2007 Blueridge BR-180 Dreadnought Guitar

Last year I worked on a BR-160 that I thought was a pretty darn-good guitar. Well, this one beats the pants off of that one and looks better doing it, as it's cloned D-45-style trim meaning there's oodles of pearl around every edge you can find on the body. The owner of this guitar has sustained some injuries which make playing bigger guitars pretty difficult, so this one's a consignment box.

My work included a fret level/dress, general cleaning, and a good setup with some extra string-ramping behind the saddle.It's all-original, has a straight neck, plays quick and fast, and the action is spot-on. These Chinese-made Blueridges pop-up at almost any bluegrass (and many old-time) gatherings for good reason -- the quality is there and they seem to hold-up pretty well over time, too, as I've rarely had to do anything to them when they've come through the shop except correct normal wear (worn frets, seasonal setup needs).

Specs are: 25 9/16" scale, 1 11/16" nut width, 1 7/16" string spacing at the nut, 2 1/8" spacing at the bridge, 15 1/2" lower bout width, 11 1/2" upper bout, and 4 7/8" side depth. The neck has a mild C-shaped profile and a ~14" radius to the board. Action is 3/32" EA and 1/16" DGBE at the 12th fret, strung with 54w-12 gauges. The top is solid spruce and x-braced, the back and sides are solid Indian rosewood, the neck is mahogany, and the bridge and fretboard are ebony. The pearl is the actual stuff.

Condition-wise, it's really clean except for some splits in the bass-side neck binding. It looks like it shrunk a bit, but doesn't interrupt the hands. There's also a few marks at the back/side of the heel.

It's hard to argue with the cool pickguards on these. The top wood is tight-grained stuff.

The saddle is now compensated correctly and both the nut and saddle are bone.