Breedlove Guitars Seconds or Cosmetic Blemishes are a Great Value December 31st, 2007 . by MacNichol When a Breedlove guitar is found to have some type of cosmetic blemish, then the builder will list it as a “second” and discount the price significantly. The cosmetic blemishes are usually either a minor knick or something to do with the finish, such as a noticeably light area within the stain. Indeed, MacNichol recently sold a twelve-string , Breedlove’s solid back AC25/SR, Plus 12-string, and the blemish was a barely noticeable light discoloration on the back, apparently where some tape had been left on during the staining process. Because of this minor cosmetic blemish, our customer saved nearly $400 There is nothing functionally wrong with these seconds. The bracing, JLD bridge truss, bridge, woods, neck, neck truss, fingerboard, nut, and tuning machines are all fine. If there is something functionally wrong with a guitar, Breedlove lists it as a “third”, and then saws out a part of the body and then sends the guitar to a dealer who can then show customers the Breedlove bracing and JLD bridge truss. MacNichol’s Breedlove guitars third is a twelve-string and looks as though a shark took a big bite out of it. Breedlove seconds still have the manufacturer’s warranty, however,  the  blemish is not covered in the warranty. Posted in Acoustic Guitars, Breedlove Guitars | No Comments » Climate Control for Your Instrument December 21st, 2007 . by MacNichol If you’re like me and have a large number of instruments, you’re probably better off doing climate control for an entire room rather than doing in-case for each instrument. If so, then I advise that you take your humidifier’s readings with a grain of salt because the hygrometers connected to humidifiers give you a good ballpark figure, but may not be precise. For example, there’s a humidifier attached to my forced-air heating system in order to include some moisture in the heated air. If I set the desired level to 45% RH, then my actual RH ends up about 30%, and thus I need an additional humidifier for the room that I keep my guitars in. That in-room humidifier tells me the RH is 55% when it’s actually around 40%. As such, invest in a quality guitar hygrometer/thermometer and utilize that rather than relying upon what your humidifier’s reading tells you. Posted in Instrument Care | No Comments »