I received my new Blueridge BR-40T tenor guitar this weekend, and I am quite impressed. I ordered the tenor from Jamie at Hot Strings Guitar Shop, and asked him to set it up in GDAE tuning. Here are my initial impressions and some pics:
Appearance, fit, and finish are excellent. The solid Sitka Spruce top has a beautiful, deep grain pattern and high-gloss finish. The Mahogany sides and back are also quite stunning. The soundhole Rosette is very classy, and the tortoise heel cover is a nice touch. I particularly like that the pickguard for mine was sent along unattached. I strongly prefer the look of the guitar without the tortoise pickguard, so it will not be getting attached. Finally, the vintage-style, nickel-plated, open-back tuners with their butterbean-style buttons are a perfect compliment to the overall look. I frankly think it's remarkable to find a guitar in this price range appointed like this. Grade: A
Playability is outstanding. Although these guitars are said to be 'clones' of the Martin O-18T, I am fairly certain that my Blueridge has larger frets and more of a fretboard radius than my Martin 000-15. The nut width is just a hair over 1 1/4", but the outside string spacing is just 1" at the nut. The large frets, the fretboard radius (I'm guessing 12"), the nut width/string spacing, and a very comfortable neck profile all make for excellent playability. Also, Jamie performed a very good set-up on this instrument - The frets are even and nicely polished, and the action is quite good (~3/32" under the G string at fret 12). Grade: A
Tone is strong and even. The instrument has a clear and classic voice all up and down the fretboard and can really thunder on the low end when one digs into the 42 gauge G string. Fantastic for Blues, Rock and Folk. I hadn't realized how much I was missing a 'guitar voice' in my playing. I really look forward to getting to know this instrument's voice better. Grade: B+
Overall, I'd have to say that I am very pleased, and quite impressed by this tenor guitar. Also, there can be no doubt that this instrument is a remarkable value.
Overall Grade: A
Any downsides? Not really...Maybe the need to adjust to the longer scale on this compared to the octave mandolin (that extra 7/8 of an inch can really make a difference on a fret 1 to fret 5 stretch! ).
Bookmarks