Blueridge BR140A vs. Yamaha FG5 & LL16
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 15 ก.ย. 2024
- A quick « strumming video » this morning ; directly with the mic of my I-Phone SE.
All solid woods guitars ; around 1.1 KEuro.
1st : Blueridge BR140A. Adirondack on mahogany. Strings : D’Addario EXP16, fresh.
2nd : Yamaha FG5. Canadian Sitka spurce on African mahogany. Strings : Elixir PB Nanoweb 12-53, fresh.
3rd : Yamaha LL16 with little upgrades : bone saddle, ebony pins, Gotoh 510Z tuners. Canadian Engelman spurce on Indian rosewood. Strings : Elixir 80/20 Nanoweb 12-53, 6 weeks of playing.
Pick : celluloïd 1.5 mm.
My feeling behind the guitars :
- BR140A : the more authentic bluegrass voice with thick notes.
- FG5 : the fuller bass response.
- LL16 : the more vibrant piece (+ deep bass) and long sustain.
All the 3, a very resonant character. - เพลง
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My ears deceive me or did the FG5 run away with this? It's just got that distinctive vintage Yamaha sound. My Dad played the same early 70's FG for over 40 yrs. Reminds me of it. A real beauty too
I think they intentionally voiced it that way
I think I liked the LL16M a little more personally.... A sweet chime but not top heavy...But they are great guitars. And yes...The Red Label did have a pretty old schoo, twangy l vibe...
FG5 is a cannon. Looove mine. Vintage warm sound and a lot of power.
They all have strong resonance and projection... It's really taste at that point.
Your LL16 has a slight edge over the other two. I just bought an LL16D and replaced the nut and saddle with bone. It sounds as good as my Boucher BG-52, at a fraction of the price. Crazy.
As good as Boucher? REALLY???
@@LegsON It's difficult to fully dissect the properties of a guitar, but my Yamaha LL16D is louder than my BG-52 and has a more balanced tone, though the string-to-string definition is better on the Boucher. Both guitars are lovely. I'm just amazed at what you can get for so little money (The Yamaha). I have also heard great things about Blueridge.
This LL16 didn't sound as punchy as mine nor on many videos.
I did the same thing; bought the LL16, and had a custom bone nut and saddle made. I think I also put Waverly Galaith bridge pins in as well. The guitar wows me every time I play it.
hog or rose?@@gateroadmusic
In this video, the Yamaha LL16 sounded the best. I have both the Br140 and the LL16, and both are phenomenal guitars.
I was gonna make a comment but you made the same one. Totally agree. The LL16 still to this day has impressed me so much. I have a black one and it is a truly underrated and amazing sounding guitar.
Great !thank you ! I have a choice between fg5 and ll16 . Fg5 is best!
FG5 had the best sound (and I've got an LLTA which I really enjoy) All three sound great. The LL had less top and more mid
Love the LL16!
My favorite too
FG5 .... wow!! Love that warm mahogany base ....
The FG5 was the best to my ears
Its the LL16 for me. But Im biased, I own two!
So two years ago I grabbed a br140a from a music shop that went out of business. Loved the sound but never could get comfortable with it. Traded for an ll16, but I thought it was too bright and sold it and put it toward my fg5. I'll never get rid of her.
Are you sure it was a BR-140A and not a plain BR-140. There are definite differences. The Japanese made instruments by Yamaha are usually going to be better than their Chinese made counterparts. Japanese made Yamahas are probably comparable to American made instruments, as the Japanese and very quality conscious. The Chinese made Yamahas are probably no better than Blueridge or Eastman Guitars.
Yamaha ll16-the best!
I like them all.
The LL16 have the more articulate sound , and is the more vibrant piece compared to the BR140A and FG5.
But I tend yo be a fan of mahogany 🙂
"Tell me why" they all sound good 👍
I thought the FG5 just had something else!
Man that Blueridge didnt have a chance .
Have you ever played a BR140?
Would be nice to try an LL16M. my LL16D is a beautiful instrument, but would like to try the mahogany version!
i sit around playing tell me why by neil young day and night, was incredibly silly to hear it in a guitar demo. maybe a sign!
Just a simple question. Do you always pick behind the soundhole or did you do that based on the country you were playing this time?
I'll go with the Blueridge.
Здравствуйте. Вы бы что предпочли yamaha fg-3 или Ll-16?
Nice! I have a LL16 as well which is incredible, but lately I’ve mostly been playing my Eastman E2D (Sapele BS, Cedar top). They’re very much opposites as far as dreads. If you like a big, mellow, warm and dry sound with great resonance, I can’t recommend the E2D enough.
I have a Eastman all solid mandolin that I’m completely crasy with.
Thanks for the tip about the E2D !
There is a dealer (shop) at one hour from house.
Big, mellow, warm and DRY is all about folk guitarist is looking for :-)
@@incognito2246 Awesome, never played a mandolin but I see lots of people are happy with their Eastman mandolins!
I would definitely go and try out an E2D when they’re in stock, it’s just incredible and hard to believe it’s only around 5-600 USD. I also have an E1 OM, which is also certainly a great little guitar. But I’m just gushing over that E2, it keeps sounding better every day it seems. So full and confident. I made a short arrangement of Human Nature with it, if you want to get a feel for the sound. Cheers!
The E2CD is what started me on my quite expensive all solid journey.
I own an Eastman E1D with Sitka top and Sapele sides and back (all solid woods). It is a good instrument for $700. It is a loud instrument even using light guage Elixer strings, and the instrument is very light. The only problem with the E1D and I suspect other less expensive Eastmans is that, although they are very well constructed, Eastman is using wood that is not aged at all (or very little). When I got this instrument in May 2022, I took it on a road trip in June and it was very hot and humid where I went. After I had played in outdoors in that heat, it smelled like a lumbar yard with fresh cut lumber. Any time it gets warm, it smells of fresh cut lumber. Plus, the neck was entirely too bowed and I had to, reluctantly, adjust the truss rod. This seemed to fix it. Otherwise and sounds an plays well.
Which neck do you find more comfortable to play with? Never tried an Eastman. I've heard that Eastman necks are pretty thick. The yamaha L series are known to be thicker than the yamaha fg series but I wonder how Eastman compares to the yamaha L series necks.
FG5 is great and if you remove the plastic wood lookalike tick film from the black pickguard then it becomes even greater.. 👍
What’s underneath?
A proper shinny hard plastic black pickguard! Looks great but it's a bit difficult to remove, use alcohol or lighter fluid to remove the glue residue.
@@GiantRock62 I actually quite like the wood like pickguard myself
@@ANTYRULZHARD yes but it's fake, it will peel of from the edges in time, also it mutes the sound a bit with that thick poly-glue.
Are you shure it is plastic ? I think Yamaha claims it is wood (and the seller too). I do not like that thick pickguard, firstly because it decreases the vibrations, and secondly because it makes noise when my pinky slides on it. Same noisy issue with the ebony bridge pins, with my palm. I guess i should polish these pins.
nice playing 👍👍
thanks, always nice to hear a compliment ! 😊
Apparently Blueridge has stopped making their BR-140A. I have owned an BR-160A for two years and have really loved it. (I am very much a new player). The BR-160A has an Adirondack top and Rosewoods sides and back. I decided I wanted a BR-140A because it is the true sibling to the BR-160A, as it also has an Adirondack top but Mahogony sides and backs. The headstocks are the same on both instruments and the rosewood fretboards. Oh, and the top on the BR-140A is not herringbone like the BR-160A. Anyway, I searched and found a music store in Pennsylvania that had a new BR-140A sitting in stock since 2019 that had not sold and were selling it through Reverb. I made a fair offer on it and it was accepted. I received it the day before Thanksgiving and gave it some TLC and new Elixer strings. It is truly an excellent complement to my previous BR-160A and I enjoy playing it as much as the BR-160A. The Mahogony tone woods give the BR-140A a different sound, but it is just as playable as the BR-160A. Now I own a poor man's D-28 (the BR-160A) and poor man's D-18 (the BR-140A). I am not sure your test here was done right. To truly compare instruments, you need them to have the exact same strings on each instrument. BTW - Both the BR-140A and BR-160A have bone nuts and saddles.
Soundwise, the best guitar I owned (since 20 years) was a Blueridge BR40 …
I have never found my lost love since. The specific specimen I owned, was just incredible.
And I have buy a lot of guitars between 3000 and 5000 bucks ☺️
So, the best guitar for each player is not the most expensive, and each piece is different.
@@incognito2246 BR40? Isn't that a laminated back and sides? Does it have a good sound and volume? bass an resonance?
@@billdedrick1914 yes, mine had a ton of bass BUT a lot of clarity and resonance 😢
Another sample from a friend was completely muddy…
@@incognito2246 What year was your BR40?
Interesting comparison. But if you could only have one guitar, which one would you choose?
First of all, I’m a mahogany guy ; amen 🙏
So, this FG5.
… but this LL16 is my rosewood keeper !
@@incognito2246 I see. I happen to have a pre-ARE LL16 with a black pickguard. Cheers!
You should have been a little less obvious in your comparisons. Light picking on the Blueridge just behind the sound hole. A bit more aggressive on the Yamaha crossing over into the sound hole, and flat picking.
You must sell Yamahas.
Too much bottom end, bass is overwhelming, in a band it's fighting the bass guitar sound
In a band setting you’re going to be plugged in, and you can high pass the low end.. in a bluegrass setting there’s no acoustic guitar on the planet that is going to fight the low end coming from an upright bass - just a PHYSICAL impossibility as it is a much deeper depth and voiced specifically for low end. So, no you’re very wrong