Blueridge Acoustic Guitars?

[kojdogg]

I've read glowing reviews on other message boards and Harmony Central so I bought a BR-60 online today. Supposed to be a Chinese made copy of a Martin or a Gibson. Quality Control and factory setups are also supposed to be good. Anyone here using one of these and have any impressions or experiences to share? Thanks!

 

[YeshuasFan]

Never had experience with Blue Ridge, but buying a guitar online seems like a gamble at best--unless you're dealing with a dealer who is trustworthy and backs up the product--including a liberal return policy.
But then the local dealers in this community carry a fairly wide selection of makes/models and have a policy of meeting any catalog price so I feel less of a need to purchase stuff online.

 

[kojdogg]

Never had experience with Blue Ridge,

great, thanks

but buying a guitar online seems like a gamble at best--unless you're dealing with a dealer who is trustworthy and backs up the product--including a liberal return policy.

well, i've bought my main electric (a usa hamer studio archtop w/ barden hb's) and my main bass (mtd kingston) on ebay, so i feel pretty good about knowing what to look for.
thanks for the insights

 

[visa]

when i bought my yamaha LL-16 over a year ago i nearly went for the blueridge. but in the end the LL sounded better. more open. the blueridge sounded kind of dull.

 

[kojdogg]

ah well-- "dull" might be a refreshing change as i've been using a mic'ed ovation for a while, which is kind of like the mxl/behringer of chinese acoustic guitars (zingy/high end heavy), so if i got a kel this time instead that could be a good thing. if it's relatively flat or dull, i can work with the tone a bit with mic choice, mic placement, pre choice, and if need be eq. i also had one of the cheaper martins for a while too, but i thought it was kind of crap. the other thing is that model of yamaha looks to be more than 2x what i paid for the blueridge, so maybe next time (when i have a little more scratch to put into it) i'll look into one of those too (they look sweet)-- thanks for the tip!

 

[kojdogg]

i got the guitar and it's awesome! it sounds great-- plenty of bass for a guitar of its size and a nice clear top end. the factory set up is nice (slight buzz on the upper (12th or so) frets, but i can live with that for now). it's very playable, light weight, but balanced. i'd definitely recommend these

 

[Anfontan]

ah well-- "dull" might be a refreshing change as i've been using a mic'ed ovation for a while, which is kind of like the mxl/behringer of chinese acoustic guitars (zingy/high end heavy), so if i got a kel this time instead that could be a good thing. if it's relatively flat or dull, i can work with the tone a bit with mic choice, mic placement, pre choice, and if need be eq. i also had one of the cheaper martins for a while too, but i thought it was kind of crap. the other thing is that model of yamaha looks to be more than 2x what i paid for the blueridge, so maybe next time (when i have a little more scratch to put into it) i'll look into one of those too (they look sweet)-- thanks for the tip!

Yeah, Ovations are good for a live sound with a full band and they'll cut through, but the high end is just crazy on those things. If the Blueridge turns out to too dull, you might think about putting a bone nut on it, I put one on an electric recently and I really like the difference in brightness.
What cheaper model of Martin did you have anyway??

 

[kojdogg]

a DX1. It was okay, but the I like the Blueridge BR-60 way more. The Martin was okay, but it kind of felt like it was made out of heavy paper mache. The tone was definitely way more dull than this guitar-- kind of midrange heavy. A lot of people like them though...

 

[Anfontan]

a DX1. It was okay, but the I like the Blueridge BR-60 way more. The Martin was okay, but it kind of felt like it was made out of heavy paper mache. The tone was definitely way more dull than this guitar-- kind of midrange heavy. A lot of people like them though...

Oh yeah Koj, any Martin with an X in the model number is just that-it's synthetic materials, sort of like formica. I played one years ago when I was looking for a nice acoustic and the neck even had a plastic feel to me. I finally picked a D-16 Martin and I like it a lot..

 

[kojdogg]

Oh yeah Koj, any Martin with an X in the model number is just that-it's synthetic materials, sort of like formica. I played one years ago when I was looking for a nice acoustic and the neck even had a plastic feel to me. I finally picked a D-16 Martin and I like it a lot..

yeah, it had a spruce top (wouldn't be surprised if it was a veneer), and if you looked inside the soundhole at the label, the material inside was gray!
yeah, d-16 would be lovely. down the line perhaps
i'm diggin the blueridge though !

 

[Flamin Lip]

Used to get a few Blueridges in for re-strings...... seemed to be good value imports. Prolly on par w/ the higher end Ibanez, for about $200-$300 less.