Alvarez 5025

I have no idea when this guitar was made in Japan, it has 20 frets, it has a solid top that looks to be spruce, Natural finish, it has a rosewood fretboard with dual parallelogram inlays, bookmatched rosewood sides and back. The bridge is a tune o matic, I replaced the standard plastic end pins with brass for better sustain. It came with a cheap cardboard case, but I threw that away immediately, because at the same sale I picked up a gibson hardshell case for $20

I have been playing bass for five years now, and fooling around with guitar all that time. On the six string I play mostly country, folk and blues type stuff, and this guitar functions flawlessly for all of them. It has a rich sound that I have to muffle when I'm playing late night so I don't wake the parents.

Factory set up? I have NO idea, but it was almost perfectly set up for light gauge strings the way I bought it. There are a few flaws, totally cosmetic, but it's an older guitar, what do you expect?

This guitar will outlast me and be passed on to my children. I would play this guitar in any setting without any worries. I would have a backup only because I always worry about breaking strings.

If this guitar were stolen, I would hunt the theives to the end of the earth to get it back. I have had only a few acoustic guitars, and this is the best. I've played many of my friends guitars, and the one I can compare this to was my friend's 1970's Martin

Dreadnought size year; early 1990's Japanese made, 20 frets, 14th fret at body. Solid spruce top, Mahogany back and sides. Mine came w/ HSC. tobacco sunburst, gloss finish. Quarter sawn Mahogany back, nicely bookmatched. matching Mahogany plain sawn sides, fully bound body, multiple binding on top, looks like creme colored plastic on back, and laminated black/creme on top. Nice purfling. Mahogany neck,with fully bound rosewood fingerboard,and ebony cap on the heel. The binding appears to be some sort of black plastic, but the lacquer finish makes it hard to tell for sure. Attractive MOP snowflake inlay on fingerboard, and rosewood veneered headstock with Alvarez's reflected "A" inlay in MOP. The platic nut is a poor fit, wider than the neck, and protrudes on both sides, and the plastic saddle is well polished, but doesn't do justice to the Ebony bridge. non locking "butter bean" tuners are pretty good, but not all work the same some are smoother than others, but she stays in tune fairly well. Medium frets, finished well, no major snags, or low spots, intonation seems spot on, Overall consruction is solid, and cosmetically a well detailed instrument, with the exception of minor glue residue at the neck/body joint.

I favor Chicago Blues , R&B, late 60's early 70's R&R, and it fills out my repertoire nicely when I require a full tone for the "big box" sound. It's mainly a ringing full bright midrange to upper range sound.The tone is very pleasing, but the low end punch, and throaty resonance of Taylor or Martin dreadnoughts, but for the money, I have no complaints. My other acoustic guitars are 2 vintage parlor guitars and a 1919 Gibson Archtop, and a few old Stellas, mainly for that distinct ring, and midrange, mellow Bluesy tone, but they are either too delicate, or too ugly to leave the house. So this one seems to be the right mix. I would perform with this guitar. It's clean.

Action is moderate, finish is a little too heavy for my taste. workmanship, other than the nut, was excellant, with no major flaws. easily adjustable truss rod, nice comfortable neck, not a baseball bat.

Built like a rock, would depend on this guitar to last for a very long time, it's at least 10 yrs old, and shows no stress, or excessive wear. Would gig with it, w/o a backup.

never needed

I've been playing for 33 plus years, and I own a cluster of vintage acoustics, electrics, and amps. main guitar: a '78 Gibson LP Custom, & Hamer 335, and have had countless instruments over the years. I'll be keeping this one. Love the neck and tone, hate the lumber bracing,(way too heavy)Favorites: Martin 000-18EC, Gibson 330. Would compare to a Guild
Would replace if stolen, the workmanship is fine,and is a joy to play