The Tree: The Breedlove to Exceed All Others

Sweetwater and Breedlove have enjoyed a fruitful partnership since the beginning. We’ve built incredible guitars from rare Brazilian rosewood, discovered exactly how tonewoods impact an acoustic guitar’s sound, and even created a collection of dragon-inspired guitars. But now, in 2025, Breedlove and Sweetwater have created our most incredible and visually appealing acoustic guitar yet. Say hello to the 2025 Showstopper Concert E, “The Tree,” the latest acoustic instrument made from the most spectacular mahogany ever discovered.

What Is “The Tree”?

The story of this guitar begins deep in the jungles of Belize (then British Honduras) in the year 1965. According to Mark Berry in Fine Woodworking, loggers discovered a truly massive mahogany tree that was well over 100 feet tall and more than 10 feet in diameter at the base. Given the tree’s unique spiral grain, the loggers decided to fell the tree. As the mahogany monster toppled, it fell into a ravine, making salvage difficult. The loggers, unable to extricate the tree with a tractor and faced with almost 200 miles to the nearest sawmill, left the behemoth behind and returned home.

With the return of the loggers, tales of a huge mahogany tree stuck in a ravine spread through the logging community. The legend of “The Tree” had begun. The Tree rested in an unnamed ravine deep in the jungle for almost two decades before it was salvaged in eight pieces and milled. What resulted was a massive collection of highly figured, quilted mahogany planks that were later shipped to Miami, Florida, and Sausalito, California.

From Fine Furniture to Superb Tonewood

While a small quantity of The Tree’s lumber found its way into the hands of elite luthiers, the wood’s intense figuring made it a natural choice for furniture. A substantial portion of The Tree was built into such objects as office tables and dressers. There are even unsubstantiated rumors that George Lucas’s office is paneled with the stuff! Since so little of The Tree was intended for guitar making, this tonewood is among the most highly sought in the world.

Over the next decades, luthiers began searching for suitable sets to transform into guitars. And that is where Breedlove enters the story. In 2009, they had the opportunity to purchase a conference-room table built from The Tree’s quilted mahogany. Since purchasing the table from Alex Alexander, Breedlove has carefully guarded their precious pieces of The Tree, preferring to use them for the most exceptional builds.

Spectacular figuring isn’t everything when it comes to tonewoods. Thankfully, The Tree delivers both sonic and visual appeal. Those who have heard guitars made from The Tree report that the tonewood’s outrageous density delivers incredibly rich bass and powerful midrange reminiscent of rosewood.

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Introducing Sweetwater’s One-of-a-kind 2025 Showstopper Concert E: “The Tree”

The Breedlove 2025 Showstopper Concert E, “The Tree,” is a singular acoustic-electric guitar produced just for Sweetwater. With the help of Breedlove, we examined the remaining Tree back and side sets and picked the one we felt was most beautiful.

For the top, we chose a piece of solid tunnel redwood. According to our sources at Breedlove, this wood was originally harvested more than 150 years ago and put to work as railroad beams as America expanded westward. As the guitar’s top is made from this old-growth redwood, it’s exceptionally stable and sings at the most delicate touch.

Those immaculate body woods were paired with a Honduran mahogany neck and an African ebony fingerboard to round out the design. Once you play it, you’re guaranteed to be hooked for life.

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Amazing Appointments from Head to Toe

Breedlove spared no expense to build the 2025 Showstopper Concert E, “The Tree.” Their luthiers lavished all their skill and creativity to make the guitar incredible. Starting with the headstock, you get the Breedlove “B” logo inlaid in brass. The Gotoh 510 tuning machines also feature delicate engravings for an extra touch of class.

The ethically harvested bone nut features a 1.75-inch string spacing for extreme comfort in every fretting position. Traveling down the neck, you get an ebony fingerboard inlaid with an incredibly intricate rose motif and EVO gold frets dressed to perfection. All around the body, you’ll find spalted maple purfling, walnut trim and binding, and an eye-catching spalted maple rosette.

Spectacular tonewoods, intricate detail, and supreme hardware aren’t all you get with your new Breedlove, though. We’re also including an original copy of the September/October 1985 issue of Fine Woodworking. It helps you become a historian of The Tree by providing a greater look into the history of The Tree as told by Mark Berry.

You Can Only Find Guitars Like This at Sweetwater

Truly one-of-a-kind custom guitars don’t come around that often. But when they do, your friends at Sweetwater always have their ears to the ground, waiting for the latest noteworthy axes to hit the street. Whether you’re looking for your own Breedlove made from The Tree or you’re ready to commission your very own custom build, call your Sweetwater Sales Engineer at (800) 222-4700. They are waiting and ready to consult on your next acoustic guitar purchase.
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