In this article, we’ll talk about some of the absolutely incredible budget bluegrass guitar options there are. It’s seriously amazing the options we have nowadays.
These guitars have awesome full-bodied and warm bluegrass tones. You really don’t have to shell out a ton of dough to get a good instrument nowadays.
Let’s get started.
Blueridge br-40
If you’ve been playing bluegrass for awhile, you’ve probably heard about these guitars……and for good reason. They sound absolutely beautiful. I went practically into a trance listening to the guitar below.
The bottom end is where the guitars tone really shines. But what’s REALLY crazy to me is the price on these models. If you you can get your hands on one used they’re absolutely RIDICULOUSLY cheap……and just listen to it….that is not what cheap sounds like.
FYI: This is not the only model of theirs that sounds incredible. They have some other GREAT models out there as well. This one in particular just stood out to me.
RD-310 Recording King
People are always overlooking this brand for some reason……..which does have an interesting history……..(they used to be a catalog brand long time ago) but they seriously should not be overlooked.
Great, warm tone, and bright but not to bright…….and has an INSANE amount of personality to it. Slightly twangy almost, but that has a little bit to do with how it’s being played in the video below. Definitely one to consider and just sounds absolutely unreal for the price.
Martin DX1
Surprise! It’s a Martin. Well, you’re probably not surprised at all to see this here, considering Martin has basically always been the Gold standard when it comes to bluegrass guitars……
WHAT IS SURPRISING though is the tone and the price on this guitar. This is seriously an absolutely incredible steal. Probably the biggest steal out of all the guitars I’ve listed here.
The bass end is where this guitar really shines, so it’s great for bluegrass and it’s surprisingly bright when it comes to tone. A bit brighter than most Martin guitars I’ve heard.
Sidenote: it’s nice to see guitars without any inlays. I know that’s a pain for many players, but I like how it looks.
Alvarez md60bg
NOTE: I added this guitar here, even though brand new they are definitely NOT budget models. You will have to buy this particular model used if you’re on a budget. Still, I knew that for certain people this guitar would be perfect for them, so I decided to add it to the list.
This guitar isn’t my FAVORITE on the list here, because while the tone IS incredible…….it’s not as great as the other ones on this list. I really can’t believe I’m saying that considering how much I love Alvarez guitars……..but it’s true.
I’m NOT saying the tone is BAD……don’t leave angry comments please!! The tone really is GREAT it’s just not my favorite, and I’m used to the tone sounding a bit…….sweeter and fuller (even in some of their smaller models as odd as that sounds). Maybe the recording in the video is just off……I’m not sure. I’ll have to play one next time I’m in the music store and see if my opinion changes. I’m pretty sure the last time I played a dreadnought Alvarez I really liked it……..
Recording King RD-T16
Not surprisingly, (to me) here’s another recording king. These guitars are just seriously such a great value and have GREAT tone. It amazes me they’re so inexpensive.
What really sticks out about this model is just how full the tone is. VERY warm and full-bodied. The bass end sounds like a very expensive guitar.
What’s interesting about this model is it’s another heat treated model. Haven’t had any of those yet on this list, but they’re a popular newer thing. Each company calls their hea t treatment something different, but what essentially this does is it gives the guitar a more vintage feel and tone. Heating up a guitar gives the wood the (close) to the same qualities as aged wood.
BONUS: Blueridge BR-160 versus a Martin
In the video below, I found out something that shocked me and really got me thinking about how much some of these guitars are really worth, and if some are well……..just not worth the money.
In the video below, there’s a Martin versus a Blueridge……..CLOSE YOUR EYES and see which one you like better, I won’t spoil you with my opinion unless you scroll down. See which one you like more.
If you’re like me, you found that the tone on the blueridge was fuller, sweeter, and even loose in a way.
I hate to say it, but I really enjoyed the tone on the blueridge a LOT more than I did the Martin. Don’t get me wrong I still LOVE the Martin and it does sound absolutely incredible………but the fact that this blueridge outshone it…….to me it says a TON about just how awesome of a time we’re living in that we have guitar options like the blueridge.
Random thought: wouldn’t it be nice if all reviews were done this way? Simply just play the same licks back to back. This is honestly the best way to get an absolute best comparison between models. Well, it’s the easiest way for sure. You can instantly tell what sounds better. Lots of people I see reviewing guitars will play a guitar for a couple minutes then play different styles of music on the other guitar. Slightly frustrating.
Second BONUS: Blueridge blows this Martin away…….
Man, I hate to say it. Like it actually pains me physically to say this. But the Martin in this video stood ABSOLUTELY NO CHANCE against these blueridge models…….
I was surprised to find this video actually SUPER cool of this guy to do a demo like this.
Random thought: but you know what would be nice? Having a battle where someone just goes into a guitar shop and plays every single acoustic until there’s one clear winner. Would be a super cool video, probably would be a lot of angry commenters with disagreements though. But that’s just how blogging works. Not everybody likes you! It would be super helpful for people out there though…….maybe in the future…..
Anyways sorry for the tangent. Here’s the video!
Also, this guy is hilarious. “Banjo Ben” has an absolutely awesome channel. His social distancing video cracked me up and he has some great content when it comes to banjos as well. So definitely go and check that out.
If you did enjoy this video, there was actually a surprisingly amount of comparison videos with Martins to guitars like blueridge out there. Definitely go and look those up, you’ll be really surprised at what you prefer. I’ve been saying this for awhile now, that inexpensive guitars are taking over…….but it’s becoming more and more apparent everyday that’s definitely the case.
Conclusion: Hope you found something you liked in this article!!! Bluegrass is a whole ton of fun to play, and a great challenge if you’re new to playing. Probably not the best start for a beginner.
These guitars are just my personal favorite options when it comes to playing bluegrass, there’s definitely a TON more options out there…..so if you didn’t like any of the guitars in this article (first off my apologies)! But there are still a ton of options for you to choose from (even in the budget range yes)
A quick tip as well if you’re going to be choosing a guitar for bluegrass – check out what your favorite player players. Of course, most likely they play a dreadnought……but look at other things as well. Check out what woods they use and what other specifications they have for their guitars. This’ll help you out a TON in choosing what’s really good and what’s……not so good for you when playing your instrument.
Thanks again for reading this article!!! If you enjoyed this, leave a comment! Or if there is any way at all I can improve this please let me know.