Alvarez Laureate Series

[baw3]

Originally Posted by grinningfool

I think for that price point they should include a hard case, not a padded bag.

Really, Martin will charge you a couple thousand and still not give you a hard shell case.

[bobster7]

Originally Posted by BlueBowman

It’s not 1995 anymore. They’ve come a long way in build quality. Not saying every guitar from there is stellar, but if you play enough of them, there are some great sounding guitars coming out of China. And some of those cost even less than $1000.

I own guitars made in America, Canada, Indonesia, and China. I enjoy playing them all. That’s why I bought them.

I agree with Rosette above. Judge the individual guitar. Doing so will ensure you find some great guitars AND great deals outs there.

Exactly, the ignorance and anti-Chinese sentiment gets really tiresome to be honest. $1300 is nothing in the current guitar market is it, people are spending that on a decent flight case!

I own guitars made in the USA, UK and China and they are all excellent. The big US brands give you absolutely nothing of quality for $1300, but a far, far superior high end Chinese guitar is too expensive just because it’s Chinese??

[Brent Nelson]

I took delivery of a guitar made in China a couple of weeks ago that is one of the best built and sounding instruments I've ever had -- of many many boutique type guitars. It rivals any from anywhere and is better than many.
My experience is that almost all bias comes from lack of exposure.

These Laureate guitars from Alvarez look to be fantastic. I look forward to hearing and reading some reviews.

[Rogerblair]

“My experience is that almost all bias comes from lack of exposure.”


I believe that most bias comes from things that are not allowed to be discussed on public forums, and it has nothing to do with the quality of the guitars.

Roger

[Buddy1]

The parlor guitar at 24" scale length and 12-fret to body design is particularly interesting to me. Does anyone have any insight as to what kind of finish they are using on these? I don't see anything on Sweetwater's spec page. Thanks!

[mrjop1975]

So, I pulled the plug on the parlor guitar in this series, and wrote a post about white knuckling it while waiting. I was told by my sales engineer at Sweetwater the ETA is the first week of March, so until then, I am white knuckling it. I happened to get the natural finish as opposed to the Daybreak finish - it looked right to me, but I can see the appeal of the other finish.

I am of the opinion that a great guitar is a great guitar no matter where it is made, be it Mexico, the US, Canada, China etc. as long as it appeals to *me* the player. I personally don't mind the gigbag type of case it ships with, since I know that the 15 series of Martins ships with those, and Taylor does there aerocase for the American Dream series, the 200 and 100 series guitars. I am just glad that is comes with a case or gigbag as part of the price point.

[mesquivel]

I had the opportunity to play the Dreadnought and OM Laureate series at my local guitar store. They both sounded good. Not exceptional sounding but good. Definitely would be a good value for a gigging musician. My two biggest complaints on both models is the finish is too thick and really does dampen the volume and tone. The second complaint is that the set up is low at the nut and buzzes on open strings. I also noticed fret leveling was not up to par either, which is something I have consistently noticed on Alvarez guitars that are not Yairi. To me there is nothing ground breaking in this series to my ears. Again they are solid guitars and with the HIFI pickup in them, they present a great value for a gigging musician.

I will add that I like Alvarez and have no animosity toward their products, this is just my honest opinion after spending some time with both models available. I do think that I would still choose an Eastman in the same price range as I believe their guitars have more character to their voice and actually sound unique and will probably inspire the player to dig in more and pull something great out the guitar. The Alvarez, to me, sounds like any other guitar you hear with not as much character as a comparable Eastman.

Just my opinion and I realize I only had two different examples to play. I am almost positive there would be an exception to my opinion somewhere.

[iCGM]

Originally Posted by mesquivel

I had the opportunity to play the Dreadnought and OM Laureate series at my local guitar store. They both sounded good. Not exceptional sounding but good. Definitely would be a good value for a gigging musician. My two biggest complaints on both models is the finish is too thick and really does dampen the volume and tone. The second complaint is that the set up is low at the nut and buzzes on open strings. I also noticed fret leveling was not up to par either, which is something I have consistently noticed on Alvarez guitars that are not Yairi. To me there is nothing ground breaking in this series to my ears. Again they are solid guitars and with the HIFI pickup in them, they present a great value for a gigging musician.

I will add that I like Alvarez and have no animosity toward their products, this is just my honest opinion after spending some time with both models available. I do think that I would still choose an Eastman in the same price range as I believe their guitars have more character to their voice and actually sound unique and will probably inspire the player to dig in more and pull something great out the guitar. The Alvarez, to me, sounds like any other guitar you hear with not as much character as a comparable Eastman.

Just my opinion and I realize I only had two different examples to play. I am almost positive there would be an exception to my opinion somewhere.

That’s a useful opinion because you actually played one. I’ve been curious to hear what people say that aren’t paid to say they are amazing. I wish there was a dealer around me so I could try one out!

[Moldstar]

How do they sound? I can't really find any clips. I just feel that there are way too many great, great used guitars at the 1400 price point. Like I just bought J-15 for 1300, and it is KILLER and there is no way in heck that an Alvarez Laureate is going to top this nitro-finished, built-in-Bozeman, x-braced, hand-scalloped, hide-glue constructed, dovetail jointed usa guitar. For instance, or for example. Just my opinion.

[BlueBowman]

Originally Posted by Moldstar

How do they sound? I can't really find any clips. I just feel that there are way too many great, great used guitars at the 1400 price point. Like I just bought J-15 for 1300, and it is KILLER and there is no way in heck that an Alvarez Laureate is going to top this nitro-finished, built-in-Bozeman, x-braced, hand-scalloped, hide-glue constructed, dovetail jointed usa guitar. For instance, or for example. Just my opinion.

That is a great deal on your Gibson! Didn't know they were using hide glue on those models in that price range.

[mdvaden]

Originally Posted by iCGM

Sounds like it. If that $1300 guitar was built in US, it would most likely be in the 4-5K range.

It's funny how labor is China is viewed like that. They have talented individuals as well. I wonder if people also wished to have their computers / phones made in US and would prefer to pay 5-6 times the price? It doesn't translate to the product being better quality.

The Hsienmo guitars I bought last year were a wakeup to beware of well-worn or even unethical catch phrases about a craftsman's home of origin. As I started to learn about that brand, I began to enjoy listening to the owner play many of his own sound demos, his apparent enjoyment for music, and diligence to speak English clearly to communicate to others.

[sfarnell]

"made in Japan" used to have the same rep as "made in China" does today. It's now recognized that Japanese handcrafted guitars (and autos) can be on par with the best of the best. The same will be said of china in the future.

[cyclistbrian]

Originally Posted by mesquivel

I had the opportunity to play the Dreadnought and OM Laureate series at my local guitar store. They both sounded good. Not exceptional sounding but good. Definitely would be a good value for a gigging musician. My two biggest complaints on both models is the finish is too thick and really does dampen the volume and tone. The second complaint is that the set up is low at the nut and buzzes on open strings. I also noticed fret leveling was not up to par either, which is something I have consistently noticed on Alvarez guitars that are not Yairi. To me there is nothing ground breaking in this series to my ears. Again they are solid guitars and with the HIFI pickup in them, they present a great value for a gigging musician.

I will add that I like Alvarez and have no animosity toward their products, this is just my honest opinion after spending some time with both models available. I do think that I would still choose an Eastman in the same price range as I believe their guitars have more character to their voice and actually sound unique and will probably inspire the player to dig in more and pull something great out the guitar. The Alvarez, to me, sounds like any other guitar you hear with not as much character as a comparable Eastman.

Just my opinion and I realize I only had two different examples to play. I am almost positive there would be an exception to my opinion somewhere.

About what I figured; a decent option in a crowded market. Nothing that makes me scream "shut up and take my money!"

[mesquivel]

Originally Posted by cyclistbrian

About what I figured; a decent option in a crowded market. Nothing that makes me scream "shut up and take my money!"

Thats exactly the point I was trying to make, “Nothing that makes me scream, shut up and take my money.” And as you stated a very crowded market in the price range is correct and that are better than the Alvarez.

[mesquivel]

Originally Posted by Moldstar

How do they sound? I can't really find any clips. I just feel that there are way too many great, great used guitars at the 1400 price point. Like I just bought J-15 for 1300, and it is KILLER and there is no way in heck that an Alvarez Laureate is going to top this nitro-finished, built-in-Bozeman, x-braced, hand-scalloped, hide-glue constructed, dovetail jointed usa guitar. For instance, or for example. Just my opinion.

The best I can say on the sound is the dreadnought was on the darker side with mids scooped out quite a bit. A touch of high end sparkle but the high end was a bit plastic sounding. The dread would not cut through a mix very well imo. The OM was the better sounding of the two. Mids were not scooped as much and was a lot clearer than the dread. The OM obviously had less bass but overall it was a more balanced guitar across the eq spectrum to my ears. If someone forced me to choose one, I would choose the OM.