Alvarez RD8C

I purchased it new February 2003. This is a cutaway acoustic guitar with a built in Peizo bridge pickup. I give this guitar a 9 in this category because the strings have to be removed for the battery to be replaced and it needs to be replaced fairly often, about every 2 string changes. A battery compartment would give this guitar a 10.

This guitar sounds quite good. I had the pleasure of helping a friend buy one of these guitars. I must have went through 8 guitars and had a hard time choosing which one stood out as the best sounding. Out of the 8, only one didn't have the sound quality of the others. As for sound, they easily compared to and exceeded many more expensive model guitars. This guitar is the poor man?s dream.

The action was a little high for me. I tend to prefer a lighter gauge set of strings with an unwound third string (for bending.) I was able to lower it a little. I also adjusted the neck tension to have less relief.

The finish was ok. It has 2 dark spots on the fret board. It?s a minor defect in the wood. This really didn't bother me at the time of purchase. I was more impressed with how it played and sounded, especially for the price.

The guitar seems like it is built like a tank. I actually have hit this guitar against a table, a music stand, and a computer desk, and amazingly enough, there isn't a scratch or ding on it.

I have been playing 17 years, mainly rock, blues, and classical. If it was lost or stolen I would probably buy another one. That is if they still play and sound as good as this one. There isn't much that I don't like about this guitar. I wish the action could go a little lower. Make that, I wish I felt like taking the time to do a good setup on it. I also wish it was made in the US.