshell case; Elixir PB Nanoweb Light
Electronics
LR Baggs HiFi
Finish
Vintage toner gloss top; gloss back and sides
Nut
1.75", bone (Guitar Player). Factory width only; material from the review guitar
Open the full research fileConstruction details, the complete player record, production numbers, dated value estimates, and sources

*Current typical = 2026 Roots Concert RTC-SRe, $2,999 with deluxe hardshell (breedloveguitars.com / Guitar Player, Jimmy Leslie, 29 May 2026). Cutaway RTC-SRce $3,199. Factory inches; millimetres unpublished on the live Roots card (fetched 11 September 2026). Artisan Concert $4,299–$4,499 is the next Bend tier on the same outline. Classic C10/C1 — Blue Book 15.375" × 19.875" × 4 1/16"; C20 4 9/16" deep. Wikipedia 2021 shape card: 15" lower bout, depth 3.75–4.50". Don't average 15 / 15.37 / 15.375 or the depths. Mix flagged on Atlas Stage C25/SRe dealer 1-11/16" (43 mm) — Korean Concert, not this table. Not a Martin OM-28. No Gibson SKU.*

Construction

The job was a fingerstyle guitar two Taylor luthiers could make in a Tumalo barn that was not a copy of a Nazareth OM. Larry Breedlove and Steve Henderson left San Diego in 1990. Wikipedia: an old barn northwest of Bend; custom six- and twelve-strings. Acoustic Guitar (Teja Gerken): balance, a bass that did not swamp the treble, playability. The outline they drew is still the company.

It is not a Martin 0 (martin-0-18). Nazareth's concert is a 13½-inch class box. It is not a Martin OM-28 (martin-om-28). Nazareth's Orchestra Model is a 14-fret 000 / auditorium: 15" wide, current Standard 25.4", Style 28 herringbone, no cutaway, no factory pickup. This is Breedlove. Live Roots card: lower bout 15.37", scale 25.5", pinless ebony, Soft C, LR Baggs HiFi. Same OM-class conversation at the counter. Different factory, different brace, different headstock. Do not nest this guitar under the Martin OM family.

It is not a Taylor 814ce (taylor-814ce). El Cajon's Grand Auditorium is 16" across (Premier Guitar, 2014). Breedlove's later Concerto is the 16-inch dread-class sibling, 2017. The Concert is the mid box. Not that guitar.

1991 is the first Concert. Company 30th-anniversary copy (dshowmusic, 30 Dec 2020): first instrument to market, Western red cedar and figured koa C-1, Winter NAMM 1991; that guitar on display in Bend. Wikipedia: first model 1991, shallow-body C-10. Gerken: concert-size C1, slightly deeper C2 a short time later. Blue Book files C10 as C1, C20 as C2, mfg. early 1990s–2004. Premier Guitar Discovery release (15 Apr 2014) and the 2014 catalog: the Concert "first appeared in 1992." Keep 1990 (shop), 1991 (C-1 / C-10 / NAMM), and 1992 (five models, three body types at NAMM; catalog "first appeared"). This plate starts in 1991.

What you get is a 14-fret flat-top with a pinched waist and a rounded lower bout. Pinless bridge from the start — Gerken: asymmetrical, no six holes in the soundboard. Narrowly tapered, then fully asymmetrical headstock for a straight string path. Breedlove licensed the JLD bridge truss: a cedar post under the bridge to the tailblock, so the top could stay thin without bellying. Graduated top: thinner on the bass side. Those two tricks are the early house sound. Premier Guitar (Gayla Drake Paul, July 2010) on an American Series C20/SM: concert-size, graduated Sitka, mahogany, pinless rosewood, JLD, 1¾" nut, 25½" scale, street then $999.

Kim Breedlove joined around 1994; Larry went back to Taylor. Gerken: production around 200 guitars a year by then — company-wide, not a Concert census. CM is Concert Meyer, Terry Meyer's asymmetrical Kay Kraft twist, 1992. Different outline. Not this table.

2003: Atlas, Korea, under Peter Newport. Gerken: resembled the originals with a different bridge and a dovetail. 2004: Revival — traditional dreads and orchestra models, not this shape. 2010: Tom and Molly Bedell's Two Old Hippies buy the company. 2012: larger Bend shop; Oregon Series puts myrtle on a Concert you could actually order. Wikipedia: that shop about 2,000 guitars a year as of 2020 — again company-wide.

2017: Sound Optimization replaces the bridge truss and graduated top on premium models (Wikipedia). Tops and backs tapped to target frequencies; braces carved to match. Guitar Player on the 2026 Roots RTC-SRe: top 174 Hz, back 218 Hz, Helmholtz 101 Hz — one voiced guitar, not a factory average. 2018 Concertina (14.75", 12-fret) and 2020 Companion are other sizes grown from Concert.

November 2025: Bedell sells to Pete Mroz and Shannon Pollard. NAMM 2026: USA-only. Roots, Artisan, Collector. Parlor, Concert, dreadnought. Overseas Discovery / Pursuit / Organic Concerts are closed. Guitar Player: new Wave headstock, script B like the early ones, bolt-on Soft C, pinless ebony, HiFi under the bridge plate, 4.6 lb on the review guitar. Pollard, quoted there: the Concert "simply works for everyone." That is an owner talking. It is still the 1991 outline, thinner at the tail than a classic C20.

Not Artisan, Collector, Concerto, Concertina, Companion, or CM. Not a Gibson. No Gibson SKU. Not a 2003–2025 Korean or Chinese Concert — other factories on this silhouette. Current production is the Bend Roots Concert. Sitka. East Indian. Pinless. 14-fret. The guitar you can order tomorrow.

Players

The Concert does not have a D-28 named-serial shelf. House pages are loud. Named instruments first.

Richard Gilewitz — Calendar Series C25. Deep-body Concert, cedar and rosewood, 1¾" nut, 25½" scale (Chicago Music Exchange, serial 8048). Perfect Guitar clinic (2009): he had been on Breedlove four or five years; C25 cedar/rosewood; JLD; LR Baggs M1. Fingerstyle, open C. That is this shape. Deep C25, not a shallow C10.

Gretchen Menn — Custom Shop myrtlewood Concert. Company profile (14 Aug 2023): a Custom Shop Concert after she had already played Made-in-Bend and Pursuit. February 2026 Roots Concert Sitka/rosewood is a review guitar in her hands (factory blog, 17 Feb 2026). House collaborator plus a named Custom Shop Concert. Do not upgrade that to a session log.

Jeff Bridges — Signature Concert Copper E, 2020. Vintage Guitar (Pete Prown, May 2021): Organic Collection, torrefied Swiss spruce, African mahogany, "All in This Together" inlay, China assembly, Bend setup, street $699. Concert body, 25.5". Amazon Concert Sunburst CE is the granadillo cutaway sibling (Guitar Player, Jimmy Leslie, 20 Apr 2021, Editors' Pick; MAP $999). Both are this shape on import woods.

Not this guitar. Bridges's flagship is the Oregon Concerto Bourbon CE — Concerto, 16", myrtle, Bend. Ed Gerhard's signature is a jumbo, walnut rosette, koa bind (Acoustic Guitar, Gerken, Mar 1999); Wikipedia's festival shot is a dreadnought. Chris Hillman Calendar is Revival dreadnought. Avi Kaplan's stage guitar is a vintage Breedlove dreadnought (factory artist page). Do not hang those here.

Also known to play stays short. Factory artist pages list Menn, Bridges, others without a pinned Concert serial. None invented.

Rarity

You can buy a new Concert tomorrow. Roots and Artisan are regular Bend catalog. They are not vintage rare.

Breedlove did not publish Concert unit totals. None invented. Serials date a guitar. They don't count a year. Gerken's ~200/year by 1994 and Wikipedia's ~2,000/year by 2020 are shop output, not a Concert census. That is why a first-year count is unknown, not the chapter.

What is actually thinner: Tumalo C-1 / C-10 / C-20 before the 2004 recatalog; three-signature 1992 instruments; Kim-signed Masterclass Concerts. Atlas, Discovery, Pursuit, Organic, and Jeff Bridges Copper E are other factories or other recipes on this outline. CM is a different guitar. 25th- and 30th-anniversary Concert limiteds are closed runs of the shape, not a factory total for Concert. 2026 USA-only does not make a 2018 Oregon Concert scarce. It makes it last year's guitar.

Value

Informal estimate, 11 September 2026. Not an appraisal.

Ask vs sold labeled. Celebrity lots are not-comps. No invented medians or factory counts. Period lists are period money.

New street. Roots Concert RTC-SRe $2,999; cutaway RTC-SRce $3,199 (breedloveguitars.com, fetched 11 September 2026). Artisan Concert ARC-ARVTe $4,299; burst ARC-AREBe $4,499. Guitar Player's review guitar is the $2,999 SRe. Historical, not 2026: Premier Guitar 2010 C20 street $999; Vintage Guitar 2003 C25 list $3,600; VG 2021 Bridges Copper E $699.

Used modern. Reverb Price Guide, Oregon Concert CE (fetched 11 September 2026): estimated used $1,035–$1,765 (50 orders, Good to Mint, "all models" mix); typical new on that page $1,999. Named solds on the same guide: 13 Aug 2026 Very Good $1,300; 8 Aug Excellent $1,090; 13 Jul Mint $1,999; 13 Feb Mint $1,725. Those are Oregon-era myrtle Concerts, not a 2026 Roots hammer. Sweetwater Gear Exchange band on Oregon Concert CE Saddleback: $1,455–$2,155. Don't invent a midpoint. Pre-2026 Discovery / Pursuit / Organic Concerts trade cheaper; they are imports.

Vintage / collectible. There is no pre-war Concert market. Early Tumalo C10/C20 and Masterclass Concerts trade as used high-end, not as herringbone D-28 money. Named asks, not hammers: Masterclass C10 striped-ebony $2,999; 2007 Masterclass C-10 ziricote $3,399. No clean Heritage/Christie's 2024–26 hammer isolated. Bridges Copper E is an import signature, not a 1991 C-1.

See also

  • martin-om-28 — 15" 14-fret auditorium; 25.4" current Standard; no cutaway, no factory pickup. The OM-class conversation this Breedlove concert is not
  • taylor-814ce — Taylor Grand Auditorium, ~16" lower bout, ES2; not a Breedlove Concert
  • larrivee-om-03 — another 15⅜-inch 14-fret OM-class peer; Oxnard satin, not Bend

Sources

Guitars this one gets compared to, confused with, or descended from.