Alvarez AD60ce - any thoughts?

southof8 · #1 02-12-2016, 10:35 AM

Hi folks,

Guitar Center has a pretty good deal on an Alvarez Artist Series Dreadnaught that I'm thinking of picking up for my nephew- $249 so hard to beat the price.

Anyone have any experiences or thoughts on the guitar? I like Alvarez's small bodied guitars and have played a few but not the dreadnaughts.

Thanks for any thoughts.

JakeStone · #2 02-12-2016, 10:46 AM

I have the AD60 (non electric version) that I picked up on sale recenty.

It really is a great Dread for the money! It did need some setting up. Was not perfect out of the box. But it's winter and things change. Didn't bother me since I like doing it myself. I tweaked the truss rod and sanded down the saddle a bit. Now it plays real nice!

Sound and playability is very good. I wouldn't say it has booming or over powering bass. But nice tone more on the Taylor side of things. Neck is traditional carve not thick or anything. Tuners work well.

Nick84 · #3 02-12-2016, 11:50 AM

Good guitars. Not sure if he would plug in but the B-Band pickup in that particular guitar is really good. It's a duel source sound board transducer and under saddle.

I played one plugged in and was really impressed

JakeStone · #4 02-12-2016, 05:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nick84

Good guitars. Not sure if he would plug in but the B-Band pickup in that particular guitar is really good. It's a duel source sound board transducer and under saddle.

I played one plugged in and was really impressed

Don't think it's the duel source pickup. Isn't that the SYS650? This one comes with the 550.

This is the acoustic-electric version of the AD60, which features a cutaway and has been fitted with the SYS550 pickup and EQ system developed by B-BAND.

Gmountain · #5 02-12-2016, 05:27 PM

I have an AD60CE, although mine has the SYS650. It's a really nice guitar. Definitely a dread.

David C · #6 02-12-2016, 06:11 PM

I believe I am ordering one of these in the next hour -- waiting on store to call me back. This sale is result of new model/design, and this sale is on the discontinued model. Has sunburst top -- new design has a shadowburst, and to my eyes a better shading pattern. Could not confirm nut width as none of the sale model was in stock to measure and clerk only had specs for the new model. The old model has SYS550 pickup, and new has LR Baggs Stage Pro.

If sale call comes back in time I will order and measure nut width when it comes in to the area store (30 miles) for pickup. Will only accept order if nut width is the 1.75" as I simply cannot play my current 1 11/16" Alvarez without touching two strings. If guitar is accepted, I can live with the older model top appearance, and put my current Alvarez for sale. This is a good buy if the nut width is okay for me. Everyone like to play my older Alvarez - its is just me that can't.

southof8 · #7 02-12-2016, 06:27 PM

Thanks for all the helpful comments!!

Jusca · #8 02-12-2016, 06:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by David C

I believe I am ordering one of these in the next hour -- waiting on store to call me back. This sale is result of new model/design, and this sale is on the discontinued model. Has sunburst top -- new design has a shadowburst, and to my eyes a better shading pattern. Could not confirm nut width as none of the sale model was in stock to measure and clerk only had specs for the new model. The old model has SYS550 pickup, and new has LR Baggs Stage Pro.

If sale call comes back in time I will order and measure nut width when it comes in to the area store (30 miles) for pickup. Will only accept order if nut width is the 1.75" as I simply cannot play my current 1 11/16" Alvarez without touching two strings. If guitar is accepted, I can live with the older model top appearance, and put my current Alvarez for sale. This is a good buy if the nut width is okay for me. Everyone like to play my older Alvarez - its is just me that can't.

The nut width is 1 3/4".

http://alvarezguitars.com/guitar/ad60ce/

David C · #9 02-12-2016, 07:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jusca

The nut width is 1 3/4".

http://alvarezguitars.com/guitar/ad60ce/

************
I did place my order, and pray at least two of my guitars sell soon. Wife is patient but there are some limits! I need to get down to four guitars.

Appreciate your reply. Note that this link is for the new design specs, not the older item on special sale. Thus I will find out next week what the actual width turns out to be.. I hoping it is the 1.75" and have no idea why specs on the discontinued model were not readily available somewhere in cyberspace.

JakeStone · #10 02-12-2016, 08:11 PM

I have a 2015 AD60 and the nut is definitely 1 3/4 "

slowesthand · #11 02-13-2016, 08:09 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JakeStone

I have a 2015 AD60 and the nut is definitely 1 3/4 "

Same here, I have the 50th anniversary sunburst, 1 3/4 for sure.

Fusion01 · #12 02-13-2016, 10:38 AM

What would someone suggest for a decent cheap gig bag for this and the other recent Alvarez sale guitars like the AF66 and AP66? I just bought 2 of those $19.99 Musician's Gear bags hopefully they aren't paper thin and have SOME padding still.

jlklein · #13 09-17-2018, 10:44 AM

Hi folks, occasional lurker here, just picked up a used AD60CE off of Craigslist this weekend and ran across this thread, so had some questions.

The Alvarez I bought is a 2015 model with the Sys550 pickup, and while I really like the sound over the standard under-saddle piezo, I find the Sys550 output to be VERY low...I have 3 Ibanez acoustics and all 3 are easily 4x as loud (Talman and 12 string with stock pickups, AW100 with self-installed Fishman Presys Blend 301). I wouldn't mind the gain difference so much except that I end up having the Alvarez volume maxed out (in addition to turning up my looper and mixer line-in channel) so get quite a bit of hiss out of it.

I also noticed that after I filed the bridge saddle down a bit to lower the upper fret action (truss adjustment was spot on) that I was getting uneven output of the strings, i.e. the center strings seemed deader and the high E was quite overpowering. However, I used a flat file and the sharpie method to ensure the saddle was filed down evenly and that sucker is ruler flat so it's definitely making full contact across the pickup. Unfortunately I did this before plugging it into my mixer so I don't know if it was like this before...when I bought it I played it through my iPhone's Amplitube Acoustic app (hard to bring an amp with me) which has a compression setting so it may have masked that. I'm wondering if the pickup is damaged or if this is a manufacturing defect. The original owner said he didn't really plug it in much, for what that's worth.

Is the 650 worth upgrading to, i.e. is it a better output level more inline with other guitar pickups? If so, it is interchangeable with Sys550, or do I have to re-route the electronics hole? I like the guitar itself, plays well and sounds nice acoustically (and electrically, outside of the low output and string imbalance).

Thanks for any thoughts,
Jeff

ClaptonWannabe2 · #14 09-17-2018, 11:50 AM

I have an ad60. Only complaint was a crappy saddle that chipped at the b-string. Where it is compensated.

Luckily though it seems the only "bad" things about these guitars are little things a schmo like me can fix. New saddle and found my sweet spot strings for it. I use it more and more now.

jlklein · #15 09-17-2018, 12:05 PM

Yeah, I was thinking of replacing the saddle, after reading some similar complaints. Is yours the non-electric then?

Jeff