Review: Breedlove Pursuit Exotic S Concert Amber CE 

Guitar manufacturers have often struggled to facilitate their pursuit of great sounding tonewoods for their instruments in a way that is environmentally sustainable. However, where others have failed, Breedlove, operating out of Bend, Oregon, have succeeded. Two core values drive everything that Breedlove does: protecting the world’s forests and maximising the sound of their acoustic guitars. Never have they been more successful in demonstrating this than with the newest addition to their ECO collection, the Pursuit Exotic S Concert Amber CE.

Breedlove’s ECO Collection addresses these two core values with renewed vigour and exceptional execution. In a stunning feat of engineering, Breedlove has invented a process to integrate three different layers of tonewood, all sustainably harvested from forests personally visited by Breedlove owner Tom Bedell. This process avoids the soft centre core that dampens sound on other laminates, giving these guitars an exceptional tone. With the Breedlove ECO Collection, you can play environmentally friendly, solid top guitars with vibrant, renewable, sound enhancing EcoTonewoods approved by Mother Nature.

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Crafted with these Eco Tonewoods, which provide an optimised and natural sound, the Pursuit Exotic S Concert Amber CE is a thing of beauty. Featuring a shimmering Amber Burst finish that perfectly highlights the natural beauty of its myrtlewood construction, this is a fantastic sounding guitar that environmentally conscious musicians can feel great about owning. Myrtle’s superb blend of rosewood’s bottom, mahogany’s mids and maple’s clear, ringing treble gives a full, resonant voice to this guitar’s Concert body, resulting in a versatile instrument like no other.

The Concert body shape is favoured by many players for its well-balanced, compact size and articulate sound. With plenty of volume and bottom end, though not straying into the boomy territory of a dreadnought, the Pursuit Exotic S Concert is perfectly suited to both fingerstyle and flatpicking. Incredibly comfortable to play, this guitar’s sleek, satin finished neck is complemented by a very generous soft cutaway that allows full access to every one of its twenty frets.

Featuring scalloped ‘cascade’ Sitka spruce bracing, the Exotic S has exceptional projection and is a joy to play, filling any room with full, rich lows, a lively midrange and a vibrant, sparkling top end. Other appointments on this guitar include premium Breedlove copper machine heads, a beautiful tortoiseshell binding, a stained black Ovangkol bridge and classy copper coloured fret inlays. These choices combined with the guitar’s beautiful Amber finish give the instrument an organic, natural but upmarket appearance that is extremely easy on the eyes and reminiscent of its state of origin.

The Pursuit Exotic S Concert Amber CE comes stock equipped with a Fishman Presys I pickup system, making this an Acoustic Electric instrument suitable for any live performance situation. The Fishman Presys I features a volume control to ensure a clean signal, an onboard digital tuner and a contour control that adjusts your tone in a linear fashion from a natural tone to a more mid-scooped sound. It also features a phase switch that enhances bass response and can help to reduce unwanted feedback. This pickup is very effective at maintaining the Pursuit’s lively natural timbre, ensuring that this guitar sounds as good amplified as it does acoustically. 

I found the Pursuit to be exceptionally resonant, articulate and effortless to play. It has excellent sustain even when played with a gentle fingerstyle and when strummed, every note of each chord rings out distinctly and clearly in a very musical way. Pleasantly lightweight and well-balanced, its very generous sloped cutaway provides effortless fret access all the way up the neck and it sits very comfortably on the knee. Small details like the tortoiseshell design that binds its body, neck and rosette are a nice touch, blending in well with the singularly pretty Amber burst finish. The copper detailing gives this guitar a unique look that very much belongs to Breedlove, assisting in providing it with its own identity.

Another great selling point for all of Breedlove’s products is of course their commitment to environmentally sustainable practices. The bottom line is, Breedlove uses no clear-cut woods. They either salvage dead trees or individually harvest to minimise the impact on forests. They achieve this while maintaining a very reasonable price point with their ECO collection, which for this model currently sits at an accessible $1399. When compared to instruments of similar quality and timbre, this is a steal. Particularly considering the environmentally sustainable practices that go into its construction.

Sustainability aside, this guitar’s beautiful Myrtlewood build gives it a unique look and sound that are truly delightful. Its neck is smooth and comfortable and it came out of the box with a low, fast action and very solid intonation. This is a very high quality guitar for its price range, making it a great investment for players across all experience levels. Details like a unique asymmetrical headstock design give it the unique Breedlove flair that sets them apart from their competition, but nothing in its design feels too flashy, out of place or overdone. It retains a lovely, organic and natural aesthetic that is nicely accentuated by its Amber finish and copper appointments.

All in all, this is a fantastic mid-sized acoustic-electric guitar that has a great balanced sound, a comfortable body and a very effective and natural sounding pickup system. The pickup controls like the contour knob and phase button provide flexibility for live performances and allows players to tailor their tone to suit individual spaces and mixes. So if you’re an environmentally conscious picker who wants a guitar that sounds great anywhere and makes a statement, this is a great choice for you.

You won’t find another brand new, ethically made guitar you can feel this good about buying in this price range and you certainly won’t find one that feels and sounds as good as this one. Breedlove have finally reconciled the great pursuit of tonewoods with our need to protect the beautiful forests in which they are found. It’s a lovely guitar for the tree hugging hippie within us all.

For local Breedlove enquiries, visit Amber Technology.