Product: Alvarez 5055 Artist Bluesman
Price Paid: N/A
Submitted
02/21/2006
at
10:37am
by
Ruairidh Mor
Features
:
8
I was told this was '79 though the serial suggests 1980. Whatever. Made in Japan. It's a loose copy of a Gibson J200. Solid spruce top, laminated maple back and sides. Maple 3-piece neck with volute, very Gibson, rosewood fingerboard, walnut bridge. Standard period Japanese covered tuners with plastic buttons, which work fine. Nice well-fitted crown block inlay in the fingerboard, fully bound body. Nice detailing throughout. There's absolutely no lift in the top so I'm guessing the bracing is fairly solid. I doubt if it's scalloped. It's a very well made instrument. Came with a case of sorts. .
Sound
:
10
Brilliant. It sounds brilliant. It's a maple full-size jumbo with a solid spruce top. It's at least 25 years old, it sounds like-- a very nice well-aged quality guitar, really. Very bright and jangly in the treble, with excellent definition in the mid, and a tight controlled bass. Not boomy. Just FYI a lot of people think Jumbos have huge bass, but they don't. I have three, two Guilds and this, and they all have a very balanced sound across the frequencies. The articulation and definition of individual notes is amazing on jumbos.Everybody should have one.
I like everything about it. I long ago accepted that no one guitar would do everything I wanted to hear, so now I have enough to do it. This fits in beautifully with my other acoustics.
Action, Fit, & Finish
:
10
Every high-end Alvarez I have tried has been a great player, and this is no exception. Great action, very comfortable neck, really nice player. Combined with the great sound, it's a winner.I already said it was well made. It is.
Reliability/Durability
:
10
25 years old and still counting, this is probably good for the same again with no issues. Very well made, reliable guitar. I'd never gig without backup, but I can depend on it, for sure.
Customer Support
:
No Opinion
Never dealt with them.
Overall Rating
:
9
I'll give it an 9 overall. If it was all solid and had better tuners I'd give it 10. Having said that the tuners on it work fine and maple seems to laminate better than rosewood, or at least the sound does not degrade so much. Certainly it sounds really good.
I have a few other guitars but clearly any comparison must be with my other 2 Jumbos, both Guilds. Both of those are a little older then this, both all solid guitars, one rosewood, one mahogany. They do sound different, and my Guild F50R is one of the most beautiful sounding guitars I have ever been in the same room as, but this Alvarez is not shamed in the company at all. In fact I had a nice Guild JF30 a while ago, and I'd say this was at least its equal in terms of sound, and the action is better.
Share? Yes. I can't comment on newer Alvarez, but the old Japanese top-end ones are really, really good guitars for very very cheap.
