Alvarez Yairi 5060

This is a gloss finish over the natural colors of the wood. Model #5060 and block # on the inside of the neck is #49474, the 1st 2 numbers are the "year of the emporer" of Japan and the last set are the month and year of the guitar, which means it was made in 1974, the 4th month (April).

The style of the guitar is based on a Martin D-40 with 20 frets. African Jacaranda rosewood back & sides (laminated) and a solid Canadian spruce top. The fret board is ebony with hexagonal abilone position markers, if you've ever seen a Martin D-40 then you know what this guitar looks like. The comparison ends there because it sounds and plays better than any Martin I've ever played.

I've been playing over 36 yrs so I set this guitar up myself when it was given to me. The previous owner bought it used around 20 yrs ago for 80 dollars and kept it in his barber shop without a case for pretty much the whole time. For a guitar that is 32 yrs old it is in pretty fair condition with the usuall "dings" in various parts of the body but as I said it plays and sounds as good or better than most Martins (even a D-45) that I've compared it to.

Kazuo Yairi, is S. Yairi's son. They both make (at least K. Yairi does) fantastic guitars. The Yairi line is all handmade.

The guitar is totally acoustic and did not come with electronics and I have no desire to install any. A microphone and a Dean Markley sound hole pick-up is used occasionally. Think of a classic Martin D-28 thru D-45 line and you get an idea of what this instrument sounds like. It don't get any better than that.

There's nothing I dislike about it, it has aged beautifully. Besides that, it was a gift, how could I dislike it?

The Yairi family certanly knows their woods. Even though the back and sides are laminate, it was matched very well and is extremely hard to tell that they aren't solid by looking or the sound.

Just like Martin's, I'm sure this guitar came from the factory with medium high action so that the owner could have it adjusted to their preference. I seem to be the only owner to have done that in 32 yrs.

This guitar is a work horse and will last (with care) a very, very long time to come before needing any more work. It is a beatiful instrument to look at and a joy to play. Incidently, this model #5060 changed (around 1975) to model DY-85.

It has a lifetime warranty to the original owner (as all Yairi's do) and I know that it is still honored. However, I'm not the original owner.

I'm basically an electric guitar player (for 40 yrs) and have had too many guitars to even recall. I now play a Fender Strat, but when I want to play acoustic, the Yairi is what I pick up. I would really hate to lose it because it would be nearly impossible to replace, they are about as rare as their counterparts, especially for that age bracket. It sold for $570.00 in 1974, which was a pretty good chunk of money then, but you have to remember also that it is hand-made.

I hesitate to mention it, but these guitars have been known to re-sell for 3 times that much. To get a Martin that is of the same quality you'd have to pay around $3.000. I'm gratefull to my friend who cared more about me than he did this guitar.

This Yairi is a somewhat rare version known as a model # 5060. It was made in 1973 (produced from 1971 onward to ?? maybe you know?) This guitar is hand built by one of the best Luthiers ever, Kauzo Yaira.
This guitar is probably the wholly grail of Yairi?s. I can?t promise you the wood used but as far as I can tell, this is a Martin D-41 Replica made of exotic Brazilian rosewood. The back if this guitar is absolutely perfectly book matched! The entire guitar front-sides-back are heavily laid with abalone inlay work, it has a Martin style 20 fret neck (really a traditional neck but martin would like you to think they thought of it) made of Mahogany. Grover tuners as one would expect. But funny, Martin advertises a bunch and Alvarez stopped paying out so big so I found this one on the cheap instead of $6,000-10000 like a Martin exotic Brazilian D-41 of the same or lesser sound quality. (But don?t get me going on over priced Martins). The fret board is Brazilian Rosewood with wonderfully aged Abalone inlays, The neck is multi bound as is the body. The top is German "Sitka" spruce and is solid. Back & sides Brazilian rosewood & cocobola (I think). It came with a pickup but only as a custom add on (I changed the original pickup but it wasn?t all that bad)

My profession is music. I write, record, produce, and publish music and have done so forever. I started recording in professional studios at age 16 and at this typing I am 42. I don?t suck at it. I have done quite well in fact and the reason I say this is to reinforce that I have an ear for good guitars. I was actually searching for another 5060 when I decided to post a review. I had to give this a review because there is none and anyone out there that might find one of these should know to snap it up if they have a chance? then contact me so I can buy it from you ☺. I own about 60 guitars (my wife loves me for it, let me tell you). My guitars are vintage to new and include Alvarez (lots of them), Martins, Epiphones (pre-Gibson take over) Fender, and just about anything else you can think of (but no Gibsons any more on account of they don?t fit my hand well). Out of all of them I play my 5060 the most, almost exclusively, and certainly more then my Martin HD-28 gets played. The action is butter smooth and I sound like I have been practicing twice as much when I play the 5060 compared to most other guitars. It is just a dream to tickle.

In short, if you want to know the sound, look and feel of this, take a fine Taylor built 2000 or later (maybe a CE 814 except without the lose of sound that you get with a cut-a-way, age it 30 years and add some real style to it. Cover it with abalone and gold hardware and there you go.

The gutiar has lasted 30+ years and shows no signs of anything but getting better with age

I own an acoustic bass by Alvarez. The bridge pickup was slightly tweaked when I bought it new. I went through a Nashville dealer who had no problem getting me a replacement without even asking for me to return the old part. I did send it back to them but they never asked and I received my new part in about 3 days, from Alvarez.

I?ve had this guitar for about 6-7 years now. If it were stolen I would hunt down he who stole it and subject them to massive and unpleasant wounds! I have been looking for a second guitar like this since before I bought this one. I really don?t know what I would do without it?. Please take my wife or boat! It fits great, feels great, and even with a capo high on the neck, it sounds uncerpassed.