Elderly Customer Service and Alvarez Updates

[guit30]

They told me at Elderly that when the truck picked up the guitar last Friday, they would credit my card, no credit yet so I called, Britney answered the phone and said the guitar is in the basement , but she said only Colleen could credit it, I said why, she said, let me ask Ace (the boss), I got put on hold for a long time then disconnected. I waited and called back, Derrick answered the Phone,(sounded like "Ace"- George, he put me thru to Britney, she said we put the money on your card as an exchange and it will show up in a week, I said ,why so long, she said, well up to a week, only Colleen can do returns.

On another note, I got an e-mail From Tom Kruszka at St Louis Music today, he said that Regency guitars like the Rd20S will no longer be set up at St Louis Music, so, be prepared to sand off glue and do some serious set up work. I'm glad I have a great Luthier now.

Jim

[DonK]

Jim, your loyalty to Alvarez is kind of amazing, given all you've been through with them. I've never had the chance to play one - don't know of anyone around here that sells them - but I'm going to keep an eye peeled 'cuz I'd really like to see how they play and sound. Hope the one you have on the way turns out to be a good 'un.

[guit30]

Donk,

The RD20 plays like a Taylor 100, 200 series, same neck as a Taylor 110 , except you don't have that weird arch in the back that 110s do, I have a feeling that Alvarez is going down, their mother company St Louis music was just bought by Loud Technologies who owns other companys, Here in Philly there is no store now that carries Alvarez, the local store that carries them has 1 RD8 of the old variety, I personally think they changed plants. This Pulse company seems good, good contact, small company, hopefully it will be a decent guitar. I have been in many a store where they have absolutely nothing i like, like Ibanezes ,Washburns ,Fenders and loend Taylors and Martins. If this purchase is a bust, which I doubt, think I'll spend the bucks and get a Blueridge

Jim

http://www.loudtechinc.com/

[drnihili]

Alvarez RD20 was going to be my first git until I came across Walden. Since I couldn't play either brand, I got the Walden cuz it had a bit better reviews and was cheaper. But the RD20 sure sounded like a nice git.

[Dave W.]

Jim, your loyalty to Alvarez is kind of amazing, given all you've been through with them. I've never had the chance to play one - don't know of anyone around here that sells them - but I'm going to keep an eye peeled 'cuz I'd really like to see how they play and sound. Hope the one you have on the way turns out to be a good 'un.

 

In November I bought an Alvarez MC90 classical, $600 street price, all solid wood. I have two Martins, and the workmanship on the Alvarez is every bit as good, if not better. I had several to choose from, and they were all just as good. Maybe this is a bad run of RD20's, I don't know. Maybe just bad luck, but I said this in another post, how much setup work can you expect a dealer to put into a guitar that sells for less than $250.

[Queequeg]

Jim, it is indeed unfortunate that this dark cloud seems to hover over your guitar purchase, and even spread to Elderly. I have been doing business with Elderly for 20 years and have always had excellent service from them, and never anything except excellent service from them.

May a warm breeze bring bright sunshine to your next purchase, wherever you find it, and what ever it may be.

All the best.

[guit30]

Dave,

Alvarez seems to think like you, they are going to stop all setups on the regency series and ship them straight out like they came from China, Even the Elderly one, which I could tell they had done alot of work, sanding excess glue, The wood was not as good, I think Elderly just missed the little finish crack on the lower bout, nobody's perfect. The rf20S that came from MF was a mess of excess glue and a very poor neck joint, once again, in the past, St Louis Music would have caught this.

Tomorrow I'm going to check out a 2006 Alvarez RD8 which is in a local store, plays like a gem, perfect guitar. The guitar from Pulse hasn't gotten to them yet, they forgot to tell me that they did not have any in stock and had to order one, I ordered the guitar Sunday. They do promise a setup and a nice upgrade to a deluxe Alvarez case. I would rather have a solid top, but the neck is more important to me.

Jim