Alvarez AP66SB Artist 66 Series – One Of The Best Sounding Parlors Out There

Body And Neck:
Hardware:
Sound:
Value:

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If you like your travel guitar full of rich tone and resonance, we recommend checking out the AP66SB from Alvarez, a genuine small beast. What makes this fella instantly stand out is the tone, which was crafted as a mixture of all-mahogany style and more traditional crafting values.

We took this dude out for a spin and our impressions are mostly quite positive. We summed up our thoughts in a brief review that patiently awaits your attention below. Dig in!

Body & Neck

As noted, we are looking at one big chunk of mahogany. The guitar has a solid African mahogany top, back, and sides, along with a slim, yet sturdy mahogany neck. This combo secures a full and rich sound with plenty of resonance, which is not something most parlor guitars can offer. However, one of mahogany's main treats' the mellow vibe, is also present in the sonic attack, resulting in a well-rounded and toned-down groove.

Focusing on the neck, mahogany is a strong type of wood, resulting with a neck that is not prone to bending at all. Additionally, the piece comes with a standard rosewood fingerboard with 18 frets and a single signature Alvarez market at the 12th fret.

In the aesthetic segment, the instrument comes with a gorgeous gloss finish and a dark brown to black body, along with a classy classical guitar headstock.

Hardware

The six-string packs a set of six premium die-cast tuners that do a very good job in keeping the instrument in top form at all times. People don't appreciate quality tuners enough until they encounter a set of lousy ones, and it's sets like this one that really make you thankful for not having to check the tuning every half an hour.

In the rest of the mix, we are looking at a rosewood bridge with synthetic bone bridge pins, an ABS binding, and a sleek white rosette. Note that a separate guitar case is available, but not include in the price.

Sound

The sound of this guitar is first and foremost quite resonant and strong, which always comes in handy when travel guitars are considered. Additionally, the punch is surprisingly well rounded; we are used to having a lack of basses when dealing with these things, yet this Alvarez fella delivers a well-rounded, bass-rich tone that might get you thinking you're dealing with a dreadnought!

So if you like sonic boom in small packages and at a fair price, this guitar is a valid choice. Warm, open and powerful, it just hits right through the mix! Additionally, the level of fret noise is very low even when played right out of the box with zero adjustments. If boom is not your thing, though, consider other models, there's plenty to find right here on Guitar Fella.

Value/Conclusion

When all factors are combined, this is a strong mid-range instrument and one of our top contestants for the title of the best travel guitar under $500. The sound is top-level and distinctive, the level of durability is high thanks to a sturdy tonewood choice, and the price is more than fair. What can we say, highly recommended!

For more info about the Alvarez AP66SB Artist 66 Series, click here.
For more top travel acoustic guitars, click here.