The Blueridge Mystique

[Idaho John]

Originally Posted by 66strummer

Not sure what you would expect to pay for an all solid Adi topped guitar from a bigger name like the ones you mentioned. Certainly not the amount you posted or even twice that amount. When Blueridge starts manufacturing Adi topped guitars that sell for well over $1K, then I think I might start to agree with what you said. I've seen folks buying the BR140A at insanely low prices considering it's features and well below what most used Martins go for.

Agreed...

john

[stuco]

No offense intended by my post. They are nice guitars but when getting around $600 I start looking at used larrivees, just my personal opinion. The prices at maury's are much better on the bluridges as mentioned. I do agree they are great guitars btw, and would be happy to own one. Their laminate back/side models are some of the best I've heard.

[Gham]

Originally Posted by ruger9

Maybe it's just me, but I'm so sick of hearing people use "Yammy" for Yamaha... (no offense intended.)

I got a "Waldy"... alot of people here have "Martys" or "Taylees" or "Ovies" or "Taks" or "Blues" or...

If they also built motorcycles you might hear those names,it (was) a term of endearment unlike "hog" which I think is lazy spelling...

[Kitchen Guitars]

Originally Posted by ruger9

Maybe it's just me, but I'm so sick of hearing people use "Yammy" for Yamaha... (no offense intended.)

I got a "Waldy"... alot of people here have "Martys" or "Taylees" or "Ovies" or "Taks" or "Blues" or...

Soooooo, I guess when I refer to a Lami Yammi it sends you over the edge?

[RussMason]

I may be confusing Blueridge with Morgan Monroe guitars, but some fine guitars have been coming out of China for a while now. Unless I am mistaken the same factory that makes Carolina guitars, also makes Silver Creek, Recording King and perhaps Blueridge (or Morgan Monroe). The quaility is very good.

I am a new Silver Creek fan, and find their guitars to be of exceptional value. Plus they just sound great.

[rrgguitarman]

I purchased a Blueridge BR-140A on the net and I think that its one of the best sounding and playing guitar that I've ever owned over the last 47 years of playing. Not to mentioned the fact that I think it is just plain beautiful!
I paid a little over half of what I paid for my Martin D-16GT

[brianwong]

I have a Martin OM-42 copy too. The sound is just fantastic! Blueridge is really underrated.

[gitreader]

Originally Posted by RussMason

I may be confusing Blueridge with Morgan Monroe guitars, but some fine guitars have been coming out of China for a while now. Unless I am mistaken the same factory that makes Carolina guitars, also makes Silver Creek, Recording King and perhaps Blueridge (or Morgan Monroe). The quaility is very good.

The Music Link (a California-based parent company to various brands) rebranded the Johnson Carolina guitars as Recording King and then expanded the line, so Recording King is just a successor name to Carolina. The Music Link has its own factory or factories in China for these instruments. The Silver Creek guitars have been confirmed as being made by The Music Link's facilities in China. (That came as no surprise to those of us who have owned both brands.)

However, Blueridge and Morgan Monroe predate these brands, are from different companies, and would be made in different factories.

If you've heard of a Chinese factory that makes various brands, that might be the Grand Reward (Grand Rewards?) factory.

[jeepnstein]

Originally Posted by RussMason

I may be confusing Blueridge with Morgan Monroe guitars, but some fine guitars have been coming out of China for a while now. Unless I am mistaken the same factory that makes Carolina guitars, also makes Silver Creek, Recording King and perhaps Blueridge (or Morgan Monroe). The quaility is very good.

I am a new Silver Creek fan, and find their guitars to be of exceptional value. Plus they just sound great.

Some of those factories are also cranking out some pretty convincing knock-offs. I predict a wave of people getting burned on "deals of a lifetime" on D28's and D45's in the not-too-distant future.

That's the issue I have with Chinese guitars these days. Really, that's the only issue. I have a Chinese Telecaster that is pretty good but clearly not the real deal. I could have just as easily ordered the same guitar with a slightly different headstock.

[Jack the Pearl]

My question is not really a "reply" to this post. I'm trying to find out when Saga Music first offered Blueridge Guitars for sale in the US. And at what price(s).

I have a BG-160 bought new from a Blueridge dealer just before the factory discontinued this model. It is a fine guitar. I'm curious as to how the first-offered BG-160 might have been priced.

I value this guitar as a way to get back to the memory of my long gone Gibson J-50. Never really got excited about Martins, so it's a shame that Blueridge seems to have discontinued all their Gibson "copies" and gone for the Martin look and specs.

For what it's worth, my BG-160 has all the same dimensions as my Gibson J-50 (a natural finish spruce-mahogany version of the J-45). The BG-160 has a spruce top and Brazilian or Santos rosewood back and sides. Sounds a bit more majestic than a mahogany backed guitar. Also, seems to lean off toward the tone of a Gibson Advanced Jumbo. But it has the shorter 24.75" neck scale I love.

So. Does anyone know how long the BG-160 was in the Blueridge catalogue and what its price history is?

Thanks for a useful forum.

[Ralph124C41]

Originally Posted by Jack the Pearl

For what it's worth, my BG-160 has all the same dimensions as my Gibson J-50 (a natural finish spruce-mahogany version of the J-45). The BG-160 has a spruce top and Brazilian or Santos rosewood back and sides.

Santos rosewood isn't a true rosewood at all. It's another term for woods such as Pau Ferro and Morado.

[rollypolly]

Blueridge are sweet guitars. I had a BR40 and it was nice. They are close to same league as Eastmans, but a lot of their guitars have 1.75" nut widths which keeps me from owning one. They do have a high quality build and good sound though.

[beatcomber]

About 15 years ago I bought a used BR-143 for something like $250.

It was an all-solid spruce/hog 000-style, and it was surprisingly loud and powerful. The neck was slender but very comfortable, and it was an all-around excellent guitar.

The only things I didn't like about it were the thick poly finish and the horrible vomit-colored pickguard. I regret selling it a few years later.

[SecondCity]

Originally Posted by beatcomber

The only things I didn't like about it were the thick poly finish and the horrible vomit-colored pickguard.

I haven't played a Blueridge, although their reputation combined with my love of a good price-to-performance ratio suggests I'd love one. But the aesthetics are all wrong to me--and I'm normally willing to look past that. I agree on the pickguard, and have always been repulsed by their headstocks too, which just seem so overdone.

[maxtheaxe]

Originally Posted by stuco

Blueridge makes pretty good guitars and they have been well known for many years now. However, as their price has crept up I no longer consider them to be worth it. Starting at close to $700 for what I would call their 'standard' guitars, (all solid wood) you are better off with a used larrivee/martin/guild/gibson/etc.

I totally agree with this. Back in about 2004, I had selected a higher-end, all-solid dread from them...loved it. Then, because of the long wait at the counter, I decided to pull a very basic Larrivee L-03 down from the wall, took it back to the acoustic room and AB'ed them.

That was all she wrote; the Blueridge that had sounded so wonderful to me before sounded weak & thin compared to the Larrivee. I still have that L-03.