Alvarez Masterworks OM Acoustic-Electric Guitar w/Cutaway

This stunning OM offers simply incredible craftsmanship, tone and beauty. The flawless Shadowburst finish looks fantastic over the solid mahogany top and the hand-crafted Paua abalone purfling frames the body beautifully. This acoustic-electric model is fitted with the fantastic LR Baggs Element pickup and StagePro EQ for optimal live performance.

Nothing can really match a guitar made from all-solid wood. The deflection of the notes is quicker, the quality of the sound is better, you can obtain optimal response and the sound of your guitar will improve as it ages.
After 50 years of making guitars, continual improvement through the use of emerging technologies, processes, and materials is still at the heart of their culture. Alvarez guitars are constructed correctly in every sense, from raw material preparation to construction and manufacturing processes.

Their tone woods are carefully cured; their components such as neck blocks and wood joints are carefully designed. The painting, sanding and polishing techniques Alvarez uses are continually researched and developed, and their tone is impeccably crafted and married to a stable, consistent and lively soundbox.

This caring approach to development comes from one simple goal: To deliver the best guitars in the market at every price point, instruments that are truly amazing value and offer a fantastic player experience.

The Masterworks Series is Alvarez's best value all solid guitar line in the market today. Their specification is incredibly high in relation to their cost and they perform as all solid professional guitars should, with fantastic response and projection.

The term “all solid” of course refers to the guitar top, back and sides being made of solid wood rather than laminated. However, just because the guitar is made of all solid tonewood, it only performs to its full potential when it is designed to get the best out of its materials and components. As the tops Alvarez uses in Masterworks are very high quality, they can make them a little thinner to heighten vibration. The radius of both the top and back are also refined to help increase volume.

Each guitar is designed to get the best out of its components, and for them to work together. These components include their FS6 bracing system, bi-level bridges, real bone nuts and saddles, carefully seasoned tonewoods and a thin finish.

FS6 is a forward shifted X brace design, this means the axis of the X is closer to the sound hole and therefore creates a larger soundboard area allowing for more energy and vibration to be harnessed. Both the X braces and asymmetric tone bars are carefully scalloped. The scalloping design was the result of continual development in their Yairi workshops.

The Masterworks personality is open and powerful. FS6 also creates very good balance so both the treble and bass registers are clearly present and balanced in relation to each other. All of their tops are selected by their team and graded independently of their suppliers and are cured with care using traditional ovens and modern thermo-kilns.

Along with a more angled headstock, their bi-level bridge increases string tension by making the break angel of the strings from the saddle to the top more acute. Improved string tension adds to their sound, feel and response, which are also heightened by the use of real bone nuts and saddles.

Masterworks Series also demonstrates their great finishing capabilities; the gloss models have a clear deep shine from a finish that is applied as thinly as possible, again to help optimize tone.
Alvarez hopes this unwavering attention to detail can be enjoyed every time you play and help inspire great musical progress and performance.

KEY FEATURES
Top Wood
Solid African Mahogany
Body Finish
Shadowburst/Gloss
Back and Sides Wood
Solid African Mahogany
Shape
Folk/OM
Neck
One piece mahogany, 50/50 Semi gloss finish
Bridge
Bi-Level Indian Laurel/Rosewood
Inlays
Paua Abalone & Mother of Pearl
Fingerboard
Indian Laurel/Rosewood w/12th Fret Inlay
Purfling
1.5mm Paua Abalone
Nut and Saddle
Real Bone
Tuner
Premium Die Cast Gold w/Ebony Buttons
Binding
Acacia
Bridge Pins
Ebony
Strings
D'Addario EXP16
Accessories
AF30 FlexiCase
Bracing Systems
FS6 Forward Shifted, Tapered Tone Bars
Neck Joint
Dovetail
Neck Meets Body
14th Fret
Number of Frets
21
Pickup / EQ
LR Baggs StagePro EQ and Element Pick Up

DIMENSIONS
Overall Length (mm)
1015
Body Width (mm)
390
Body Depth at Heel (mm)
96
Body Depth at Base (mm)
106
Scale (mm)
630
Scale (inches)
24 13/16
Number of Frets
21
Nut Width (mm)
44.45
Nut Width (inches)
1 3/4