1977 ALVAREZ 5021-12 Very Good, Original Hard, $395.00
The Alvarez Artist Series up to 1998 was a series of dreadnought style guitars ranging in price from $410 to $999 (twenty years ago!). This particular guitar has the date 2-11-77 stamped on the label inside the sound hole, so it’s got at least forty years of mellow saved up for you. Despite its age, it is in excellent cosmetic condition and has just been checked out and set up by a professional luthier. I guarantee that it sounds and plays better than many new guitars today costing well over $1000.
According to the Blue Book of Acoustic Guitars, the Alvarez 5021 Mountain Deluxe guitar has a spruce top and mahogany back, sides, and neck. It also has 3-stripe binding on the body (top and back), a shell pattern at the rosette, and a 14/20-fret rosewood fingerboard with white dot position markers. The bridge also is rosewood with white pegs, and the rosewood headstock overlay is set off by the pearl inlaid Alvarez logo and the open chrome vintage-style tuners. As I hope the pictures demonstrate, this is still a sharp-looking instrument.
While the guitar is in excellent playing condition, it also is in remarkable cosmetic condition. There are no significant dents or scratches which would show up on my digital camera. Overall, the tuners are tight, the neck is straight, the bridge is solid, and there are no cracks or structural issues anywhere. I see no evidence of repairs, and as far as I can tell all the parts are original. There is an end-pin jack and a wooden pad inside which apparently at one time held a pre-amp; while these electronics have been removed, it obviously would be easy to install your own. The action is fast and low for any 12-string (3/32” at the 12th fret low E), and it plays and sounds great!
The case is the original Alvarez hard shell case, with a contoured plush interior which fits the guitar like the proverbial glove. That’s the good news. The bad news is that the previous stripped all of the vinyl off the exterior and removed the handle, preparing to coat it with truck bed liner instead of fixing the torn vinyl. The five brass latches and hinges work perfectly, and structurally it is solid as a rock. It provides outstanding protection for this quality instrument, but this very solid outfit is too heavy to carry easily without at least a handle (readily available on-line). If you prefer, I can simply ship it in a gig bag and re-furbish the hard shell case myself; it will be entirely up to you.
Buyer pays a flat rate of $55 for insurance and shipping to the lower 48 states; shipping costs elsewhere will be negotiated as necessary. Payment by Paypal is preferred; cashier’s checks are acceptable, but checks must clear before the guitar will be shipped.
I have tried to be perfectly clear and accurate in describing this instrument, so its return will not be accepted unless it can be shown that it was egregiously misrepresented in this listing. Please check out the pictures and ask any questions you might have before offering to buy it.
Good luck!
Payments by Paypal, cashier’s checks, money orders, or personal checks are acceptable, but all payments must clear my bank before the guitar will be shipped. I will CONSIDER reasonable offers, even including installment payments and trade-ins, but generally since I already attempt to price my guitars very competitively, unusual deals must be unusually sweet.
From henceforth [that's how retired English teachers talk], insurance and shipping to the lower 48 states is $55 due to constantly rising shipping costs unless a specific listing says otherwise; shipping costs elsewhere will be negotiated as necessary. I have sold guitars to Russia, Japan, Australia, and over 50 other countries, as well as almost every state in the USA. Since some of my guitars travel thousands of miles, I take care to use lots of packing materials, protect the neck inside the case, and of course de-tune the strings.
I make every effort to describe and illustrate each guitar and case with scrupulous accuracy. However, many of my instruments are well-played vintage items which are many years old, and I am not a luthier. One should assume that any guitar will require some set-up to satisfy your personal requirements, and that not every flaw or ding will be seen/recognized/described in the listing. Thus the return of an instrument will not be accepted unless it can be shown that it was egregiously misrepresented in this listing. Please read the listing carefully, check out the pictures, and ask any questions you might have before offering to buy.