[devellis]

As I mentioned earlier, I’d been curious and decided to give this guitar a try. My expectations were modest despite all the positive reviews I’d heard. On one hand, I’d had some pleasant surprises with inexpensive guitars I’d bought previously, like the great Voyage-Air folding travel guitar that was far better than I’d expected it to be. But then, I’d also had some bargain disappointments, like the Godin 5th Ave which okay but never really floated my boat. But the risk was small with the Alvarez, especially because I got it with accumulated Amazon Points from other purchases rather than actually laying out fresh cash.

Well, as it happens, I’m very pleased. The ragtime blues stuff I like to play sounds great on it. Although it will take a bit of time to adapt my playing style to the instrument, the neck with its 1¾” nut and barely-there V is quite comfortable. The setup is quite good right out of the box. And the saddle is plenty tall should I ever want to bring the strings down closer to the frets. While it isn’t particularly loud when played with bare fingers, if I get a bit of nail on the strings, they respond very nicely. The 5th string (E, on this guitar) has an especially satisfying thud to it. Appearance, fit and finish are as good or better than anyone has any reason to expect from a guitar at this price. The Ablam on-lay (pretty sure it isn’t actual inlay) is attractive and not overdone, with a thin ring at the sound hole rosette, the headstock logo, and a decorative 12th fret marker being the only pearly bits. String pins are pretty cheapo but are the easiest thing on a guitar to replace except for the strings. I don’t know that I’ll bother unless they show signs of structural failure at some point. But it’ll be a cheap and easy fix if I decide to swap them out. Tuners are fine for now. There are certainly better options available but I'm trying to keep total cost down (zero, so far) on this guitar.

Now for the important stuff. Tone is very good, although I perhaps should reserve judgment about that until I get over the kick of hearing those tasty low-pitched notes. It’s hard to gauge what is actual tone appreciation versus the grin-factor of playing in a register I’ve never heard my fingers produce before. But I think the tone will stand the test of time. And, honestly, it does sound pretty darn nice despite my lack of any frame of reference for a baritone. Judged against guitars in general, putting aside pitch differences, it has a very pleasing voice and it’s great fun to play.

Along with tone, playability is critical. And this instrument does well in that regard, too. Action/setup, as I said, is fine as is. String heights are 5/64 and 4/64 on low and high B strings, respectively. Frets are nice and level. Spanning three at a time with a short straight edge and working up the neck didn't give me any rocking that would occur if fret heights were uneven. The fret ends didn't both me when playing, although if I rub them hard I can feel a bit of sharpness here and there (an easy fix, but probably not even necessary). The fat strings feel a bit weird after a standard guitar but less so than moving from a 6- to a 12-string, for example. It's a large body but the tight waist relative to the lower bout makes it sit fairly comfortably on the lap. So, I have to give comfort and playability high marks. Hopefully, that will remain stable. Given that the instrument shipped to me (and probably left China) nearly tuned to pitch and in only its flimsy triangular cardboard box and an inner plastic bag, I don't think it should lose its geometric integrity under normal household playing conditions.

So, bottom line, I'm pleased. Thanks to Wade the Enabler for tickling my itch to try a baritone. As usual, he was right about the Alvarez being a great way to get into that format for a very reasonable price. I'm going to enjoy having it around.