Alvarez silver princess Reviews

Alvarez silver princess submitted 7/12/2007 Submitter divingsailingdoug (see all reviews from this person) Where Purchased Private Sale Year Purchased 07 Price Paid 800.00 (Canadian) (bought USED) historic exchange rates / currency converter Sound this Banjo has a rich sound with great sustain. It has a Tubaphone tone ring and it looks to me like it's a brass one. Sound Rating 7 Setup this banjo had bee professonaly set up prior to my purchase. It has required no adjustments so far however I might get the action lowered a little after I get to know her better. Setup Rating 8 Appearance This is a mid 70's copy of a Tubaphone OB. It is very easy on the eyes with good use of MOP thought not overdone. Appearance Rating 8 Reliability Great reliability solid goto tuners no back up nessisary. Reliability Rating 8 Customer Service Haven't dealt with the company Customer Service not rated Components good tuners, not the original tailpiece and I may switch to a Kershner in the future. Components Rating not rated Overall Comments I feel I got a great Banjo for a reasonable price Hunt the sucker down! I really like the inlay on the inside of the pot none Nice and loud when needed but mellow at the same time, great sustain. Overall Rating 7

Alvarez silver princess submitted 8/13/2006 Submitter stringbeaner (see all reviews from this person) Where Purchased Tulsa, ok, big music store Year Purchased 1975 Price Paid 250.00 historic exchange rates / currency converter Sound clean, clear-great variations avaliable by adjusting head tension; everything from ear-piercing bluegrass to bascom lamar lunsford plunky. I bought it when I was building a new neck for my Stromberg and needed something to perform and teach with. Turned out to be a great choice. When i finished the neck on my reg'lar gourd i gave it to my wife. she played clawhammer. Sound Rating 10 Setup Setup was jus' dandy for my style (clawhammer, some classical, old-timey and some blugrass). I don't recollect having to do anything to it but I did fool around with the sound by adjusting head tension. Put it back about where it was when I got it tho. Setup Rating 10 Appearance Good (japanese) finish for the times. Basically a dead copy of a 30's Vega tubaphone - Open back, Tubaphone-type tone ring, vee-shaped neck, good quality accessories. I added a sliding 5th string capo and an old Orpheum tailpiece 'cause it looked like an old window-latch. Vega-style armrest. Appearance Rating 10 Reliability Banjo looked like new 10-12 years later when I finally sold it to a student who still owns and plays it. I never take a back-up banjo to a gig, just extra strings and maybe a bridge. Reliability Rating 10 Customer Service Never had to deal with them. Customer Service 8 Components This was just a dandy banjo. Every thing worked, looked and sounded like it was supposed to. after 8 or 9 years some of the plating wore off the armrest. The only thing I would have replaced would be the tubaphone tone ring. It WASN'T brass!! Components Rating 10 Overall Comments If I could find another one I'd grab it just to have another one. Played good, looked good and sounded good even with an alloy tone ring. Overall Rating 10