If you do use heavier gauge strings, you might want to de-tune when putting away the guitar. The neck is straight, thin and very playable, the action low, and the tone is very sweet, balanced and clear. It is solid Indian rosewood with sitka spruce top and is a very solid, sturdy, well-made guitar. I now de-tune my Alvarez guitars when I put them away for longer period storage even though I use 11's on them. This was apparently an artist series, around 2000 US when new. And those who own them should probably stay away from heavy string gauges, i.e., not bigger than. There may be no practical remedy (Search web for comments on it.). Anyone who looks at buying a vintage Alvarez should bear this in mind if the action is high. My 5056 has pretty high action on it, and these guitars are very bad candidates for neck resets, as the necks were glued with epoxy, not hide glue (which can be softened with heat). And actually, due to the neck attachment issues, I gravitate towards the 80's vintage, as they have had less time to have their neck angle change from string tension. To me, that's the first indicator that a guitar might be post 1980'ish. You'll see a lot of people claiming that they have, or are selling, 70's vintage Alvarez guitars, but have sound-hole truss-rod setup. I have another Alvarez from 1981-2, that adjusts in the sound-hole. Alvarez Acoustic Guitar K.yairi 463.90 160.00 shipping Alvarez Yairi DYM60HDE 2,499.00 Very Rare Solid Cedar Topped 80 Aria Pro II-PW19 (S. As you can see from the response from SLM, the headstock truss-rod adjustment was on the earliest Alvarez guitars. Alvarez 5039 Bicentennial 1975 (658) guitar.

FWIW: I have the same guitar, and it is around the same vintage as yours, with a 4 digit serial number and the headstock truss-rod adjustment.

Alvarez k yairi acoustic guitars cy74