Alvarez Yairi JYM86CTS

This is a cutaway Masterworks Jumbo with a glossy sunburst finish and system 600T mkII electronics. Solid spruce top with solid flamed maple back and sides. Came with a very nice tan hardcase that protects it pretty well...for the price paid I would have expected a little more deluxe case but this one will do. The electronics include an onboard tuner which is a dream come true. The bridge and fretboard are both ebony and the bridge is the special Yairi direct coupled bridge that you can't get on any other brand I don't think.

The sound of this guitar is nothing short of awesome, it seems to have a really perfect balance in tone which is probably due to the jumbo body adding some depth to the cutting higher end tones of the maple back and sides. A very rich and full sound (like you should expect from a Jumbo) that can be very quiet or super loud when you lay into it. The projection you can get with this guitar is pretty hard to beat...I mean I tried a bunch of Martins and Taylors that were way more expensive than this guitar before buying this one. A good friend of mine has one of these he had special ordered from a local Alvarez dealer so I had the option to take his guitar with me to a bunch of local shops that had the all the other really nice guitars so I could A/B them and his guitar seemed to reign supreme over almost everything I played except I will say there was a couple of $5-6000 taylors that I would have bought if money were no object at all.

I ordered mine from Guitarville here in Seattle and it came in perfect shape, it was tuned about a whole step flat but with a the onboard tuner (which had a battery already installed) allowed me to take care of that within minutes. There wasn't any kind of finish flaw that I can remember (it's been about 6 months since I got it) although I have put some minor scratches in it since. The back was superbly bookmatched and is simply beautiful to gaze at when taking a break from playing. Gets a 10 here as the finish is as nice as those $5000 guitars.

Seems to be built to last as I read that these guitars are all handbuilt one at a time. We will just have to see.

I called and left a message and then got a call back the very next day. I talked to a guy named Tom in tech support line and he was really helpful. I just wanted to know about what material he would suggest using if I ever needed to shim my saddles in the winter months, he reccommended any super hard plastic and said that when they need to do that they use pieces of old pickgaurd material.

I've been playing for 17 years and have mainly been a metal guitar player and have a some really high end amps (VHT, Soldano, and Framus) but recently have decided to pay more attention to my acoustic playing and decided to treat myself with this guitar. I set out thinking I was going to find a Taylor but ended up with this guitar and I really couldn't be happier. If it were lost I would have a hard time replacing it as I sold two electric guitars to buy this one but yeah I would like to replace it ...guess I need to get some insurance now that I think of it. These guitars seem to fly under the radar but plays every bit as nice....so you owe it to yourself to at least check them out before buying your Martin or Taylor. I absolutely just love the way it feels when I pick it up....it feels like home in every way to me.