Tracked down a Blueridge BG-140 in the wild, but bought thr IBG J45...

[GraemeN]

In the common question "best J-45 alternatives", the Blueridge BG-140 model gets mentioned often, along with some others. Finding one seems easier said than done though. None in stock new, and most of those sold across Europe and North America eBay or Reverb seem to be from years ago.

I found one in Beijing though, via a used goods APP. Now there are a lot of guitars claiming to be Blueridges on sale in China, but are actually "tail order" products, and often painted a nice glossy shade of black (to hide flaws ?). It seems most of them left the Farida factory in Guangdong by the back door, and many were labelled under different brands or had their model number scratched out on the sticker. They retail for a third of a genuine Blueridge. But this one had a proper vintage sunburnt, an un-scratched Blueridge sticker, and was also priced like a genuine Blueridge, about 900 USD equivalent in Yuan.

Anyway... I contacted the seller and went to their warehouse to check it out. It looked genuine, a 2006 model, that's somehow survived in fairly mint condition until now. Played nice, and sounded really nice. You cant fake good tone. It sounded like a 900 USD solid wood guitar, or something more expensive. Didn't feel built too well though. There was also glue marks all over the inside. Whether bracing had come loose and been re-glued, or it happened during manufacturing, I'm not sure. It raised some red flags though about whether it was also in fact a factory second.

It didn't quite sound like a Gibson J-45 either, not really. Less mid-range focus, more evenly balanced across the strings. A J45-esque twang, but more sustain, more overtones, less dry, and less of a bark/growl. I suspect some people who might compare some of these guitar to a J45 are focusing on just the fingerpicked tone and not the strumming. That said, still a nice strummed tone, for sure

In comparison, the newest competitor in the "J45 on a budget" category, the Epiphone IBG J45, when strummed, it does sound like a Gibson J45. Not as good, but in that tonal area, and depending on the chords being strummed it sounds pretty close (Fingerpicked I guess the difference is larger).

So I let the seller return the "bargain boutique" Blueridge BG-140 back to its case, and went off elsewhere to buy the IBG J45 (half the price). No buyers remorse, liking the IBG J45 so far, and I should be pleased with having a new guitar... but definite attack of GAS. I can't escape the fact I should go back and buy the Blueridge too, if only because I may never see or play another again. The dealer selling that BG-140 said that its more than just "supply chain issues" with Blueridge, the Farida factory that made them apparently went bust in 2018. That's his info anyway.

(Note: I also played the earlier Epiphone Masterbilt AJ-45, and the Inspired by Gibson J45 is noticably superior to it in every way.)