AG660CE-SHB Artist Grand Auditorium Acoustic-Electric Guitar With Cutaway

The AG660CE-SHB is a stunning Grand Auditorium displaying Alvarez’s renowned Shadowburst, fine gloss finish over a solid African mahogany top. The flawless semi-gloss back and sides allow the guitar to resonate and the same finish applied to the neck makes for a great feeling instrument that is smooth and easy to play. Tonally, the AG660CE has the articulation a Grand Auditorium can offer with a little more emphasis on the trebles. Being made of mahogany, the projection is nicely harnessed with a really quick response which produces a more focused projection and fewer overtones, making this guitar a great choice for recording and live work.

This guitar AG660CE is fitted with the discrete but lively SYS100 pickup and pre-amp which is located in the end pin and controlled by a smartly designed soundhole console offering volume and tone controls. Overall, the AG660CESHB is a smart, articulate GA suitable for most musical styles with a sophisticated voice and stunning aesthetic.

Alvarez Guitars
After 50 years of making guitars, continual improvement through the use of emerging technologies, processes, and materials is still at the heart of Alvarez culture. Alvarez guitars are constructed correctly in every sense, from raw material preparation to construction and manufacturing processes. Their tonewoods are carefully cured; components such as neck blocks and wood joints are carefully designed. The painting, sanding and polishing techniques used are continually researched and developed, and the tone is impeccably crafted and married to a stable, consistent and lively sound box.

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. Alvarez believes their multi award-winning Artist Series is one of the finest solid top guitar lines in the world today and demonstrates their commitment to design.

The term “solid top” refers to the soundboard of an acoustic guitar being made of solid wood, rather than being laminated. However, just because the top is solid, it does not necessarily mean the sound automatically benefits from this feature. The tone of the instrument only improves significantly when the whole guitar is built correctly to optimize the energy a solid soundboard can generate. Artist Series is built to do exactly this.

Each model is designed to get the best out if its components, and for them to work together to produce balance, lively projection and great response. These components include Alvarez'a FST2 bracing system, bi-level rosewood bridge, real bone nut and saddle, great quality tonewoods and thin finish. FST2 is a forward shifted X brace design, this means the axis of the X is closer to the soundhole 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 years of continual development in our Yairi workshops. The Artist Series sound and personality is open and powerful. FST2 also creates very good balance so both the treble and bass registers are clearly present and balanced in relation to each other.

Artist Series guitars feel right and are exciting to play; no matter if you are strumming hard or picking lightly, the guitar will do what you ask of it. All of Alvarez's tops are selected by their team and graded independently of their suppliers. If it isn't worthy, they won’t use it. Top quality improves as you move up the Artist Series models, but all are stiff and finely grained.

Along with a more angled headstock, the Alvarez 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.