Alvarez AD60CK Acoustic/Electric Guitar - Product Review

I'm a performing professional musician. My main guitar was stolen quite some time ago and I needed a quality but economical replacement. I shopped around a bit and decided on the Alvarez AD60CK acoustic / electric guitar. The guitar didn't include a case so with the case, I ended up spending about $550.00 USD which included the guitar and a hard-shell case.

The Appearance.

A very sweet looking guitar indeed. The top back and sides made of figured Dao wood. Now I've done some research and I still don't know just what Dao wood is. The closest I've come to knowing just what Dao wood is is that it may be some sort of man made material. That's OK though. The sound and durability are the important things to me. Anyway, Dao wood looks identical to Koa wood. My guitar has the nice dark brown look just like Koa wood does and it's easy to mistake this wood with Koa wood. The guitar is the standard Dreadnought style with a cutaway body.

The Electronics

The Alvarez AD60CK acoustic / electric guitar features the System 600TMk II electronics that include the System 600TMk II preamp with an under the saddle piezo pickup. The preamp is located on the top of the body on the side so when you're playing it, you're looking directly down on it. You may remove the entire preamp to replace the 9 volt battery. One of the really cool things about the preamp is that it has 3 input jacks on it. Under the preamp by the battery door, there's the input jack where the piezo pickup plugs in inside the guitar, an input jack where the input jack (where you plug your guitar in) plugs into and an auxiliary jack. Just what is the auxiliary jack for? When this preamp first came out, Alvarez made a condenser microphone and a sound hole pickup that would plug into that auxiliary jack This allowed you to mix the sound from the piezo AND the condenser microphone or sound hole pickup. Recently, Alvarez stopped making the ACM50 microphone but you can still find them for now. I quickly bought one. It clips on the bracing inside the guitar and plugs into the auxiliary jack on the preamp. It gives me that bottom end that I can't get with the included piezo pickup when I mix it. Currently, it' may be easier to find the Alvarez ASP-50 MKII sound hole pickup to plug into the auxiliary jack. Either addition will add significantly to your sound. The preamp has a built in tuner, a master level knob, a mid frequency knob, a treble slider, a mid slider, and a bass slider controls, a frequency knob, an auxiliary knob to adjust the level of your ACM50 condenser microphone or the ASP-50 sound hole pickup, and a piezo knob to adjust the volume from your under the saddle piezo pickup. Below those knobs are three buttons. A "notch" button that makes your sound a bit more flexible, a "level" button which acts as a 20db boost, and a "phase" button.

The Sound

When I first got the guitar, I loved the sound when it was unplugged. However, when I plugged it into the PA system, I just felt that it lacked. It had quite a "tinny" sound you could say. When I bought the ACM50 condenser microphone and clipped it on the inside of the guitar (after I found the microphone's sweet spot), I had much more flexibility with the sound and I could get that bottom end I longed for.

The Playability

When I first got the guitar, it had a considerable amount of fret buzz. I had to take it to a man who set it up for me, adjusted the action to my liking and eliminate the fret buzz. After the adjustments were made, the guitar plays like a dream. Have I played better? Absolutely. But as far as other guitars in this price range, I think it's a decent instrument.

The Pros

Good playability and great looks. You'll get plenty of complements on the beauty of the instrument.

The Cons

I HATE when you spend more than $200 USD on a guitar and they don't include a case of any kind. The Alvarez AD60CK does not include a case. If you buy the Alvarez AD60CK, spend an extra $60 to $100 USD on a hard-shell case.

I had to spend an extra $55 USD for the ACM50 condenser microphone to get what I felt was a decent sound when plugged in.

The on board tuner isn't the best. It's accurate but at times, it's hard to get it to respond like it should. I use the tuner on my pedal board instead.

All in all, with a street price of about $450.00 USD and another $60 to $100 USD for a hard-shell case, this guitar isn't a bad deal. If you're looking for a decent sounding and awesome looking acoustic/electric guitar, the Alvarez AD60CK guitar is a good choice.