1990s Alvarez 2551-12 Jumbo 12-String Guitar
This guitar looks a bit like a slope-shouldered dreadnought but handles in the lap more like a 000-size or mini-jumbo guitar due to a tighter, 10" waist. It's got a gorgeous, jangly, up-front, and very loud voice that's extremely satisfying to play if you enjoy Tom Petty-style strumming or Leo Kottke finger-thumping, both. It's currently strung and setup for Petty-style strumming -- though you can hear in the video that it handles all sorts of styles easily. I received this guitar in trade and am very tempted to keep it for myself as it's effortless to play and sounds tops.
It's also from Alvarez's "Silver Anniversary" lineup and this is the second version of this 12-string model, whereas the first iteration did have a more traditional jumbo shape. I think the lines on this one are more interesting, though. It has some spiffy details -- a pearl rosette, fancy board trim, board binding, fancier binding and trim around the body edges and backstrip, and more of a "Yairi" aesthetic than a standard "Alvarez" one.
As far as I know, these are also Japanese-made guitars and the build quality is good and accurate. Saddle height is good and the neck angle has remained stable in service since it was built. It's hard to say that about most American-made guitars that are only a decade old, these days!
Repairs included: saddle compensation and setup-side work.
Weight: 5 lbs 8 oz
Scale length: 25 5/8"
Nut width: 1 7/8"
Neck shape: medium soft V (like '60s Martin profile)
Board radius: 14"
Body width: 15 3/4" (tight 10" waist, though)
Body depth: 4 3/4"
Top wood: solid spruce
Back & sides wood: ply rosewood
Bracing type: x
Bridge: rosewood
Fretboard: rosewood
Neck relief: straight
Fret style: medium
Condition notes: overall it's pretty clean for its age. There's some "milky" ghosting in the clearcoat at the headstock and the back, however, and the top has a few longer clearcoat finish cracks. There are no wood cracks in the top, however. The frets are basically brand-new and so I didn't even need to do a level/dress job like I normally would. There's some usewear here and there in the body (small nicks or dings) but overall it looks great. I've modified the bridge slightly by adding downpressure "string ramps" behind the saddle and I fully-compensated the original saddle as best as I could with its narrow width so it plays in tune with up-the-neck chordal passages.
It comes with: a really nice TKL hard case.
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