alvarez are machine made dude. also they arent solid woods.

i work in a high end violin shop that also sells other instruments, we wouldnt allow an alvarez on the shelf, but we do have guitars priced at $350 and occasionally under. if you are going to just buy a POS, go to a music store that has 100% trade in policy. that way you can trade up for another one (which you will do in 6 months if you play at all). in other words you buy it for $300, you take it back and trade for $300 off a higher priced instrument.