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ALVAREZ - A big shout out & thank you!


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ALVAREZ GUITARS - A Big Shout OUT and thank you!

 

Hi fellow musicians,

 

If I may, I would like to give an "unsolicited" SHOUT OUT to Alvarez Guitars.

I have a cracked bridge on my Alvarez Acoustic guitar.

I bought it new YEARS back and about 2 months later, the neck warped big time, even with great care.

I took it back to the dealer...and Alvarez replaced the whole guitar...no questions asked...WOW!

So years go by with no problem.

A week ago, I discover that my bridge has a fracture in it.

So I just got off the phone with ALVAREZ and guess what?

YES, they are repairing it FREE of CHARGE.

It has a life time warranty because I bought it new.

Yes, I pay the shipping there but they pay the shipping back.

I have priced this repair locally and it's not cheap.

They also give it a once over for anything else and set it back up.

Did I mention how pleasant the gentleman was on the phone?

 

ALVAREZ.....THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR YOUR HONORABLE BUSINESS PRACTICES and for your fantastic instruments that I have enjoyed over the years.

Sincerely,

Randy S. in Columbus, GA

 

"Just play!"
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Yep, they are local here in St, Louis....actually they're St.Louis Music (or maybe they're going by SLM Electronics now) - they make Crate, Alverez, and some other brands. I've toured their facility (I actually interviewed with them right out of college) and have had several friends work there. Definitely top notch. They put an extra level of check-out and setup before their guitars go out the door compared to a lot of their competitors.

Dan

 

Acoustic/Electric stringed instruments ranging from 4 to 230 strings, hammered, picked, fingered, slapped, and plucked. Analog and Digital Electronic instruments, reeds, and throat/mouth.

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Yhup. A class act; I have a beautiful old cedar-topped, burled-mahogany bodied Alvarez Yairi. They're very pleasant to deal with, and they really stand behind their guitars with excellent customer service and support.

Ask yourself- What Would Ren and Stimpy Do?

 

~ Caevan James-Michael Miller-O'Shite ~

_ ___ _ Leprechaun, Esquire _ ___ _

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Alvarez always made great sounding and looking guitars. And now, upon reading of their great customer service, they should be given serious consideration by anyone looking to purchase a new acoustic. They've always been out of my price range, but it's not because they're pricey. It's because I'm too po'.

Whitefang

I started out with NOTHING...and I still have most of it left!
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Maybe it's me, but I recall Alvarez as a brand name BEFORE 1991. I recall seeing footage of Carly Simon singing "Anticipation" when that song was still on the charts, and the guitar she was playing was CLEARLY an Alvarez 12-string. That would be the very early '70's.

Whitefang

I started out with NOTHING...and I still have most of it left!
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... and I believe it was actually the Electra brand that morphed into Westone in the early 80s as they moved from copies to focusing on original designs. There's a Westone from that period in my parent's music room that my stepdad picked up for very cheap somewhere... I'm not too fond of it, but Kirk Pengilly of INXS played them from what I remember.
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<--- here's the guitar Fang, the clip shows a pretty good glimpse of the headstock but I don't know if it is an Alvarez logo as I'm not familiar with the brand. In another youtube clip she is playing a 6 string with a "W" which could be a Westone? At any rate Wikipedia is open to edits and corrections should you send in your comments. Maybe they'll do a little more research.
Take care, Larryz
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FWIW, the 12-String that Carly's playing in that one live "Anticipation" vid appears to be a Guild, or a close copy of a Guild, or a modified one; and in another live vid of her doing the same song (perhaps "lip-synced"?), she's playing a 6-String (Mark) Whitebook. I don't know if Carly Simon has or has not used any Alvarez guitars, but if she did, she'd have been well-served by them.

 

Alvarez has been around for quite a while, though.

 

Their Yairi line, known in America as Alvarez-Yairi, in most other parts of the world as K. Yairi or Yairi, are particularly excellent guitars, effectively hand-made yet turned out in somewhat mass-production by being made in stages by groups of skilled craftsmen, with Kazuo Yairi taking a personal hand in each guitar with each group, or at least that's the way it was done- it's been quite a few years since I first read about all that!

 

I have a beautiful old 1984 "Alvarez by Kazuo Yairi" DY51 Blue Ridge model flat-top 6-string "Dreadnought", hand-signed by Mr. Kazuo Yairi, with a solid Western Red Cedar top and highly figured Burled Mahogany back, sides, and headstock-overlay. It has a distinctively rich, warm, powerful tone. According to company literature at the time, the blank for the top had been set aside and seasoned (aged/cured) for more than twenty years prior to the guitar's being made.

 

I got to do sound for Ani DiFranco at one small show many years ago, and I was delighted that her signature-model Alvarez-Yari guitar was basically the same as mine, particularly with its cedar top, albeit with different/more elaborate inlays and a big honkin' oversized pick-guard to try to save the guitar's top from an early demise. (Ani has a HARD, percussive fingerstyle claw-attack, and she wears guitar-tops out FAST; she could easily have done that gig with no mics, PA or monitors whatsoever, TRULY "unplugged".)

Ask yourself- What Would Ren and Stimpy Do?

 

~ Caevan James-Michael Miller-O'Shite ~

_ ___ _ Leprechaun, Esquire _ ___ _

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Glad to see everyone has had a positive experience with Alvarez as well.

Mine is an Alvarez FD60AMB...with AMB meaning Amber in color.

I paid about $525 for it in 2002.

On the inside it says "Made in Korea"...and that was 12 years ago.

That's why I was so pleasantly surprised when during my phone call to Alvarez, they simply said..."Send it on in...we'll take care of it." :)

Alvarez acoustic guitars....to ME....have this wonderful, full bodied sound and resonate the lowest lows to the highest highs...and they shine using Phosphor Bronze Strings.

It has a built in pickup system that works well on stage.

Here's a quick, borrowed image of it.

http://www.instrumentpro.com/image.php?src=/Merchant2/graphics/00000001/alvfd60amb.jpg

"Just play!"
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OMG....check this out.....this is complete insanity, but nothing to do with Alvarez.

 

I bought this guitar in 2002...and have kept the original receipt the whole time, just like I should have as it is my warranty.

So tonight....I notice....the Serial # on my receipt is different than the one inside my guitar.

At the time of purchase, the music store I bought it from recorded down the WRONG serial number.

What the hell odds are that?

All I can do is laugh.

So tomorrow....I guess I will be calling the store and seeing if they can help me, along with Alvarez as well....so I can get this thing in the mail.

I'll never win the lottery....but this kind of craziness will follow me till the end of my days. ;)

 

FILM....AT ELEVEN. ;)

 

 

"Just play!"
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Caevan helped out with my concern, Larry. The footage I'm referring to was at an outdoor venue, but what's clear is I DO remember thinking she was playing an Alvarez. AT the time I was watching it. But if, as Wiki claims, the brand name didn't come about until '91, then HOW would I have been AWARE of Alvarez guitars YEARS BEFORE?

 

Then Caevan mentioned his '84 Alvarez.

 

"nuff said.

Whitefang

I started out with NOTHING...and I still have most of it left!
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OK...problem solved.

The reason the 2 different serial numbers don't match is....because 3 months after I bought it...the original guitar's neck warped really bad and Alvarez simply replaced it with a new one.

VERY COOL!

But....12 years later...the numbers don't match.

It took my wife to remind me about that. BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA :D

 

So I called Alvarez today....told him the story....and they simply said....

"Send it in, we'll take care of you."

WOW...even more cool!

He said just to write that down in a note and put it in a case.

 

As I said....I'm a fan. :)

 

Randy

"Just play!"
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Caevan helped out with my concern, Larry. The footage I'm referring to was at an outdoor venue, but what's clear is I DO remember thinking she was playing an Alvarez. AT the time I was watching it. But if, as Wiki claims, the brand name didn't come about until '91, then HOW would I have been AWARE of Alvarez guitars YEARS BEFORE?

 

Then Caevan mentioned his '84 Alvarez.

 

"nuff said.

Whitefang

 

+1 Wiki is not always right. They do a pretty good job though on a lot of the info they put out and are open to people correcting them. Youtube is also a great source of info. What are the odds you could call up a clip from 1971 of her playing her 12 string? and Caevan picking it out as a Guild...might not have been the same concert you saw or the same guitar but it's very close as far as the year, 12 string, song and artist. I'm still interested in the guitar subject. :cool:

 

ps. http://www.alvarezguitars.com/about/history/ <---this picture shows Alvarez by Kazuo Yairi 9/6/75 on the label, don't know what was on the headstock, I don't know where Wiki got the 91 name change date? Caevan, does your 84 have Alvarez or the logo on the headstock?

Take care, Larryz
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That Alvarez Yairi you posted the link to is a model DY68, which is a 12-string. I found a picture online somewhere of one made in 1967. So it seems, in this case, that Wiki is wacky. And the headstock looks like the same logo as the one on the footage I mentioned. Really doesn't matter in the long run, just wanted to quell my suspicions that the Alvarez as a brand name goes back further than '91.

Whitefang

 

PS: That DY68 IS a sweet looking thing!

I started out with NOTHING...and I still have most of it left!
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FWIW, the 12-String that Carly's playing in that one live "Anticipation" vid appears to be a Guild, or a close copy of a Guild, or a modified one; and in another live vid of her doing the same song (perhaps "lip-synced"?), she's playing a 6-String (Mark) Whitebook. I don't know if Carly Simon has or has not used any Alvarez guitars, but if she did, she'd have been well-served by them.

 

Alvarez has been around for quite a while, though.

 

Their Yairi line, known in America as Alvarez-Yairi, in most other parts of the world as K. Yairi or Yairi, are particularly excellent guitars, effectively hand-made yet turned out in somewhat mass-production by being made in stages by groups of skilled craftsmen, with Kazuo Yairi taking a personal hand in each guitar with each group, or at least that's the way it was done- it's been quite a few years since I first read about all that!

 

I have a beautiful old 1984 "Alvarez by Kazuo Yairi" DY51 Blue Ridge model flat-top 6-string "Dreadnought", hand-signed by Mr. Kazuo Yairi, with a solid Western Red Cedar top and highly figured Burled Mahogany back, sides, and headstock-overlay. It has a distinctively rich, warm, powerful tone. According to company literature at the time, the blank for the top had been set aside and seasoned (aged/cured) for more than twenty years prior to the guitar's being made.

 

I got to do sound for Ani DiFranco at one small show many years ago, and I was delighted that her signature-model Alvarez-Yari guitar was basically the same as mine, particularly with its cedar top, albeit with different/more elaborate inlays and a big honkin' oversized pick-guard to try to save the guitar's top from an early demise. (Ani has a HARD, percussive fingerstyle claw-attack, and she wears guitar-tops out FAST; she could easily have done that gig with no mics, PA or monitors whatsoever, TRULY "unplugged".)

 

I have an Alvarez Yairi... an '87, DY-39... 65th anniversary of SLM or something model... love it, very Martin-like...

 

like this one

 

https://reverb.com/item/71365-alvarez-yairi-dy39-a-e-1987-natural

 

http://reverb-res.cloudinary.com/image/upload/a_exif,c_limit,h_620,q_85,w_620/v1392158410/bo5b3hfqk45n8wqfstre.jpg

 

I have an '84 Gibson J-30, too, and an early '90s Simon and Partick (excuse me for mentioning these again, as I'm sure I have over the years) and I'm struck by the difference in tone among them... all nice, and complimentary, but different. If I'm strumming on the couch with a buddy, whichever of us is playing "lead" takes the Alvarez, which has a more "forward" of a tone and the Gibson is a little mellower. The S&P is very mellow, and has served me well when mic'ed up to add acoustic tracks when recording, to add a more rhythmic thing that doesn't fight for a place in the mix as much as just add a sheen to things. Onstage I cheat and play them all through a D-Tar Mama Bear modeler, so they get picked according to which neck/action feel more agreeable to me that day.

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Wikipedia works by having a community correct postings... and the music stuff doesn't seem to be as vigilantly-moderated as other subjects by know-it-alls.

 

I remember Jon Anderson from YES being the big Alvarez-Yairi endorser when I was a wee lad... ads in magazines like GP and posters in the music store my dad worked at during the summers that carried them.

 

http://i.ebayimg.com/t/1979-Alvarez-Yairi-FY-40-Jon-Anderson-of-YES-Guitar-Promo-Ad-/00/s/MTYwMFgxMjM0/$(KGrHqRHJCoFCngEHIj6BQvSrvclHQ~~60_35.JPGhttp://thumbs3.ebaystatic.com/d/l225/m/myQIsF3dATAiStTAYWX50Cg.jpghttp://thumbs2.ebaystatic.com/d/l225/m/mpykFwgFCNb4Y1VD_9l-WOA.jpg

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A lot of guitar makers still love having famous guitar players endorse their guitars up to and including signature models being made for them. Back in the day of those ads, it was a big deal to have a famous player hold your guitar for the photo op, even if they never really played them. In this case, I'll bet Roy Clark (one of my old favorites) and the others really liked that Alvarez, as Kazuo Yari (sp?) was no slouch as a luthier and still makes quality hand made guitars...

 

ps. Very cool ads!

Take care, Larryz
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I'm sure Roy and certainly Pat Simmons from the Doobie Brothers had a trove of vintage Martins, but taking them on the road back then was a much dicier proposition.

 

I think that's how Alvarez and Daion and Takamine and Ovation (which had a leg up on amplification of acoustics) conquered the acoustic market as far as visibility went from the mid-70s: quality and consistency, replaceability and price value, plus having something made to house electronics instead of intruding on a classic vintage piece.

 

People certainly appreciate the hand-made Yairis now as more than mere workhorses.

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I had some buddies that worked for SLM in the early 2000's. I don't know about ALL the guitars, but I know they had products manufactured in China that also supplied many of their competitors. The difference with SLM is that every one of them got checked out and often re-worked and set up locally before going out. This resulted in a higher level of quality than their competitors who would just send them out as is.

Dan

 

Acoustic/Electric stringed instruments ranging from 4 to 230 strings, hammered, picked, fingered, slapped, and plucked. Analog and Digital Electronic instruments, reeds, and throat/mouth.

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CNC routing has standardized guitar production, as far as consistency.

 

Yep, a lot of different brands come out of the very same Chinese and Korean and Vietnamese factories, just sub-contracted out. The determining things then become how picky the brand is about wood used and how nitpicky they get about details and what hits the public and how it is set up. Volume of output has a lot to do with it, too.

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Caevan, does your 84 have Alvarez or the logo on the headstock?

 

My DY51 Blue Ridge has the A-circle-Y logo inlaid on the headstock, that evokes mystic alchemist symbols and the like. The label inside the body, viewable through the sound-hole, says Alvarez-Yairi and has Kazuo Yairi's signature in ballpoint-pen on it.

 

Looks like this, only even better:

 

 

____________ http://alvarezyairi.web.fc2.com/catworks/dy51.JPG

Ask yourself- What Would Ren and Stimpy Do?

 

~ Caevan James-Michael Miller-O'Shite ~

_ ___ _ Leprechaun, Esquire _ ___ _

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@Larry; celebrity endorsements can be misleading, though. The first time I even HEARD of Hagstrom was back in late '67, when a popular music store in my neighborhood displayed a poster that had Noel Redding, Frank Zappa and a third bass player I can't recall each holding a Hagstrom eight-string bass and singing it's praises. To this day, I don't believe ANY of them ever played one on stage or in the studio. And as Zappa wasn't a bass player, I could never figure out his presence on the ad.

Whitefang

I started out with NOTHING...and I still have most of it left!
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A lot of guitar makers still love having famous guitar players endorse their guitars up to and including signature models being made for them. Back in the day of those ads, it was a big deal to have a famous player hold your guitar for the photo op, even if they never really played them. In this case, I'll bet Roy Clark (one of my old favorites) and the others really liked that Alvarez, as Kazuo Yari (sp?) was no slouch as a luthier and still makes quality hand made guitars...

 

ps. Very cool ads!

 

 

+1 Fang, and I don't think the Ventures really liked those Mosrites over their Fenders, even though they played and pretty much endorsed them...

Take care, Larryz
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"The Ventures play the Mosrite guitar exclusively" was printed somewhere on every album they put out after they started playing them. I don't understand why they didn't like them, as my friend had one and it was an outstanding instrument. And since it was, I further don't understand why the company eventually closed up. Another friend suggests, "Well, y'know, they COULDA left that "Ventures" decal off the headstock." Indeed, by the late '60's, the Ventures weren't considered too cool. Mosrite could have just put out the guitar with the company name on the headstock and it would have been enough. Just a shot in the dark, though...

Whitefang

I started out with NOTHING...and I still have most of it left!
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