Blueridge Guitars

[Zach]

Has anyone played one of there?  I know they're made in China, but I've heard some pretty amazing things about them.  I'd like to at least try one out, but the closest dealer is 3 hours away.

[unclrob]

Haven't played one myself but I know that they carry them at Guhn's in Nashville.Lots of talk about them over at acoustic guitar forum.

[Zach]

Yeah thats where I heard about them.  They seem popular on the Martin forum too.  I may just have to buy one and if I don't like it throw it on eBay.  

[unclrob]

We've had other modals from Saga the co. that makes the blueridge and they have always been very nice guitars.

[Play2praiseHim]

I have a Blueridge Br183. It is their top of the line OM style guitar. It has all solid premium woods, rosewood back/sides, spruce top with vintage toner. ebony bridge , fingerboard, end/bridgepins w/abalone dots. It came with bone nut and saddle. It has FULL 45 style abalone rosette/trim on back/sides/all edges including fingerboard!!!!  Abalone snowflake inlays on fingerboard, and ornate fancy deluxe torch inlay on headstock. I replaced the pickguard with a greven tortis 30's style pickguard. This guitar plays as good as it looks. It has an ultra fast low profile neck that plays with such ease. This guitar really sound like a martin. It even has the forward shifted scalloped braces like the prewar martin that it was based on. It outplays many martins that cost twice as much.  If you love the martin sound you will love the blueridge  golden era series. The workmanship was excellent. No glue on inside. No flaws. Very rare for China made guitars.  Unbeleivable value, tone, and playability for the money. I would have expected to pay 2-3 times what I did for it. It is worth it.    Play2praiseHim <><

[sc morris]

I have a Blueridge Br183. It is their top of the line OM style guitar. It has all solid premium woods, rosewood back/sides, spruce top with vintage toner. ebony bridge , fingerboard, end/bridgepins w/abalone dots. It came with bone nut and saddle. It has FULL 45 style abalone rosette/trim on back/sides/all edges including fingerboard!!!!  Abalone snowflake inlays on fingerboard, and ornate fancy deluxe torch inlay on headstock. I replaced the pickguard with a greven tortis 30's style pickguard. This guitar plays as good as it looks. It has an ultra fast low profile neck that plays with such ease. This guitar really sound like a martin. It even has the forward shifted scalloped braces like the prewar martin that it was based on. It outplays many martins that cost twice as much.  If you love the martin sound you will love the blueridge  golden era series. The workmanship was excellent. No glue on inside. No flaws. Very rare for China made guitars.  Unbeleivable value, tone, and playability for the money. I would have expected to pay 2-3 times what I did for it. It is worth it.    Play2praiseHim <><

is this your only guitar?  or do you have others?  

there is one shop here in Fort Worth that has them.  i played several....one just like your's too.....and i was blown away!!  i cannot say enough how impressed i was with these guitars.  they have about 10 or 15 of them....and not one of them was over $500!!!  

there was this one in particular, i'm not sure of the model.  it was a dread....satin back and sides i believe. it was probably the "plainest" looking one of them all.  man, this thing was incredible!!  i played it for about 20 minutes....even had a audience when i looked up!!  when you get an audience in a guitar shop....you're usually playing a guitar that inspires something great in you.  i had it in drop D and was really cooking up some bass thumping, groove stuff.  i still can't get over how good it sounded.  

i would recommend these to anyone in the market for a good guitar that isn't going to cost you an arm and a leg.  it looks like they have taken the Larrivee headstock and pretty much copied it.  i do like the inlays on the headstock too.  i know some people say it's overkill, but i dig it.  

i wonder who exactly is building them? at first i thought it may be Samick, but these seems to surpass most of the stuff Samick is making in quality.  and the inlay has to take some time.  even if it's primarily done by machine, it's still got to take some time.  someone's doing a good job building them, whoever it is.  

[Play2praiseHim]

No , my other favorite guitars are a Yairi classical, Gibson j45, and a Martin Elizabeth Cotten 00-18.  As much as I love my Blueridge, I am selling it. It sounds too much like a Martin for me. This is probably a plus in anyone elses book. I just want to add a larrivee to my collection. I need a more modern sound and a wider nut.  If I cant sell it for what its worth, I wont be sad. Its still a keeper and I will be pleased to have it.  Was the model like mine that you played in Ft Worth  all solid wood? I dont see how they could sell a BR -183 for under $500. This model list for $1395 .  

[sc morris]

No , my other favorite guitars are a Yairi classical, Gibson j45, and a Martin Elizabeth Cotten 00-18.  As much as I love my Blueridge, I am selling it. It sounds too much like a Martin for me. This is probably a plus in anyone elses book. I just want to add a larrivee to my collection. I need a more modern sound and a wider nut.  If I cant sell it for what its worth, I wont be sad. Its still a keeper and I will be pleased to have it.  Was the model like mine that you played in Ft Worth  all solid wood? I dont see how they could sell a BR -183 for under $500. This model list for $1395 .

i just re-read your original post and noticed that yours was a OM style.  these were all dreads, but there was one that was pretty much a copy of a Martin D45.  all the fancy-schmancy inlays and stuff.  and yes, they were all under $500.  maybe they were close out prices, they may not be moving and they guy is gonna yank the product line from his store.  

you may consider joining the Taylor Guitar Forum and putting the guitar up for sale over there?  there are tons of people on that board and things seem to sell pretty good over here.  i've sold lots of stuff over there myself.  good luck, and which Larrivee are you looking to get?

[Play2praiseHim]

THanks for the advice. I will try the taylor forum. As you can see from the blueridge, I am partial to inlay. I also am a big fan of slope shoulder dreads and OM body styles. I think that I favor the OM a little more. So once I find a buyer for the Blueridge, I would like to get an OM-10 first choice, or L-10 second choice. I dont want the fancy pegheads that some larrivees have. I like the plain silver border better.  Ideally, I would find someone who wants to get rid one and wants to trade. Of course, I know that I would have to add some cash to the deal. But I seem to notice that most people consider those top of the line larrivees as keepers. I dont see as many up for sale as I do martins, taylors, or gibsons. Maybe it's just me. THeir catagorie is always smaller on ebay and in the used instruments departments. Or maybe not as many are made  or sold, so that could account for the low used larrivee market.

[sc morris]

good luck in your search of the perfect guitar.  specking of Ebay, there is always lots of Larrivee's being sold by "Oklahoma Vinage Guitar".  they seem to have a decent selection.  but the prices at EM Shorts will kill them any day of the week.  you may just have to be patient and stay in contact with EM Shorts or whoever your fav. dealer is.  and when something comes in that you want, they could give you a call.  i would sell the Blueridge on Ebay if i were you.  it's the best bet in getting rid of it.  I would list it as BLUERIDGE/TAYLOR/MARTIN to get lots of looks.  just and idea.  that's how i've sold lots of stuff on ebay.  i tried to sell a Danelectro U2 on Ebay once and listed it just as "Danelectro".  it didn't move, so i relisted it as "Danelectro/Vintage Tone".  sold in 2 days.  

good luck....  my. .02

[play4him]

I had a BR-140 for about a month. It was alright, but not for me.

[LittleBrother]

Another thread on blueridge. I spent alot of time with two of these guitars and the design seems about the same with or without specific woods and trim.

http://quartet.harmony-central.com/forums/...threadid=577439

This is what I said

"Slightly boxy sound. Sounds pretty good. Not the true Martin Dread sound by any stretch. Tiny headstock with gaudy inlay and 15 dollar tuning machines. Decent fretwork and setup. Tusq or plastic parts. Pretty solid construction and finish. Design is a little whacky so even though it looks like a Martin in a photo it feels and plays like a smaller guitar. The neck is small and a very thin profile. Too flat for me. Three piece neck. Pretty good sound for blues and folk but dont plan on jamming with Ricky Skaggs anytime soon. Tone has less complexity and alot less bass than a good Martin D-18 or 28 for example.

Body was a little heavy making the instument feel a little out of balance. Typical for this price range. It's a 400.00 overseas mass production guitar. Adding 2000.00 worth of rare woods is a crime  A decent budget guitar with solid woods. I would not under any circumstances put it in the class of Martin. Not even a lower end Larrivee D-03 or Tacoma.

It is neither the Martin clone some people claim nor a total piece of junk others claim. It's a decent little 400.00 overseas model with some funky dimensions.

I would stick with the low end models. In my opinion the price was right with a case. I would NEVER invest more than that no matter how rare the woods. I played several of them but I am pretty sure they were a BR-140 and BR-160. The store had several Martin, Taylors and Gibsons I played side by side. I was on vacation and the wife let me stop at "ONE" store "