Alvarez-Yairi AR550E

The funny thing is that it is impossible to find any info on this guitar on the net or anywhere else. The reason is that at a certain point in time at Yairi they decided to change its name from AR550E to CY127CE, and this has been confirmed to me personally from the factory.
This is a 6 strings classic guitar handmade by K.Yairi in 1986 in Japan, with cutaway and built-in passive pickup with 2 controllers (tone+volume).
It is totally built with solid wood with spruce top and ebony fingerboard. The mechanics are typical gold plated quality classic guitar mechanics. The body is not as deep as a normal classic guitar, but this doesn't seem to affect the sound at all. This guitar is very light and very solid at the same time, and it is very well built and good looking, a masterpiece, essential, simple and yet perfect in every little detail, a nice example of Japanese minimalism.

What strikes me about the sound of this guitar is that, apart from being bright, rich, loud and and full, it is also very clean, without strange vibrations or such. Doesn't matter how hard you hit the guitar, it will respond with a strong and well balanced sound, and this is in most cases and in my opinion, the difference between a bad cheap guitar and a good handmade guitar.

The action is very nice and easy. I felt right away at home with this guitar.
The neck is wide enough to give good space to big fingers like mine. I don't know how the guitar was set-up from the factory since I bought it used, but I suspect that it was exactly as it is now, as the guy who sold it to me didn't use it very much and he was not the type who would bother with changing the setup of his guitar. He just used the guitar once in a while sitting on his bed to play house of the rising sun...

I rarely play live with this guitar neither I go on tour with it, so I wouldn't know how it would withstand live playing, but in my opinion this guitar is made to last. I am pretty sure I could depend on it, and I would definately use it live without a backup, it is after all a classic guitar with nylon strings, not an electric one with Floyd rose and other complicated, difficult to control gear.

The guitar is 21 years old, so it is definitely not under warranty.
However I have heard that Yairi gives life long warranty, but only to the first owner. I have contacted once the factory by email to have some info, and they answered in a matter of minutes. They were as well friendly and helpful.

This is a nice, well built, good looking and well sounding guitar, and it is a good investment as well. Buy it if you find one, you won't be disappointed...

The funny thing is that it is impossible to find any info on this guitar on the net or anywhere else. The reason is that at a certain point in time at Yairi they decided to change its name from AR550E to CY127CE, and this has been confermed to me personally from the factory.
This is a 6 strings classic guitar handmade by K.Yairi in 1986 in Japan, with cutaway and built-in passive pickup with 2 controllers (tone+volume).
It is totally built with solid wood with spruce top and ebony fingerboard. The mechanics are typical gold plated quality classic guitar mechanics. The body is not as deep as a normal classic guitar, but this doesn't seem to affect the sound at all. This guitar is very light and very solid at the same time, and it is very well built and good looking, a masterpiece, simple and yet perfect in every little detail, a nice example of japanese minimalisme.

What strikes me about the sound of this guitar is that, apart from being bright, rich, loud and and full, it is also very clean, without strange vibrations or such. Doesn't matter how hard you hit the guitar, it will respond with a strong and well balanced sound, and this is in most cases, the difference between a bad cheap guitar and a good handmade guitar, it won't disappoint you...

The action is very nice and easy. I felt right away at home with this guitar, no exitations...
The neck is large enough to give good space to big fingers like mine. I don't know how the guitar was set-up from the factory since I bought it used, but I suspect that it was exactly as it is now, as the guy who sold it to me didn't use it very much and he was not the type who would bother with changing the setup of his guitar. He just used the guitar once in a while sitting on his bed to play house of the rising sun...
The finish is simple and nice, a typical classic guitar finish, no flaws.

I rarely play live with this guitar neither I go on tour with it, so I wouldn't know how it would withstand live playing, but in my opinion this guitar is made to last. I am pretty sure I could depend on it, and I would definally use it live without a backup, it is after all a simple classic guitar with nylon strings, not an electric one with floyd rose and other confusing, difficult to control gear.

The guitar is 21 years old, so it is definately not under warranty.
However I have heard that Yairi gives lifelong warranty, but only to the first owner. I have contacted once the factory by email to have some info, and they answered in a matter of minutes. They were as well friendly and helpful.

This is a nice, well built, good looking and well sounding guitar.
Buy one if you find one,you won't be disappointed...