I believe after 1985 or so their production moved to Korea (and later China for budget guitars). This site includes some good general info if you scroll down to the Alvarez section:Based on the type of label you have with the eagle, and the Made in Japan, I would have guessed your guitar was built in the late 70's or early 80's.

Buy her a set of strings first, and maybe she will give you her number.But seriously, I think it's hard to definitively date Alvarez guitars from that era because the company itself doesn't have accurate records. If it is not the Vendetta 3.0, Im not interested.' Havent heard from him since. I answered, 'A real guitar man! Im sorry but I just DO NOT like basswood guitars. I think I pissed the guy off when I told him I thought his guitar looked a hell of a lot like the Dean Vendetta XM model.He exploded right away with, 'Well, if it is indeed the XM, what do I have to add to make this an even trade?' Alvarez Banjo Review Thanks for the help guys!I seen where my membership/log in was just approved on the Dean boards so I will be posting something there in a few minutes.Im starting to think this is going to be all for naught though. String-Throught Body Design.Ĭlassic Dean V Ferrule Pattern. Not many.EDIT -Vendetta 3.0 information (serial # will not be different between import models). They did start putting a year # somewhere in them, but they are imports and the year really doesn't matter for their worth.There were some bolt on USA and Czech models.

In the late 90's (1996 I believe) the serial #'s for the USA models were stamped on the fret board after the last fret.There are Czech Republic guitars that will have Hand Crafted in the Czech Republic on the back of the headstock with a serial # (nothing to denote year.)The Korean and Chinese guitar serials for the most part don't give a year or any other indication. Im looking, but Im not finding anything there either.:arg:try making a post on the Dean board - lots of knowledgeable folks.For the most part - the USA models will have 'Made in the USA' with YY - SERIAL on the back of the headstock.

Alvarez serial number search