Breedlove Guitars Review - AJ250/SF - 12 Plus, Flamed Maple Twelve String January 25th, 2008 . by MacNichol One of the Breedlove Atlas series 12-string guitars, the AJ250/SF Plus is a large, booming guitar, and arguably the best-looking of the Atlas Series instruments. The top is sitka and the back/sides are a gorgeous flamed maple with a shiny finish. The combo of sitka and flamed maple results in a bright, cheerful look. It comes with a soft cutaway, slightly wider neck than a six string would have, as well as shiny gold Grover tuners. But the AJ250/SF Plus is more than just a good-looking guitar. It comes with Fishman Classic 4t pickup system for those who plug in. And for those who don’t, you’ll get plenty of volume and bass out of this guitar. As is standard for the Atlas series, the AJ250/SF Plus contains a JLD bridge truss system, which is particularly useful for a twelve-string and the extra pressure that the strings exert. Also standard for the Atlas series is the pinless bridge system (which makes string changes much easier). As is typical of a Breedlove, the flamed maple jumbo exerts a piano-like bass. However, this may not be as apparent on a Breedlove twelve string because of the double strings. As such, if you really want to hear that piano bass come through, try removing the double strings for the bass strings. This will feel a bit weird at first when playing because your fingers will alternately hit single and double strings, but you will soon get used to it. This provides a great sound that is somewhat like a rhythm guitar and mandolin playing together. Posted in Acoustic Guitars, Breedlove Guitars | Comments are closed.