Alvarez 5008C

just a nice neck, decent cutaway which makes life easy, good quality electronics and does sound good amplified too. Nice quality workmanship. One slight neg was the grips on the tuning pegs, which got a little loose and rattly after a while. I removed them and refitted them with epoxy resin, end of that issue.

I bought this in Ivor Marantz in London, about 1995 or so. I was ready to pay top bread for whatever sounded best to me, and this was *it*. I am not really a classical player, I play a kind of mish mash of jazz, folk, blues ... but with fingers, never a pick. I just loved the rich warm sound of this thing the moment it got in my hands. I still do.

I stopped playing a few years, and lent it to a buddy who is obsessed with Brazilian music, and makes his living playing and singing that stuff. I nearly had to mug him to get it back ...

Everything was great, from day one. At some point it got a slight internal rattle, I got it fixed by a luthier in London, it didn't seem a big deal.

tough as old boots.

never dealt with them.

Been playing guitar 20 years, also sax, clarinet ... I do rate this box highly, and I've had it 12 years. A keeper.

This finish is very shiny and glasslike, but not thick. Not sure I know what to call it.
The body is concert style cutaway. The bridge is not a typical classical guitar bridge, in place of the plastic saddle is a piece of what looks like ebony, with a rectangle hole for each string that a saddle fits into.
The tuners suck.
The neck is a typical classical size. I think the fretboard is rosewood. Could be light ebony.
It has to have been made in Japan, Korea, or Indonesia, given the high quality. It has no indication on the label that I can see.
It has a piezo pickup system with a three band EQ and another control that appears to be parametric I think it is called "contour". Very nice quality electronics.
I think it is a mahogany back sides and neck with a spruce top. Not sure about the top though.

This guitar was sitting in a shop for much less than it's value. I had no idea what it was, but picked it up and played it just in the course of shopping for other things. I was not looking for a guitar.
It blew me away. The wood in it is beautiful. The workmanship is typical oriental. It has rich tone. Sustains nice, nice even projection.
I am a rock guitarist but I play a lot of fingerstyle guitar and use some classical music scales when I record. I am doing a CD of acoustic and classical guitar based songs and this instrument is the epitome of the best of what I could use.
This guitar has a warm sound, crisp without being bright. Very percussive without being flat sounding.
This guitar has NICE features, the most valuable of which is INDIVIDUAL saddles for each string. It appears that each string has a small saddle under it that is set into an ebony holder that sits into the bridge. That is a very thoughtfull thing for me, because I can file each saddle to get perfect intonation.
The other feature it has that is rare in classicals is a truss rod. I didn't have to mess with the saddle to set the action down, I simply adjusted the truss rod. I am glad I thought to look for one, when it occurred to me the thought was in my head that " no way a classical has a truss". I looked anyway, and viola'! Instant nice action in 3 minutes.
The electronics in this instrument are well thought out. It has a 3 band tone control, but also has a knob that appears to be some kind of parametric control of the mids. I find it most usefull, I can go from a dark warm sound to a brighter more crisp sound at the turn of a knob, nice touch. Very handy feature in the studio.
The electronics are also VERY quiet. That makes the response sound even more reactive and crisp.

I am not sure where it was made, but it has to be Japanese or Korean. The quality is just FAR too high to have been made anywhere else.
The action was terrible on it, but the truss rod was very loose. I bought this guitar for a song and a dance, much cheaper than it is worth. I suspect this is because someone had it and hated the action and the intonation, which are both easily dealt with.
The finish is beautiful. The wood looks as if whoever built the guitar hand picked it. The bridge and saddle assembly is very close tolerance and set properly , made from nice woods.

The only beef I have with this guitar is that it has those damn tuning machines that it seems ALL classical guitars come with now, generics. I suspect they are Pings, but dealer mass quantity ones, not the pings you get aftermarket. Aftermarket Pings are not bad.
The tuners are sloppy and at first it seems the nut is grabbing the strings. That is not the case, the tuning machines are grabby and squeek like tight nut slots. They are simply sloppy and loose. Tuning this thing is a nightmare, I will have to take the machines off and tweak them or replace them. I will likely find some of the better made Pings aftermarket. They aren't that expensive.
If this instrument had better tuners it would get a 10.
I can't understand why a guitar that has this much workmanship and craftsmanship in it has junk for tuners.

This guitar is an Alvarez, which is among the top guitar makers in the world. Alvarez is an Asian company, and Asian companies back their products up. They can afford to, they make em' better than everyone else to begin with so QC problems simply don't exist.
I would trust this guitar on the road in a hearbeat. I have had the brains out of it, and the electronics are high quality. No doubt they will hold up. The guitar itself is a classical guitar, so it does need a certain amount of special treatment to accomodate weather changes and like that, but other than that, it is likely quite dependable.
I only take one classical when I use one live. But I never gig without backup gear. I take more than one guitar with me always.

This guitar was made overseas. Customer support is a moot issue. The guarantee on oriental goods is in the quality of the product, not some useless phone hell warantee.
I own numerous overseas guitars, and have never needed customer support for any of them. They make em right the first time around.............

I have been playing for 41 years, and play live a lot. I own tons of gear, have a project studio, write music and record a lot.
There are no suprises about this guitar, I bought it for next to nothing compared to it's original price. The only suprise was when I got it home and started researching it and found it that it is worth far more than I had imagined.
I love everything about it except for the tuners. I still think putting those tuners on such a fine instrument is like putting chevy or ford door handles on a Mercedes.
I would replace this guitar in a heartbeat if something happened to it, if I could afford to.
I love the sound, the action, the ease of setup, and the thoughtfullness that went into it. This guitar was obviously designed for advanced players that know guitars.
My favorite feature is the individual saddles. I have made my own saddles for classicals in the past to get then to intonate well, wishing someone made one with individuals. The designer knew exactly what he was dong.
I compared this guitar to a 350 dollar Ibanez in the store. Ibanez is hard to beat. They are one of the best guitar makers on the planet. The Ibanez couldn't touch the Alvarez, neither can anything else.

This guitar was sitting in a shop for much less than it's value. I had no idea what it was, but picked it up and played it just in the course of shopping for other things. I was not looking for a guitar.
It blew me away. The wood in it is beautiful. The workmanship is typical oriental. It has rich tone. Sustains nice, nice even projection.
I am a rock guitarist but I play a lot of fingerstyle guitar and use some classical music scales when I record. I am doing a CD of acoustic and classical guitar based songs and this instrument is the epitome of the best of what I could use.
This guitar has a warm sound, crisp without being bright. Very percussive without being flat sounding.
This guitar has NICE features, the most valuable of which is INDIVIDUAL saddles for each string. It appears that each string has a small saddle under it that is set into an ebony holder that sits into the bridge. That is a very thoughtfull thing for me, because I can file each saddle to get perfect intonation.
The other feature it has that is rare in classicals is a truss rod. I didn't have to mess with the saddle to set the action down, I simply adjusted the truss rod. I am glad I thought to look for one, when it occurred to me the thought was in my head that " no way a classical has a truss". I looked anyway, and viola'! Instant nice action in 3 minutes.
The electronics in this instrument are well thought out. It has a 3 band tone control, but also has a knob that appears to be some kind of parametric control of the mids. I find it most usefull, I can go from a dark warm sound to a brighter more crisp sound at the turn of a knob, nice touch. Very handy feature in the studio.
The electronics are also VERY quiet. That makes the response sound even more reactive and crisp.

I am not sure where it was made, but it has to be Japanese or Korean. The quality is just FAR too high to have been made anywhere else.
The action was terrible on it, but the truss rod was very loose. I bought this guitar for a song and a dance, much cheaper than it is worth. I suspect this is because someone had it and hated the action and the intonation, which are both easily dealt with.
The finish is beautiful. The wood looks as if whoever built the guitar hand picked it. The bridge and saddle assembly is very close tolerance and set properly , made from nice woods.

The only beef I have with this guitar is that it has those damn tuning machines that it seems ALL classical guitars come with now, generics. I suspect they are Pings, but dealer mass quantity ones, not the pings you get aftermarket. Aftermarket Pings are not bad.
The tuners are sloppy and at first it seems the nut is grabbing the strings. That is not the case, the tuning machines are grabby and squeek like tight nut slots. They are simply sloppy and loose. Tuning this thing is a nightmare, I will have to take the machines off and tweak them or replace them. I will likely find some of the better made Pings aftermarket. They aren't that expensive.
If this instrument had better tuners it would get a 10.
I can't understand why a guitar that has this much workmanship and craftsmanship in it has junk for tuners.

This guitar is an Alvarez, which is among the top guitar makers in the world. Alvarez is an Asian company, and Asian companies back their products up. They can afford to, they make em' better than everyone else to begin with so QC problems simply don't exist.
I would trust this guitar on the road in a hearbeat. I have had the brains out of it, and the electronics are high quality. No doubt they will hold up. The guitar itself is a classical guitar, so it does need a certain amount of special treatment to accomodate weather changes and like that, but other than that, it is likely quite dependable.
I only take one classical when I use one live. But I never gig without backup gear. I take more than one guitar with me always.

This guitar was made overseas. Customer support is a moot issue. The guarantee on oriental goods is in the quality of the product, not some useless phone hell warantee.
I own numerous overseas guitars, and have never needed customer support for any of them. They make em right the first time around.............

I have been playing for 41 years, and play live a lot. I own tons of gear, have a project studio, write music and record a lot.
There are no suprises about this guitar, I bought it for next to nothing compared to it's original price. The only suprise was when I got it home and started researching it and found it that it is worth far more than I had imagined.
I love everything about it except for the tuners. I still think putting those tuners on such a fine instrument is like putting chevy or ford door handles on a Mercedes.
I would replace this guitar in a heartbeat if something happened to it, if I could afford to.
I love the sound, the action, the ease of setup, and the thoughtfullness that went into it. This guitar was obviously designed for advanced players that know guitars.
My favorite feature is the individual saddles. I have made my own saddles for classicals in the past to get then to intonate well, wishing someone made one with individuals. The designer knew exactly what he was dong.
I compared this guitar to a 350 dollar Ibanez in the store. Ibanez is hard to beat. They are one of the best guitar makers on the planet. The Ibanez couldn't touch the Alvarez, neither can anything else.

I do not have the original specs on this 1995 guitar. It's high gloss finish. Comes with and Alzarez 500A system active Piezo with Contour, volume and 3 EQ slider for Bass, Mid and Treb.

I was very surprised by the sound of this guitar. It's has a rich loud sound which is comparable to a Ramirez E1. It also produces the subtle complexity that you would not expect from a guitar in this price range. Playing Classical or Flamingo on this guitar is a joy and it adds a soft layer of sophistication to any piece that you want to finger pick. I play this guitar mostly for church accompanying the organ or piano. Keeping the EQ flat, I run the built in preamp through a Fishman Aura then directly into the PA. It sounds like a studio set up. There is no guitar under $2000 that I have had played that comes near the sound of this guitar and I am very glad that I found this one as they appear to be a very rare find.

This guitar is now 10 years old. It shows absolutely no wear at all. The wood and it's finish are still in perfect condition. Gold Lyra style Schaller tuning machine. Truss rod adjustable, I have never had to change the action on the guitar.

This guitar is solid as a rock. I have never needed a back up for this guitar its finsh and hardward are the type that should last another hundred years.

Never had to deal with the company.

I have been playing for 30 years and own a Martin D35, Guild JF30 12 string, 2 Fender Strats, Fender P-bass. If this guitar we lost I would have a hard time replacing this rare model. I would have to spend thousands for find a comparable sound. I would have to have to replace with and Upscale Ramirez or Cordoba.

It was made in 1995; It's a eletric acustic guitar; Very good finish... Cutaway; The sound is somethig like full... very good sound.. An excellent instrument...

I think that this is a guitar for brasilian MPB music, like Tom Jobim, Caetano, and so.. But this is a guitar that the sound is good toplay rock because the 4th, 5th and 6th strings have a very full sound...

Very good... without any comments... only seeing for to say something...

Very good to...

I'm playing this guitar for 3 years and i'm so satisfied with it...