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. Masterworks Elite are stunning guitars made from premium, hand-selected all-solid woods to create a sonically articulate guitar series with a stunning visual impact.

The Alvarez MFA77WCEARSHB is a beautiful OM with a sophisticated vibe and wonderful intimate voicing. It delivers a really clear projection with great sustain and fantastic separation between the notes. Beautifully presented in a Shadowburst finish and slim bevel ebony armrest with genuine Paua abalone purfling. It is fitted with the awesome LR Baggs VTC Element system pick up and soundhole console.

After 55 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. Alvarez's tone woods are carefully cured; components such as neck blocks and wood joints are carefully designed. The painting, sanding and polishing techniques are continually researched and developed, and each instrument's 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… read more at every price point, instruments that are truly amazing value and offer a fantastic player experience. 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 premium grades, they can be made a little thinner to heighten vibration. The radius of both the top and back is also refined to help increase volume.

Each guitar is designed to get the best out if its components, and for them to work together. These components include Alvarez's MST1 bracing system, bi-level rosewood bridge, real bone nut and saddle, carefully seasoned tonewood and a thin finish. MST1 is an X-brace design with tapered scalloping to the X and asymmetric scalloping to the tone bars. Tonally MST1 is robust with greater bass presence and is capable of producing more volume when needed. Along with a more angled headstock, Alvarez's 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 the sound, feel and response, which is also heightened by the use of real bone nuts and saddles. read less