Alvarez AEG80ce_Armrest - Artist Elite Grand Auditorium Acoustic, Electric, Armrest, with Cutaway

• Top Wood  Solid AA Sitka Spruce
• Back and Sides Wood   Flamed Maple
• Top Color   Natural/Gloss
• Back & Sides Color   Natural/Gloss
• Armrest   Slim Ebony Bevel
• Headstock Facia   East Indian Rosewood
• Bridge Pins   PPS Synthetic Bone
• Shape   Grand Auditorium
• Neck   Maple
• Pick Up/EQ   LR Baggs StagePro Bronze
• Bracing   FS6
• Bridge   Bi-Level Indian Rosewood
• Inlays   MOP & Arylic
• Fingerboard   East Indian Rosewood
• Nut and Saddle   Bone
• Tuner   Chrome Closed Gears
• Strings   D'Addario XTAPB1257
• Neck Meets Body   14th
• Number of Frets   21

The AEG80ce is a beautifully developed Grand Auditorium that delivers in both tone and looks. The minimal styling of this guitar creates a classy vibe with the light blonde of the spruce and maple framed with Ebony. Tonally, this guitar has a robust voice with shimmering trebles, plenty of low-end and an instant response. It also offers added functionality and comfort with its cutaway and slim style bevel armrest, making the AEG80ce a great-looking, versatile instrument.

This cutaway model allows for easy access up the neck and is fitted with the LR Baggs StagePro Bronze. The StagePro Bronze is a small-footprint side-mounted EQ incorporating the renowned LR Baggs Element under-saddle pickup. This is a low-profile unit with a large backlit tuner, volume, bass and treble controls and phase. The battery box is built into the end pin jack compartment for easy access with a simple push to open and change batteries.

About Artist Elite Series

Alvarez Artist Elite is our series of solid-top guitars with a custom style vibe made with premium materials and appointments. Exotic woods, bevel armrests and wood bindings give the series a rich aesthetic, enhanced by a flawless gloss finish, radiant and thinly applied, to increase response.

Artist Elite features tonewoods such as African Mahogany, Macassar Ebony, East Indian Rosewood, Acacia and Flamed Maple, framed in Ebony, Rosewood or Maple binding. We craft a slim armrest on our Grand Auditoriums with a slightly thicker bevel on the Dreadnought for more comfortable playing experience. All Elites are cutaway, acoustic-electric models, fitted with the LR Baggs StagePro Bronze.

The StagePro Bronze is a small-footprint side-mounted EQ incorporating the renowned LR Baggs Element under-saddle pickup. This is a low-profile unit with a large backlit tuner, volume, bass and treble controls and phase. The battery box is built into the end pin jack compartment for easy access with a simple push to open and change batteries.

Our Approach to the Build

All of our solid tops are selected by our team and graded independently of our suppliers. If it isn’t worthy, it isn’t used. Our laminated backs and sides are uniquely constructed with Mahogany as our middle layer, and our inner and outer layers are always matched. 

Artist Elite guitars strike the right balance between strength and vibration, crafting a voice to both inspire and give players “tools in the tone.” Alongside this approach to development lies our respect for sourcing, preparation and nurturing the wood we use to make our guitars. No matter how considered design may be, it can only be as good as the wood we use to realize them. 

Our all-solid wood tops, backs and sides, as well as the mahogany used for our necks, go through a curing process developed over years to create stability, strength and tonal benefits. Depending on the wood and its use, this process takes many months or even years for some of our models.

After months-long seasoning, we perform an extra drying stage in thermo-kilns to further enhance wood stability and improve resonance. We call this process ATR—Advanced Tonal Response. ATR™ is a form of torrefaction—oxygen controlled, vacuum curing at special temperatures to remove more moisture and volatiles such as saps and sugars from the wood. 

This does two things:

• ATR™ makes our wood more stable when exposed to adverse dry or humid climates. While we can’t stop the effects of dryness or moisture saturation that can damage guitars, ATR™ goes a long way in helping our guitars become more resilient. Guitars will move or change according to the environment they are in and are more likely to move within the first two years from their production. A guitar usually becomes drier as it ages; this is one of the reasons why players often like the sound of an older guitar. ATR™ advances the natural, post-build drying process so the wood behaves as if it were more mature, stable, and resonant from the first day it is used.

• The effects of ATR™ are also audible in the instrument. The biggest difference is the clarity and separation between notes and the overall response of the guitar. As the top is drier, it’s also quicker, more resonant, more open, even louder. New guitars can sometimes take time to reach this state as the wood dries over the years. ATR accelerates this effect to deliver a more sophisticated and complex voicing from day one.

Our caring approach to development comes from one unwavering goal: To deliver the best guitars in the market at every price point—instruments of a truly remarkable value that offer an unparalleled player experience.