Breedlove BJ350 Acoustic Bass in the Garden

I realized a few months ago that I've taken quite a few post-repair pictures of instruments while they were still on the workbench in the Dungeon.  Since that's not the best place to take 'beauty' shots, I have been trying to take them outside where the lighting is better.

Anyway, here's the Breedlove bass after the new saddle and restringing.  You can see it's fairly plain, but it's nice looking.

The Tomastik-Infeld strings are amazing.  Since they have a nylon core, they're more flexible than standard strings - they have a touch of buzz here and there since (I suspect) they vibrate in a larger arc.   I figured since they have less tension I'd have to take some relief out of the neck, but in fact, I may have to put a touch more in instead.  I'll see how they settle in over the next few days.

The strings do sound more 'natural,' more like an upright bass.  I'm pleased with them.  

The top is cedar, and there's a nice rosette.  Back and sides are Honduran mahogany.

Look at that nice bone saddle too.  Just remember:

Bone = tone
Plastic = spastic

The cloth core winding is purple!  Pretty cool.

I think the tuners are Gotoh, but whatever they are, I really like them.  They're super smooth and easy to turn.

EDIT: The tuners are actually Grovers.  

I'm really digging this thing.

There's an L.R. Baggs preamp/tuner built in.  There is a Baggs piezo pickup under the saddle.

The tuner is a nice touch.  The preamp also has a phase reverse switch to help with feedback issues when you play through an amp.

Another interesting feature is this 'sound port' on the side.  I'm not if Breedlove has a name for it, but you see these nowadays in some acoustic guitars too.  The idea is that the player can hear the instrument better through the port.

EDIT: I just looked on Breedlove's site.  They call the hole in the side a "monitor."  

It sounds good to me, so I suppose it works.

But the really cool thing about the port/hole/monitor is that you can look inside!

The workmanship here is just about perfect.  No bad joints or glue runs anywhere.  It also smells really nice.

Notice the scalloped top bracing, and also the JLD Bridge Doctor.  Breedlove uses this device on all of its guitars and basses.  You may recall I put one on a Guild acoustic a couple of years ago.