Blueridge BR-183

This guitar is a replica of the Martin OM-45 complete with abalone inlays around the whole guitar. My 183 is a 2005 model. Made in China but you wouldn't know it by playing it. Solid spruce top, solid East Indian rosewood back and sides, mahogany neck. Very nice wood. It also has hand carved parabolic bracing just like the high end Martins.

I play mostly fingerstyle and find that the 183 has a very balanced tone from lows to highs unlike dreadnoughts. And man does it ring!

Here's where I have a problem. There is a 3 inch spot on the back where the finish is faded. I'm surprised this passed their quality control. I also noticed a fleck of glue on the neck and a tiny chip in the headstock. You won't find these kind of imperfections on a Martin. Also the action is a bit high for fingerstyle although most people think it plays very nice.

Just got the guitar so it's kind of hard to know.

My retailer called Saga about the finish flaws and they are willing to fix it or send a new one. So I guess I can't complain.

This is my dream guitar and I LOVE the way it looks, sounds and plays. I would definitely buy another one if something happened to it. I do wish it had an unobtrusive built in natural sounding (not piezo) pickup system. If I bought another one I definitely would go over it with a fine-tooth comb though.

As said in the other reviews.
THis is their (SAGA) top of the line 000.

Ive been playing for 25 years and this was one of the most responsive clean sounding guitars I 've heard. If you want better expaect to pay 3-4 times as much. I was immediatley suprised by it's projection for it's size. Bottom end crip but not very resonant. Overall extrenly well balanced.

Action is a bit high and once the guitar settles I'll have it lowered.

Just got it home. So far so good.

This guitar is wonderful. I tried off the rack Larrivee, Martins, gibsons, tacoma, Taylor. All varying in price. NONE matched the clarity and responsivness of this guitar. I struggled with the look of the tortoise shell pick guard. It's growing on me. This is a sweet looking well crafted guitar. HUGE bang for your buck. I would deffinatly replace this guitar and would be open to buying another. One last thing - there is a stigma about guitars made in the "east" I know now the illusion is false.

just bought it a month ago.i own old guilds and gibsons i even have a tennesee crafters resonator.i played this in amusic store with a wall full of martin 000s.this was just better all around.the cheaper martins dont impress me very much.when you get up to about 2500 then i think the martins are a little sweeter.

that was my one concern.but it stays tuned very well and the action was goo out of the box

bought new off ebay havent had any troubles

benn playing 30 years ive bought lots of vintage and new american guitars.always have to take them to a luthier for a saddle or something.i think the detail on this is just as good,would buy another one

Bought mine used, well she was 3 months old in February (?) 2004. She is the basic 14 fret 000 size Martin copy made in China for SAGA but this time they got it right! It is all solid wood, sitka spruce top with beautiful rosewood back & sides. The neck is very slim, I've had electric guitar players tell me that the neck is better than on their guitars. The scale is 25.5". The tuners are no-namers but they work smoothe and hold the tune nicely. She came with an aftermarket hard shell case.

The tone of this guitar is incredible! I'm accustomed to a dreadnaught size so the bass is not as loud as I'm used to but its nice and clear through the spectrum. The tone is very Martin like, rich, full rosewood sound with clear trebles. The harmonics are clear and easy to create too.

Currently I'm using Medium Light strings on her and they just sing.

I'm a little concerned about the intonation though. For the most part it's fine but when I try to play above 10 the "B" and "A" strings give me a little trouble. I find myself being very careful to not press as hard on the lower pitched strings in order to keep the peace. I'm working on finding a compensated saddle for her but they're not easy to find.

I use this guitar for Praise and Worship at church, plugged into the PA. I had a L.R. Baggs (active) I-Beam installed for that purpose and the sound is very real, reproduced quite accurately. I strum and fingerpick but I've had other people do some lead work on it too and that really shines. I don't have the feedback problems I used to have with my old dreadnaught but there is still a bit of a tendency toward feedback when playing close to a bass guitar.

The previous owner had her set up for fingerstyle playing with real low action so I can't address the factory set up. This set up though is fantastic. I can strum her carefully and still fingerpick easily. The top is bookmatched very well and the only flaw I could find is a little glue showing on the bracing, not much, but a little bit. The abelone inlay is done extremely well in my opinion. I'm probably at a minority in that I like the headstock inlay, gaudy or not. The tuning heads are a little close together but I don't have the problem I've read about in other places, that of having strings touching other windings on the way to the nut. Mine miss the windings just barely. The pickguard was also replaced by the original owner. She put on a Greven teardrop (OM style) and it accents the 183 nicely. I've seen other Blueridges and I'm glad she replaced the original one!

This guitar seems to be very reliable. I play her live at church and I've done worship in a youth camp situation where there was no amplification handy, she was still heard out there above the voices of about 30 people. I have no issues with the hardware as it seems to work just fine at this point. The finish isn't going anwhere on this guitar. It's full gloss and durable. I don't have a backup guitar at all so when I play her, I expect her to come through.

I emailed the company looking for a compensated saddle. The rep answered me quickly and courteously but his answere didn't do much for me. He told me to go to a luthier and have one made. Unfortunatly that is a bit expensive for me at this point.

I've been playing for a long time and have wanted a Martin for about 30 years. I played my first Blueridge last Fall and found that this sound was what I really wanted. I had just played several new Martins in a different store the day before and the sound of the Blueridge was amazing! My wife asked me if I would be "settling" for something if I bought the Blueridge rather than a comparable priced Martin so I thought about it real hard. The answer is NO. This guitar out plays and out performs (sound) guitars many times it's price. I would absolutely replace her with a new one if she were lost or stolen.
I would like to find parts a bit more easily but for the most part I really don't need them so I guess it's pretty much a moot point. I do want to find a compensated saddle for ther though. I might have to pay the big $$ to have her custom compensated.

Chinese OM Martin copy; 000 body with a dreadnaught neck which meets the body at the 14th fret. Solid spruce top with scalloped braces and solid Indian rosewood body, with a mahogany neck and ebony fingerboard and bridge. I bought this thing with a Fishman Natural Matrix I pickup installed. Abalone everywhere, as noted in many another review. It's pimped up (to use a phrase from a Guitar Player review) to make me a bit embarrassed to be seen with it. I ordered it before the glowing Guitar Magazine review, and received it afterwards. It was purchased with Canadian hard-shell case.

Absolutely no complaints regarding sound or tone. It sounds great either amped or unamped. Much crisper in the midrange and highs than my mahogany BR-143, as one would expect. It isn't a dreadnaught, so of course it doesn't have that deep base, but it suits my fingerpicking to a T.

Beautiful. Unlike the BR-143, mearly everything is very well bookmatched. The heel is not done so well, but that's a minor issue. Like the BR-143, the action is a bit high, but the neck is razor-straight. If you own a handlens, it's apparent that some of the neck inlay is epoxy filled, but if you weren't looking for it, you wouldn't see it. The finish, both body and neck, is glossy, and doesn't seem to be as thick as the BR-143, although that may be a bias.

Cosmetially, the aging toner is screamingly awful, as it is in the BR-143.

It's a new guitar, so I can't comment on reliability, but I don't see any reason that it would break down. So far

Not used

I've been playing for 35 years or so, and own a Martin D2R, a 20-year-old Ovation (which has always sounded muddy to me unamplified, and a BR-143. This thing shines, but it has a very different tone than the dreadnaught Martin. I would definatly buy another if it were lost or stolen.

Marketed by Saga Musical Instruments in China. Mine is brand new probably made in 2004. OOO size featuring solid Sitka spruce top, solid East Indian rosewood back and sides. Martin-style forward shifted X-bracing. Handcarved braces. Full abalone inlays along front, back and side edges and rosette ring, abalone snowflake fretboard inlays, beautiful abalone vine headstock inlays which are unique to Blueridge, lovely multi-color inlaid wood back center strip, ebony bridge and fretboard, mahogany neck, bone nut and saddle. Gold no-name tuners with butterbean keys. Very light-weight guitar. Top quality materials are used in the construction of this guitar.

Sound is wonderful. Very Martin-like. The guitar comes with D'darrio light guage strings. I restrung mine with Marin light guage and they sound excellent. Piano-like sustain and clarity. Stands up tonewise to my mahogany body Martin 000-1 and in fact surpasses it in many respects although they both sound a bit different. Very robust, bright and loud for a small bodied guitar. Great for finger-picking and light strumming. Very balanced from bass to treble.

Finish was quite excellent overall although not quite up Martin standards but very good. The Sitka top is beautifully tight-grained with lots of silk. Very high quality. The rosewood back has lovely figuring in the wood. The high gloss finish is evenly applied to the entire guitar including the neck. No problems with that. In fact the smooth gloss neck actually makes playing very comfortable. One drawback is the pickguard which has a reputation of being cheap and peeling off. Might was not quite coming off but I went ahead and took it off anyway and will being installing an OM-style teardrop Tortis pickguard soon. Being a bit picky, there were very slight hints of epoxy around one of the fretboard inlays and a small bead of glue seepage under one of the back braces. You have to look very close to even see these. The abalone inlays are well set and clean overall. Fretwork is excellent and the bone nut well cut with the outside edges rounded off for a smooth feel. Also a bit of scruff on the kerfed lining. I was somewhat distressed to find two packets of silca get inside the guitar when I got it. I pulled these out but noticed quite a bit of what looked like sawdust or possibly the contents of the silica packs . I cleaned some of it out and will have to go inside at somepoint and clean more out later but the interor was generaly clean. This was the only thing which messed up an otherwise nice interior. Overall this is a very well made instrument using top quality woods.

I only play for my own enjoyment but this quitar would perform very well in the studio or live with the addition of a soundhole pickup.

Never dealt with Blueridge

I have been playing for about 6 years and have nice collection of various acoustic and electric guitars, basses and mandoins. I have only had this guitar for a week but it has met my every expectation. I read the review in Guitar Player magazine and had to have one. I am a big fan of Martin guitars and have three. This guitar is very Marin-like in looks, tone and feel. I got mine with the hard case for about $800 from Centsible Sounds who I found on the web. Incredible price considering the quality of woods, tone and top of the line ornamentation. Outstanding folks at Centsible Sounds and I would recommend them to anyone. For value for the buck these Blueridges are outstanding and are already getting lots of notice from players. If your looking for Martin-type styling and sound, I recommend this guitar highly. It seems that the overseas manufacturers are making excellent quality instruments these days and are a terrific values. I look forward to enjoying this quitar for a long time.