History of Blueridge Acoustic Guitars & Series Review

Blueridge acoustic guitars have pretty much upended the belief that guitars made in or imported from China must be of low quality workmanship. Known for their solid quality craftsmanship and affordability, the Blueridge Company currently specializes in producing reproductions of historic and pre-war models that have become very popular with many folk and bluegrass players as well as beginning and professional musicians alike.

The company itself is owned by Saga Musical Instruments, a San Francisco based company that is known as being one of the largest musical instrument importers and distributors in the world for stringed instruments of all shapes and sizes. Their goal is to locate high quality instruments no matter where they are made and make them available to musicians around the globe. From parlor-sized reproductions to authentic prewar models, you’ll find that Blueridge acoustic guitars takes great pride in manufacturing guitars that far and above exceed the expectations most people have for a Chinese-made guitar.

While there are not a large number of series available from Blueridge acoustic guitars, each of the series listed below comes with a good number of models to choose from so that you can find the guitar that is just right for you.

Contemporary Series

The Blueridge Contemporary Series guitars take all of the best loved features of the historic and pre war series guitars and combine them into instruments that are more adapted to the needs of 21st century players. Light and well-built, the guitars of the Contemporary Series come in a number of different models including dreadnoughts, Jumbo and folk style. While some of the models have solid spruce tops, others have select solid wood tops, and none of the guitars in this series come with solid wood bodies, which is one of the reasons that the instruments in the Contemporary Series are so affordable. But their quality of sound will win you over in the end, and there are enough varieties of size and style to suit even the pickiest of players.

Historic Series

Blueridge Historic Series guitars are a cut above the Contemporary Series. These guitars are made with all of the attention to detail that is given to the Contemporary and Prewar Series guitars, but each of these beauties is crafted not only with solid spruce or the rarer Adirondack Spruce tops, but with bodies made of solid woods as well. You will find the guitars of this series to have a much fuller and richer sound than those of the contemporary series. They also hold their tone and tuning much better. Both of these reasons combined with the solid tops and solid wood bodies explain why the guitars of the Blueridge Historic Series cost so much more than those of the Contemporary Series. But in the end, the quality of workmanship and the beauty of a solid wood guitar will more than make up for the differential in price.

Prewar Series

The Blueridge Prewar Series guitars are unique in that they are not only modeled after prewar versions of classic instruments; they also adhere to the prewar building specifications, producing instruments that have a truly authentic tone and flavor and that are greatly favored by those who want to reproduce the tonal quality music of years gone by. You will find a great variety of instruments within this series; different sizes and shapes to suit the needs of most any guitarist. Unfortunately the quality of the guitars in this series also seem to vary, with some models being made of solid woods, while others are made of select woods, though all are priced a good bit higher than the Contemporary Series.

Parlor Guitars

While not technically a series, Blueridge Parlor Guitars deserve their own recommendation. These perfect replicas of the small-sized parlor guitars that were built at the turn of the 20th century have anyone who appreciates vintage instruments drooling. While a few modern improvement shave been made, to look at them you would not be able to tell the difference, and their sound is truly authentic as well.

Besides the series listed above (including the parlor guitars), Blueridge also make a number of commemorative and signature models; guitars that were built specifically with a specific event or player in mind. And while each is crafted differently, unique to the person for whom it was named, the quality of workmanship still lives up to the Blueridge Acoustic Guitars reputation.

Conclusion

As you can see, there are a wide number of styles and models to choose from. From vintage styled instruments built to be authentic to a specific kind of sound to solid wood models designed for the professional musician, no matter which Blueridge acoustic guitars you choose, you will be choosing a guitar with a history of quality and affordability and which will provide you with years’ worth of enjoyment.

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