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Alverez AP70L Lefty Parlor Guitar
The AP70 is one of Alvarez' best selling guitars, combining traditional and modern elements to produce a classic looking parlor guitar with modern projection and tone.
Alvarez is a relatively low key guitar manufacturer that has been producing some great value acoustic instruments that have premium features at lower price points. The AP70 Parlor from their Artist Series is a good example, featuring quality wood and construction while retaining an affordable price tag.
The company says, "Artist Series is now “The Award Winning Artist Series” – winning competitions and receiving rave reviews in the States, Europe and around the world. It’s a truly designed line of guitars that stands tall and sounds sweet in the solid top guitar market. All Alvarez parlor guitars have a big voice and are dynamic guitars that can be used for any style of playing".
The term “solid top” refers to the soundboard being built from solid wood, instead of laminated - which in this case is solid Sitka spruce. Note that having a solid top, does not guarantee great tone, the whole guitar has to be crafted correctly to better release the energy a solid soundboard can generate.
To do just this, Alvarez utilized their FST2M forward shifted scalloped x bracing system, where both the x braces and asymmetric tone bars are scalloped. The entire bracing system is moved forward resulting in a larger soundboard, which works well with the solid maple bridge plate. The company also opted to craft the back and sides from rosewood, a feature that is normally only found on more expensive models.
Following traditional design, the guitar's neck is crafted from mahogany and topped by a rosewood fretboard with a total of 18 frets. Although the body of the guitar is small, playability is still very similar to standard sized guitars with a 1.75" nut width and 24" scale length.