NGD review - Blueridge 163A

[AgentKooper]

I'm the happy owner of a new Blueridge 163A. Here are my thoughts on it.



BACKGROUND

Since buying my first acoustic guitar five years ago, about 99 percent of my playing time has been with dreadnoughts. Until I joined this forum, I didn't even really understand that there were different guitar sizes. I knew that Neil Young played something called a dreadnought, so that's what I bought. After starting on a Yamaha FG700, I was lucky enough to find a fantastic Blueridge dread, which I've loved, except that it's always felt so freaking big. I'm a big guy -- 6'3'', 190 lbs -- and it's still never felt totally comfortable to play, although it sounds great. Thanks to this forum, I've learned a lot about OMs and 000s, so I decided to give one a try. I wanted an OM/000 body with a full scale neck. Since I've had a good experience with Blueridge, I decided to give the 163A a try. My dread is Adirondack spruce over mahogany, so I decided to try rosewood this time for the sake of variety. I wanted to stay with the Adi top, and I also wanted the 1.75" nut, so the 163A was the obvious choice. I considered an Eastman too, but their OMs are all short scale, and I found a better deal on the Blueridge anyway.

FIRST IMPRESSIONS

One criticism I've heard about Blueridges is the inconsistent workmanship. That was an issue to some degree with my dread. It had some cosmetic finish imperfections, some unattractive fret ends, and I had to have the bridge reglued. Annoying, but ultimately overshadowed by that guitar's sound and great wood.



The 163A had none of those issues. The workmanship is flawless. The frets are perfect, and I couldn't find any issues with the finish. The neck is straight and the intonation is spot on all down the neck. The setup was pretty good, though I improved it by decreasing the relief to just about zero -- still no fret buzz with the neck pretty much flat. I may file down the saddle a bit at some point, but the playability is great as is for the moment.



SOUND

I'm not good at describing guitar sounds, so I'll just say that it sounds great to me. I've played the new strings in at this point, and I'm really liking the tone. It doesn't have quite the bass or fullness of my dread, but it's pretty darn close. It's just as loud. There's a certain lushness or evenness to it that feels different from the dread and that I'm really enjoying. I don't know whether that might be due to the change to rosewood from mahogany, or due to the smaller body size, but I'm digging it.



AESTHETICS

You can judge for yourself from the photos, but I'm super pleased. I actually like wide-grained tops, and this one looks great to me. The herringbone purfling looks great, and I really like the the snowflake and diamond fretboard markers. Blueridge takes a lot of heat for their over-the-top headstock designs on some models, and I'm enjoying the plain headstock with the updated logo on this one.



Interestingly, the build on this 163A feels a little heavier that the build on my dread. The neck also feels slightly thicker than my dread's.

The poly finish is thin, and shows off the top, side and back wood nicely.

Finally, I'm among those few people who actually really like the dalmatian pickguard. In fact I love it.

PLAYABILITY

I used to be skeptical regarding the difference between dreads and OMs. But I'm finding the 163A to be way more comfortable than my dread, and thus I'm enjoying playing it much more. The shallower body depth makes a huge difference for me. The thin neck suits me, and the full scale on the smaller body feels like the ideal configuration for me.



CONCLUSIONS

All in all, it's a great guitar that I would recommend to anyone. I totally understand now the love for OMs expressed by so many here.

[Slinky]

I love the Blueridge bling, bring it on.

Very nice guitar, congratulations!

[5th Element]

HNGD! That's a nice looking guitar.

[cisco7]

A great looking instrument.. Best of luck!

[JakeStone]

These are great guitars ..
Yours is a beauty !

[geoawelch]

Congratulations on the new guitar and thank you for the comprehensive review

[Mbroady]

Nice review. Congrats on the guitar. I had a blueridge and regret selling it.

[rokdog49]

I looked at BG 160 recently and was very impressed with it's tone and playability...very!
On the negative side it needed some cosmetic work on the edges of the fretboard. While this isn't a huge thing, it was an annoyance.
At the end of the day, I might have purchased it anyway, but I just couldn't get past the headstock design on these particular guitars. I wish Blueridge (Saga Music) would reconsider this design.
I also played a 163A 000 that was very impressive all the way around. Beautiful guitar, no flaws, easy to play and sounded great.
I think Blueridge does a great job for the most part. Congrats on your new guitar!

[Gmountain]

Congratulations!

[stonerwinst]

Congrats on your new Blueridge. I have one just like yours except with more bling with the 183A. Mine, however, did not come with perfect workmanship. On the back, mine came with swirls and light scratches. The neck binding had an area on the edge where a layer peeled off or something.

Because I ordered it online, I ended up keeping it. The sound is okay. I eventually upgraded the saddle to a bone compensated one and I put in FWI pins. The upgrades did improve the tone and sustain. I also installed a K&K pickup.

I still wish the workmanship is better for a $1K guitar. If you can find a good Blueridge, they are a bargain Martin alternative. The 183A sound is definitely behind my Taylor 814ce. Then again, is the sound twice as better as the cost? Hard to say, but the 814ce sound is clean and pure.

Ironically, I pick up my 183A everyday whereas the 814ce sits in the case and gets played occasionally. I have a weird thing about keeping the 814ce perfect. I think, someday, I will sell the 183A and make the 814ce the daily guitar. That might be the day that I take the fund to get a 335.

I do recommend a Blueridge for those who are on a budget. If I had to do it again, I think I would still have bought the Blueridge, but would have taken extra care to get one with better workmanship. For me, reading guitar reviews to make buying decision is helpful, but it's not the same as actually having it for a while to get the whole feel of it.

Hope his helps those on the fence.

[roylor4]

Nice!

Yeah, the lushness you are hearing is from the RW. Welcome to the world of OM's.

[Nyghthawk]

I got one of these without the Adi top as a birthday present back in June (turned 60). Very nice guitars indeed. Yours looks gorgeous. I love the lengthy sustain and the loud volume in such a comfortable to play size. I still play my dread size Masterbilt, but not very much. Enjoy!

[Vol46]

Great looking guitar! I like the grain in the top and the new logo. I have a Blueridge 63 AS that I bought new about 2 years ago. It has the older Blueridge banner logo on the headstock & a sunburst top. Despite having laminated B & S, it sounds great and has excellent depth & sustain. It gets played a lot because it is so comfortable to play and has such nice tone.

[TheRedPony]

Congratulations! My first acoustic was a Blueridge and I still have it and play it all the time. It's opened up with age and sound great. I'd put it up against £1000+ guitars!

[AgentKooper]

Originally Posted by Slinky

I love the Blueridge bling, bring it on.

Very nice guitar, congratulations!

I love the bling too -- it's like the guitar equivalent of a Nudie suit, which is right up my alley. That's what first attracted me to the brand. They show some personality that sets them apart. My favorite Blueridge headstock is the one they've been using on their 200 series models. I do like the new logo though, and the plain headstock on this one is a nice change of pace.