Made ny Kasuga in Japan, 1970's .

Kasuga made these and put a variety of names on the headstock, whatever the USA importer wanted on the headstock (Alvarez, Epiphone, Cortez, Aria, Ventura, etc...)

As you said, not bad little banjos, usually had a "die-cast" steel / alloy tone ring, light-weight multi-ply rim, painted black, one piece flange, and almost always had the ubiquitous "inlay" on the resonator back.....resonators usually had a beautiful piece of rosewood veneer on the back, obscured with some hideous "Maltese Cross", fancy diamond, or similar styled  inlay.

It's not really an "Alvarez" banjo, just a mass-produced Asian banjow, with a licensed "Alvarez " name on the headstock.

A buddy of mine had one of these back in the late 1970s, and he bought my set of abandoned Kluson stair step tuners from an RB 250 I "aged". As I remember we had no trouble installing the Klusons on his Alvarez (it had friction tuners). He was using it to learn, and it was irritating to tune with those friction tuners. So I agree it's very likely made in the 1970s.

That Alvarez/Kasuga was my first "real" resonator banjo in the late 70s/early 80s. I recently acquired a Univox to restore that aside from the peghead decal is identical.

These banjos with Alvarez on the headstock bring 25 to 50 percent more than the same banjo with Conrad or Ventura labels. There is a lesson in that.

First: The tone ring was not brass. It was pot metal. At least that's what I was told back in 1972 when I owned the Aria version of this.

Second: With friction pegs instead of the later imitation boxy Klusons, this is the earliest version of this. So I'm guessing 1970 or 71.

If people pay more for the Alvarez vs Conrad or Ventura version of these, they're paying extra for the exact same thing. Well, some did vary a little in the decoration on the back of the resonator. But they all came from Kasuga and were structurally the same banjo.

It's worth swapping out the friction tuners for planetary tuners and replacng the friction fifth with a geared tuner. You can get really cheap, but serviceable tuners on eBay. But a full set of five Gotohs is under $100 from Smakula Fretted Instruments.

This banjo appears to be in great shape. It's a really good instrument to learn on, and depending on your goals could be all the banjo you ever need.

Enjoy.

I agree with what has been said by others. One thing I will add; the tailpiece is not a Presto, but a Waverly. This is the later model Waverly tailpiece that came out in the mid 1960s. It was used by Gibson, Vega, and many import banjos from that era up though the 1970s. Gibson still used it on the RB100 models until the end of production n 1979.

I had that exact banjo wih the Alvarez logo and the same case years ago; I put a geared 5th on it but kept the rest of the original tuners which were geared. I think I put pearloid buttons on them as the originals were chromed. It was a decent banjo but I was an old-timey player and wanted something different. Played it a long time though!

Your comments are all greatly appreciated. Thanks!

Phil, what a great photo. Thanks for sharing.

I wouldn’t be surprised if tone ring, flange, tension hoop came from same pot metal alloys. I’ve worked on three and get them to really turn on amazingly well, with heel and ring fitting. Of course, same should be said about any banjo.