Blueridge BR-180

It was made this year 2003, 14 fret to the body, Dreadnot style with full D 45 Martin inlays all except for the headstock which is actually quite ornate with a custom inlay patern. It says it is made by Sega in China.Top is sol,id spruce, Back and sides are solid rosewood. The neck is mahogany. All tuners are in gold trim. All in all an excellent looking intrument. The again toner is a bit much, it almost looks orange,beside my HD-28V so I am hoping that it will mellow out as it gets some time on it.

Sounds excellent. We have an onld D 18 Martin, a new HD 28 V and a D 41 in the family. It sounds closest to the 41 for response considering the woods are almost identical I guess that makes sense. The bass response is better than the HD 28V and more balanced however the over all tonal quality is just a little less. It may open up once I get a few years on it, I know the Martins did. All in all for the price the tone is excellent.

The action I think will be exactly too my liking. I play bluegrass so I like the action just a little higher than most cause I don't like to hear the buzz unless I really hammer it on purpose. It came with light srings and the action is just a bit low , but I expect when I change them out to a bluegrass guage the action will be dead on. I was impressed with how the bridge and nt were set up. The were sanded to proper hight without grooving out the nut more than neccessary. There were absolutely no flaws, I've seen Martins that looked a lot worse.

Everything looks solid on it, In think it should stand up. The only complaint I have so far is that with the smaller headstock, you have to be carefull aboput how you wind the 6 th string, because the 5 th string will ride up on it and comprimise the tuning of both strings. The first night I was playing it seriously in a jam the 5 th sring went out of tune when I was changing the 6 th string from D to E tuning and it took me a few minutes to figure out that the 5 th string had got tangled in the tuning peg of the 6 th sting. I guess they had to change the head stock so that Martin wouldn't go after them, since for all intense and purposes the guitar is equivalent to a D - 45 for a fifth of the price. Next time I put a set of strings on it I will use the martin technique of winding the strings at the headstock to reduce the circumference of the winds.

I bought it through Janet Davis , and they have been excellent.

I have been playing for 30 years, have played professionally in a bluegrass band, and own several Martin Guitars.

I am quite happy with the guitar, look forward to many years of playing it.

This guitar is a brand-new top of the line D-45 knockoff by Blueridge. It's made in China and indicative of how high the quality of Chinese made guitars can be. Here are the features:
-Back and sides of a very rich looking solid Indian rosewood. The soundboard is very fine grained sitka spruce with aging toner. The binding is white plastic and the purfling on top, back, sides is very colorful abalone of vibrant blues, greens, silver/white, and amber. It reall catches the eye. Abalone surrounds the soundhole, fretboard extension, and borders the heel down the sides and the butt wedge; just like a real D-45. The abalone is not the fake stuff that used to be seen on Asian guitars. The bracing is scalloped spruce very similar to that in Martins.
-Slim and fast neck of solid one piece mahogany with white binding on the fretboard and around the peghead. The peghead is adorned with Blueridge's fancy new abalone inlay with a scroll featuring the "Blueridge" trademark. The head no longers looks like a Martin shape, but is rounded at the top of the peghead.
-Fretboard and bridge of very dense, black ebony with old style abalone D-45 inlays. There are 20 nickle-silver frets. The nut and saddle are bone.
-Tuners are gold plated Kluson like and feature butterbean shaped knobs.
-High glose poly type finish.
-Black Chinese-made themoplastic case similar to old Martin cases.

This guitar is made for full bodied acoustic tone and it delivers. In comparing it to a Martin D-28 and a HD-28 it sounds somewhere in between. It has more depth than the D-28 but not as much as the scalloped HD-28. However, the highs are more prominent and sparkly than the HD-28 and the overall balance better, especially when using Elixir nanos. The tone could be described as typically rich and full rosewood with good sparkle and separation; kind of like having the depth of a rosewood guitar and the clarity of mahogany in the high end. Although the tone is similar to what one would expect from Martin, it still isn't a Martin, just like a Collings or Santa Cruz is similar but not the same as Martin. For my playing, which is a combination of bluegrass, celtic, new age etc., it works well, because the tone is a little more contemporary than most Martins. I also use a Martin on stage in my act. The guitar is also brand new and hasn't had time to open up and mature.

Generally the workmanship is excellent with a few exceptions which I will note. The inside work is meticulous; close to but not quite up there with Martin. All construction and inlay work looks first rate, especially for the price. Here are the problems areas:
-the bone nut was poorly fit to the slot. The sides of the nut weren't flush with the fretboard and the spacing of the slots was too narrow. I fashioned a new nut with wider spacing which made things more comfortable.
-The uncompensated bone saddle was too low, causing too much buzzing of strings against frets. I made a new, higher saddle and compensated it.
-The bridge pin hole were poorly reamed and the bass pins did't fit as far into the holes as the trebles. I refashioned the holes.
Once those issues were addressed, the guitar played and sounded as one would expect a premium guitar to.

I think this guitar will hold up. I previously owned a Blueridge BR-7S which I came to have complete confidence in as a performing guitar and I would expect no less from this. Although the poly finish is a bit thick looking, it offers good protection against sweat and the bumps and bruises of guitar life.

I've been playing for 40+ years and I have owned everything out there except Collings. I also own and play a Martin 000-16SGT and an A. Lo-Prinzi LM-12. I use the Martin for alternate tuning fingerstyle stuff and the Blueridge for flatpicking and standard tuning fingerstyle pieces. I don;t play the Lo Prinzi in performance that much because it doesn't sound as good or play as easy as the Martin and Blueridge. I also play a Vega Tubaphone banjo from 1923.
I really think that this Blueridge is both a wonderful playing and sounding professional level guitar. It certainly gets all the attention of a Martin D-45 at both visual and tone levels at about 1/5 the price.
Several years ago I owned a similarly beautiful Martin D-41 which I was afraid to take anywhere, because it was so pretty and it cost so much. This Blueridge is just as pretty (even more so) and I'm not scared to take it out. Other musicians look at it and say "What kind of guitar is that?!" and are astounded to find that it's a Blueridge, what they thought was a "cheap" guitar brand.
I don't know how Saga does it. I know it's made in China, the land of a cheap and plentiful labor force; but in the final analysis, it's a great guitar for someone who's after both looks and beauty. Just lay your money down and take it to your nearest luthier for a proper set up.