BLUERIDGE
BG-2500 SUPER JUMBO
BY CHARLES SAUFLEY
Most acoustic guitar spotters learn to love the subtle things. While a 5-year-
old kid can tell a Flying V from a 335, the
differences between a GA and an OM tend
to be lost on the average concertgoer. The
exception to that rule might be the mighty
and imposing profile of jumbo-sized guitars. Originally designed by Gibson to be
loud and bold-looking on stage, the jumbo
became synonymous with cowboy stars, and
in later years, rockers like Pete Townshend
and Jeff Tweedy would treasure their warm,
outsized voice and potential for projection.
Gibson wasn’t the only company to
explore the potential of jumbo bodies. Guild’s
jumbo-sized 12-strings are the stuff of legend
for their bigger-than-life acoustic sounds,
and Lyon & Healy’s pre-war jumbos are
among some of the mightiest acoustic guitars
ever built. But Gibson’s J-200 remains, in
many ways, the standard bearer, and though
Blueridge’s BG-2500 Super Jumbo, reviewed
here, isn’t a strict reinterpretation of Gibson’s
grande dame, it riffs on the concept in a positively celebratory way that looks fantastic and
results in some very big and rich sounds too.
Dressed to Kill
One of Blueridge’s trademarks is the
company’s knack for subtly fancifying
Art Deco-styled rosewood bridge
to hear audio clips of the guitar at
premierguitar.com/may2012
CLICKHere…
mid-century, American acoustic classics.
But, the BG-2500, while far from an
exercise in ostentatious design, is hardly
subtle. For starters, it’s big— 17" across the
lower bout and 21" in body length—and
if you’re used to playing anything smaller
than a dreadnought, the extra size can
throw you for a loop.
All that extra size adds up to a beautiful canvas for a lot of very nice wood. The
back and sides are deep and striking flame
maple. And though the back is not crafted
from a precisely book-matched set, the
pieces are beautifully paired and divided by
Solid AAAA maple
back and sides
Solid spruce top
