Another NGD - with pics this time!

[markb]

Today it's a Blueridge BR-43ce, a made in China cutaway electro Martin OM-ish guitar. Solid spruce top, laminated mahogany back and sides, mahogany neck, rosewood board, bridge and headstock facing. Full gloss finish. This is a really nice sounding guitar: warm, woody and loud with a strong bass and sweet treble. It definitely has a Martin-esque voice and is thus a nice contrast to my Gibson J45. For live use there's a Fishman Classic 4 system. These really are very good guitars for the price.
The only finish flaw I could find was what looked like a glue blob on the edge of the soundhole. As that's a funny place to find stray glue I scraped at it with a fingernail. It turned out to be an accumulation of polishing compound. Gone now :AOK The interior is very clean too.
For those who care about these things it has 1 11/16" nut and quite a slim neck. The nut and saddle appear to be bone.

All in all a nice blend of vintage and modern acoustic guitar features at a reasonable price. It even came in a decent hard shell case.

 

[marnold]

Hmm. Nice guitar! I don't think I'd ever heard of them before.

 

[sunvalleylaw]

I was looking at the Blueridge guitars before I got my Martin. They seem very nice for the price!

 

[kidsmoke]

see a lot of those in my neck of the woods. People love 'em.
Sounds fun.

How about an A/B audio file comparing the Gibson and the Blueridge??? I'd love to hear the contrast.

 

[sunvalleylaw]

Was reading in Acoustic Guitar mag last night about another of Saga's (Saga is the company that puts out/imports Blueridge) line of guitars, a Durango which is aimed at following the Gibson 14 fret guitars used by blues players of long ago. I think Blueridge is aimed a bit at Martin.

 

[markb]

Blueridge also have the BG series of Gibson style slope shoulder dreadnoughts. The word is that they don't sound much like Gibsons though. The Martin based styles have a huge following among bluegrass players who just don't want to spend the money for the big M's output.

Tio, I'll see what I can do.