Alvarez banjo

[John Gadbury]

This is a really open ended question, but I'm going to ask it anyway.

What are some general comments on Alvarez banjos? Quality of workmanship?
Playability (I'm a newbie, playing less than a year, looking to upgrade from
a Goodtime)? Tone? Value? Resale? Does the year of manuf. matter? Any
particular questions I should be asking the seller?

I've seen some very reasonably priced ones around.

Thanks!

[Marc Horowitz]

Hi, John.
Early Alvarez banjos (from the seventies) were made in Japan. They were OK
student grade instruments. Age doesn't matter; there is no "vintage" value to
them at all. One of the '70s banjos in good shape should go for $300-$500. The
later Alvarezes (Alvari? Alvarim?) are Korean made and not so hot. Stay away.
The best buy (IMHO) in a student banjo is the Deering Goodtime II.
Just my opinion.
Marc H

[Scott Young]

Hi John

I had a newer Alvarez a couple of years ago. I think the Model number was
4280, but I'm not sure about that. It was made in Korea. It didn't have a
tone ring, just a thin wooden pot assembly. It wasn't a bad banjo, and
probably costs around $350-$400 new. The best thing about it was that it
stayed in tune pretty well and had geared tuners all the way around. The
drawback to the banjo was that it didn't have much bite, which became
obvious when I started playing with other people. It also had a rather fat
neck, especially up the neck. This became more of an issue when I got a
little more advanced and started using my thumb to fret the 5th string.
Nonetheless, the banjo was good enough for me get started on.

I have also played a few of the Alvarez's from the 1970's. I think they
were all imported from Japan and are essentially copies of the higher end
American made banjos and come with some type of alloy tone ring.

I believe some of the models like the Denver Belle are pretty good import
banjos and may be on the same level as Sagas, Washburns, and Epiphones from
the same era. I'm not positive about this, but I think these banjos come
with dual coordinator rods, planetary tuners and a geared 5th tuner.

The more common banjos with the Alvarez name are probably not as good as the
Sagas and Washburns. They often have the word "Deluxe" on the headstock.
I've seen several banjos with different brand names including Dorado and
Epiphone that were made by the same manufacturer. These banjos have
friction pegs (undesirable) on the fifth string, which can be replaced for
about $50 by any music store. In my opinion, these banjo are definitely
better than the ones being imported from Korea today. They have tone rings,
pretty nice necks (although they can vary from one model to another), and
they can be set up to sound pretty good, especially if you really crank down
on the head. The link below is an Alvarez banjo that was offered on ebay a
little while ago, which matches the description I've given in this
paragraph. If you do go for one of these, just make sure its got a
straight kneck, and not too much fretware.

http://cgi.ebay.com/aw-cgi/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=299855204

John Gadbury <jgad...@mia.net> wrote in message
news:fvbJ4.1284$5b3.3...@homer.alpha.net...

[paxj...@gmail.com]

On Wednesday, April 12, 2000 3:00:00 AM UTC-4, John Gadbury wrote:
> This is a really open ended question, but I'm going to ask it anyway.
>
> What are some general comments on Alvarez banjos? Quality of workmanship?
> Playability (I'm a newbie, playing less than a year, looking to upgrade from
> a Goodtime)? Tone? Value? Resale? Does the year of manuf. matter? Any
> particular questions I should be asking the seller?
>
> I've seen some very reasonably priced ones around.
>
> Thanks!

I purchased a Durado Deluxe bank in the mid 1970s and have been very pleased with it. However, I have made some changes. I put in a geared 5th string peg and also went with a clear banjo head, which I think gives a brighter sound. I also went with light gauge strings. It has lasted me many years and I still enjoy it. I feel I turned it into something better than a starter. It has a good heavy tone ring, which was a seller for me back in the day. Hope this helps. It was a good banjo to build on.

[Bart V]

Alvarez made some fine models and so-so models.
You'd be much better off posting this question on:
http://banjohangout.org