Blueridge BR-70

The guitar has many nice features such as Pre-war bracing pattern, Abalone trim, Bone nut and saddle, solid spruce top, and some of the prettiest bookmatched Brazilian laminated back and sides that I've seen.

I play Bluegrass and this guitar is perfect for me. I've owned Martin's for 25 years, so I'm comparing the Blueridge to some pretty good guitars. I also own a Martin HD-28. Has a rich, full bottom end, and is well balanced throughout.

The action is better than most Martin's I have played. The fit and finish on mine is absolutely flawless. The only feature that I don't especially like is the narrow headstock. It makes string changes a little difficult.

Haven't owned the guitar long enough to know how it will hold up, but I see no reason to believe that it will have any problems down the line.

I've had no reason to use the customer support.

I would compare this guitar favorably to any guitar on the market. If stolen or lost, I would definitely replace it with another. It is a great sounding, great playing guitar that looks as good as it sounds. For the price I paid, there is no comparison.

It has a solid sitka spruce top. laminated rosewood back and sides.
Beutiful abalone body binding and rosette. kluson style gold plated tuners. high gloss finish. It's a full size dreadnought. 20 frets.
a very nice looking finish at any price. I paid $500. for mine including a hardshell case. It is a shock to look in the soundhole and see the words made in china. but if it did'nt say it on the label you would never guess in a millon years that it was. All in all a 10.

I play gospel and blue grass. It works pretty well with both. although I can detect a slight rattle from time to time. nothing to bad. It has very good bass much like a martin. pretty good sound in general to be a brand new just out of the box guitar .

For my taste and ear the action was some what low I think thats were the rattle comes from I mentioned earlier. the top is prefect. I've seen martins and gibsons that did'nt match as good as this blueridge.
also the bridge pins are alittle to small for the holes or the holes are to big for the pins. which by the way are very cheap looking.
But can be replaced with better ones very easily. with a few small up grades I would give it an 9.

I think it should hold up nicely thru the years . it has a pretty good poly finish, tuners and bridge seem solid and secure.
This a guitar you can depend on even tho it cost less than $1000.
As far as backup music with this guitar , I think it would work fine in the mix with another guitar or two an maybe a banjo aND MANDOLIN.
I have used it solo also while my wife and I sang at church , and it work very well.

It only comes with a one year warranty , But Mitch at fayette music merchants were I bought it gave me a 3 year in store warranty.
I have never dealt with saga other than to ask some questions about dealers and what accessories they sell. They were very helpful.
But other than that I don't know about saga service. so I want give a rating.

I have been playing for 36 years. This guitar compares pretty well to guitars costing twice as much. I love the fact that you can get a guitar with loks and sound for $500. I hate the fact that it says made in china. A frienf picked it up and the first thing he said was " this thing is made in china". People forget that we buy guitars for their sound and playability. If this one got lost or stolen I would replace it with a bluerige BR180. same features ony solid wood.

2002 model made in china! let me tell you this is an incredible guitar.It has a solid sitka spruce top (very tight grain)laminated rosewood back and sides dreadnought body. All I can say is if they continue making guitars like this one (lookout Martin, Taylor etc....)

This guitar sounds great! I own 2 martins, 1 Taylor, and a larravee and this guitar can stand right next to them.

This guitar is perfect!!!!!!!!!!

This guitar will last my lifetime!! Very solidly built great finish.

Just purchased the guitar.

I have been playing for 25 years and have played them all. This guitar is without a doubt the best value for the money that you can find anywhere. I cant wait to hear it in a few years!

This is a new model, I believe 2002 they changed their product line, added more ornamentation. Made in China by Saga Musical Instruments. Solid spruce top (very close grain), laminated back and sides, I think rosewood. Nice figuring on the back & sides. Dreadnaught size. The finish is a nice gloss, smooth. Bought it brand new. Neck is medium, not too thick and not too thin. Bought it with a hardshell case.

An old friend has a Blueridge from the early 90's, don't know which model; heard his guitar and really liked the richness of tone. Ordered this one mail order, took a shot, and was quite pleased. Extremely well balanced tone. Bass is not boomy, treble is smooth. There is nothing about the tone that "jumps" out of this guitar right now. Guitar sounds pretty tight right now, almost "old-timey", but I'm sure it will open up with age. The guitar came with some pretty light bronze strings, so I'm sure heavier/higher tension strings will help bring out the tone a bit more, and help open it up. Have to wait and see about the way the sound develops, but right now it's very smooth and even, with little that jumps out. A nice sound for the right price. It's no Taylor, but I'm not complaining.

Action is about medium-low height. Fret dressing is good. Intonation sounds pretty dead on thus far. Very little buzzing at any position. Bound fretboard had a tiny bit of sloppiness in one spot, probably from fretboard dressing. The nut was done a little sloppy, the string spacing is fine, but it doesn't sit flush to the fretboard. The finish has nice MOP/abalone inlays around the soundboard & soundhole. All inlay and finish work was done very clean. Very simple, pretty nice looking. I'm not a big fan of the inlay on the headstock, looks a bit gaudy to me, that's personal taste; at least the inlay is done well. Incidentally, the headstock on this guitar is SMALL!

Looks like it's pretty well built. The bracing, etc. internally seems to be pretty cleanly assembled, no obvious chips or glue splotches. Perhaps the main struts could've used a bit more shaping, but I'm not complaining. Overall looks solid. The tuners are solid right now, but I think they may be a little cheap and may need replacing in time (the metal or their gold finish looks like it may be cheap). But again, this is no Martin or Taylor...

Never had to deal with Saga, don't even know what the warranty is. Bought it from Bryan's Music in North Carolina, they have a great 21-day try-out policy, will refund your money if you're not satisfied. Bryan was great to deal with, nice shipping, guitar arrived in shape as promised.

Overall, I think well worth the money. Compared to some of the firewood by Takamine, Fender, and others you find at Guitar Center, this guitar is a nice deal. Good tone for a great price. I paid $509 with a nice hardshell case! You'll get over the fact that it's made in China. I wanted this guitar as a cheap acoustic to bang around, to take places without worrying about getting it damaged. For this it works perfectly, and actually, it's set up so nicely that I might actually take reasonable care of it. Compared to my friend's Ibanez Artwood, it sounds very even, nothing jumps out. If you want a guitar whose tone jumps out, probably look elsewhere, you're going to need to pay more. If you want something that's got a tight, even, "old-timey" chimey sound with a nice finish and pretty buzz-free setup, out of the box, this guitar is a good way to go. I can't wait to see how this guitar opens up in time.