I'm glad you have a guitar you like and enjoy. That's what it's about isn't it? The reason for these thread groups is to have a little mini data bank of info from other Mudcateers for those who are thinking of a new guitar, back-up, first guitar or whatever. We really do represent a nice cross section of experience, ability, styles (at least acoustic), and interests. In the future, should someone ask, we can refer them to these threads instead of finding bits and pieces all over the forum.

Alvarez seems to build very playable instruments. I do a fair amount of repair on the side so I must also comment on that aspect of Alvarez. I find them to be put together well enough, but their selection of woods could be better. In the past year, I've done major neck repair including several splits to over a dozen Alvarez instruments. I'm a dulcimer builder, not a full time repairman/luthier, so I don't want to knock the guitar personally. In talking to full time shops, they experience the same thing. However, Dan pointed out to me a while back that the normal Alvarez owner is generally harder on the instrument because many are novices. So if you have one with a marginal neck or top the problem is going to show up quickly through lack of proper care. None of this should deter anyone from buying one; just have a real good look at the wood first. I have one in right now that has the grain in the neck running at about 20 degrees to the strings for about a third of it's length. Split!!! This piece should never have been machined for a neck and should have been caught somewhere along the line as unusable.

catspaw