Blue RidgeBR-163 Historic Series 000 Guitar

After less than 3 weeks the body cracked in the middle !!! Poor wood quality !

Bought this in a recent Amazon sale for £555 for pretty much half the price of the high street music store, I know this because I almost paid full price from Hobgoblin, and saw this deal just in time. It is a cracking guitar, quality is first class, lovely tone and after a quick string change quick setup plays great. The action was a tad high for me, but that was quick and easy fix. Mine came with a top quality padded suede effect gig bag, which is unusual as they dont normally supply them with bag or case in the UK. Definitely would recommend.

I really wasn't even in the market for a new guitar but this seller's price was $350 less than all the competitors (online and brick & mortor) and I simply couldn't resist such a good deal. Not sure why their price was so favorable, and it was even a bit more unnerving when the shipping was delayed. Six days after the purchase I received a notice from Amazon that my credit card was not being charged because the seller hadn't yet shipped the item and I should follow up directly with the seller. I jotted off an email to the seller and they immediately responded that they had found a problem during inspection but the guitar was being shipped that day. It arrived the next day and was in near flawless condition. I could only find a tiny, tiny rough finish spot on the inside edge of the sound hole. The rest of the fit and finish was flawless, the neck plays beautifully and the frets feel perfectly smooth with a moderately low action right out of the box. The spruce top is very pretty with tight grain, nice feathering and nice bookmatching. The aging toner is not my favorite but doesn't look too dissimilar compared to some vintage guitars. The pao ferro (Santos rosewood) sides and back are simply gorgeous. I was worried they would be too light colored and streaky but they compare nicely with my rosewood guitars. The inlays on the pao ferro fingerboard are perfect, and along with the bridge the wood is a nice dark shade.The guitar sounded tight and somewhat boxy for about the first 2-3 hours of playing, and then it started to open up. Now after about a week (probably 15 hours of playing time) it sounds truly wonderful. Remarkable actually, especially for an $800 guitar. It compares quite well to guitars I have played from boutique luthiers. It is incredibly responsive to even the lightest fingerstyle playing and yet holds up well to modestly heavy strumming. Very nice bass response, deep and balanced, with a warm midrange. The treble B & E strings ring through with a nice presence even during fleshy fingerstyle playing. I have really taken to this guitar. It is articulate and responsive with nice rosewood warmth and overtones. I was really unsure if a Santos rosewood guitar would do it for me, but no longer. I have been playing guitar for more than 20 years and I own many rosewood guitars, including high end Martin (1998 D-41, 2001 HD28VS), Guild (1979 J50R), Taylor (714), and Larrivee (J10, C03R, OM-02). This Blueridge BR163 just may be the best of the bunch for me. This thing is a little cannon and sounds absolutely beautiful, especially for being a young guitar. Kudos to the folks at Blueridge/Saga Music.

I've always been a fan of Blueridge due to their string spacing perfect for finger pickers. This one does not disappoint, I was not expecting a well balanced big sound from this thin body.

Schöne Gitarre, voller Klang. Voller wie bei der BR-73. Die Gitarre ist aber eher leicht. Der Klang recht hart.Ich habe nun eine 2. BR-163 und muss sagen, dass ich meine Bewertung geändert habe, da ich die Gitarre mittlerweile richtig gut finde.Die Gitarre habe ich in der Regel um die ca. 900,- EUR gesehen. Ich hatte Sie hier günstiger bekommen und esprobiert. Ich denke man kann Sie auf Grund der Form nicht mit einer Dreadnaught vergleichen, ist halt was Anderes.Ich habe keine Verarbeitungsmaengel bei den Blueridge festgestellt.Der Vergleich zu einer 28er Martin hinkt natürlich. Das ist aber auch ein komplett anderer Preis. Für Fingerpicker denke ich eine Top Gitarre.