How I Received My Breedlove Revival DR-Deluxe Guitar: A Christmas Story

Seeing as how we’ve just crossed the threshold of a new year, I thought it might be a good idea to tell you a story—a Christmas story—about how I originally received my main acoustic guitar, a Breedlove Revival DR-Deluxe, seven Christmases ago.

I'll Have a Breedlove Christmas

Taken from my Lagoon Blue Ecosystems journal, December 20, 2014

To watch the entire "A Breedlove Christmas" series click here.

Something HUGE has happened this week. A former student of mine texted me and asked what my plans were for yesterday. I gave him the rundown—I had a couple of guitar lessons to teach, after which I would be free until 5:30 p.m.—then asked “What’s up?”

“Wanted to bring by some Christmas cheer!” he texted back.

So I offered to have lunch together, intending to treat him to a complimentary meal, but when lunch time came around, he had some errands he’d forgotten about and said that he’d swing by my place later. After a few time delays, he was able to make it around 4:45 p.m.

And spread some Christmas cheer he did!

I opened the door when I saw him pull into the driveway, get out of his car, and make his way up the concrete path to the front door. I noticed he had a guitar case in his hand. I recognized it from the previous few lessons he had been bringing it along.

He had purchased it on a recommendation from me after I had recently returned from vacation with my wife. While on our trip, we had visited a music store where I had taken several guitars for a test drive. One particular brand, make, and model—the same one he’d bought—came in at first place on my personal list out of the three main ones I had played. (See video below.)

My Test-Drive of the Breedlove Revival DR-Deluxe

Spreading Christmas Cheer

“I came by to give you this,” he said before I could say anything more than hello. “Merry Christmas.” He extended his arm and handed me the guitar case.

“What do you mean?” I asked, wanting to make sure I’d heard him correctly—but probably more so wanting to make sure he’d heard himself correctly.

“It’s yours,” was his reply.

The weird thing about all this was that, from the moment I’d received his text, I had a strong feeling this was what his “Christmas cheer” would be about. Call me crazy, but it’s true.

Even so, I was speechless.

I placed the case on the living room floor and clicked open the shiny new latches (six in all). I then gently opened the case, knowing what it had to be. It was a guitar, obviously, but I knew the exact guitar he’d brought me. As I opened the case lid fully, I saw it was indeed the Breedlove Revival DR-Deluxe Custom Series guitar I’d imagined.

I myself had been trying to save up for this very guitar for a while, but it was looking like it would be years before I could afford it. My student had mentioned that he wasn’t very impressed with it. He had several high-dollar guitars already in his collection, including a few Taylors and a custom Sweetwater edition Martin HD-28.

I assumed he’d sold it, so I had written off any chance of owning it myself. He’d offered it to me before in exchange for guitar lessons, but it would be 3–4 years of free lessons before I could even come close to paying it off, so I passed on the deal, as much as I hated to.

Now, this very guitar—with an MSRP of $3,999—lay in my living room in near mint condition, and he had just said it was MINE!!! What I didn’t realize until a little later, after seeing the end strap button had an input jack, was that it included a top-of-the-line L. R. Baggs Dual Element pickup, complete with a condenser mic and saddle pickup.

I kept hearing myself say “Are you sure?” and “Really?” until his answers finally convinced me he was indeed sure and that, yes, this really was happening. He hinted amusingly that he wouldn’t mind getting a complimentary copy of my Bluegrass Guitar Essentials course when it came out on DVD a couple of months later. I totally agreed that he’d get one of the first copies. [Which I later made good on. That, and a few other courses along the way. A small price to pay, as far as I’m concerned.]

Now, as I sit here in the living room writing this, having already filmed it in a couple of videos to be released on my YouTube channel soon [see the video at the top of this post], my new Breedlove Revival DR-Deluxe sits upright in its case, directly in front of me, in all its splendor.

I think the most shocking thing about all this is that I wasn’t jumping up and down and running around the house for joy. I don’t know if I’d call it shock or not, but I think it’s because it really didn’t come as a surprise to me. I knew somehow that this was just what he meant by stopping by to bring me some “Christmas cheer.” I just knew.

I still haven’t heard back from Breedlove to see if my artist endorsement with them is official, but I believe I have a better shot at it than before, now that I actually own a Breedlove guitar. [Note: I’ve been an official Breedlove artist ever since!]

The Greatest Gift of All