Loving the Stonebridge

[lolligagger]

That SOB at the West Edmonton Rock Shop is trying to get even more of my hard earned money! Stopped in for new strings and picks last night and thought I would do a little side by each comparison of the Blueridge models he had in stock. I am seriously thinking new Blueridge at this point.

Buddy pulls out the $5000 Taylor to give me a frame of reference and then demos a Stonebridge guitar for 1/3 the price. The fingerstyle sound is unbelievable...but not quite what I had in mind because I am still thinking hillbilly flatpicking music. So then, he pulls out the old Stonebridge Bluegrass SM-32 and leaves me alone in the guitar room for 30 minutes. This guitar is amazing too and really has the vintage guitar sound down pat...which it should as the design and construction features appear to be based on the Martin D-18.

Anyways, the Stonebridge is twice the money of the Blueridge...this is going to take some soul searching. I see on the Stonebridge website that their guitars are played by some fellow Canucks. Anyone else here ever played one?

Czech (har har har) them out here...

http://www.stonebridgeguitars.com

[Jeff Flowerday]

$5000 Taylor? Which one?

Haven't heard Blueridge or Stonebridge so I can't help there, sorry!

[lolligagger]

Now you mention it, I didn't get the model number, but it was a pretty nice looking guitar with plenty of bling. If I had to guess, the sticker price probably wasn't $5K. The store owner was likely just trying to make the point that I could buy a great sounding guitar for less money than a Taylor.

I was simply impressed with how great the Stonebridge sounded, and thought I would pass along the link to their website in case anyone was interested in a checking these guitars out.

[edthehorse]

I own 2 of the stonebridge guitars and would never go back to a martin or gibson. Incredibale volume and tones galore. I bought mine at North Channel Music elliot lake ontario http://www.northchannelmusic.com

[Stephen W.]

Roger Schmidt (http://www.rogerschmidt.com/)is the North American importer / distributor for Stonebridge . As well as being an excellent singer / songwriter, he is fine guitarist in his own right. Not only does he play solo but he's also part of the trio known as "The Fellowship of the Strings". (The other two performers being Shawn Trotter and Carter Lancaster.)
Why I'm giving you this background is so you can understand that the guy pushing Stonebridge knows his stuff. He wouldn't be hocking wares that he himself didn't feel worth while. I've had the privilege to play several different models including those used in performances by Rodger and Andrew White (http://www.andrewwhitemusic.com/).
Now, my personal preference learns toward Larrivee but... IMHO there is no comparison between Stonebridge and Blueridge.
I know a retailer who refuses to sell Blueridge due to their flimsy construction. I believe it's one reason why they sound so good right out of the box. They are built so light. I understand that the tops, backs and sides are far thinner then their counterparts. But that may lead to trouble down the road. Warped tops, necks or cracks in sides and backs. They haven't been in the North American market long enough to see how well they will stand up to many years of humid summers, dry winters and constant playing, retuning or restringing.
Remember; "The bitterness of poor quality will linger long after the sweet taste of a low price has faded away."

[rollingdam]

I own 2 of the stonebridge guitars and would never go back to a martin or gibson. Incredibale volume and tones galore. I bought mine at North Channel Music elliot lake ontario http://www.northchannelmusic.com
I sure hope you bought them there considering you own the store.

[GuitarsCanada]

Not familiar with these but the website address is below. Worth a check to see whats up. http://www.stonebridgeguitars.com/home.html

[elindso]

Next time I'm at Archambault i'll check them out and report back.

Average price is about 2 grand. At the Ottawa folk centre website.

[bickertfan]

I had a chance to do a quick demo of their archtop jazz guitar and found it quite impressive. The feel of it reminded me of a good Ibanez Artcore guitar (not meant as a bad thing, just similar in feel) but the guitar was built with much higher quality woods, (as it should being priced around $2800 can) Intrigued, I went back for a second demo the following week but the guitar had sold.

[rollingdam]

It appears that the 12th fret in Toronto is blowing out their Blueridge guitars-

[drift_boat]

Just by co-incidence, I was just in Axe Music in Calgary where a beginner player asked me to evaluate a guitar for him. It was one the salesman recommended to him but "Jim" didn't know if he was being snowed. So I said sure...and proceeded to be very impressed by a $900 Stonebridge (dreadnaught) with cedar top and mahog side/bck. Ok, that one is a good one but let's see if the others are any good. Axe had 3 others hanging in the room, 2 dread and 1 Grand Auditorium style, and all three were very, very impressive. These last 3 were in the $1800-2200 range, but they were loud, warm, rich and full. I am a strummer, and a hybrid picker (flat pick and fingers) and play roots, blues, country, and rock...these guitars were 4/4. Bottom line is I don't believe that I've ever picked up 4 guitars in a row from one manufacturer and was as impressed enough to like all 4. End of positive rant.

[drift_boat]

Oh, and I forgot to add that my reference is my 2000 Taylor 810 Brazilian.

[BR183]

I can't speak about Stonebridge because I have yet to play one. I do however own a Blueridge BR183 and have owned it for well over a year now. I also own two Martin HD28's. I love the sound and the playability of my BR and as far as construction goes I have yet to find any flaws. The whole" they use light weight materials and thinner woods" is a bunch of bunk as far as I am concerned. There are a number of music store here in the Ottawa Valley that are known for their selection of quality guitars and I doubt highly that they would risk their reputations by selling a " lightweight and won't stand the test of time" line of guitars. The luthier that I use, who installed the pick up in my BR actually commented on the bR when I went to pick it up. He said
"that is one sweet sounding guitar and the quality of the woods they used are awesome". I love my Martins and will always keep them but to be honest with you I would say that when I go to practice or play, 9 times out of ten I pick up the Blueridge.

[mingo]

i tried a stonebridge om and jumbo against numerous taylor, martin, and larrivee guitars and it was my favourite by far. the stonebridge was 1800, one of the taylors was around 5K, one martin around 4K.

i'd love to get one of these guitars now.

i'm curious about Blueridge too, never played one though.

[elindso]

Well I tried the Stonebridge D size and 000 size. They are as good as anything in that range. Nicel sound and they play really well.

What about resale. I think Martin, Collings, Santa Cruz, Taylor, Larivee would have a better chance at holding their value.

When you get up to the 2 thousand dollar range there is a lot of nice stuff to look at.

They are really nice.

[Stephen W.]

Antoine Dufour (http://www.myspace.com/antoinedufour)(2nd place finisher in 2005 and winner in 2006 at the Canadian Guitar Festival competition PLUS, 2nd place in 2006 at the Walnut Grove Fingerstyle competition) plays a Stonebridge model 23-CR on track # 10 (Funky Tonk Guitar Trio (http://www.candyrat.com/artists/AntoineDuFour/Development/)) on his latest CD called Development (http://www.candyrat.com/artists/AntoineDuFour/Development/). As the song title suggests he over dubs himself. The Stonebridge is used for the lead only. His Larrivee J-05 does the yeoman work. He uses the aforementioned Larrivee, his Larrivee D-03 as well as his Andrew White C-242 for the rest of the album. Not sure if this was a sound issue, or a playing issue or if he didn't have the Stonebridge when the other tracks were laid.
If resale is a concern and budget is not then by all means go with a proven big name. I prefer Larrivee, especially the older BC built models.
I have a personal bias for Andrew White too. Having had him build two custom guitars for me. And he's gaining prominence now too with such notables as Andy McKee (http://www.candyrat.com/artists/andymckee/), Robert Taylor (http://www.candyrat.com/artists/RobertTaylor/)and Kaki King (http://www.candyrat.com/artists/KakiKing/)(see and read about her in the last issue of Guitar World Acoustic) now all playing and singing his praises.
Like I stated earlier, I know the Canadian importer Roger Schmidt (http://www.sofga.com/featured.htm), (who by the way played Hamilton last night). He would not be selling them if they were not up to scratch.
Bottom line, plays what U likes best. If you're never going to sell it and it sounds like crap it'll stay in it's case forever. If it's the greatest sounding guitar you've heard and you can't put it down then it'll get played till it's worn out, (or you are). Either way resale doesn't enter into it.

[elindso]

I agree. For the most part I find a nice guitar and keep it.

Brand names can be nice though. If I do have to sell for whatever reason brand names help when you have to liquidate.

The big names make some nice stuff also.