Amongst the yellowed, fire-tinged pages of the Big Book of Breedlove Lore,
one finds this entry....
"
and in the year nineteen hundred and ninety six, fell spirits did
besmirch our gate. The exemplary fruits of the labour of our skilled and meticulous
craftfolk were for a while compromised, by a batch of finish lacquer that
we surmise was blended by an apothecary with a mind too feeble to stay focused
on his formulations."
And so it was that some Breedlove guitars produced in 1996 developed what
some have affectionately called "Foggy Finish." In reality, the
problem manifests itself over time, either as a slight haze to the finish,
or a tackiness, a higher surface friction, than a finish of this quality should
exhibit. I am intimately aware of this issue... my own '96 C12 maple was affected.
The solution is a complete refinish of the guitar body.
Which brings us to the guitar in question... a lovely '96 SC25, in Sitka and
Walnut. A great fingerstyle guitar, and also a powerful, resonant instrument
for the plectrum player, this SC25 has the unique attributes of being both
nicely broken in, and also minty new in appearance, thanks to the refinish.
There is not a single thing I could find worth mentioning in terms of dings
or other marks. The original owner ultimately decided to trade this instrument
in against a custom model, and so here she is, ready to go to a new owner
for a terrific price.
