Me Llamo Alvarez. Now Where's My T-Shirt?

I was nosing around on the Alvarez Web site and came across the message boards. Most of the discussions were too arcane for a rookie like me, of course, and there seems to be a lot of chat about guitar lineage. Still, I think the boards could prove useful to me.

For instance, I learned that the name Alvarez is something of a pseudonym. The St. Louis Music Co. was making classical -- or Spanish-style -- guitars and decided that a Spanish brand name was needed for marketing purposes. Alvarez fit the bill.

I'm concerned, however, that the site doesn't sell Alvarez T-shirts. In fact, I can't find them anywhere on the Internet. How can they expect me to be a convincing guitar poseur if I don't have a proper Alvarez T-shirt?

Still, for what it's worth, I would wholeheartedly endorse Alvarez as a good guitar for a good price for beginning players.

(For a photographic tribute to the Alvarez RD8, see the slideshow in the sidebar on the lower right.)