New Archtop Guitars from Alvarez

[RevDavidLee]

My local Alvarez dealer posted on his Facebook page last night that he has the new Alvarez Jazz/Blues series guitars in. I wasn't aware that Alvarez made these and so I'm heading over there this after noon to try them out. Here's a look at the one I'm most interested in:

 

 

Here's a link to the specifics on this model: http://alvarezguitars.com/guitar/aat34bge/

 

And here's a link to the entire series: http://alvarezguitars.com/jazz-and-blues/

 

Anyone heard of these or had a chance to play one yet? I own a couple of Alvarez acoustics which I love so I am very curious what they've done here :o

[daveinspain]

Looks like a nice classy and comfy guitar to play… Let us know what you think...

[RevDavidLee]

Rosewood fret board & Nut & Saddle is Real Bone!

 

The store opens in 40 minutes

[RevDavidLee]

Hello peeps!

 

Well I was at the guitar store for a few hours and played the model pictured above and it's brother which was humbucker equipped. The one pictured above felt wonderful BUT - with the floating bridge it would not hold tune for me. I tuned the guitar 7 times within ten minutes of playing her and finally just put it down. The pickups were not as strong as I hoped they would be . Now to be fair the store owner told me that he had not done a setup on it yet, but still it was lacking. The guitar felt heavy - similar to a Gibson ES-335 but didn't meet up with that guitar's standards nor did I expect it to given the big price difference. Both the one above and the humbucker equipped were priced at $719 which included a hard shell case. I believe on the internet they were priced at $599 but I do not believe they came with a hard case.

 

Having said that - the humbucker equipped was a killer guitar. It had a hard tail bridge and thus held tune perfectly. The buckers were strong and voiced wonderfully. If I did not already own an ES-335 I would have jumped all over that one. It played beautifully and screamed out when paired up with a half stack Marshall JCM in the store. I annoyed the hell out of the guys in the acoustic guitar room but thankfully, since I knew most of them - they forgave me :) I would highly recommend the humbucker equipped one but sadly - not the one pictured above. In case you're wondering where they are made - it didn't say anywhere on the guitar. All it said on the back of the head stock was "Handcrafted" but no country of origin. Odd

 

But while I was there I picked up a nice used guitar I found in the acoustic room. I'll start another thread for that beauty :)

[rct]

Somebody probably bought an island in some Asian sea and named it Handcrafted.

 

rct

[cookieman15061]

My local Mom and Pop is an Alvarez dealer. I'll have to stop and check them out.

 

Thanks for the review and heads up.

[RevDavidLee]

Somebody probably bought an island in some Asian sea and named it Handcrafted.

 

rct

 

[lol]

[Pesh]

That sunburst humbucker model is niiiice! Can't find a UK dealer, though

[Kenny V]

Thanks for the review Rev

[RevDavidLee]

Thanks for the review Rev

 

Thanks for reading! B)

 

I hope someone else gets to try them out so we can get some more perspective on impressions from others. Lot of Alvarez dealers out there (in the USA anyway) so hopefully we'll get some more feedback :)

[kelly campbell]

Thanks for posting, I think. Great looking guitars I will have to check them out.

[RevDavidLee]

Thanks for posting, I think. Great looking guitars I will have to check them out.

 

[milod]

Just wondering how it compares to the Epi versions...

 

I have a couple of Epi Dots and either is stage-worthy and less expensive even with hard cases.

 

m

[RevDavidLee]

milod! :)

 

That's a very good question but since I don't own any Epi Dots it would be hard for me to do an A/B shootout for you. I mean I have played a few but it's been many years ago now.

 

More importantly - it's good to see you stopping in my friend! [thumbup]

[RMRA]

RevDavidLee,

Can't wait til we hear about the next acoustic you found. I especially enjoyed reading about your last acoustic find, the Gretsch Recording King archtop story. What happened to that one? It seemed destined to be a sure keeper. I was eyeing that one but I decided on a 1937 Recording King M-5 archtop made by Gibson for Montgomery Ward's.