Classical

A classical guitar can be a good choice for the occasional player because the strings are soft nylon-easy on the fingers. The sound is more muted, and has a rich organic tone that steel strings can't duplicate.

I spend about half an hour adjusting each guitar. I sand and polish the frets and put graphite in the nut slots for the strings. I oil the fingerboards and run my fingers on the edge of the neck and check for properly filed and crowned frets. If I find any rough edges, I file them smooth. Frets on all Alvarez guitars are made of German silver, which is good for long life and a smooth feel.

High-crowned Alvarez frets touch only a small section of the string, allowing a clearer pitch than a flat fret, which deadens a wider area of the string.

A guitar top is designed to act as a resonator, an acoustic amplifier that moves a larger mass of air than the strings could move by themselves. The resonating surface must be able to respond freely without sacrificing strength. I use a mirror in the sound hole to see if the internal braces are tight, well-cut and sanded. If they're fuzzylooking and roughly formed, the rest of the interior is probably the same. A good clean finished interior means the guitar is well made.